Our Family Vacay – Washington D.C.

We just recently went to D.C. as a family to see the sights and more importantly, to visit with my brother and his family. It was the best trip we’ve taken as a family of four, although truth be told, we don’t take many week-long trips. Its usually day trips and over-nighters that are close to home. So this was definitely a special treat for the little people, and for the old crotchety ones too.

Our plan was to leave on Sunday 6 a.m. and it almost happened – until I realized that Starbucks doesn’t open until 7 a.m., and I’m sorry but there was NO WAY I was heading off on a 8+ hour trip without my latte. So AFTER I GOT MY LATTE, off we went, and 10 hours, 1 gas break, 1 food break, and 4 pee breaks later, we had reached our destination – my brother’s house. We were so fortunate that we were able to stay with my family – it gave our kids a chance to play and get to know each other, and it gave me a chance to hang with my sista-in-law (and brother), which I really haven’t had a chance to do, other than for small periods of time.

So what did we do while we were there?? We did as the tourists do – we saw the monuments, we went to several museums and we SHOPPED!!! Yes, I got my love of shopping (for myself) back baby! All it took was a visit to the outlet mall and a new Coach Handbag!! Hello NEW BEST FRIEND:

So, what did we get to see?

TONS OF MUSEUMS:

• National Museum of American History
• National Museum of Natural History
• National Air and Space Museum
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• National Portrait Gallery
• National Aquarium

THE SITES:

• The White House
• The Lincoln Memorial
• The National Mall
• The Washington Monument
• The Capitol Building
• The Carousel on the Mall
• The NGA Sculpture Garden
• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Arlington National Cemetary
• The Pentagon

Different cities in the Maryland/Virginia/D.C. area:

• Silver Spring, Falls Church
• Georgetown
• Arlington, Alexandria, Leesburg

SHOPPING!!!

• Leesburg Premium Outlets (I WANT TO GO TO THERE!)
• Tysons Mall
• TARGET!!!

Some highlights (for the adults):

• As you may be able to tell from my above list, we are museum people, so we hit as many as we could (all part of the Smithsonian) and we loved every single one that we saw.
• The Lincoln Memorial was unbelievable
• My kids being photographed with hunkalicious sailors was a lovely plus.
• The Vietnam War Memorial and Arlington Cemetery were jarring to say the least, yet important to see
• The architecture and the city was beautiful.
• The SHOPPING was FANTASTIC!

Some highlights (from the kid’s point of view):

• Hanging out with their cousins
• Seeing C3PO was fab for the little Star Wars fanatic.
• They loved seeing all the fish (especially Dorie & Nemo) at the aquarium.
• My son couldn’t believe his good fortune when we saw a LEGO store.
• The Air & Space Museum
• All the kid interactive areas that we saw at several of the museums

It was an amazing trip, and I would recommend it as a family destination to anyone and everyone. However, if you do go, please…..take me with you. I WANT TO GO TO THERE.

OH….ONE MORE THING:

We would like to thank our lovely hosts for a great week – thank you for not getting smelly until the end of our trip:

THANKS SAMMY!!

AND THANK YOU SKIPPY!

Tagged as: family travel, road trip, Washington D.C.