July 4, 2010 – Day 4

The pictures are:
1. Mt. Vernon from the front.
2. Mt. Vernon – the porch overlooks the Potomac
3. Part of the formal garden
4. On the way home.

We woke up early so that we could get the early subway and bus to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington.

Because it is a holiday, it took us 45 minutes to reach the bus stop in Virginia. The next bus was going to be 30 minutes so we convinced 3 other people who were waiting to share a cab and we asked the cab to come back at 11:30 to take us back to the hotel.

Mt. Vernon is truly amazing. We have been to a lot of older homes and estates, but this place was beautiful and maybe the most complete and restored property we have seen.

It overlooks that Potomac River on a high bluff and George Washington built a massive estate.

We spent the next couple of hours there and then met our cab driver who took us to our hotel and waited for us and then to the airport.

A great trip and we are tired, but it is a good tired and with a good nights sleep tonight, we are ready to get back to normality – whatever that is!!

Today is our anniversary and what a nice place to celebrate.

Thanks for reading our trip blog. See you in late August for our trip to Europe.

Love to you all - Barb and Ed

July 4, 2010 – Day 3

July 4, 2010 – Day 3

The pictures are:
1. At the Market
2. Waiting for the parade to start.
3. At the Mall waiting for the fireworks to begin

We took off early to go to the Eastern Market and do some shopping, as we got there too late yesterday. Barb bought a ring - maybe this is the year of the ring.

Then it was on too the center of the city to see the giant Fourth of July parade.

We got there just in time and found seats on the curb and in the shade. The tempeture hit 97 today and it was hot.

We left a few minutes from the end of the parade to go to the National Cathedral to see a wonderful concert, featuring their 10,000 pipe organ.

After that we had a great lunch/dinner at a local bar and then went downtown to the American Art and Portraiture Center. The highlight was a collection of Norman Rockwell pieces. We ran out of time and wish we would have had an additional 1/2 to see everything.

At 7 they closed the Art Center and we went to the mall and sat on top of the hill under the Washington Monument with over a million of our friends and if it wasn't a million, it was a lot of people

The fireworks were the best ever and the ending was spectacular.

All the roads were closed off so we had to walk the 10 blocks to the hotel.

All-in-all a wonderful day.

Tomorrow we are going to Mt. Vernon and we leave at 3pm for home, a wonderful 4th of July trip to our nation’s capital.

July 4, 2010 – Day 2

The pictures are:
1. Guards at the White House – 55lb of equipment, 500 rounds of ammunition each.
2. The Korean War Monument – very thought provoking.
3. Entry to the Presidential Box at the Kennedy Center
4. The Washington National Cathedral

We awoke to a beautiful clear day and walked the ¾ of a mile to the White House for our 9am tour. What fun. We had to go through a lot of security and checks and double-checks but it was worth it. We basically saw all of the White House except the second and third floors. You couldn’t bring a camera into the White House, so there are not pictures inside that we took.

Then it was back to the hotel to pick up our camera and we took the subway to the Lincoln Memorial and then walked to the Vietnam, Korean and WWII Memorials. We were having a great tour of the WWII Memorial when a young girl in the group fainted. So the tour guide had to help her.

We hoped a cab then and went to the Kennedy Center – what a place. There are six theaters in the Center from very large to very small. We had a very nice guide who showed us the entire place including the different Presidential boxes at the different performing halls.

We ate in the Kennedy Center and then took the subway and a cab to the Washington National Cathedral, the second largest Cathedral in the United States, behind St. John, which we saw last year in New York. We spent at least an hour there being a tour by a delightful guide. A massive choir and orchestra were practicing for a concert and the performance was wonderful

We then took the subway about ½ hour to the Easter Market which is the largest outdoor arts & craft market plus a really large food market. We got there just as they were closing so we will probably go back early tomorrow morning.

Then we went to Georgetown and to the Apple store to switch out Barb’s iPhone because hers broke. The store was wonderful and we got the new phone and with their recommendation, went up the street in a great Italian restaurant. Barb had a huge crab cake and Ed had a sirloin salad - a really wonderful meal.

We took a shuttle back to DuPont Circle, walked around and then walked the couple of blocks to the hotel.

Time for bed for tomorrow is the 4th.

Love to all -

July 4, 2010 – Day 1

Our first day in Washington

The pictures are:
1. Checking in a Rep. Tim Johnson’s office.
2. Our tour guide – Tyler
3. Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery
4. Our new friend from Paris

Well we woke up at 4:30am and it is not 10pm and we are gong to crash as soon as I finish this blog.

The AirTran flights were right on time and we arrived at Ronald Regan Airport at noon.

A quick cab ride and we were in the hotel. They upgraded us to an Executive Suite and it is just perfect. We are right on Embassy Row so it is really neat looking out the windows.

We walked a couple of blocks to the subway and rode it to the Capital and went to the office of Rep. Tim Johnson where we were met by and Intern, Tyler. Tyler then took us on a 3 hour tour of the Capital, including the House of Representatives. It was a lot of fun.

After the tour, we found a neat pub and a chicken wrap. Then it was back to the subway and out to Arlington Cemetery, where we took an open-air tour bus around the cemetery. We timed it just right as we saw the last changing of the guard at 7pm – very special.

Back to the subway, we rode it to DuPont Circle and then walked towards the hotel. On the way, we found a huge organic market where we went in and got some soup and a salad. While we were sitting outside in their seating area, we met a lady from Paris who was traveling in the US. She sat with us and we talked for some time about a lot of subjects.

Then back to the hotel and sleep will come soon.

Tomorrow at 9am - the White House tour, again arranged by Rep. Tim Johnson.

July 4th in Washington D.C.

July 4 weekend - 2010

Continuing with our tradition to visit as many neat places with fireworks, we are visiting our nation’s capital this year.

We leave on AirTran at 6:40am on Friday, July 2 and arrive in Washington DC at Noon.

We are staying at the Courtyard by Marriott, Embassy Row and will go there immediately from the plane because we have to check in and go to Representative Tim Johnson’s office for a 2:40pm tour of the United States Capitol.

On Saturday, July 3, Representative Johnson’s office has arranged for us to go on a tour of the White House what a special tour this will be for us.

Both of us have been to Washington DC in our past lives, but not together so this should be a great time.

The fireworks should be fantastic and we are looking forward to them as well as seeing everything we can in a very short period of time.

As this had been a hectic last couple of weeks, with the Bloomington Gold show, Barb’s job on the airplane is to catch up on her sleep and then pick out the places that she wants to visit and away we will run.

We leave Washington on Monday at 2:59pm and arrive back in Bloomington at 6:17pm.