First Day in DC

After driving ALL.NIGHT.LONG from Madison, we finally arrived in Washington, DC about 8:30 on Monday morning.

We headed to a McDonald's to get out, stretch our legs, and get something to eat. We also made a beeline for the bathrooms!

After a little freshening-up, we drove straight to downtown DC.

This is what we saw as soon as we stepped out of the car:

It was a beautiful sight!

Then we walked down the street to the American Museum of Natural History. 

The architecture on the outside was so beautiful!

This amazing sight greeted us as we walked through the front doors.

Then we saw lots of other animals along our tour.

I also got to "try on" the Hope Diamond.

This picture really does not do it justice! It was magnificent!

Harrison loved the mummy exhibit.

But the dinosaur exhibit ranked right up there too.

It was really cool to see just how big those monsters were!

We felt like we were in "Night at the Museum."

We then walked across the street to the National Museum of American History.

We couldn't wait to see some of the famous artifacts from our history.

They have a Documents section which has copies of all the famous important documents in our history like the Declaration of Independence.

(We got to see the real one later in the week when we visited the Archives.)

One of my favorites: part of the Berlin Wall that was torn down during the Reagan Administration.

Caitlin had been looking forward to seeing the World Trade Center display.

It was heartbreaking to say the least!

There was an entire section devoted to the American Presidents.

Harrison thought it was funny that there was a President Harrison!

Then it was on to the special artifacts, such as:

the original Kermit the Frog!

We were all in agreement that this was one of our favorites.

And, of course, Caitlin was super excited to see Dorothy's ruby red slippers from "The Wizard of Oz."

The scarecrow's hat and boots were on display as well.

We then took a snack break downstairs in their cafeteria where I heard, "Mrs. Hollingsworth!"

I really thought I was losing my mind, but then I turned around and saw...

my former student, Drew!

What a huge surprise that we actually ran into each other in that big city!!

There was also a transportation section which tracked all the ways Americans have travelled throughout the years.

We were pretty tired by this point having been through two museums, so we decided to head to our hotel.

On the way we passed this magnificent monument and had to snap a picture.

 

We also passed by a fountain where we decided to cool off our feet!

After we checked into our hotel...

we tried out the pool, then got cleaned up and went...

to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

My two jokesters!

It was a fun, fun day, but we were so tired after all that driving and walking!

It was an early night because we had so much more to do on Day 2!!