Library of Congress

We began our second day with breakfast the the hotel lobby (pictured below) and then out to the subway and reservation to tour the Library of Congress.

We went to the Library of Congress because Megan wanted to see it and so did I. She had heard me talk about many times as I think that, architecturally,  the Library of Congress is the most impressive building in Washington, DC.

One thing that we learned is that we all view exhibits very differently. We went into an exhibit about the Mayans. Almost everyone was finished with the exhibit and when I went back to find Olivia, she was on the second part of 15 parts of the exhibit. We had to break up and that is why many of the pictures below are of Olivia. I was the other person on this exhibit team.

A little rest back at the hotel and then Ted's Bulletin Resturant. Breakfast, Fried Chicken, Milkshakes, even salad; whats not to love.

 

Washington, DC - Night Monuments

 

There is a lot going on in our family this year. Olivia has a summer class that she must take this year and each of the other girls have various camps. Addison has NC State Large Animal Science Camp and Horse Camp, and Appalachian Service Project and Emily has Roanoke Christian Camp and Horse Camp. Addison also has a school trip to Scotland and Ireland. Time is tight and so is money but we did make way for a four-day trip to Washington, DC. This is a stop at the rest area in Virginia.

When we arrived in Washington and got settled into our hotel, it would not be long before we had to make our way to a scheduled evening tour of the monuments. Off to the Metro.

We had dinner at Union Station. We all chose something different and had just enough time to eat and appreciate the architecture before we began our tour.

When I went to Washington many years ago for a vacation, I went on a evening tour of the monuments. There was only one of them then and it worked out perfect; you see all of the same things without the heat. Fast forward to this trip and every tour company does night monument tours and all of them were full. We did find, however, that since our party was large we could get a private tour for just a few dollars more. And so, we did. A private tour that was to our liking - wherever we wanted to go for however long we wanted to stay there. And, all of the these pictures were taken by our personal tour guide. As you can see, evening fell during our tour, we began our tour in daylight.

These photos are from the gardens at the National Botanical Gardens.

Capital Hill

This is the church where the incumbent President of the United States has chapel on election day.

A lot to see in Washington but our girls were fascinated with the lightning bugs as the sun began to set.

The Jefferson Memorial

World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Memorial of the Korean War

We didn't get to them all as we wanted to get back to rest but it was a great tour and it did give us the lay of the land.