DC and Memorial weekend

Husband travels to Washington DC semi-regularly for work.  He usually goes for three or four days and gets to visit his kid sister.  This particular trip showed up on his calendar and it fell together so easily that I could go with him.  We had such a great weekend and I’m so grateful I got to go! I’ve been there once for a short trip and loved it.  I love historical sites, museums, wandering new cities and was thrilled for some one-on-one with Z and especially to get to spend so much time with husband.

On Thursday evening, it was pretty late when we finally got on the road.  (L had auditions for next year’s dance team)  We got to my parents house and turned the girls loose for some over excited hugs and chatting.  They would be staying at Grammy’s house for the long weekend.  We got the girls to bed and got a few hours of sleep before we were up again and raced off to the airport for our super early flight.

Our only hiccup at the airport was getting Z on my ticket as a lap infant. It’s always shocked me that as ticketed passengers, children don’t need ID.  But apparently infants do.  Fortunately we worked it out quickly and made our flight.  Z slept the whole way to our layover in Chicago.  We got some lunch, played with Z and boarded our second flight, which Z also slept through.

We landed in DC in the late afternoon, immediately swarmed with the hot humid air.  It felt more like showing up in the Caribbean than in crisp, New England.  Kid sister picked us up and we headed for her apartment.  She generously turned the bedroom over to us so we did a quick freshen up and left for dinner.  Originally Husband was to fly out earlier in the week for work meetings.  But those meetings got rearranged and postponed.  We almost cancelled the trip but it worked out so easily for me to go that we went anyway as just a fun weekend.  However, we did have dinner with some of his work contacts.  We went to a great restaurant full of young professionals and great food.  Z was an unusual sight there and got lots of attention every time I walked around.  I spent most of dinner chatting with kid sister and taking care of Z while Husband was able to talk with his contacts.

After dinner it was still early enough we decided to go play.  We headed for the Mall, making our way through the thousands of motorcyclists gathering for the Annual First Amendment ride.  We started at the Lincoln Memorial, finding the MLK Jr step and admiring the view.  We wandered the paths going to the new MLK Jr Memorial, observing the Jefferson Memorial for a distance and finding the original cherry trees and small monument explaining the history.  We took our time at the WWII Memorial as night fell, perfectly timing it so we could see the Korean War Memorial in the dark.  I heard it was really moving and so different to see it that way.  Finally we went back to kid sister’s apartment, driving past the Iwo Jima statue and the Air Force Memorial on the way.  We rented a movie (Winter Soldier) but I slept through it and finally crashed for the night.

On Saturday, we took our time getting ready in the morning and had breakfast at the apartment.  And then went into DC again, wandering past many official buildings including kid sister’s work, and stopping at a food truck for an early lunch.  Then we spent several hours at the Smithsonian American History Museum.  I had never been there before and it’s been high on my list for a long time.  I knew some of the individual items on display and wanted to see them.  But I had no idea how broadly encompassing the museum is.  The museum is sectioned off by various themes and we visited most of them, moving much more slowly than we claimed but thoroughly enjoying it.  Z did fantastic, occasionally fussy but we simply stopped whenever he was hungry and took turns pushing his stroller.  We visited exhibits on money, the evolution of transportation, the history of food (where Z got to have breakfast in Julia Child’s kitchen—I though it was appropriate), voting booths, the White House and so much more!  The American Sacrifice exhibit was very moving, discussing all the conflicts in which American participated with a focused perspective that had so much impact and personalization.  We got to see the flag that inspired the national anthem (I had been to Fort McHenry before which is much more informative and powerful but the actual flag is in the museum).  I loved the exhibit on the first ladies, the dress collection is incredible.  And the exhibit that is probably most well known was smaller than I anticipated but still incredible with items like the Nauvoo sun stone, Ben Franklin’s cane, then Greensboro lunch counter and more.  I even got a picture of Z with the original Elmo.

We eventually left the museum and walked towards the mini Chinatown in DC (which is most just an elaborate gate but beautiful).  We stopped at Chopt to get salad for dinner, craving something fresh and light in the heat and then ended at the movie theatre to see Captain America: Civil War.  Husband and kid sister usually go to the movies when he gets to visit her, often seeing a Marvel movie so I was happy to join their tradition.  Z did great, he was awake though most of it but happy to be cuddled the whole time.  And then back to the apartment for the night. 

On Sunday morning we woke up earlier and joined some friends for church.  I’ve seen them once since they moved to DC a few years ago so it was so fun to catch up with them.  We attended church with them and then followed them home for a quick lunch.  Their four young kids are adorable and absolutely love Husband who has visited them before.  Then we invited them to go with us to spend the afternoon at the Arlington Cemetery. 

We tried to drive there but the roads were blocked off, probably due to the anticipated high traffic that would have swamped the area.  So we drove partway and then took the metro.  With 5 adults and 5 young kids, we moved rather slowly but had a great experience.  We did the tour which let us get on a bus and hop on and off at some of the various spots.  It also included a tour guide and I really appreciated their narrative.  He pointed out several monuments or sections, including his own Vietnam group.  The endless rows of headstones and flags was astounding.  It was immense, sprawling in every direction with reverence, precision and nobility.  We got off the bus at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and witnessed the changing of the guard.  We got an extended version with the placement of wreaths because of the Memorial weekend.  We also got off the bus at Robert E Lee’s house which has been converted to a museum restored with period pieces and tells the history of how Arlington cemetery was created.  From the house, we got to enjoy one of the best views in all of Washington DC and could see all of the Mall.  I had to stop and feed Z as we enjoyed the view and as an unexpected surprise, we got to watch as military police came to lower the flag for the evening and one of the guides explained to the kids about how it was folded.  However, by then it was also pouring rain so we didn’t get to go to the Iwo Jima statue or the 9/11 Memorial.  Next time.

We said goodbye to our friends and made it home.  We packed, ordered in Indian food (loved that you can get anything delivered there!) and watched Ant-Man for a quieter evening at home.  Especially since we had to be up at 4 am for our flight.

Again, Z was an angel and slept the whole way home.  We met Grammy and Papa at IHop to retrieve our girls and they were full of fun stories from the weekend.  They visited a bounce house park and spent hours there with cousins.  They painted glow in the dark fairy houses for Papa’s garden and made rice kripsy trains for us, dripping with frosting and candy.  They loved getting to “help” Papa build the new gazebo for the Jacuzzi (doubtful how helpful they actually were but they loved it).

From there we hurried home to unload the car and ready for the rest of the day.  We joined Grandpa,  the aunties and few other favorite family members and the cemetery.  The girls decorated Grandma’s headstone with flowers as we passed around Good & Plenty candies (Grandma’s favorite, bought at lil L’s request) and we sang and prayed.  We had to adjust plans and weren’t able to visit all the cemeteries we usually do since the day was going fast.  But from there we gathered with many more family members at Gram’s headstone for prayer, song and the reciting of Flander’s Field.

After we left the cemetery, we went to the aunties’ house for a BBQ, lots of chatting and a huge game of kickball.  The girls loved playing kickball, and husband is such a wonderful Daddy, he had a great time playing with the kids.  Z turned suddenly fussy so I stayed with him and we headed home soon after.

Can’t think of a better way to spend Memorial Day weekend.