Washington, D.C.

We are back from our trip to Washington, D.C. We got there last Thursday morning, Oct. 16, and returned Tuesday morning bright and early! We did a lot of sightseeing and strolling. We love the Metro and how easy it is to get around. The fall is great there and the weather was pretty good. Each morning we woke up, had a good breakfast and by the time we finished eating, the weather warmed up for sightseeing.

Landing in D.C. Thursday morning...

Friday morning, we took the Metro to breakfast at Old Ebbitt Grill, across the street from the Dept. of the Treasury and down the street from the White House. They have TERRIFIC French toast and scrambled eggs and here he is after eating...very happy! From there we visited the White House.

Miles had a great time running around Lafayette Park. There were a ton of other children there from daycares on an outing or playing with nannies. He was occupied with chasing HUGE squirrels with leaves. They were seriously the biggest I've ever seen.

Friday afternoon we visited Union Station's shops and ate at Johnny Rockets. Tons of people were leaving on trains to NYC and we later found out that a lot of people commute to Phila, NYC, and surrounding areas on the weekends. After a nap, we went to Filene's Basement (a huge bargain shopping store with great deals, sort of like TJ Maxx but better brands) and did some shopping and strolling. That evening we had caramel sundaes from room service. Saturday morning, we got up and headed to breakfast at Union Station at the Station Grill. We met two women that work at the US Election Commission and had just made an appearance on C-SPAN. They were very nice and talked to us about working and living in DC. We then went to the grounds of the US Capitol for pictures. The tour was up to 3 hours long, so we skipped it and went to the Washington Monument instead.

We did more than eat while in D.C., but we had great chicken dogs at a stand across the street from the Washington Monument.

We went back to the hotel for Miles and Rodrick to take naps and then we got up and got ready to go to my cousin's 10 year anniversary of the charter school she founded in 1998. www.ewstokes.org. I introduced her at the program and here are my guys, looking very sharp!

That evening, we had dinner at B.Smith's restaurant in Union Station. Miles had a great time with his cousins and met his Aunt Mimi for the first time. She is my grandmother's sister, so this is actually his great-great aunt.

Sunday afternoon we went to Georgetown's shops to stroll and relax. We ate at ESPNZone that night. We did some more shopping and strolling in Virginia on Monday and here are pictures of Miles catching a quick nap on the Metro to VA and with a ball at Rodrick's friend's house near Leesburg, VA.

After eating at Cheesecake Factory, we headed back to get ready for an early flight back home.
Miles was awake at 4:30 am and ready to get on the plane. He was packed and helping me get out of the door on time.

We had a great time and are glad to be back in a calmer environment. :)