The Tourists

Last week we had house guests for the second time in DC. Our friends from college Dan and Brandi and their two children came from Edmond, OK, and spent a week with us. I was impressed with their ambitious sightseeing agenda, and I wanted to share what they did and saw for anyone who is considering visiting DC, whether you come to see us or not. Keep in mind that their children are 6 and 8, so you might not be able to do quite as much if you have younger children.

They drove through Columbus, Ohio (where they visited other friends), and arrived at our house on a Thursday evening. 

Day 1

Archives

Museum of Natural History

Museum of American History

Friday morning I drove them to the nearest Metro station, and they took the train to and visit three museums: the National Archives, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of American History. They said the American History Museum was the most fun for the kids. It wasn't as crowded, and there were lots of things from television and movies that they recognized and enjoyed. Natural History was crowded and a bit overwhelming. The Archives were also crowded, and it was hard for them to get a good view of the documents. But I think they would say that all three museums were worth the visit. After all, all of them were free (as are most of the 19 Smithsonian museums). They were gone all day and got back to our house for dinner.

Day 2

Eastern Market

Mount Vernon

Old Town Alexandria

Saturday our families went together to Mount Vernon, where we hadn't been before. Gracie had ballet in the morning around 10, so we couldn't go until after that. Dan got tickets online the night before, and when you buy your tickets, you have to specify a time you will be there to do your mansion tour. We chose 1:00.

Since Gracie's class didn't start until 10, Brandi and I decided to make an early run to Eastern Market for a little early-morning coffee and shopping. We stopped at Peregrine for lattes, and we were impressed with the steamed milk art (officially called "latte art," Wikipedia tells me).

Lovely and delicious

We browsed through the flea market booths, admiring the cheap and chic scarves and jewelry and the other crafts and artwork, and then we headed to the farmer's market. We tasted tomatoes and peaches and berries, and Brandi bought some delicious fruit for our families to enjoy at home. Then we walked through the indoor market, and Brandi chose some colorful Zinnias from the florist to adorn our dining room table (thank you, Brandi!).

After I took Gracie to ballet, we had sandwiches at home and then drove to Mount Vernon. It's about 30 minutes away from our house. We got a late start, and we were concerned about missing our 1:00 appointment, so Dan called to make sure it was okay. They told him they weren't too busy that day, so it would be fine. We parked and started in the visitor's center to pick up Adventure Maps for kids. The Adventure Maps had questions for the kids to answer as we walked around and read the signs at the different exhibits. It made things more fun and interesting for them.

Ready with their Adventure Maps

It was a hot day, but we only spent about half of our time there outside. We toured the mansion, including a stop on the back porch with its beautiful view of the Potomac. We saw the slaves' quarters and all the outbuildings and quarters for other workers. Then we walked to Washington's first tomb and the tomb that holds him and Martha now. It is really a lovely place even in spite of the heat.

Braving the sun at the Mount Vernon mansion ...

... along with our friends

Gracie and Kate on Washington's back porch

Washington's kitchen

Washington's tomb

Next we went indoors to the education center and the museum, where there was a lot for the kids to enjoy. A large children's room holds centers for coloring, building with blocks, dressing up, playing dolls, and more, and museum workers interact with the kids and guide them in the activities. A theater shows a movie about three main battles in the Revolutionary War, complete with falling snow, smoke, and seats that shake with the cannon blasts.

We stayed until around 5, and then we drove to Old Town Alexandria for dinner. We parked in a garage close to the waterfront, and then we rode the free trolley down King Street (the main street) to the Metro station and then back to the waterfront. We found a seafood restaurant, the Fish Market, and put our name in, and Dan waited there while the rest of us walked around the harbor, and he let us know when our table was ready. It was a good meal to end an eventful day.

Day 3

Church

Arlington National Cemetery

Monuments

Sunday morning we all went to the church where Harvey was preaching. Church runs later here, and they provided snacks afterward, so we let the kids have some of those, and then we went home and had a light lunch around 2. We put our kids down to rest, but Dan and Brandi wanted to use the afternoon to see Arlington National Cemetery. So they took a couple hours to do that, and they were happy with the experience. They arrived just in time to see a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and they saw the Kennedy gravesite as well.

After dinner at home, we all went to see monuments. I'm becoming a pro at that--it was the third time I'd done a monument tour since we moved here. But I'm not complaining, because each time has taken me to at least one monument that I hadn't seen before. And this tour was even better because Brandi found out that we could meet up with a park ranger who would guide us around the monuments we wanted to see, offering descriptions and explanations and answering our questions. So we piled in our car and parked by the river, planning to meet a park ranger near the WWII Memorial for our tour. 

We had time to stop at the MLK Jr. Memorial first, which was interesting because we had heard that there was a controversial quotation on his statue that was going to be removed starting the next day, and we got to be some of the last to see it there. (If you're curious about it, see here under "Quotation paraphrase" toward the bottom.) 

The sketchy quote, now being removed

We took our pictures and discussed the controversy, and then we made our way to the WWII Memorial, which our family hadn’t visited before. Dan stopped by the park ranger’s desk to make sure we could do the tour, and the ranger came out around 8 to get started. He said he could stay with us until 10, and he asked which monuments we wanted him to show us, since that wasn’t quite enough time to get to all of them. We decided to do the war memorials and the Lincoln.

It was nice to have the park ranger with us. He explained the meaning behind the structures’ different images and features, such as the carved rope surrounding the WWII Memorial (unity) and Lincoln’s hands in his statue (right: compassion; left: determination). He was our own personal tour guide and expert and we could ask him anything we thought of. I was thankful Brandi thought to take advantage of this service, and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the monuments. So after MLK Jr., we saw WWII, Vietnam, Lincoln, and Korea, and then after the park ranger left, we went over to the nearby FDR Memorial. It was late by the time we finished, but the kids did great and we all had fun.

WWII Memorial, normally with working fountains

Single file at the FDR Memorial

On the steps of the Lincoln at night

Day 4

Capitol

Library of Congress

Portrait Gallery

Crime and Punishment Museum

Postal Museum

Monday morning Dan and Brandi and the kids took the bus with Harvey to his office. The administrative assistant in his office, Karen, regularly gives Capitol tours, and Harvey had arranged with her to take our friends that morning. Karen also volunteers at the Library of Congress, so she took them there as well and showed them some behind-the-scenes places not every tourist gets to see.

The busy tourists

They had lunch with Harvey at a burger restaurant on the Hill, and they stopped afterward at an award-winning cupcake shop. In the afternoon they visited a couple more museums: the girls went to the Portrait Gallery, and the guys went to the Crime and Punishment Museum. Finally, they went to the Postal Museum. I had passed by the Postal Museum before and, frankly, assumed it would be nothing but a snooze-fest. But Brandi said there were a lot of interactive exhibits and things for the kids to do, and they all really enjoyed it. They didn’t get home until after dinner that night.

Day 5

Holocaust Museum

Bureau of Printing and Engraving

Air and Space Museum

Tuesday morning I kept the kids so Dan and Brandi could go to the Holocaust Museum. First they stopped at the nearby Bureau of Printing and Engraving to stand in line for afternoon tickets for both their family and my kids and me. They were able to get a 2:30 tour. So they went to the Holocaust and had lunch, and then I met them around 1:30 with the kids near the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, and we got out and Dan was kind enough to take the car and find a parking spot.

The Printing and Engraving tour wasn’t too exciting. I had done it before at some point in the past when we’d visited DC. A guide shows a video, then takes a group of about twenty people on a walkway above the printing floor. It was cool to see the huge printing machines (maybe because of my past in editing/production) and the giant sheets and stacks of paper in different stages of becoming bills. We got to see the new design for the $100 bill, which is in full color, and that was interesting. But that’s about all there was to it. The tour took about 40 minutes.

Showing off the new Benjamins

So we finished there around 3:30, and we were supposed to pick Harvey up around 5:30, so we had some time to kill, and Dan and Brandi wanted to try to squeeze in one more museum. The closest one they were interested in was the Air and Space Museum, but we couldn’t find any parking close, so they offered to take all the kids into the museum and let me drive around or go on to Harvey’s office and hang out and then bring him back with me to pick them up. That’s what I did. So Dan and Brandi got a taste of what it would be like to have six kids. They said it was a little stressful. When I texted to check on them, Dan said it got easier once they lost Judah. But seriously they did great.

Dan and Brandi treated us that night to dinner at District Taco, one of our local favorites. After the kids went to bed, the four adults had our usual late-night chat, catching up and discussing life and faith and politics. This was something Harvey and I really enjoyed about their visit, just as our kids enjoyed just having their kids around to play with each day.

Happy girls with a new playmate

They got off early, according to plan, Wednesday morning, heading to Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. Looking back on their time here, I’m happy they got to do and see so much and make so many memories, and I’m thankful our family got to benefit from their planning and creativity and share some of those experiences with them. They were truly a pleasure to host, flexible and grateful and generous.

And soon the hosts will become the guests: this weekend we are setting out on our first journey back to Oklahoma since the move, and we can’t wait to be reunited with our friends and family there. Thanks, Dan and Brandi, for a fun week, a week of distraction that brought us closer to our next adventure, our trek home.