november 96 in DC... day 1

every national holiday we get longer liberty in the military.. and since we are on a marine base we get 96's... 96 hours of liberty.  for this one (veterans day weekend) we decided to go to washington, dc. one of the biggest reasons we chose camp lejeune as our first choice for duty was so we could travel the east coast as we haven't had much opportunity.  so we got a great hotel (hotel harrington) which is like a 3 block walk to the national mall, suggested by my sister in law meesha (thanks!)  and we hit the road.  it took us 6 hours to get there and hit it perfectly when all the traffic was leaving town so ours wasn't too slow.  daniel was great the whole drive and ate and slept with out much fuss at all.  that night we ate dinner at qudoba as it was the first thing chris saw while walking to our hotel... and he has been dying to go once we get back to reno next summer. so he was thrilled to find one here! haha

we had a good night that first night.  daniel slept pretty well and we woke up early the next morning, got ready and headed out the door.  we arrived at the national mall at 9 am... and the smithsonians don't open till 10... woops.  we walked around and took pictures of daniel and the washington monument, and of capitol hill and then walked up and around the washington monument.

we finally walked back to the american history smithsonian and there was a national coast guard choir out front, and a man came out in top hat and coat to welcome us to the museum, and then the choir sang the national anthem.  i got a little choked up.  who wouldn't?!  

once inside we realized that since we are in the off season a lot of the exhibits were closed as they change some out every year.  which was ok.. there was still a lot to see.  my favorite room was the presidents exhibit.  the presidents wives dresses and even the info about each president was interesting.  i didn't realize how many had died in office.  

we also went in the transportation exhibit that was full of cars and trains... we took a few pics of trains for my grandpa... who is obsessed and has a true love of trains.

we also saw an original sun stone from the original nauvoo temple that was burned down, and a piece of the berlin wall (which i have actually seen in berlin)  and one of harry potter's robes!!! i know right??!! very cool!  haha 

we left around lunch time and walked out to the grassy area and had lunch.  i brought snacks with us so we just found a bench and rested our feet for a minute and ate... and people watched.  which is half the fun of going on vacations.  i always love people watching with chris because he likes to tell me peoples life stories... at least what he thinks their stories are.  its very entertaining.  

after lunch break we walked down to the air and space museum... chris and i both love the space program and have read books on the subject and have both watch several space program movies including apollo 13 which we have watched several times (i'm obsessed... plus it has kevin bacon in it).  first thing you walk in and there are capsules and ships all over the place.  air planes hanging from the ceiling.  very cool!  whats not cool are the crazy people running around and constantly running you over.  i hate being short and trampled. 

i was very excited to see things from various gemini missions, and apollo missions including gene kranz white vest he wore during the apollo 13 crisis... like in the movie! so cool.  chris' favorite exhibit was the one about the planets... by that time i was tired and there was just way too much to read in that one and a little over my head... so i sat down.  we laughed later that night when talking about our favorite things of the day and he mentioned this exhibit and i said it was my least favorite and his favorite.. haha go figure.

we also got tickets to see an imax 3d movie in the museum... it was very cool.  it was about some cook space stuff but was narrated be leonardo dicaprio!!! hahaha chris was in heaven. he seriously loves things like that. anything imax and 3d.  daniel liked it for the most part except when the loud spaceship launched and we later flew into some black hole... both times he burst into very sad little tears, but quickly calmed down.  

after a quick trip to the museum store and a few little items, we walked back towards our hotel by way of walking by the white house.  chris was shocked it was just in the middle of everything.  and it seemed much smaller than he thought it was going to be.  haha.  we took a few pics and headed on towards the hotel.

for dinner we just ate at the restaurant at the hotel... the food was fine but it took forever to get our food which was tough as at that time daniel was ready to get in the room (as was i!)  we quickly fed him and gave him a quick bath and put him to bed.  he had taken good naps all day, but was definitely ready for bed.  it was a great day.  the weather was perfect, slightly cold but nice for walking around everywhere and we saw lots of really neat things!!