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Old 31 Oct 19, 01:32 PM  
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Goldia
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Washington DC - Memorials, museums and more Day 2 24/10/19

Day 2 – Thursday 24th October 2019

In the plan for today was a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as Max was very keen to visit the museum. Then we wanted to walk around the Tidal Basin to see the Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials. After we were keen to visit Arlington Cemetery.

This morning I woke at around 5.30am, Dave was already awake and reading. Kate was the last to wake up at 7.02am. The beds were really comfy and we had slept well really as we’d been all tucked in by 9pm!

We got ready and went down to see what sort of food was on offer for our free breakfast, we were hopeful it wasn’t just a continental breakfast and that there would be hot food. We were not disappointed

There was a variety of cereal to choose from, including hot oatmeal. There was a granola station, with lots of dried fruit and yoghurt. There was fresh fruit, including apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries and melon. There was fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice as well as coffee and tea. There was a toasting machine which had different seeded and non seeded breads and also bagels. This was the same set up every day, although the bread options varied.

Plus, there was a hot buffet area which had bacon, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes and a corned beef hash. The hot buffet had something slightly different each day, sometimes it was sausage instead of bacon, sometimes the potatoes were different, occasionally we had French toast instead of the hash.

We were very happy with this and filled our boots up each of us going back to refill our plates a number of times!





After breakfast we started our walk to the museum. We walked via Chinatown and some of the shopping areas.







The walk was about 30 minutes from the hotel and it was another lovely sunny day.







Lots of photos were once again taken of the interesting things we passed, which is why we prefer to walk than to take the train or a bus.











The museum opened at 10am and we were straight in just a minute after it had opened. There are airport style metal detectors which you walk through and your bags have to go through the scanners, but you are allowed to take in drinks and food as we had 2 large bottles of water and fruit with us.



First up the kids decided we would head into the mammals exhibits.

















The kids had fun listening to the sounds of the calls.





We moved on and I found this world population counter fascinating the time difference between the two photos is 7 seconds.







We then headed into the dinosaurs rooms.











Onwards and we watched a short film about the impact of humans on the planet. The museum was filled with these little seated areas and short films, which were really interesting.







I loved this sign, reminiscent of the 'pardon our pixie dust' signs.





We had fun in the museum walking around both floors and all the exhibits. It was pretty busy in the museum with quite a few tour groups getting guided tours and also a fair few school trips. I think if it had been quieter we would have stayed longer, but we’d seen everything even if we had rather raced through it all not reading everything. I’m sure you could spend all day here and still not be able to do and read everything.

It was around noon when we came out and we walked across the Mall, once again stopping for photos of the Capitol and the Monument.





We had a look at the Smithsonian Visitor Center which was a really interesting building.











Then we walked around to the Tidal Basin, which is a man made reservoir between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel.

Time for a quick photo of the Monument as I liked the reflection in the water.



We walked to the Jefferson Memorial, which was under refurbishment at the moment.

















I couldn't resist taking another photo of the Monument.



Then onwards to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.



This was a really interesting memorial and different to the Jefferson and Lincoln buildings.























There is supposed to be water in the fountains, but there was a sign up to say that it was undergoing repair work after being flooded over winter due to their being 7ft extra water and this broke the pump.

We paused for a brief rest on a bench outside the memorial and had our fruit and a drink before walking onwards over Memorial Bridge to the Arlington Cemetery.





There was a detour on the pavement and we had to go the long way round past the Lincoln memorial to get back to the bridge and walk over to Arlington.











You walk along the Avenue of Heroes to the entrance which is via the Visitor Center.









Again there is airport style security to get in to the cemetery but the lines were not long and moved fairly quickly. There is a tram that you can take to do a tour of the grounds, but we wanted to walk





First we headed on up to the JFK Eternal Flame, we didn’t linger long here as there were a lot of people all seeming to be quite upset.





We walked through the grounds towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, via the amphitheatre.





We were just in time for the 3pm changing of the guard at the Tomb. This was incredibly moving, we were standing over to the side and had a good view of the guards. The ceremony lasts about 10 minutes and is well worth building into your plan if you go to Arlington. In summer months I read that the guards change every 30 minutes and in winter it is on the hour. The Tomb is guarded 24 hours a day every day and has been since 1937, during the hours the cemetery is closed the guard is changed every 2 hours.

I didn’t take any photos of this as I just wanted to watch it. It really was very moving and even though there were a lot of people (a few school trips) it was very quiet and everyone watching was enthralled.

I read afterwards that the Sentinel takes 21 steps during their walk, this alludes to the 21 gun salute. They then turn and face the Tomb for 21 seconds, change their weapon to the other shoulder and wait another 21 seconds and repeat the process until the Guard Change ceremony begins. It was a solemn atmosphere and we were all pretty pensive as we walked away.





We ended up going a bit out of our way on our walk back to the visitor center and the exit as we saw there was a funeral just to the side of the road we wanted to take and we didn’t want to walk past and disturb them so we ended up walking around this and coming to the visitor center from the bottom.



We had decided that our feet were too sore to contemplate walking back from Arlington to our hotel, even with a dinner pencilled in for a half way pit stop, the walk would have taken about an hour and a half.

So, we headed to the subway/metro station. I asked at the booth what we needed to do as we hadn’t ridden the metro before and the attendant pointed at the machines over near the entrance . I actually thought she was being really dismissive and just sending us away to navigate the machines ourselves, but she followed us over and talked us through it all .



You have to buy the metro card, which costs $2 per card, and then load it up with the right amount of money for the trip you are going to take. The trip costs change depending on the time of day you are traveling as it’s more expensive to travel during peak times. This is all listed on the machines and actually it was quite easy and we got the hang of it. We paid $2.60 each for the journey to Union Station, plus of course the $2 for the card. The lady was really helpful and I’m glad I didn’t turn to Dave and make a derogatory comment about her as we walked over to the machine. This is what had been going through my mind and I hadn’t realised she’d followed us there.

The station and train was really easy to find our way around and we used the cards again a couple of times over the next few days. I’m now wondering if we could have just bought 1 card and loaded this up with enough money for the fare for four people, we did this in NYC and passed the card back to each other. Clearly if you live in DC $2 is not a lot to spend, but if you’re only on holiday it might be ok to only buy one and then put all your fares on the one card.

The attendant then explained that we needed to take the train to Metro Center and then change to get the train to Union Station.



She explained which escalator to take and which direction we should be heading in. She really was very helpful and not indifferent at all.



When we arrived at Union Station it had just turned 5pm and we were all hungry and decided it was definitely time for dinner. We went to the Union Pub, this was my favourite place of the trip I think.



It was full of people in suits who clearly had just finished work.



I ordered a gin and tonic and Dave had an IPA.



The kids both had cokes.



I really fancied the chicken totchos and they did not disappoint .



These were so tasty, a huge portion of tater tots with chicken, avocado, cheese and dips. I barely managed half of these and shared with the others.

Dave had a turkey avocado burger and fries.



Max had ‘That one burger’ the house cheeseburger and fries.



Kate had a chorizo grilled cheese sandwich with fries.



The kids got refills on their drinks and we decided to order a pitcher of beer.



This all went down really well! The bill was pretty reasonable too at $92.

After we had built up our strength we managed the final walk back to the hotel where we just chilled out again and once again we were all in bed by 9pm.

It had been a really interesting day, the kids had enjoyed the museum and I had enjoyed the FDR memorial and found Arlington and the Guard Change ceremony incredibly moving. It was fun to have our dinner in what felt like a proper locals place.

Steps 31,662 another day with a lot of steps.

Coming soon

Next up, on our 3rd day we go to the zoo, walk around Georgetown and see if we can find the Exorcist steps, then head to Dupont Circle for some dinner.
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Old 1 Nov 19, 09:23 AM  
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What glorious weather! And a busy day! Your kids are such good sightseers - lots of walking involved
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Old 1 Nov 19, 11:08 AM  
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Goldia
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
What glorious weather! And a busy day! Your kids are such good sightseers - lots of walking involved
The kids know there's no point in arguing with me they did do well though, Max described it to his grandparents as a holiday of looking at dead people and buildings. He's not wrong really.
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Old 2 Nov 19, 02:01 AM  
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Another brilliant day! The Museum looks really fun. I love the photo of the giraffe, it looks like Bambi on ice
That population counter is insane!
Arlington Cemetery looks really interesting, especially the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very moving reading about the changing of the guard.
I'm glad the Metro system seems more straight forward than the horrendous subway in NYC!
Dinner again looks lovely, that place reminds me of Ryan Maguires that we went to in New York with it being full of people straight from work. It's always a good sign
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Old 2 Nov 19, 09:26 AM  
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You are certainly keeping the step count up on this trip 😀 It looks a really interesting city though. The cemetery and the changing of the guard ceremony sounds very moving

How nice of the woman at the metro to talk you through the card buying, I have found Americans very helpful but they seem to have an abrupt way of doing it. As in your instance, I presume she just motioned for you to go to the machine without actually saying she was going to help you. I probably would have put my foot in it and moaned about her as soon as I turned from the kiosk

Your meal that evening looked huge, and excellent value for four of you.
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Old 2 Nov 19, 10:47 AM  
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Goldia
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Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
Another brilliant day! The Museum looks really fun. I love the photo of the giraffe, it looks like Bambi on ice
That population counter is insane!
Arlington Cemetery looks really interesting, especially the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very moving reading about the changing of the guard.
I'm glad the Metro system seems more straight forward than the horrendous subway in NYC!
Dinner again looks lovely, that place reminds me of Ryan Maguires that we went to in New York with it being full of people straight from work. It's always a good sign
I liked that photo of the giraffe too. The population counter was compulsive viewing we watched it for a few minutes, we just couldn't look away.

The cemetery is really worth the visit, but maybe get the metro over there. The guard changing was incredibly moving.

It was a great pub for dinner and so noisy with all the after work people chatting. They were all standing at the bar. There were 3 high top tables, we were sitting at one and the other 2 tables had tourists sitting at them. It was a great find.

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil View Post
You are certainly keeping the step count up on this trip 😀 It looks a really interesting city though. The cemetery and the changing of the guard ceremony sounds very moving

How nice of the woman at the metro to talk you through the card buying, I have found Americans very helpful but they seem to have an abrupt way of doing it. As in your instance, I presume she just motioned for you to go to the machine without actually saying she was going to help you. I probably would have put my foot in it and moaned about her as soon as I turned from the kiosk

Your meal that evening looked huge, and excellent value for four of you.
That's exactly what could have happened with the lady at the station I was so lucky that I didn't say out loud what was running through my head as we walked over to the ticket machine. I think you're absolutely right about her and her intentions to help.

Really good value on the food. I was pleased with the prices. In London that would have cost us a fortune.
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Old 2 Nov 19, 01:03 PM  
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Another fabulous day. The museum looks great. We never made it there unfortunately.

I can just imagine how the FDR memorial must look with the water it should have. It’s a shame we missed it.

Arlington is just so humbling isn’t it? Definitely worth a visit.

We used the Metro on a couple of days, and I have to say that we found it very easy. I let Martin figure out the ticket machine though. I got him to do a bit of research on it the night before.

I love Max’s description of it being a holiday looking at dead people and buildings! 😂😂😂
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Old 2 Nov 19, 05:58 PM  
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Originally Posted by jocat View Post
Another fabulous day. The museum looks great. We never made it there unfortunately.

I can just imagine how the FDR memorial must look with the water it should have. It’s a shame we missed it.

Arlington is just so humbling isn’t it? Definitely worth a visit.

We used the Metro on a couple of days, and I have to say that we found it very easy. I let Martin figure out the ticket machine though. I got him to do a bit of research on it the night before.

I love Max’s description of it being a holiday looking at dead people and buildings! 😂😂😂
The kids were keen to go to the museum, they did enjoy it and it made a change for them from dead people and buildings

Arlington was humbling you're absolutely right. I'm glad we made it over there.
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 3 Nov 19, 11:31 PM  
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Much better wake up times today. Breakfast seems good too, to say it was included with the price.

The museum looks fun and it looks like you had a great time.

No bad meals yet either which is a bonus. I'm not surprised your feet were tired, I'd be exhausted too, you've done so well xx
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Old 4 Nov 19, 08:23 PM  
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Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy View Post
Much better wake up times today. Breakfast seems good too, to say it was included with the price.

The museum looks fun and it looks like you had a great time.

No bad meals yet either which is a bonus. I'm not surprised your feet were tired, I'd be exhausted too, you've done so well xx
Practically a lie in today compared to the ridiculously early wake up the day before. I was really pleased with the breakfasts at the hotel as this would have cost us a fortune if we'd had to buy breakfast every day.

We did enjoy the museum. So much to see and over a couple of floors too.
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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