Despite a widespread power outage, record setting temperatures, and no air conditioning in our car, we journeyed the 6-hour trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate America's birthday.
And it was definitely worth the sweat!
This was Christopher's first time in our nation's capital so on Day One, we decided to bike around the city to see the major monuments.
Pretty sure the park ranger was about to come arrest him for climbing up the WWII monument - but then he probably realized that it's just an outlaw from Montana... expected.
I spy three tiny tourists in front of the Jefferson Monument...
We also checked out the Vietnam Memorial which is always a humbling experience.
And then we biked over to see the White House, aka Mitt Romney's future home. (Speaking of the future President... I have a pretty cool post about him coming up next!!)
By this point it was 3 p.m. and we were all super starving. So I suggested that we try out the famous Shake Shack! None of us had been before, but a few people recommended it. While it was pretty tasty... it seemed a bit overpriced. Plus I couldn't stop comparing it to In-and-Out Burger (which is definitely better). Sorry Shake Shack. We'd totally go back again, but maybe next time just get a shake.
Then of course there's the Washington Monument...
And the Lincoln Memorial... gotta love Abe!
One super special part of the day, was visiting the Archives of the United States of America. We viewed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and I even sang the School House Rock rendition of the Preamble! Perfection.
After our hot, exhausting bike tour of D.C., we left the city for a breezier, cooler climate... the beach at Ocean City! (See next post for details and some fun stories.)
But for now, let's focus on America... Fast forward to The Fourth of July!!! We started off the day by metro-ing into the city with a backpack full of frozen water bottles and were greeted with Celebrate America fans from the check-point security guards. Life savers.
We then journeyed over to the Jefferson Memorial to reserve our prime firework seating! Note: although D.C. is a popular place to watch the fireworks, it does not compare to New Years Eve in Times Square, NYC as we were expecting. You do not need to arrive at 3p.m. unless you want to be bored for 4-5 hours before everyone else arrives.
So as you may have guessed, we definitely arrived way too early. To kill time we explored the gift shop and signed our very own Constitution with a "quill pen."
After waiting for an hour, we got a text from some fellow Aggie friends who live near D.C. and they invited us to come join their firework party across the river. Once we heard the words BBQ and corn hole, it was a no-brainer! So we spent the rest of the evening playing games, eating yummy food and enjoying the beautiful fireworks soaring above the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, reflecting off the river. Thanks Mandaran and Tyler!!
And it was definitely worth the sweat!
This was Christopher's first time in our nation's capital so on Day One, we decided to bike around the city to see the major monuments.
Pretty sure the park ranger was about to come arrest him for climbing up the WWII monument - but then he probably realized that it's just an outlaw from Montana... expected.
Although the heat made me disgustingly sweaty all day long... the beautiful sunshine made for some fantastic photos, so I really couldn't complain.
I spy three tiny tourists in front of the Jefferson Monument...
We also checked out the Vietnam Memorial which is always a humbling experience.
And then we biked over to see the White House, aka Mitt Romney's future home. (Speaking of the future President... I have a pretty cool post about him coming up next!!)
By this point it was 3 p.m. and we were all super starving. So I suggested that we try out the famous Shake Shack! None of us had been before, but a few people recommended it. While it was pretty tasty... it seemed a bit overpriced. Plus I couldn't stop comparing it to In-and-Out Burger (which is definitely better). Sorry Shake Shack. We'd totally go back again, but maybe next time just get a shake. Then of course there's the Washington Monument...
And the Lincoln Memorial... gotta love Abe!
One super special part of the day, was visiting the Archives of the United States of America. We viewed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and I even sang the School House Rock rendition of the Preamble! Perfection.
After our hot, exhausting bike tour of D.C., we left the city for a breezier, cooler climate... the beach at Ocean City! (See next post for details and some fun stories.)
But for now, let's focus on America... Fast forward to The Fourth of July!!! We started off the day by metro-ing into the city with a backpack full of frozen water bottles and were greeted with Celebrate America fans from the check-point security guards. Life savers.
We then journeyed over to the Jefferson Memorial to reserve our prime firework seating! Note: although D.C. is a popular place to watch the fireworks, it does not compare to New Years Eve in Times Square, NYC as we were expecting. You do not need to arrive at 3p.m. unless you want to be bored for 4-5 hours before everyone else arrives.
So as you may have guessed, we definitely arrived way too early. To kill time we explored the gift shop and signed our very own Constitution with a "quill pen."
After waiting for an hour, we got a text from some fellow Aggie friends who live near D.C. and they invited us to come join their firework party across the river. Once we heard the words BBQ and corn hole, it was a no-brainer! So we spent the rest of the evening playing games, eating yummy food and enjoying the beautiful fireworks soaring above the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, reflecting off the river. Thanks Mandaran and Tyler!!
What a fantastic place to spend Independence Day!! I definitely recommend it. There's just something so... American about it all. Even though I haven't lived overseas for very long, our 10 days in Guatemala and 6 months in Europe were long enough to make me realize how truly lucky I am to live in the United States, and how grateful I am to call this country home.
No comments:
Post a Comment