And now back to our regularly scheduled boring vacation photos. Be polite and look at them, please. We will update you to current life happenings as they....happen. Thank you!
Ok, I left off in BENtown. From there we traveled to Washington, DC for the July 4th weekend. I blogged earlier from Washington, as our hotel had wireless connection, so you can check out those pictures.
Our main motivation for coming to DC during the holiday was for what we thought would be an awesome fireworks display. On my early morning jog, I chatted with one of DC's finest, and asked him what location would give the best view of the fireworks. He said, 'park it right on the lawn next to the Washington Monument, then you can lie back and they're right over you head, but it's very loud'. Well, there goes that option, since Emma can't stand the noise. So instead, we decided to watch the 'works from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; plus we hadn't see it yet.
As luck would have it, it was raining on and off all day. Mike even had to buy 2 umbrellas. We weren't even sure there were going to be any fireworks, as it was raining right up until 9 pm. By the time we got back to our hotel from the Air and Space Museum, it had stopped raining. We had a quick bite to eat and headed out, clogging our way up the mall. It took forever to get to Lincoln, since we had to walk all the way around a fence to go through a check point. Austin almost got lost after going through security, as Mike thought he was with me and visa versa.
The fireworks had already started when we were crossing to get to the steps. I guess me and 134,567 other people had the same great idea, since we had to squeeze near the fence on the lawn. You could see the Washington Monument in the distance. I must say I was rather disappointed in the display, as it didn't seem as grand as I expected. It was a very humid night, and the smoke from the fireworks hung in the air and obliterated the view of the coming rockets at times. I was waiting for the grand finale and expecting the sky to be just full of huge color puffs, but the finale was only a whole bunch of boomers at once. Not that the fireworks weren't beautiful, it's just they seem so much bigger and better on tv! We decided we wouldn't do this town for fireworks again. Boston's Harbor fest is supposed to be good, maybe next year...
Anyway, we walked up the steps and into the Lincoln Memorial. I remember doing that when I was a kid, and feeling like I was going to fall backwards. I remember stopping halfway and looking up to the man in the chair, and feeling like he was going to fall right on top of me. Funny how it doesn't seem so imposing anymore. The kids really liked it anyway, that and the reflecting pool, which we were unable to see from our fireworks spot.
Our last stop on the way out of DC was to the new National Air and Space Museum, called the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center and no, it is not at Ronald Reagan International Airport, like Mike thought it was. It is instead located at Dulles Airport, very far from everything! Needless to say, we spent an hour on a lovely train to and from RRIA (which isn't so bad since the trains are immaculate and smoooooth). Besides, what would a vacation be without an adventure or two? Very impressed by this museum. It had the space shuttle Enterprise (no, not Captain Kirk's), the Enola Gay which dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima, a Concord Jet, and the SR 71 Blackhawk which is the fastest jet fueled airplane. Austin like this museum the best, even more than the Natural History (rocks and bones) Museum.
Ok, I left off in BENtown. From there we traveled to Washington, DC for the July 4th weekend. I blogged earlier from Washington, as our hotel had wireless connection, so you can check out those pictures.
Our main motivation for coming to DC during the holiday was for what we thought would be an awesome fireworks display. On my early morning jog, I chatted with one of DC's finest, and asked him what location would give the best view of the fireworks. He said, 'park it right on the lawn next to the Washington Monument, then you can lie back and they're right over you head, but it's very loud'. Well, there goes that option, since Emma can't stand the noise. So instead, we decided to watch the 'works from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; plus we hadn't see it yet.
As luck would have it, it was raining on and off all day. Mike even had to buy 2 umbrellas. We weren't even sure there were going to be any fireworks, as it was raining right up until 9 pm. By the time we got back to our hotel from the Air and Space Museum, it had stopped raining. We had a quick bite to eat and headed out, clogging our way up the mall. It took forever to get to Lincoln, since we had to walk all the way around a fence to go through a check point. Austin almost got lost after going through security, as Mike thought he was with me and visa versa.
The fireworks had already started when we were crossing to get to the steps. I guess me and 134,567 other people had the same great idea, since we had to squeeze near the fence on the lawn. You could see the Washington Monument in the distance. I must say I was rather disappointed in the display, as it didn't seem as grand as I expected. It was a very humid night, and the smoke from the fireworks hung in the air and obliterated the view of the coming rockets at times. I was waiting for the grand finale and expecting the sky to be just full of huge color puffs, but the finale was only a whole bunch of boomers at once. Not that the fireworks weren't beautiful, it's just they seem so much bigger and better on tv! We decided we wouldn't do this town for fireworks again. Boston's Harbor fest is supposed to be good, maybe next year...
Anyway, we walked up the steps and into the Lincoln Memorial. I remember doing that when I was a kid, and feeling like I was going to fall backwards. I remember stopping halfway and looking up to the man in the chair, and feeling like he was going to fall right on top of me. Funny how it doesn't seem so imposing anymore. The kids really liked it anyway, that and the reflecting pool, which we were unable to see from our fireworks spot.
Our last stop on the way out of DC was to the new National Air and Space Museum, called the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center and no, it is not at Ronald Reagan International Airport, like Mike thought it was. It is instead located at Dulles Airport, very far from everything! Needless to say, we spent an hour on a lovely train to and from RRIA (which isn't so bad since the trains are immaculate and smoooooth). Besides, what would a vacation be without an adventure or two? Very impressed by this museum. It had the space shuttle Enterprise (no, not Captain Kirk's), the Enola Gay which dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima, a Concord Jet, and the SR 71 Blackhawk which is the fastest jet fueled airplane. Austin like this museum the best, even more than the Natural History (rocks and bones) Museum.
Finishing up at the museum, we drove for 6 hours to get to our friends Julie and Marty in Stokesdale, NC. We'll pick up with there later!
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