Last Full Day in DC

We thought this would be the easy day...we were wrong. We saved the outlying attractions and the rest of the Smithsonian's for the day when parking was free so that we wouldn't have to walk everywhere today. We figured it would be an easy day of driving from attraction to attraction and not paying for parking. Well we really didn't have to walk around as much today but unfortunately we spent much of the morning in the car. Your probably thinking this was because of traffic. It was not. It was the Tom Tom app's fault. Apparently most if not all of the GPS apps guide you to a secure entrance to Fort McHenry instead of Arlington National Cemetery. They actually had a spot designed for soldiers to give directions to all the tourists who come to the wrong place. the directions we were given were not great and what we learned very quickly is that if you don't know where you are going in DC you are going to find yourself miles down the road before you can actually turn around. I tried to load up google maps but found that when I tried to go towards a street I wanted to be on I would end up actually going over or under it instead. We finally stopped for directions and I figured out that what I needed to put into the Tom Tom was "Arlington National Cemetery Administrative Offices". This actually led us to the right place but by that time it was already close to noon and over 90 degrees outside. That is probably the worst time to do Arlington. We decided to have a picnic lunch at the Iwo Jima Memorial instead.











Family - Ksenia in front of the monument.





The monument.

When we arrived, Mindy and the kids were amazed. The first thing that people always say is "it's so much bigger than I thought it would be. I remembered thinking that same thing when Mindy and the kids said it. It is a huge and amazing memorial. We had a nice lunch and headed out to Teddy Roosevelt Island. On the way there i misread the tom tom screen and missed an exit. The amazing thing about DC is that there is rarely a simple turn left or turn right, there are usually two or even three options. I chose the wrong lane. This simple mistake actually caused us to have to go a half mile past our destination, then back to the Iwo Jima memorial just to turn around and try again. It felt like a annoying video game level with no checkpoints. On my second try I didn't miss the exit and we made it to the island. Although it was under construction the main statue was still accessible and it made for a nice nature walk in the middle of our day.









Bridge to island.





Roosevelt statue.

After that we headed for the FDR Memorial. We had driven right by it the first day in DC but decided not to go because we were too tired. When we returned today there was a softball/cricket tournament going on and no parking any where. We changed plans again and headed off to the National Cathedral. What an amazing stop. I love that place. Free parking on Sundays, a great tour, beautiful view from the seventh floor and I finally saw the Darth Vader gargoyle I had never found before on any of my visits to DC. Fun, fun, fun.





Shrine photo





Suffer the children. Hey, I do that for a living.





Stole this off the Internet because none of our cameras zoomed far enough.

After the Cathedral it was time to get to the Air and Space Smithsonian and the Museum of Natural History. First, though, we had to find a parking place. After driving around the museum we weren't having any luck. We decided to turn onto a side street to see if there were any spots there. The side street actually turned out to be a freeway entrance. Before we could stop or turn around we took 4 exits, crossed the Potomac and were Ina completely different part of town. When we finally made our way back into town, I dropped Mindy and the kids off at the Air and Space Museum and carried on the search for a parking spot. One block layer I found one. A family got in their car and pulled out. I was in the museum before the kids were done with their bathroom break. We spent a long time in the Air and Space Museum. Probably too long. They had a ton of amazing exhibits and artifacts to view. By the time we were done we only left ourselves an hour for the Natural History Museum.
Here are some things we experienced at these two amazing places.







Space suit that was in the moon.






Modern space suit helmet.





Moon rover.





Wright brothers original plane.





Darth Kaleb





Elephant in lobby of Natural History Museum.









Kissing cousins a few times removed.





One of the exhibits takes a
picture of you and morphs you into cro-magnon man. I'm bringing sexy wayyy back.

After finishing at the museums we headed for our last stop of the day which was the FDR Memorial. Parking was a bit easier as only one ball game was going on.






Kids on fountain





Tomorrow is the day we leave DC, but not before taking in Arlington Cemetery and the Air and Space annex at the airport. It is one of my most favorite places in DC so I am very excited forMindy and the kids to see it.

Location:DC