Getting There and the First Moments

June 2nd-4th
Vacation Post #1
These vacation posts will be very detailed--just a warning! :)

When you live in the middle of the country, you have two options of getting your family to Washington, DC. Either buy 5 pricey plane tickets and drive at least 3 hours to the nearest major airport, stay in a hotel so you are there for the early morning flight, pay way too much money to check your luggage, play hopscotch around the country with connecting flights that are most likely delayed or missed, and finally arrive exhausted and rent a car. OR, load up your vehicle and drive there. We went with option #2. :)

My parents graciously offered to take care of our Ginger while we were on vacation, so our first stop along the way was at their house. It was the perfect bed & breakfast--and doggie hotel. :)

On our way!

A bit blurry but at least Ginger is looking at me. :)

Our second day of driving was by far the longest day in the car. Derek drove every mile of our trip (I did offer to help) and he was such a trooper. The hardest moments were in Somerset, PA where we ate a late supper at Arby's. Derek was feeling the fatigue and we still had 2 hours ahead of us on dark, winding, PA roads. We finally arrived in Hagerstown, MD at 11:00 that night. Whew!

My exhausted husband collapses while Kaleb is all thumbs up. :)

Even though we were anxious to make it to DC, Aaron really wanted to swim in the hotel pool the next morning. We're on vacation, so of course we said yes to his request. :) I'm very glad we did. After his swim we loaded up and said goodbye to Hagerstown.

Our third travel day included only a 1.5 hour drive--yippee!!! Along the way we stopped in Germantown, PA for lunch at Chick-fil-a. It felt so good to take things nice and easy on this day.

YUM!

I spent countless hours preparing for this trip. Trip Advisor was my greatest resource, and all of that research paid off. We checked into our hotel in Alexandria, VA which would be our home base for the next 6 days/nights. It could not have been a better setup for us. This Hampton Inn & Suites provided a free shuttle whenever we requested it to the nearest metro station or downtown Alexandria. We didn't have to pay any parking fees at the hotel. We also had a free breakfast every day. I felt so relieved to see all of my planning come together and work out for us!

On this first day of our time in DC, Derek and I had 2 goals: figure out the metro and find someplace to eat supper. To do that we took the shuttle into downtown Alexandria.

Our first picture in Alexandria. Not sure what we're standing by!

Alexandria has a main road from the river to the metro station, with lots of shopping and dining in between. They provide a free trolley with stops every 2 blocks, which of course we took advantage of. This is how we made it to CVS Pharmacy to purchase our Metro passes. Once that was done we took the trolley to the water front.

Our first glimpses of the Potomac River

Just taking it all in

We found a casual restaurant on the water's edge called Chadwick's. It's a large 2 story restaurant with a pub feel to it. It was a perfect place for us to eat and we laughed a lot during the meal. There was a wooden Indian statue by our table and for some reason the boys said it looked like Braylen.

Our family selfie at Chadwick's.

The brass plate says "High Water Mark Sept 19, 2003 Hurricane Isabel."

After supper we decided to get back on the trolley and head to the Metro Station. This was it! Our first Metro experience! We boarded at King Street and took the blue line to the Smithsonian stop. Yay!

First Metro ride

When we climbed the steps from the Smithsonian Metro Station to street level, we had our first glimpses of Washington, DC. It felt surreal to finally be here! We walked along the National Mall, taking it all in. There were organized kickball teams playing games on the grass, other tourists like us walking around, and it did not feel crowded at all. As we made our way to the Washington Monument, we walked by a stage. The Air Force Band and Chorus played/sang the National Anthem before beginning their concert. What perfect timing! We stood there with our hands over our hearts, listening to the National Anthem during our first moments on the National Mall.

The Washington Monument

Air Force Band and Vocal Chorus

Our boys are really here!

We had enough daylight to walk over to the WWII Memorial. It was a beautiful evening and we took our time just looking around.

WWII Memorial

This ended up being my favorite memorial on the Mall.

"Here We Mark the Price of Freedom."
Each gold star stands for 100 soldiers lost in WWII. Over 405,000 lost their lives.

Another view

It feels like such an honor to be here.

Derek stands by the Nebraska pillar in honor of his grandfather.

I stand by the Illinois pillar in honor of my grandfathers.

We did not want to find our way back to our hotel in the dark, so we made our way back to the Metro as some light rain began to fall. By the time we made it to King Street to transfer to the yellow line it was POURING rain, and we were so glad we were not out in it! The shuttle picked us up at Huntington and as we walked through our hotel lobby towards the elevators, Derek and I gave each other a high 5. We really did! We made it here, we mastered the Metro, and we had a perfect first day. VACATION!!!