Stop 3: Washington, DC

Alright, let me just start with a disclaimer: I did not love DC. I realize this will make me very unpopular with most readers and some of you may even judge me and assume I am shallow and un-American. So I will go ahead and apologize to those of you before you go any further and assure you that I am a) not shallow, b) quite proud of my country, and c) still really, really glad we went.


If Outer Banks was simplicity and bliss, DC was heat and exhaustion. Those of you who know me know that I do not shy away from 90 degree heat, but walking looooooong blocks in a crowded city with a 6-year-old hanging onto my hand was a little trying at times. Both boys did pretty well and said they both enjoyed the city a lot, but any parent knows walking around the National Mall in June with small children can make any adult long for a beach vacation.

We stayed in Pohick Bay Regional Park in Virginia, although we did not really do anything in the campground. It served as homebase to come back at the end of each day, shower, eat, and sleep.

We drove the car to the nearest train station and took the Metro to the National Zoo, since that was Aidan Kai's one request. We were all super impressed with the zoo...the animals were super accessible, and we lucked out with great views of the pandas.

From there we took the metro back into the National Mall area. This was the kids' first train rides, so that was definitely part of the fun.

We only had enough time for a bite to eat and the Washington Monument before we had to head back to avoid a rainstorm and a 6-year-old-nearing-a-breakdown-from-physical-exhaustion.




Walking up to the monument was really impressive, but for me, personally, the White House was by far my favorite sight. They closed the street in front of it when we got there (they would not tell us why, but we did google that Prince was performing there that day), so we were able to get perfectly unobstructed shots.

We spent day 2 seeing the rest of the monuments and visiting the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History.

When I jokingly asked Aidan Kai if he thought Lincoln would get up

and start talking to us like he did in the movie "Night at the Museum 2", he assured me that

"No, Mommy, that only happens at night."

The boys standing where Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I Have A Dream" speech.

Vietnam Veteran's Memorial

Amelia Earheart's plane at Air and Space Museum

This pilot is way cuter than Amelia, don't you think?

Surely, I'm not the only one who has been to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
and kept half-expecting to see Ben Stiller turn the corner...?

My biggest complaint about the city? Amazingly enough, I never found a DC decal for my collection (although I admit I already ordered one online to stick on once we get home). But we did add another state to our US Map on the back of the RV. Now on to the adventure: New York City!

Washington DC, check!