On The Road Again - Day 4

We got up this morning, still feeling the effects of a long day yesterday...but excited to explore Washington, DC!

We decided to start our day big, by heading straight to the White House! It was super cool to stand outside and actually see it in real life.

After walking around the White House area, we needed a break from the hot sun, and headed into the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  It was great to see the Hope Diamond! It was gorgeous!

We toured around the museum a bit, and had some lunch before going for a big long walk around the National Mall.  Our first stopping point was the Washington Monument.  There was a great view from the monument location down the Mall towards the Lincoln Monument at the other side.

The World War Two monument is really nice and although it's not like the fountain/splash pad in Guelph, I took Logan's shorts and shoes off and let him splash around in it a bit to cool off!

We continued walking down the Mall towards the Lincoln Memorial where we had a great view in the other direction!

We stopped for an icecream break before walking around towards the memorial for the Vietnam War.

At this point we were super hot, and tired, and decided to head back to the hotel for a swim, and a trip to the grocery store to pick up some picnic items for dinner and breakfast!

Tomorrow, we make our way to Virginia Beach! I hope we continue to have gorgeous weather!!!

On The Road Again - Day 3

We left Hershey, PA at around 9am today to continue our journey South.  Before making our way to Washington, DC we had a stop in Gettysburg.  Gettysburg is the location of one of the deadliest battles during the civil war.

The first place we explored on our self guided tour was the Soldiers' National Cemetery.

This is the location where Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg address.

We saw quite a few markers and monuments along our tour.  But got out and stretched our legs on a hike up to the top of Big Round Top.

Then saw the amazing view from the top of Little Round Top.

After a picnic lunch, we made our way through Maryland, and into Virginia.  Our hotel is across the Potomac river from Washington in Arlington, VA.  We were excited to see the Washington Monument in the distance, as we approached our hotel.

Arlington is home to the Arlington National Cemetery: a huge national military cemetery.

I had no idea how many things in this cemetery were important monuments that I had heard about.  We stopped at the John F. Kennedy (and Family) burial.  Arlington House, Pan Am Flight 103 memorial, World War 2 memorial, Space Shuttle Columbia and Space Shuttle Challenger Memorials.

We had gorgeous views of Washington from the top of the hill! We could see the Washington Monument, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building.

One of the coolest things we saw was the tomb of the unknown soldier.  We happened to be there during the changing of the guards, which is quite a traditional ceremony.

One thing that was quite interesting was how big the memorial is for the United States Marine Corps.  We expected it to be much smaller than it was...it's huge!

After a busy day with tons of walking in intense heat, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and a rest.  Tomorrow we cross the river into Washington, DC!