Wasahington D.C.

July 13, 2019

Wasahington D.C.

Day 1 Wednesday May 29th

Udvar Hazy Smithsonian-

This Smithsonian museum is outside of the national mall area and is amazing. We stopped in to see it as we were coming into the city. It was definitely worth the stop. They had some amazing planes and space artifacts. After stopping here we went to our AirBnB.

The Plane that dropped the first atomic bomb

Apollo 11's flotation devices

Discovery Space Shuttle

Discovery Space Schuttle

Fabric from the Hindenburg

Day 2 Thursday May 30

National Archives, Natural History Museum, National Air and Space Museum, and National Sculpture Garden.

We started our day at the National Archives museum. You're not allowed to take pictures inside the archives. We enjoyed seeing the constitution, Deceleration of Independence, and many other important documents. We ate a picnic lunch that we packed in the cafeteria here. Next we headed to the Natural History museum. We knew what we wanted to see so we came in did the highlights and then had a snack that we packed in the cafe. It began to rain so we went into the air and space museum. This could have been a family favorite. We enjoyed the hands on area and listened to a presentation there. It was nice to rest while learning about flight. The exhibits were great and Maddy enjoyed the paper airplane contest there.We then walked to the Sculpture gardens and enjoyed a packed dinner. We drove into the city and parked in a garage we had pre purchased the night before. We walked to all the different locations mentioned.

National Archives Museum

Old entrance to the archives building

The hands on area for kids at the archives.

Natural History Museum

The hope diamond.

The insect zoo

National Air and Space Museum

First plane to make a trans Atlantic flight

Sally Ride's first space suit.

Maddy won the airplane competition

The original Wright Brother's plane

Edward White's space suit

Huble telescope replica

John Glen's capsule

V-2 Rocket

National Sculpture Garden

Our AirBnB

Chill time with cousins

Our rental included a pass to the subdivisions pool.

The subdivision park was right behind the house we were staying in

Day 3 Marine Corp Museum and night time monuments tour

Our rental house was very affordable but it was 40 minute south of D.C. The Marine Corp musem was only 15 minutes or less from our rental so it was a good fit for a mid day activity. It was by far the most hands on museum we visited on this trip. We all enjoyed it. They do not allow any food or drink in the museum so we had to eat our packed lunch outside. They have a nice playground and picnic area for this.
In the afternoon we came back to our rental and took naps and relaxed. We were resting up for our big night out on the town. We ate dinner at the rental then went back downtown. We were able to find a parking spot on the mall and only had to pay for 1 hour of parking. Then we walked to the sculpture gardens for Friday night live jazz. It was really crowded. There was not a place to sit. We walked around for a while then started our Monuments tour. We caught the Washington Monument right at golden hour. Next, was the world war 2 monument. You are allowed to put your feet in the fountain. We then walked to the Lincoln monument. It was lit up and very fun to see at night. The next monument with the Korean War Monument. This one would have been better to see in the day light. We never made it to the Vietnam memorial. The next stop with the Martin Luther King JR. memorial which is fantastic to see at night! We then walked to the FDR memorial which was under construction, which was a bummer. Our last stop was the Jefferson Memorial. This was a lot of walking and the little kids were really tired. It was close to midnight when we finished.

Marine Corp Museum