A Family Visit to D.C.

We have talked about heading to D.C. for years and it finally happened.  Bob and I, and our son Bobby, headed off to see Bob's Uncle Bill and Aunt Liz. We also got to see his cousins Ruth, and Sarah and her husband Dwight and children Aaron, Hannah, and Dylan.

We also spent time seeing the sights including most of the Smithsonian Museums, the Hillwood Museum and Gardens, the Capital, the Library of Congress, The National Archives, Arlington National Cemetery, and Mt Vernon; and going to culture events including a musical The Snow Child, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the play The Crucible. We even went to the opera, the Barber of Seville, and loved it.  

First up was a walking tour of the monuments -- Jefferson, FDR, Martin Luther King Jr., Korean War, Lincoln, Vietnam, Einstein, WWII, and Washington Monument.  Then a jaunt through the American History Museum.

Bobby at the FDR Monument

Bill, Bob, and Bobby

Korea War Memorial

Susan, Bob, and Bobby

Ranger making a rubbing of a name on the Vietnam Memorial

On Mother's Day, we went to the opera.  Liz mentioned that they traditionally made a day of it with brunch and the opera, I didn't even ask the men, I just said sure we would love to go.  Hey, it was Mother's Day and I get to choose.  We all enjoyed the Barber of Seville very much and would be happy to get to go to another opera.  After the opera, we went over to Arlington National Cemetery and saw the last changing of the guard for the day.

The following day we started at the Supreme Court.

Then we headed to the Library of Congress and it was just WOW!  It was one of our favorite stops.  The building is simply incredible and the tour was fun.

And what trip to D.C. would be complete without a visit to Smoky Bear.

We did a tour of the Capital Building.  The tour was nice, our guide was quite funny, but the Library of Congress was better.

Bill and Liz at Snow Child

A brief sampling of some of our museum hopping highlights.

For some insane reason Norman Rockwell's portrait of Nixon was my favorite of all the presidential portraits.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

From the Burning Man exhibit

WWI display of underground carvings

What trip to DC would be complete without stopping by the White House

Burning Man

Wonderful Buddha display

Liz and I headed to Hillwood Museum and Gardens, while Bob and Bobby went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.  I had been before with Liz, and it is just too beautiful not to go again.  It has Faberge eggs, Russian Icons, and wonderful gardens.  We hit the gardens when they were lovely -- the peak of azaleas, rhododendrons just starting and the roses lingering.  A great way to spend a day.  Afterwards Liz and I went to Arthur Miller's Play The Crucible, a powerful play that was very well acted.

We went to Mt Vernon by boat.  Our boat day was raining, but we managed to stay mostly dry.  Afterwards we met the rest of the family for dinner and then headed to the National Symphony Orchestra.  

Mt Vernon

Bill, Ruth, Sarah, Bob, Susan, Bobby