How to Fit on the Subway

We had a really full day today, so full in fact that my camera battery is currently dead. I'll post some shots as soon as it gets recharged. In the meantime, here's a rundown of our day:

We slept in a little, and that was good for everyone. After eating, though, we set out on our adventure. Our first stop today was the International Spy Museum. I couldn't take any pictures inside, but believe me when I tell you that you're not missing much. After paying the hefty fee to get all of our family in the door, we waited in line for about 20 minutes. Finally, we were let into the exhibit, which was advertised to us as being "great for the kids." In fact, we saw lots of neat Cold War Era items, but since our kids are all under the age of eleven, it was pretty much meaningless to them. It was really not what we expected, and at the behest of the children, we left after seeing only about half of the exhibits.

Since it was nearly lunchtime, we hunted for a place to eat. Word to the wise, when in DC, plan ahead for eating because there's not a McDonald's on every corner. We ended up taking the train back to Crystal City which is a shopping center beneath an office building. We ate Subway in the food court and pretty much got raped on the prices. At least we all had sustenance.

Ready for more, we took the Metro to Arlington Cemetery where we witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The kids were great, standing and remaining silent through the process as requested. I understand that there is a guard there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, which is pretty cool; the one thing that I really wonder is whether or not they go through all of the pomp and circumstance after the cemetery is closed to visitors. Like at 2am, are they out there putting on that whole show? Or are they like, "Yo, Bob, kinda cool out this evening." "Yeah, Skip, it's a bit nippy….There's some hot cocoa hidden in the bushes on the left." "Thanks, Bob, see ya in an hour." Almost makes me want to sneak back in just to see.

While we were at the National Cemetary, we also stopped to see the memorial for the Challenger and Columbia crews, Robert E. Lee's house, and the Kennedy gravesites. From the Lee's mansion, there is a great view of the city, and I hope that my pictures turn out okay so you can enjoy, too.

Since that took several hours, we were already hungry again, and we needed to find something less expensive than $10 Subway sandwiches (I told you we got raped on the price). We stopped on the mall at a bike tour place to ask about renting bikes tomorrow and got the lowdown on a nearby Mickey D's. Cleverly disguised as an office, building, we were nearly at the front door before the kids even realized where we were headed.

We hung out on the Mall after dinner and saw the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. The kids all agreed that the Lincoln Memorial was the best of the day, and they were all greatly surprised at the size of Lincoln's statue. I got some good pics of the monuments, and we hung around until after dark to get some night shots, too. I hope that they turned out okay. I didn't have a tripod, so I had to improvise a little with fence posts and park benches.

Finally, we are all back at the hotel and all of the kids are asleep. Two of them were asleep before we even got here. Leah and I are going to let them sleep in a little tomorrow and then we are going to rent some bikes and we'll tour the Mall again on bicycle. The kids are really looking forward to that. Afterward, we're going to visit some of the Smithsonian museums and then maybe let the kids watch a movie in the hotel tomorrow evening. After these past two days, we need to slow it down a little for them.

Oh, and I almost forgot. While we were walking to and from the Lincoln Memorial, Leah commented that she's never seen so many joggers in any one city before. Reagan very quickly quipped, "They have to jog so they can fit on the subway."

UPDATE - 6/24 - Pictures are now online:

Saturday, June 23, 2007