DC in 3 Days...What a Whirlwind!!

There is SO much to do and see here in DC!! We prioritized our destinations of choice and aimed to hit them all. We managed to see everything that wanted to and to the depth that we wanted to. There are still many places to visit on yet another trip to the Capitol, if and when that occurs. Saturday was consumed with flying. We arrived at our hotwire hotel and it was only 2 blocks from the White House, so we were thrilled with the location. Sunday we got as close to the White House as we could without violating security to check out President Obama's new digs. We gawked at all the architecture in the city...sure don't make 'em like they usda. :) There is such detail, ornateness, and stature to the buildings that today's sleek modern buildings seem to lack. We went up to the Washington Monument and over to the mall where we attempted to visit the museums. Well it was a 3 day weekend and a LOT of other people also took advantage of that fact so the museums were JAMMED with peeps. We made it into the American History Museum (a must see for me and saw the American Flag made of cotton and wool that flew high in the sky and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the nation anthem. REALLY COOL. After standing in line to see the First Ladies exibit (their dresses, shoes, and jewelry) also neat, we decided this line business was for the birds. I asked a security guard if it would be this crazy on Monday and Tuesday. He advised being there right when they opened and there would be no lines. We said great and got out of there. We jumped on the trolley and toured up to the National Cathedral, down Embassy Row, through Georgetown, and luck for us the last stop was the White House which put us 2 blocks from our hotel! We ended the evening at the Capitol City Brewing Co. for dinner and then a brisk walk back to the hotel. On that brisk walk, I totally biffed it. Face planted. Smacked the sidewalk. I'm sure it was hilarious for everyone seated on the bus at the stop light. I wanted to laugh, but I was pretty sure I had broken knees and at least one broken ankle. I'm good though...just some bruised knees and a sore ankle. I was just thinking that it would have been better if it hadn't happened on the FIRST day of the trip. I will give props to Banana jeans...not a single mark on them. I think my knees could have been bloody if not for those jeans! I also better give props to Ryan who helped me back up and then let me hide on the other side of him while the bus passed by. If I were him, I probably would have laughed uncontrollably AND THEN helped me up. I know b/c we laugh hard all the time at those people on Funny Videos. Anywho, enough about that.
Monday we did as we were told and were there at 10:00 and hustled our way up to the Lincoln exhibit. SO COOL! They have his top hat, his suit, his stop watch! I couldn't believe I was so close to his personal items. From there we ran over to the Natural History Museum (a must for Ryan) and checked out the dinosaurs and watched an IMAX show about the ocean life. By the time we got out of the show, the museum was packed and we decided that it was probably time for another trolley ride. This one took us up to Capitol Hill where we got off and walked around. We visited the Library of Congress, Wowza, what a building. Here we were able to view an extensive display of Lincoln, due to it being his 200th b-day this year, the city is all about Lincoln. We did see a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in his penmanship. Pretty neat. The library also houses a collection of Thomas Jefferson's books that he sold to the library after they had a fire and needed to replace what they lost. So much history!!! Then we jumped back on the trolley and stopped at the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. We stood where Martin Luther King stood to deliver his "I Have A Dream" speech. We stood in awe of the memorials and their enormity. We learned a lot about the area from the trolley conductors and their "little known facts". We ate dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill, which Ryan knew of. It is across from the White House and a favorite of past presidents, been around since 1856 or something like that. We are pretty sure that the two guys sitting next to us on one side were making their plans to apply for a grant and on the other side a politician and his college daughter connecting for the evening. He had some unpleasant experience with Dick (Cheney), she didn't like a particular governor, but don't feel too sorry for them b/c the dad has been working out recently and has lost some weight. NOT that we were listening in (on purpose), we were pretty much seated on top of each other.
Today we bee-lined for the National Archives this morning to see the ACTUAL Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the US. Give you shivers, make you tear up a little, COOL. Then it was across the mall to the Air and Space Museum (another one on Ryan's list). The last stop on our excursion was the Holocaust Museum, which just makes your stomach hurt and the McDonald's you just ate want to come up. It is really too much to try to digest and for the heart to take. I had to put myself on overview mode and take in just enough. We had a beautiful walk back to the hotel followed by a horrible cab experience to my next hotel in Virginia. Now I sit here, checking emails and typing my blog while Ryan is boarding his flight back to Seattle to see the baby Mavie!!
All the pics are on Ryan's iPhone, so I'll post some later. That thing is a great camera...just no zoom.