Day 14 - DC Monuments

Washington Monument

We drove from Gettysburg to Washington DC, hitting Maryland on the way down.  We arrived around 10:30 am, checked our bags at the hotel, found a parking garage nearby and started walking!

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Our motel is on 6th and Massachusetts, about a half mile from the National Mall area.  We walked down to the National Mall, starting at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History.  We did not realize before this trip that "The Smithsonian" is a collection of museums and they are FREE!  This museum had exhibits similar to the National Museum of Natural History in NYC, but had others that the kids really enjoyed.  Mallory loved the Bug and Reptile exhibits and Abby liked the Sea Life exhibit.

Smithsonian AMNH

Smithsonian AMNH

Andy liked the gems

Smithsonian AMNH mummy - 2000 years old!

From the museum, we walked clock-wise from monument to monument.  I wore my Adidas slide that day - bad choice!  The kids were troopers.  We stopped and filled water bottles when we found fountains and rested along the way.  7 hours and about 7 miles later, we were pooped!

Jefferson Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Memorial across Tidal Pool

Pools at FDR Memorial

FDR Memorial 

MLK Memorial

WWI Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

WWII Memorial

The kids swam in the hotel pool and I soaked my feet and went to bed.  We planned to visit more museums the next day.

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Memorial from Lincoln Memorial