D.C. Day 2: Museum of Natural History and Monument Bike Tour

On Sunday morning, we ventured into Washington, D.C., to meet Zach's cousin Becky and her family at the National Mall. Becky has lived in the area for years, but she used to live in Dallas. It was great to see them! The National Mall is a beautiful park extending from the Capitol building to the Washington Monument, with Smithsonian museums and other official buildings all around it. When we visited, there was construction, temporary buildings and closures for the Freedom 250 rally all around the interior of the space, but luckily there was still a strip of green grass and trees bordering the center. It was shady and a nice place to sit and visit.

We were right in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and since we had time and it was one of the top places we wanted to visit, our two families went in to explore. This museum, like all of the Smithsonians, is free. 

Even though it's a popular site, there isn't a time stamp entry, so we were able to walk right in. (Every museum, basically every building we went into on this visit, had metal detectors and security at the door).

Bison statue

Wilder and Felicity recognized this room from A Night At the Museum 2!

Becky!

THE Hope Diamond

T

I loved how the emeralds in this tiara were swapped for turquoise before being donated to the museum.

The Megaladon--one of Wilder's FAVORITE creatures.

We ate lunch at the Ocean Terrace Cafe, which overlooked this giant recreation of a Megaladon. Wilder loved looking at it while we ate.

Actual jaw of a megaladon

Wilder loves animals that live in the Twilight Zone

This guy was in both Night at the Museum movies :-)

After the Museum of Natural History, we made our way over to the starting point for our "Monuments and Memorials" bike tour. I did this tour in 2012, on my last visit to the area, with my friend Kate. Back then it was run by Fat Tire Bike Tours, but the exact same tour is now run by Unlimited Biking. It's a 3-hour tour, and I believe we saw 8 monuments and memorials in all. We were part of a group with three other people and our tour guide.

All four of us really enjoyed the tour. The weather was perfect--not hot at all--the sites are so easy to access with a bike, and we learned lots of interesting facts. Our tour guide was named Abby (which the kids loved). Wilder wished the tour was longer, and Felicity wanted to take the tour again with the same tour guide.

Getting ready to roll out!

Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson

Washington Monument

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Loved this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt

FDR quote--there were four "rooms" with quotes in each one.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. This exhibit had opened not long before I visited last time.

There were many quotes from MLK Jr. on the walls

Korean War Veterans Memorial. The statues are haunting.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The Reflecting Pool was empty when we saw it on Sunday (May 31)

Statue of soldiers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

This statue is dedicated to the women who served in the Vietnam War.

 I don't know if it was here last time I visited, or if it stuck out more to me because I have read Kristin Hannah's The Women, but this was a really impactful statue, and it made me emotional looking at it. This was the highlight of the monument tour to me.

World War II Memorial. This was Wilder's favorite.

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

After our bike tour, we headed back to Arlington and had dinner with the Pattersons at a nearby sushi restaurant. I didn't get many pics because we were just enjoying the company!

I think I love a Japanese old fashioned even more than a regular one.

These cats always remind us of Beau.

We had ice cream at nearby Jeni's Ice Cream. The ice cream there was marvelous!! 

Next up, Day 3, we visited the National Archives and the Holocaust Museum!