Washington D.C.

April 27-30, 2019

On this trip, we would celebrate the life of Chad's great Aunt Libby, whose funeral was at Arlington National Cemetery. I am so grateful to have met her at Blake and Lauren's wedding, she was so lively and had a smile on all our faces.

(Photo Credit: Cameron Faye Photography)

We planned a full four day trip to D.C. since Chad had never been. We flew in Saturday morning with time to drop off our luggage at the hotel and walk by the Capitol building before our 12 PM reservations at Belga Cafe. (This was a recommendation by my friend Kelsey, the waffles in particular!) My cousin Scott, who lives and works in the D.C. area, was even able to meet up with us here! After catching up with my cousin and enjoying waffles, we did a tour of the Capitol building. We were able to walk right in for a tour (we had not made reservations in advance) and were quickly arranged into a group with about 30 others. We were all provided a headset so we could hear our tour guide as he escorted us around, providing us with the history and purpose of each room. Right after our tour, we were able to go over to the Library of Congress. No tickets are required, and you are free to walk around on your own. We had a little bit of time after these tours to fit in one museum before they closed for the day, so we chose the National Air and Space Museum. (There are 19 Smithsonian museums, galleries, and a zoo.) Chad's dad recommended Legal Sea Foods for dinner, which we all enjoyed after a full first day in D.C.

Day two, we ate breakfast at the hotel and made it to the Holocaust Museum before 9:30 AM to try to get same-day tickets since the advance tickets were "sold out" by the time we started planning this trip just a month earlier. Luckily we got in with no problem and spent about two hours there, but you could easily spend even longer. We had tickets to the National Archives at 2:15 PM, so we were on a bit of a schedule to make sure we could fit lunch in in-between. We went to Union Station, which, along with being a major transportation hub, also has shopping and food. After checking out all the places to eat, we decided to grab Shake Shack before driving over to the National Archives. The National Archives house documents like the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution, among others. Tickets are not required, but allow you to avoid standing in line to get in. Admission is free, but there is a dollar reservation fee per ticket online. After the National Archives, we had a 4 PM reservation to see the Museum, Ford's Theater, and the Peterson House across the street where President Lincoln died. We skipped the aftermath exhibit after a long day of museums and needing to fit in seeing the monuments, before dinner. In an hour, we were able to see: the Washington Monument, National World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. After visiting some of the major monuments, we were ready for dinner at Stellina Pizzeria, one of the many restaurants that make up Union Market. Union Market has a lot of delicious-looking restaurants, but when we read Stellina was opened by Italian natives, we had to see how it compared to Rossopomodoro, our favorite pizza place in Venice. It was delicious! And so similar to Rossopomodoro, if only it were a little closer to home!

Day three of our trip was Chad's birthday! Since we had another full day planned, he opened his present first thing that morning before going down to breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Arlington National Cemetery. We purchased tickets at the Welcome Center when we arrived that allowed us to hop on a trolley to see some of the major sites at Arlington. The trolleys stop at each site regularly so we could spend as long as we wanted at any one place. The Kennedy gravesites and the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier are two places you shouldn't miss while visiting Arlington. We spent about two hours at Arlington, and like many places in D.C., you could spend so much longer. We had 1 PM lunch reservations at Old Ebbitt Grill, which would be our top pick of places to eat of all the places we ate at over our four-day trip. I had come here with my aunt's family in 2007, so clearly, it was a memorable experience for me to remember and choose it for Chad's birthday lunch. Everyone really enjoyed the food, and our waiter even brought Chad out a birthday dessert complete with a pink candle for him to blow out. We had planned to go to Georgetown for the rest of the day but ended up going to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, so we could be back in time to have dinner and visit with family that was in town for Aunt Libby's funeral. We had a great time catching up with family we hadn't seen in a while and meeting family we had not met before. Libby Jo even had a cake for Chad's birthday, which was so thoughtful!

Day four of our trip, the most important day, and the reason we came and got to explore D.C. was Aunt Libby's funeral. Her funeral at Arlington National Cemetery was a very special experience, and it was an honor for us to attend.

Itinerary:

Day 1- Flight to D.C. / Belga Cafe / US Capitol Tour and Library of Congress / National Air and Space Museum / Legal Sea Foods

Day 2 - Holocaust Museum / Union Station / Shake Shack / National Archives / Museum/Ford's Theater/Peterson House/Aftermath Exhibit / Washington Monument / National World War II Memorial / Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool / Vietnam Veterans Memorial / Korean War Memorial / Martin Luther King Memorial / Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial / Thomas Jefferson Memorial / Union Market for Stellina Pizzeria

Day 3 - Arlington National Cemetery Tour / Old Ebbitt Grill / Mount Vernon / Family Dinner

Day 4 - Walk by the White House / White House Visitor's Center / National Museum of Natural History / Funeral Service at Fort Myer Old Post Chapel / Arlington National Cemetery / Reception at Army Navy Country Club / Legal Sea Foods / Flight Home

Food Recommendations:

Belga Cafe

Legal Sea Foods

Shake Shack

Stellina Pizzeria

Old Ebbitt Grill

Things to Know:

-Many of the buildings do require security checks when you enter and may have restrictions on bags, cameras, and other items so check before going.

-The subway is a great option to avoid traffic and parking even though we did not use it this trip.

-White House tours must be requested through your congressman within three months to 21 days of your trip. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a tour on this trip.