All about our two day visit to Washington D.C.!
Top: LOFT / Skirt: Urban Outfitters / Sandals: Payless / Sunglasses: Nordstrom / Earrings: J.Crew Factory (similar)
Claire’s Sunglasses: H&M / Claire’s Sneakers: Nordstrom Rack
^My absolute FAVORITE photo from our trip!
Romper: J. Crew Factory / Shoes: Payless / Sunglasses: Nordstrom / Panama Hat: Urban Outfitters
^Me and my little buddy!
Claire’s Dress: H&M (similar)
^These scooters were SO MUCH FUN!
^The rain really did a number on my hair!
Sweater Tank: Madewell / Shorts: LOFT
A couple of weeks ago, our family traveled to Washington D.C. and had the best time! We only had about two days so we crammed in as much as we could. Prior to arriving, I searched online to find a good itinerary for families with small children and only 1-2 days for sightseeing and couldn’t find anything! I was so frustrated and ended up making my own itinerary. I knew because we didn’t have much time that everything needed to be very “surface level”, meaning the tours and time spent at each sight had to be quick and to the point. There was no way Claire (8) and Ethan (5) would have lasted much longer. Our itinerary ended up working really well for us and everyone had a blast! Below is a summary of what we did:
Day 1:
- Tour of the Capitol – you have to arrange this through your local senate office ahead of time and I am so glad we did. The intern that gave our tour was amazing and it was very interesting. We started out in the senate office building and then took a “tram” underground into the Capitol building.
- Lunch at The Alibi – this was a recommendation from a Capitol security guard and it was excellent! Everything was fresh, delicious, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the staff was amazing. In fact, a torrential downpour started when we finished our meal and we were outside getting an Uber and the owner saw us and took us back to our hotel in his Range Rover. Talk about good customer service!
- Quick Night Drive to some Sights – when the rain stopped, we went out for a drive and stopped at a bunch of sights including: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, World War II Memorial, Ford Theater, etc. All of them were so close together and because of the kids, we did a quick “in and out” at each location.
Day 2:
- Rented Scooters – this was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip. In D.C., there are three electric scooter companies. You download their apps (Bird, Lime, Skip) and when you happen to see a scooter on the sidewalk, you scan it, hop on, and enjoy the ride. When you’re done, you just leave it there! It was so much fun and I know this is probably the one thing the kids will talk about for years to come. I highly recommend doing this (we had the kids stand or sit right in front of us because you have to be 16+). Make sure you download all three apps prior to your arrival, because sometimes it can be a bit difficult finding an available scooter (or two) that have plenty of battery. We took our scooters everywhere and a couple of times, had to find new ones when we came out of the museums and someone had already taken them.
- We rode our scooters to the White House, the National Archives where we saw the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution, and the Museum of American History. The latter was my favorite museum. We were in and out, but my favorite exhibit was seeing the President’s and First Lady’s memorabilia. They had Melania Trump’s inaugural gown (the white sleeveless one) and it was absolutely stunning! We also got to see Abraham Lincoln’s top hat that he wore the night he was assassinated. Pretty cool!
- On our way out of town, we stopped at Arlington National Cemetery. This was a very somber place, but also extremely beautiful. We went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and watched the changing of the guards which was pretty neat. Even the kids enjoyed seeing the guards in action.
As you can see, we crammed a lot into our short stay in Washington D.C.. We made some wonderful memories as a family. Have you ever been there? I’d love to hear about your trip!
~
Tanya