Washington D.C. has so many museums and attractions that you could spend weeks in DC and not see everything. We have made good use of our proximity to DC while living in Baltimore. There were still some museums and things to see. We woke up early in the morning to catch the MARC commuter train to DC. An environmentalist, riding mass trasit was a great way to start the day.
When we arrived in Union Station I was pleased to see a hustling and bustling station full of businesspeople and tourists alike. The shops and restauraunts reminded me of an airport. We arrived at 8am a little early for our 10:30 tour of the Library of Congress. We walked around the Capitol Building and since we realized our camera battery was dead we had to walk about 2 miles to get to the nearest photo shop.
The Library of Congress had so much unique early American architecture with the finest marble in the world and the ceilings hand-crafted with unmatched precision. Gold, aluminum, and silver are just some of the expensive gems that reside in the Library of Congress. We both enjoyed the beauty of the building but our stomachs stopped us from finishing the free tour and left us looking for a place to eat.
During the orientation video at the Smithsonian Castle that we saw earlier that day, it recommended to eat at the cafeteria at the Native American Museum. Okay, I have never seen such exotic and different food in the best cafeteria I have ever eaten in. This thing was awesome. I had a ground buffalo burger with an AMAZING butternut squash sauce! Needless to say, it was the best burger I have ever eaten.
We then walked to the American History Museum which was colossal in size and equal in number of exhibits. We spent about 3 hours there but only saw about 60% of the exhibits. We saw Dorothy's ruby slippers and the original Kurmit the frog. It was a neat museum.
Since I work at the National Aquarium in Baltimore this summer, I wanted to see our small branch aquarium in DC. It was small but it was free since my family has a membership and I volunteer. I would definately recommend the Baltimore one over the DC one. We then walked about 5 blocks north to catch the circulator bus (only $1 a ride) to the Georgetown area. In rush hour traffic the 45 minute ride took a while. The ride was worth it since the Georgetown area is very upscale. I was not interested in going to Georgetown University (even though it is Jesuit) so I did not set up a tour. The campus was nice, built on a hill overlooking the C&O canal.
Dinner was at the Georgetown cafeteria. It was good. We walked the half mile to catch the circulator bus to Union Station. This time the ride took about an hour. It was a long hour. At about 7:30 we got on the train to Penn Station.
The D.C. trip was packed full of activities, but fun. We did a LOT of walking, but that helped keep the budget under $100. The temperature was over 90 degrees which is common in D.C. this month. I think the weatherman said it was going to be the hottest June ever in D.C. with over 15 days over 90 degrees. Can't wait 'till the next trip!
Andrew
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