Destination: D.C.

I've been avoiding my computer like the plague since I know that in less than a week, I'll be glued to it.  School starts back Monday. I have mixed feelings about this.

Anyway ...

As you probably know, everything is so compact here on the East Coast.  Lots and lots of stuff in very little space.  It's both a perk and an annoyance. This past weekend, we made it a perk.

We're three to four hours or less from a number of urban areas, including Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.  For this particular day trip, we chose D.C.

We left Saturday morning, but because of all the fist-pumping Jersey Shore, "I gots to get to the beach NOW" travelers, combined with buckets of rain, it took us 5 hours to get there {It should've only taken about 3.5 hours}.  {Side note: In that short amount of time, we drove through New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland ... see what I mean when I say COMPACT!} Anywho, we didn't arrive 'til 2 p.m.  

Oh, and despite the fact that The Weather Channel predicted sun, the weather was nasty.  We're talking hot, sticky and rainy.  But, we trotted along and made the best of it!

After taking in some of the outdoor sights of The National Mall ...

 We made our first stops at a couple of the Smithsonian Museums: The Museum of American History, followed by the Air and Space Museum.  The exhibits at the American History Museum were chalk full of interesting facts and artifacts, but perhaps my favorite was the fantastic new First Ladies exhibit that showcased all the inaugural gowns and accessories.  

I couldn't get over the amount of actual pieces {not replicas} at the Air and Space Museum.  We're talking the actual Spirit of St. Louis, the actual command modules from several of the Apollo flights, and one the neatest ...

the actual, original Wright Flyer.  It's difficult to believe the sophisticated airplanes we use now all started from this.

Walking outside around The National Mall and visiting the two museums took up a pretty big chunk of our time, so we only had time for one more stop.

Of course, we didn't want to leave without seeing The White House!

 Thankfully, our trip home was pretty traffic-free.  I mean, I guess "traffic-free" in terms of normal traffic in this area. ;-)

I'm kind of regretting the fact we didn't get a single picture together, but I know we'll be back.  We left plenty there to do!  I think next time, though, we'll try our best to avoid the fist-pumpers who love to put the "T" in GTL!  Haha!