We have been home for a week from DC and it was awesome. I hope I remember all that we did. We also were in contact with our friend Michelle the entire time who helped us a lot with trip planning and sites to see. Thank you Michelle! We were lucky enough to get to have dinner with her Sunday night before we left. It was the first time I have ever had tapas and it was yummy. I wonder if there is a tapas restaurant here in Reno….
Arrival Day- We arrived at the airport and to our dismay our luggage had not arrived. We went to the Southwest lost luggage area to wait in line to tell them our bag is not where it should be and the lady in front of us also was from Reno and did not receive her luggage. The guy from Southwest said that is a good thing we were from Reno as well because it meant Reno screwed up everyone’s stuff who came from there and our luggage probably missed the Reno flight entirely so will most likely arrive on the next flight in later that night. Sure enough it did and we were able to continue our vacation as planned without a spontaneous shopping spree. We figured, this was the first time our luggage has been lost and we really do flight a lot so it was bound to happen eventually. Kind of like, the more you speed when you drive the more you up your chances of being caught!!
Day 1 of adventure – We started our day heading out to the Smithsonian. We had just learned the night before (from Michelle) that the Smithsonian is actually 19 different buildings encompassing many different things. We started at the vistor center building called Smithsonian Castle located at the mall. It showed you were all the 19 buildings are located and what is inside them. From here we decided to head to the Portrait Gallery museum to see the Presidential Portraits. We spent a lot of time there and really enjoyed it. We next headed to our first DC brewery (besides Rock Bottom where we had dinner the night before but that one doesn’t count) District Chophouse Restaurant and Brewery. After lunch we wanted to get back on to the metro to go see the National Cathedral. Along the way we passed the National Archives and decided to stop by. We got to see all the important pieces of paper our fore fathers signed. They are really difficult to read because they are faded but you can buy a more readable copy in the gift shop if you’d like! We then headed to the National Cathedral and actually sat through some of the Mass that was going on. The museum was already closed because it was past 5pm but it was nice to sit for a bit and listen to the choir. We then headed in the WRONG DIRECTION to look for the metro station and actually ended up on Massachusetts Ave. Guess what’s on Massachusetts Ave? EMBASSIES! It was a blast looking at all the different flags hanging outside the different buildings and trying to guess which countries they were. We eventually made it to DuPont Circle where there is a metro station stop and hopped on to head back to the hotel and get some dinner.
Day 2 of adventures tomorrow….