Washington DC Trip - Part 1
My father flew in from Colorado on the morning of April 3rd. I picked him up at the airport with Finnegan (who was very excited to see Grandpa) and we drove home, arriving in time for him to go pick up Miguel. He was thrilled to be picked up by the legendary Grampa!
Dad had arrived with lenses for my new (to me) camera, so we had to try them out, much to Finn's surprise:
That night we dropped the kids off with some friendsand went to see DramaTech's production of Jekyll and Hyde. They did a pretty good job with a pretty mediocre musical. Then we went home and hit the hay to get an early start in the morning.
Well, more like 9:00 AM, not so early. We drove all day, which was uneventful, and took no pictures. Suffice to say we arrived in Washington DC that night at about 10:00 PM. Checked in to our hotel and went to sleep.
The next morning was a bright, clear, warm spring day - the kind DC gets about three of per year. We headed off to find the subway station, Dad navigating. We promptly got lost. after about a mile and a half of aimless wandering, I took the map, explained that the sun rises in the East in DC this time of year (hence the name Easter), and got us headed right. We took the Metro to Smithsonian station, which pops up right in the middle of the Mall.
The DC Metro is interesting in that you pay based on how far you travel - you swipe your card as you get on, then again as you get off. Your fare is deducted from the amount of cash you have on your card. So, in theory, if you work near where someone lives and vice-versa, you could swipe your card, swap with them as they swipe out, and ride for free. I wonder how they combat that... but I digress.
Anyway, you came for pictures not talk so here we go:
We arrive at the Mall and Miguel sees trash on the ground. he insists on gathering some and gets help from Finn:
Miguel at the Washington Monument. I still say it looks nothing like him:
After the morning marathon ends, the streets are re-opened and we can cross to see the cherry trees:
We walked around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial:
Finn believes he should have a statue in DC, and tries posing for it:
Lunch followed:
and then we went to the FDR Memorial. It's a sprawling memorial, huge, with several waterfalls and statues. Finn loved the waterfalls:
So much so, in fact, that he wandered off and was lost. In the eight or so minutes that he was lost, I rustled up three strangers and a park ranger who were all looking for him. Washington DC at cherry blossom time is a madhouse, so there were thousands of people all around us. luckily we are (by which I mean bozini is) smart parents, and have given our boys dog tags with their names and our cell phone numbers on them. If they get lost they are to show them to a policeman, shopkeeper or, failing those, a mommy with kids. Finn showed his to a family who called me immediately. We were reunited and went on with our visit of FDR's Memorial.
It was around one in the afternoon, so we took a well-earned rest:
Then it was on to the Lincoln Memorial. This should give you an idea of how many people there were there:
We paid our respects to the old man and enjoyed his view:
By this time the kids were getting tired, so after an ice cream we decided to head home via the Vietnam memorial:
And paid a visit to Uncle Albert:
We walked back to the hotel and (natch) got lost again. when you're not sure how you got somewhere, it's hard to get back. We eventually made it by dead reckoning. That night we had dinner at the Liberty Tavern with an old high school chum of my father's. The food and company were superb - I had a vegetarian shepherd's pie that was phenomenal, and really enjoyed a locally brewed beer after all that walking. Finn slept all through dinner, and Miguel was not far behind him in tiredness. everyone slept quite well that night:
Tomorrow I continue the tale, and we shall hear of things lost and found, and the value in depending on the kindness of strangers.