Washington DC Trip

Earlier this year, my husband and I planned a trip to DC.  I visited once before on an 8th grade class trip, but this would be my husband's first time.

To save money, we booked our hotel in Arlington, Virginia.  The location was great!  We were only minutes away from many DC attractions.

Do not plan to drive while in DC.  Traffic was a nightmare!  We used Uber to get around.  

We had 4 days to explore.  We planned our trip well, to see as much as possible.

  

Our first stop on our route was Arlington National Cemetery.

The cemetery is the final resting place for more than 14,000 veterans, including those that fought in the Civil War.

From there we did a hop-on/hop-off tour to explore the National Mall.

  

In my opinion, this was the best way to see many DC landmarks.  Our tour bus driver shared many interesting facts about the city and monuments.  You can hop off at any time or stay on the bus and enjoy the tour.

The Lincoln Memorial is awe inspiring.

The Memorial is a national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States.

An easy walk away was the Reflecting Pool.  Seeing the Washington Monument was a highlight of our trip.  Unfortunately we arrived too early to see the cherry blossoms in bloom.

The next day we chose to visit National Museum of American History.

  

Admission is free for all Smithsonian museums and the zoo!  The museum offers a wide range of exhibits.

The Batmobile, Julia Child’s kitchen, Archie Bunker's chair and The Star-Spangled Banner were a few of our favorites to see.

Did you know that Mister Rogers' mother knitted him the iconic sweater that he changed into each episode?

The following morning we went to the National Zoo; one of the oldest zoos in the United States.

  

It was a beautiful clear day.  We wore our sneakers and took our time walking through the zoo.

  

We loved watching the cheetahs.

Later that day we took an Uber to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington, Va.  This is a huge shopping mall.  I'm so glad we stopped here.

  

We ended the night at the Sugar Factory for a surprise birthday dinner for my niece.

On our final day in DC we visited Union Market.

  

My husband is from Philly.  We heard that Union Market is similar to Reading Terminal Market(a favorite place to eat in Philadelphia).  It was smaller, yet super crowded.  We loved window shopping at Salt and Sundry and the many options to eat.

  

Before heading home, I walked around the corner and snapped a couple pictures of the infamous DC mural by graffiti artist Mr. Brainwash.

We really enjoyed our time in DC.  I would love to visit again with my children one day.  There is so much history and so much to see and do.