Day 8 in D.C.: Train travel and departure!

Somehow this was the only photo we took with Josh! He and Zach have been friends since cross country days in college!

On our last day in Washington D.C., we had a 3 pm flight out. So we relaxed in the morning with our friends (This was the only day we did not get up and arrive at some site by 10 am, lol).  We packed up, said our goodbyes and took an uber to Union Station so we could catch an Amtrak train to the Baltimore airport. It sounds crazy to take a flight from a different state, but when we were pricing flights, it was most economical to fly into Reagan and fly out of Baltimore, and the airports are about the same distance from Washington D.C. proper. We booked flights before planning lodging, so we didn't know we'd be staying in Arlington. No worries, just needed to give ourselves time to get to the train station, because it would be a long, expensive, traffic-filled Uber ride. On the Uber ride to the train station, I realized there was a train at 1 pm, which would get us to the airport on time, and one at 1:50, which would NOT get us there on time. So we had to make the 1 pm. 

This was our first time to take an Amtrak train. We arrived at the station at 12:45. I tried several times to purchase tickets on the drive, but the app wasn't letting payment go through, so I quickly went to the ticket counter. I really wish I had stopped to take a photo of the station, because it was so pretty! Covered in marble and so grand. Here is someone else's photo of the station.

Anyway! Got our tickets (Thankfully no line at the counter) and she let us know the train doors closed 3 minutes till departure, so 12:57. At this point, it's like 12:52 and we have to walk to the platform. We are all power walking with our luggage, trying to follow directions, not seeing signs of the train being the right one. The kids were absolute champs and kept up without any complaint while we basically RAN to the platform. We got on a train, fairly certain it was the right one, and found seats and places to stow our luggage. Zach and I were literally sweating. We did not find seats together, but the kids were across the aisle from us, across from an older couple. WE MADE IT. Future reference, I will definitely research what time the train leaves, plus build in the 10 minutes of time we waited for an uber, when planning what time to leave lodging!

Overjoyed at getting to ride on a train!

All that being said, I really love train travel, and the Amtrak experience was great. My own lack of time management aside, it feels much less stressful to travel by train than by an airplane, and more enjoyable than driving.

Plus, the older couple across from Wilder and Felicity were delightful. I was worried they would be annoyed because they had to move their luggage for the kids, but they were the kindest, most friendly grandparents from New Jersey. They engaged with the kids, asked all kinds of chit chat questions, and really hit it off with them. It made our send-off from Washington D.C. really nice!

Chatting with their new friends.

We made it to the Baltimore airport in plenty of time to fly out, and our trip home was uneventful. We spent time journaling and relaxing!

Thank you for taking the time to read my recap. I'm going to post the itinerary on the last post for this series, with links to each day. I enjoyed reliving our trip here, and hope that it is helpful, should you ever want to visit these places!

 

Day 7 in D.C.: National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

I had heard on (national) news that the Reflecting Pool contraction was complete and it was refilled, so since we had some time, we decided to go there first on Day 7, a Friday. We walked over to the Lincoln Memorial and saw that it was only partially filled. It's a very big pool, so it definitely hadn't been filled in 24 hours.\

Partially filled, not yet green with algae :-)

We walked to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which was a little over a mile from the Lincoln Memorial, but it was on wide sidewalks with shade. It had definitely warmed up from the previous weekend though so we were glad for the A/C in the museum! Like all of the museums we visited this trip, it was free to get in, and this one, we didn't need a time-stamped entry. We just walked through security and we were in! Felicity was most looking forward to this museum.

Entrance to the Star Spangled Banner

Our first stop was to see the Star-Spangled Banner, the actual flag flown during the battle that inspire Francis Scott Key to write the poem that would become our national anthem.

Maya Angelou's typewriter

We loved the exhibit with the First Ladies' outfits--this was Felicity's highlight of the trip. 

Hillary Clinton's inauguration dress

Michelle Obama's outfit

There was a big pop culture exhibit, which was very fun.

R2-D2

Outfit from the Hamilton musical

Prince

Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz movie

Elmo! Oscar the Grouch!

Selena

Kristi Yamaguchi's ice skates

The kids enjoyed a Virtual Reality trip under the sea!

Lego Statue of Liberty

We ate lunch in the cafeteria--I had a maple bourbon chicken thigh, and it was REALLY good! After lunch, we looked around at the gift shop and decided to head  back to go swimming. We definitely didn't see everything at the American History Museum, but the kids were fading--we got to see MANY sites and museums on this trip, and we were tired. I think if/when we come back, we will go to this museum first, while we're fresh!

The kids and Zach and I had a blast swimming with our friends! It had finally warmed up to go to the pool!

Brady ready to swim!

For our last evening in Washington D.C., we decided to go to Old Town Alexandria to eat seafood with the Pattersons. We ended up at Fish Market Restaurant and sat on the patio. The food, drinks and atmosphere were delightful. Old Alexandria is such a cute area!

Kentucky mule

Trying calamari. He ate half an order of crab legs!

I love good oysters

First time to try oysters. She didn't like it, but I am proud of her for trying.

I can't even express how delicious this seafood pasta dish was. Fun fact: Seafood pasta is my favorite food in the entire world.

Felicity and Wilder shared snow crab. Yes, I know, it's alaskan and not local, but look at them eating stuff off the menu!

Our crew. Josh worked nights the last few days so he didn't come with us, but we had a great time!

Exploring the boardwalk

Such a cute area

Patriotic building

This was our last full day in Washington D.C. Next up, Day 8: Headed home.

Day 6 in D.C.: National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Udvar-Hazy Center - it's in a HUGE hangar

Thursday, our main goal was to see the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport (Udvar-Hazy Center). This was the museum wilder MOST wanted to see on this trip!

It's way out of the way from the rest of the museums, but with traffic, we didn't want to drive/take an Uber. So we went from the Ballston stop on the silver line to Dulles. From there, we had to take a commuter bus around to the museum. I had been avoiding bus transit because of traffic, but this was the only option. We stood around with like 12 other people waiting for the bus, but after 15 minutes past when it was supposed to get there, we ended up booking an uber anyway!

The museum is HUGE - it's two hangars with three stories of planes from the Wright brothers through modern planes, everything from parasailing to the Blackbird, and a bunch of spacecraft. Super cool.

Waiting for the metro

Excited!

The Concord was Wilder's No. 1 thing he loved seeing the entire trip.

Wilder LOVED Dusty Crophopper from the Pixar Planes movie for years and years. He has mostly outgrown that love, but this was a little like seeing a Disney princess in real life.

I'll be honest, Dusty was my most favorite part of this museum, lol. Mom memories!

Felicity and I could not get over this adorable "Sky Baby" plane. SO cute.

THE plane that dropped one of the bombs that helped end World War II. No big deal.

The Discovery shuttle was in the "space" hangar of the Air and Space Museum

We had lunch at the museum's Shake Shack!

Cosmic Concrete

Steep escalator

After visiting the Air & Space Museum at Dulles, we took the Silver line all the way back into D.C. to visit my friend Linette. We met in a mom group for women with due dates in November 2013 (both our firstborns). We have been friends ever since! This is by far not the first time we've gotten to hang out in person, but it was the first in her city. We got cold brews and chatted in between end of school events for her, reviving our tired museum walking feet. :-)

Fancy hot chocolate

I was delighted to pick up a journal at the Air & Space Museum. I like to journal about all our trips (before I blog about it!) but I've enjoyed doing it in journals I get from those trips. I looked in so many stores, and every single gift shop, and couldn't find one I liked. FINALLY found one at this museum.

So happy with my journal!

That evening we got Thai takeout with our friends and just relaxed! We walked 10-12,000 steps a day on this trip, sometimes more, and the kids were SUCH troopers. With just one full day left to go, we were getting a bit tired. But this museum was so great, I'm so glad Wilder got to be in his element.

Sweet Jake

I will never turn down pad see ew

Brady and Zach, BFF

Jake was giving Panda vibes

Next up: Day 6: National Museum of American History