Michael and Rachel took an awesome trip to D.C. last week over spring break. We dropped them at the Amtrak station on Friday evening. They took the train up there overnight. The plan was for them to sleep on the train - which didn't really happen. The train horn was very loud and blew on and off the whole night... and they just couldn't get comfortable. In addition to it leaving an hour later than it was supposed to...It made the next day very tiring, but overall, they enjoyed it.
Ready and waiting on the train.
On the train before pulling out of Atlanta.
Inside the Grand Hall of Union Station in D.C., about 13 hours after leaving Atlanta.
On the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the White House. Saturday was the best day weather-wise and it brought out a lot of people.
They had lunch Saturday at the rooftop restaurant of the W Hotel, overlooking the Treasury Building and White House.
After lunch, they made their way down to the National Mall and enjoyed the lawn and weather with an ice cream.
All of the trees were in bloom over Easter weekend, so they got some great backgrounds for pictures.
In front of the Wright Brothers' Flyer at the Museum of American History. Rachel thought it was really neat to see the actual plane they flew at Kitty Hawk.
Their hotel for the trip, The Hamilton Hotel.
Sunday, they did their walking tour of the west end of the National Mall, from the Vietnam Wall around the Tidal Basin. Here she is at the Reflecting Pool at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial.
She really liked the Lincoln Memorial.
You can see the Capitol dome in the way distance at the bottom-right of the Washington Monument.
At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
The Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin.
An Easter portrait in front of one of the blooming Cherry blossom trees.
Rachel trying to photobomb the pictures...
Rachel petting FDR's terrier.
The FDR Memorial has a number of water features, including this large waterfall with some stepping stones.
They finally made it to the Jefferson Memorial.
Rachel wanted to take the Washington Monument home in her pocket.
At the Museum of Natural History, Rachel found her a sloth.
They had dinner at The Old Ebbett's Grill Sunday night. It's a well-known place for both tourists and political types throughout Washington.
After dinner, they went back to the White House to see it at night lit up. Again, a photobomb opportunity...
Monday, they took a tour of the Capitol with staff from Rep. Loudermilk's office.
The Helen Keller statue in the Capitol Visitor's Center.
The old Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol. They met here until the early 1900s until they built the current building across the street.
Monday night, they did a Monuments by Moonlight tour, letting them see everything at night all lit up. Here's the west front of the Capitol, where the inaugurations are held.
The 58,000+ names on the Vietnam Wall stand out at night with the lighting.
Lincoln is very bright at night inside the Memorial. You can see him on the chair all the way down the Mall, with his bright-white statue inside the darker Memorial interior.
Tuesday, they went back to the Capitol and then over to the Supreme Court. They got to see inside the courtroom where the Justices hear cases.
They also went to Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
Rachel recently learned about Thurgood Marshall in school and was excited to see his grave-site.
They went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Rachel said it was one of her favorite things from the trip.
They got to go up to the National Cathedral on Tuesday. It looks like an old European Gothic cathedral but was actually finished in 1989!
Tuesday night's dinner was their "fancy dinner" (get dressed up) and they went to Hamilton's, a restaurant near the White House. They had a stick of butter for dessert.
(It was a peanut butter cheesecake.)
They had a great time and Rachel already wants to go back to do more of the places they didn't have time to fully explore and see other things they didn't get to.
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