Washington DC

Steve and Amy were planning a February half term trip to Washington D.C as Kai had been studying American History. We were invited to join them and, as it was somewhere we had wanted to visit it didn't take much persuasion and so the trip was booked with British airways flying from Heathrow 11th Feb 11:15 - 14:40 back 16th Feb 22:55 - 11:00. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency.

Our flight was delayed as they had to de-ice the plane! On arrival we were able to get through security quite quickly as we could go through the electronic system. However, as Kai and Lucas were under 18 they all had to queue through the much slower checks through customs officials. It gave Carl and I time to collect all the cases so at least by thee time they were through we were ready to go out to our waiting shuttle transfer and it took about 45mins - an hour to get to the hotel where we checked in. We freshened up a little then headed out to hunt for some food.

Our first stop was Hard Rock cafe but they had a long wait so we went to check shake shack and five guys but they were all incredibly busy, I believe there was a hockey game in town that night, looked a little dirty and I think there was hardly any seating. Too tired to deal with that we headed back to Hard Rock and sat out of the way waiting for a table. The food was ok and I think the service might have been below expectation but we were all very tired.

We were back in our rooms just after 9pm (2am UK time) and ready for bed.

12th Feb

For our 1st 2 days we had booked the Hop on Hop off bus tour and we were eager to catch the first bus from the Union Station. Luckily, because of the jet lag etc we were all able to wake up at a reasonable hour and made the first bus

shame Carl had to ruin this otherwise nice photo!

We rode the bus to our chosen first stop - the Jefferson memorial

We spent the morning visiting the memorials in the area

After a successful morning of visiting the local memorials we hopped back on the bus to head over to Georgetown where we had a 1pm brunch reservation

This place cam highly rated and so we had to check it out. I can't remember exactly what we had but I do know there was plenty of choice at the buffet and select plates were brought out to us. Fully fed we headed out. The boys decided they wanted some fun after a morning of history

Whilst Amy and I went on a cupcake hunt

of the cupcakes on offer I chose the above 4 for Carl and I to share. The front 2 were from Georgetown Cupcake - Red Velvet and Mocha Fudge. Our favourites were the 2 at the back from Baked and Wired - Maple and Pistachio. I really liked the Georgetown area and if we ever go back I would like to spend more time in this area.

We then walked along the Potomac toward the Watergate complex

We had intended to walk back to the Lincoln memorial and catch the HOHO from there back toward our hotel. However, a long day yesterday, an early start and all of our walking had started to catch up on us so we grabbed a taxi and headed straight beck to the hotel. We chilled out for a little while Carl and I enjoyed a nice cold, expensive, beer in the hotel bar

Cheers

We then all met back up to head for the night HoHo tour included in our tickets

We were treated to a beautiful moon

We were dropped back and Steve, Amy and the boys headed back to the hotel whilst Carl and I decided to go for a little walk

For a capital city it was strangely quiet. It seemed a place people came to work and then went home out of town. Although it was fairly chilly so perhaps it would be different in the warmer months.

13th Feb

Up and out fairly early again to catch the first HoHo. this time we were aiming for the Washington memorial where we would swap for the other line

We got off next at the Pentagon city Mall stop where we picked up some breakfast from the food court. We then walked to our first destination which was the very moving Pentagon 9/11 memorial

From there we walked back to the stop and onto our next destination which was the very peaceful Arlington National cemetary

From there we visited a monument presented to the US by the Dutch as a thank you for their help during the war

and the Iwo Jima memorial

We were heading on a 1.5 mile walk for lunch. Carl had seen Ben's Chilli Bowl on a T.V. programme and wanted to try it out. Everyone was very accommodating on a long walk, at least it was a beautiful day!

We then walked back to Arlington to catch the HoHo

That evening we were taking in a Basketball game naturally we supported the home side. Kai especially enjoyed this

They won!!

14th Feb

Another early start at Union station today. But today we were picking up a hire car for the day. We picked up some breakfast from the station

We were headed to

We visited the museum then went on a self guided driving tour of the sites. The below photos aren't all in order but will give an indication of our day

This tour took several hours but was very interesting and it is a very pretty area. I am not against coming back some day and perhaps spending a little time in the area.

On the way back we stopped at one of our favourite chains for dinner

We also had shared some starters not photographed.

It was a long day but interesting for us history buffs. We had watched Gettysburg and Gods and Generals before we went so it was also interesting to see the real locations.

15th Feb

Today we had tickets to visit Ford theatre and the Lincoln museums in the area

From there we went to a local souvenir shop

Where Carl decided to get a selfie with the current president

Then brunch at a local cafe it was almost like a local greasy spoon, it was alright

Then it was time for a stroll

Whilst Amy and Steve enjoyed a romantic stroll hand in hand

I had this to deal with...

After visiting the white house museum we split up. They went back to the hotel for a swim and Carl and I continued our stroll. We visited a few museums

We then met back up for dinner at Carmines for some Italian Family dining

16th Feb

We had a bit of a later start this morning and packed up. We dropped our luggage off at the reception for storage for the day then headed out. Our first port of call was the Library of Congress which had some incredibly ornate ceilings

Then onto the air and space museum

We were starting to get tired today after a week of early starts, late finishes and lots of walking.

Our final stop was one we hadn't planned on visiting - Madam Tussauds. We had a few hours before our shuttle collection and the tickets were free with our HoHo so we thought why not

Glad we hadn't paid for it but also grateful to have something to occupy our minds rather than sitting around waiting. With that we walked back to the hotel and picked up our luggage before meeting our shuttle to be taken to the airport.

We had a great time and it opened our minds to the idea of being able to do just a short week trip to east coast USA which we always thought we'd never go all that way for less than 10 nights before...