David and I are on our first real vacation without the kids. We took this vacation to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary which was last Christmas, so we are only a little belated. Saturday we drove out to just north of Washington DC.
Sunday we got up and headed into DC. We found parking just down the street from the White House and headed out. We immediately were hit by the heat. It was not even 9am and it was already scorching. While normally this time of year is still pleasant weather we managed to hit an unusual heat wave and promised temperatures of over 100 and high humidity. We took a leisurely stroll past the White House as we waited for my brother to arrive and meet us.
On a side note, my brother drove up from Atlanta just to spend the day exploring DC with us. It was about a 9 hour drive for him as well, and I was touched that he was willing to go to such lengths to get to spend the day with us. It was great to get to see him and chat as we ambled through the national mall.
Once we met up we headed out for the Lincoln Memorial. About half way through the walk there I realized I was going to have a problem, my shoes were those moldable plasticy type of shoes that you see everywhere these days. While they are quite comfortable normally, in the high heat my feet were sweating and this was causing them to rub atrociously. But I ignored it and we kept walking.
The Lincoln Memorial was as impressive as I had hoped, I had worried that he was going to be small in real life. Although it was much more crowded than they ever show in the movies where someone is sitting on the stairs by themselves contemplating, I did enjoy getting to see it. We decided to take a cab to the other side of the mall and see the capitol, then walked to the air and space museum. We welcomed watching a show at the planetarium to get out of the heat and sun. After browsing the Air and Space museum a little more we headed out wandering the other side of the mall as we looked for someplace for lunch. we passed through the sculpture garden and when I saw the large fountain there I quickly took off my shoes and soaked my aching feet in the water, by this time I had 4 well defined blisters on my feet and the promise of several more forming. We found a great INDOOR cafe right in the sculpture garden where we had a leisurely lunch and again enjoyed the cool.
When we finally decided to brave the heat again we traipsed off to see the Jefferson Memorial. By this time I was seriously limping, and we were all doing anything we could to stay in the shade to even cool the temperature by a couple of degrees. We finally made it and I have to say that the Jefferson Memorial was the nicest one-it had the best views, set in the nicest location, felt more open, and on this day had a nice breeze blowing. We then sat on a bench in the shade by the water and debated politics for a little while, an appropriate conversation for a trip to Washington.
It was a great trip to DC, and I was impressed with all we fit into the few hours that we had there. It will leave an impression though for the now 9 blisters that are aching on my feet and high heat that we endured. David will remember the cars, at least that is what he kept commenting on and pointing out as we walked. But that's David for you. 80) I'm glad that the kids weren't with us-they would have hated it, being too young to appreciate any of that. Now we are settled into a place in Williamsburg and and enjoying relaxing without the demands of parenting or anything else demanding. It's strange to be just the two of us, it doesn't happen often enough, but we are enjoying it.
Sunday we got up and headed into DC. We found parking just down the street from the White House and headed out. We immediately were hit by the heat. It was not even 9am and it was already scorching. While normally this time of year is still pleasant weather we managed to hit an unusual heat wave and promised temperatures of over 100 and high humidity. We took a leisurely stroll past the White House as we waited for my brother to arrive and meet us.
On a side note, my brother drove up from Atlanta just to spend the day exploring DC with us. It was about a 9 hour drive for him as well, and I was touched that he was willing to go to such lengths to get to spend the day with us. It was great to get to see him and chat as we ambled through the national mall.
Once we met up we headed out for the Lincoln Memorial. About half way through the walk there I realized I was going to have a problem, my shoes were those moldable plasticy type of shoes that you see everywhere these days. While they are quite comfortable normally, in the high heat my feet were sweating and this was causing them to rub atrociously. But I ignored it and we kept walking.
The Lincoln Memorial was as impressive as I had hoped, I had worried that he was going to be small in real life. Although it was much more crowded than they ever show in the movies where someone is sitting on the stairs by themselves contemplating, I did enjoy getting to see it. We decided to take a cab to the other side of the mall and see the capitol, then walked to the air and space museum. We welcomed watching a show at the planetarium to get out of the heat and sun. After browsing the Air and Space museum a little more we headed out wandering the other side of the mall as we looked for someplace for lunch. we passed through the sculpture garden and when I saw the large fountain there I quickly took off my shoes and soaked my aching feet in the water, by this time I had 4 well defined blisters on my feet and the promise of several more forming. We found a great INDOOR cafe right in the sculpture garden where we had a leisurely lunch and again enjoyed the cool.
When we finally decided to brave the heat again we traipsed off to see the Jefferson Memorial. By this time I was seriously limping, and we were all doing anything we could to stay in the shade to even cool the temperature by a couple of degrees. We finally made it and I have to say that the Jefferson Memorial was the nicest one-it had the best views, set in the nicest location, felt more open, and on this day had a nice breeze blowing. We then sat on a bench in the shade by the water and debated politics for a little while, an appropriate conversation for a trip to Washington.
It was a great trip to DC, and I was impressed with all we fit into the few hours that we had there. It will leave an impression though for the now 9 blisters that are aching on my feet and high heat that we endured. David will remember the cars, at least that is what he kept commenting on and pointing out as we walked. But that's David for you. 80) I'm glad that the kids weren't with us-they would have hated it, being too young to appreciate any of that. Now we are settled into a place in Williamsburg and and enjoying relaxing without the demands of parenting or anything else demanding. It's strange to be just the two of us, it doesn't happen often enough, but we are enjoying it.
1 comment:
What a surprise to find you have updated your blog while you are on vacation! I am glad you are having a good time, despite your blisters! That sounds painful. I hope Monday and Tuesday were a lot of fun, too!
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