Monday was a beautiful day in DC but Tuesday was gloomy again. It was definitely cold & unfortunately, we never saw the sun, but that didn't stop Sophie & I from touring the city again! We hopped right back on the trolley & our first stop was at the National Archives:
This stop was definitely more for me instead of Sophie. I don't think she really cared to look at the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, but I found it very interesting. But we didn't stay long & then we spent most of our day visiting the memorials & monuments. First up, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial:
Even though it was cold, she still had fun running around outside the memorial, climbing the steps & taking pictures with Rapunzel's Tower:
She was less impressed with Lincoln's Memorial. She was over the cold & this time she didn't want to climb the steps or run around. But of course I made her:
Next, we transferred from the trolley to a bus that took us over to Arlington Cemetery. The good news is that this time of year nothing is busy so the cemetery was empty:
We visited the Arlington House:
and the Kennedy Family Gravesite:
Our final stop was at the Memorial Ampitheater:
where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is. This was probably the hardest part of the day. The changing of the guard only happens on the hour so we had to wait around outside for about 20 minutes until it happened but it was well worth the wait:
The ceremony was moving & even Sophie stood very calm & she seemed to be interested in what was happening:
When we finally got back on the bus, we were freezing! We had sat outside for over 30 minutes & Sophie was done so we took the bus back to DC & then hopped back on our trolley. At this point we headed back to the welcome center where we originally caught the trolley. It was across the street from Ford's Theatre, which is where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. They still show performances here & we didn't have time for a live show, but we were able to tour the theater:
President Lincoln was sitting to the right of the stage, where the flags are:
There were so many history facts that I am sure I knew at one point but had forgotten, so I really enjoyed learning everything & hearing stories again.
We had about 30 minutes left before the final trolley would take us back to our hotel & we hadn't eaten lunch yet so we walked across the street & hit up the Hard Rock Café:
I have collected pins from Hard Rock since I was a little girl & so stopping by their store was a must. We usually don't eat there because it is very touristy & over priced, but by this point, it was cold & we were hungry so we didn't care.
After we ate, we waited in the welcome center gift shop before our trolley left & guess who we bumped in to?!
Sophie didn't have a clue who he was but she was more interested in shopping:
So I didn't let her buy that but I promised I would take her picture wearing it. We did promise her she could buy a souvenir for Sadie and she bought both of them jewelry. She wanted to get a patriotic red, white & blue necklace with matching bracelet. It's actually pretty cute & something they will wear often!
When we finally got back to the hotel, we met up with Bryan & then it was time to head to the airport:
We had a late flight home but don't know how we lucked out because there was less than 40 people on our airplane so we all got our own row. Bryan & I stayed up watching tv but Sophie crashed:
It was a quick 3 day trip, but we had a great time. First of all, I am so excited to have experienced DC again. I definitely feel more prepared for next time we go back with the girls. But mostly, I am so glad we were able to make it a special trip for Sophie. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Sadie had us all to herself for 2 years. So glad we got to tag along with Bryan while he lobbied for FISD!
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