WHERE: Washington D.C.
WHEN: July 2013
WITH: Kelli Arnesen (Baker), Matt Coss, Courtney Hansen
WHY: Our friend Courtney moved to DC that year, so we went to visit her and is there a better place to celebrate Independence Day? Probably not. Kelli came for the first part of the trip; Matt and I stayed a little longer.
MEMORIES:
-Day trip to watch a Gettysburg reenactment; it happened to be the 150th anniversary of the battle during the time we were there. (Even though we were far away and didn't really see much it was fun to be there.)
-While walking in Georgetown at night touring the campus I saw my first firefly close-up. It was the coolest thing! I was pretty giddy about it.
-Georgetown cupcakes. We went twice.
-A lot of time spent on the National Mall: monuments, museums, Holocaust memorial, national archives, U.S. capitol, White House, etc.
-Washington Nationals baseball game, with Shake Shack for dinner. There were these people behind us (a somewhat large group) who smuggled in their own tuna sandwiches and accessories for dinner. It was amusing.
-4th of July: We spent the morning touring a quaint suburb of the area (can't remember the name), then took the metro into the Mall. It was hot and busy so we spent some time waiting in the museums (saw an IMAX movie on stars), had dinner, and played shuffleboard at a bar. Just before dark we quickly found a spot with the National Monument in front of us and the Capitol behind us. They didn't wait until it got completely dark, and there didn't seem to be music to go along with it, but it was a good show. As Matt said, "This is going to be the zenith of my 4th of July celebrations."
Gettysburg: big deal.
The viewing crew.
Kelli, Me, Matt and Courtney
Cupcakes before dinner.
So many delicious cupcakes.
World War II Memorial
White House
Some favorite paintings from National Gallery of Art
Favorite fossil from National Museum of Natural History
First Lady garb and china inside of National Museum of American History
Kelli and I waiting for the tour at the Capitol
United States Capitol
National Archives (no pictures allowed inside).
Washington Monument was under construction from an earthquake a couple of years ago.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Supreme Court building
FDR and MLK memorials.
(It was rainy some days.)
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
National Cemetery; I actually really enjoyed this tour.
Mount Vernon.
Play ball!
We made a "4th of July People-Watching" scavenger hunt. We saw a lot on the list!
Waiting for the fireworks to start - prime watching spot!
Happy 4th of July!
