Caution: First Time Selfie Stick Users-- Washington D.C
We got up bright and early and were on the metro to the city with the morning work rush. I was expecting the D.C. metro to be just like the New York City subway, but boy was I wrong. Yes the concept is the same, but D.C.’s metro is so clean and the people aren’t smelly like in New York City.
Our first stop for the day was the U.S. Capitol. Currently the rotunda (aka the dome at the top of The Capitol) is under restoration for the first time since of 1959, so sadly we couldn’t actually see it. But we did get to watch a fascinating film about how there are 3 branches of government (total sarcasm right there… I learned that in elementary school). After our tour, we took a secret tunnel to the Library of Congress. No big deal.. just felt like I was a secret agent. The Library of Congress has ornate ceilings that look like Michelangelo painted them, architecture similar to Buckingham Palace, and of course books. It also holds the first map with the word ‘America’ on it and the first book printed in America. Pretty fascinating.
Following The Library of Congress, we tried to find a hop on hop off trolley. We didn’t have a map so finding it was pretty brutal, but we managed. We took the trolley to the stop for the Air and Space Museum, filed in with the rest of the tourists, and then did the American thing and headed to one of the world’s largest McDonald’s inside. [No judgment… we were running around on empty stomachs]. Once we finished chowing down, we walked around the museum and gazed at the planes hanging from the ceiling. They had plenty of interactive activities including my favorite, touching a moon rock. Once we finished up at the museum, we walked outside the doors only to realize WE NEVER GOT A MAP FROM THE TROLLEY! Ahh. So we were wandering around D.C. without a map the whole time.
After the Air and Space Museum we went to The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. We were given ID cards when we entered which gave us the name of a victim of the Holocaust and by the end we found out if they survived or not. It was quite a heart-wrenching experience. I also learned more about my Lithuanian heritage—I didn’t realize there were so many Jews in Lithuania and that there were actually concentration camps there.
After the Holocaust Museum we headed to the Washington Monument and whipped out the selfie stick [We became pros at the selfie stick by the end of the day]. Since we saw a lot of other hop on hop off buses pull by the monument we assumed ours would come too (remember we didn’t have a map), so we waited.. and waited… and waited.. and then decided maybe it wouldn’t stop here. So we walked and found a stop. We waited again and then it finally came. First thing we did when we got aboard was grab a map. We weren’t making that mistake again!
We took the trolley to the International Spy Museum and saw other sites along the way. We participated in Spy in the City-- you are given a tablet and have to go out into the city of D.C. and find clues to solve a mission. For example, we had to walk to Roosevelt’s memorial and decode a message made up from the letters on the memorial. They had us walking all over the place, but we finally made it back and then went into the museum. There were plenty of interactive activities in the Spy Museum including climbing through an air duct, which made my outfit perfect for the occasion (a dress). The most exciting part of the whole Spy Museum though was when I got a keychain with a gnome on it. The gnome was dressed like a spy and everything! It will go perfectly on my keychain tree.
Following the Spy Museum, we got back on the trolley and headed towards the Lincoln memorial. With a hot dog in hand, we explored the memorial and of course took pictures with our selfie stick. Right near the Lincoln memorial are the Vietnam and Korean War memorials as well. We stopped by those and then made our way to the nearest Metro, the Foggy Bottom stop. We got back on the metro, and headed towards the hotel. Ready to hit the road tomorrow!
xoxo,
Em