Once at Logan it took us an hour to get through security and then we had about an hour to wait for our flight. This was the first flight in two years for the children so they were enjoying the whole experience. We got on the plane and had an uneventful ride. Toby watched Spongebob for the 1.5 hours, Lucy and Amelia listened to music and colored in their coloring books.
When we arrived at 9:00am, the fun began. It was misting and about 40 degrees. I had decided to navigate using the Metro rather than a cab because a cab costs about 75 dollars and should take the same amount of time. Public transportation should cost about 45 dollars for the 4 of us.
It was easy enough at the airport. We took a bus to the first stop on the silver line which should have taken us all the way to our hotel. Toby and Amelia fell asleep on the silver line train. Then they made an announcement that there had been a fire somewhere on the "deck", whatever that means, so this train was going to stop at the next stop. At that stop we transferred to another train which should have been able to get us to our hotel, but again 1 or 2 stops in, they made the same announcement, so we transferred to another train, and then another! 2.5 hours later we were walking to our hotel. I think the normal time frame is 1.5 hours. I was impressed with my Metro navigating skills and less impressed with the Metro itself.
It was now 11:30 and we stopped at our hotel even though check-in wasn't until 4:00. They said our room wasn't ready, but they stored our bags for us. Our hotel is right next to Ford's Theatre and the Peterson House (where Lincoln died) so we checked in for tickets there and they were available which was great because I had been worrying since they were sold out online. They were also free, whereas they were $3 each online. We enjoyed our tour through the museum and spent some time sitting in the balcony at Ford's Theatre and then went across the street to the Peterson House. I had been here before when I was a teenager and have been talking about the bloody pillow since we started planning this trip, and guess what? No bloody pillow! I think it's in Chicago now. It was still a great experience, inspiring to see how loved Lincoln was and how eloquently he was able to argue his beliefs.
We then went for lunch across the street at the Hard Rock Cafe which was a waste since none of my children had ever heard of Hard Rock, but the food was good.
We checked back in and the hotel had our room ready. I had been worried about navigating from the airport and I had been worried about our hotel. It had horrible reviews on trip advisor. It's a 2 star 100 year old hotel with a very central location, easily within walking distance to the monuments, White House, etc. I braced myself for our room and we were all happily surprised. Yes, it is old, yes it is outdated, but it was very clean, and the best part was that instead of our room with two double beds, they gave us a "suite" with two bedrooms and two bathrooms! I will be sure to do a review for them because we are quite delighted with the hotel. If you are used to staying in modern expensive hotels, this is not the place for you. Everything seems like it is about to break because it is 100 years old, but it's clean, the heat and ac work, there's hot water, and the wi-fi is excellent! The last hotel I stayed at in Orlando I couldn't use the wi-fi the entire time due to a poor connection. And you can't beat this location!
Once we checked in, Lucy and I took a two hour nap while the other two played on their electronics. Then we headed out around 5 to explore the monument area. It was getting quite chilly by the time we started heading back to our hotel around 7 and the kids were beat. We got dinner at a surprisingly good dive restaurant next to our hotel - Harry's, and headed upstairs. Amelia went right to sleep, the other two watched a show, and now we are all about to go to sleep for the night.
Tomorrow will be warmer, but Wednesday is the warmest, so we're saving the zoo and Arlington Cemetery for Wednesday. Tomorrow we'll do the Renwick Gallery, Library of Congress and any Smithsonians that catch our eye. If we're up for it, we'll do a nightime walk of the monuments in the evening.
Lincoln's Box
Ford's Theatre
Peterson House
Room where Lincoln died
Hard Rock
Cherry Blossoms
Amelia spent a lot of time taking pictures on her Leappad, which takes cruddy pictures, which led her to realize she wants a camera for her birthday, and led to a slight breakdown at the Korean War Memorial because she couldn't get the perfect shot.
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