Washington D.C. Days 1 & 2

Today I'm sharing about an amazing trip to Washington D.C. that we took back in April with two of our best friends, Aaron and Jessica. To understand how fun this was, you have to understand our friendship with these two. Caleb and Aaron have been best friends for like 15 years and Jessica and I have been best friends for about 10. That's a long time when you're only 27 years old! All through our dating days, the four of us were inseparable. Basically like one big four-person "couple". haha. They were there when Caleb proposed to me, we were in each other's weddings, and we've shared countless memories together. We've gone on several day trips together, even camped together overnight, but we'd never done a big trip with them. Well back in March, Caleb and I were talking about doing a 3 or 4 day trip somewhere over my birthday weekend (April 30th). We were with Aaron and Jessica one night and they mentioned that they were going to D.C. that weekend for Aaron's birthday (which so happens to be April 29th. See, I told you we're like soulmate friends)! Caleb and I immediately asked if we could tag along and they graciously said OF COURSE!!!

We found a great deal on flights and used Hotwire to book rooms at a Westin for a super low price. They left their two precious kiddos (Luke, 4 and Adeline, 1) with grandparents, but we took Henry with us because we just felt like he was a little too young to leave behind. He was AMAZING on our flights there and back, and several people came up to us afterward and said that they've never flown with such a good baby 🙌. We were there from Thursday-Monday and it wasn't nearly enough time to see everything there is to see. We are already talking about what we want to do next time!

Waiting to board our flight to D.C.!

Caleb and I got in earlier on Thursday than Aaron and Jessica, so we checked into our hotel and rested for a few minutes, put our luggage away, and got ready to go out and explore Georgetown.

 We went to the Old Stone House, which is the oldest house in D.C. They have the rooms set up with period piece furnishings, and it's very interesting to see what a home looked like in the 1700's. It's pretty small and only took about 15 minutes to walk through. Like most things in D.C. there's no admission charge, so I'd say it's definitely worth a quick stop.

We ended up walking down to this area right on the Potomac River where they had restaurants and stores. There were lots of people walking and riding bikes, and it was absolutely beautiful! 

We stopped to eat dinner at a Nick's Riverside Grill, and sat at a table just to the right of where that boardwalk is. I had a delicious cheeseburger and Caleb had a crab cake sandwich that he loved. Good food and a great view! We walked around a little more and stopped to eat dessert at a little cupcake shop we found (not Georgetown cupcakes). It was getting late and we were tired from a day of traveling, so we headed back to our hotel and called it a day. 

Aaron and Jessica arrived late on Thursday night, so when we got up on Friday, we went to their room to see them. We headed out bright and early and used the Metro for the first time. Jessica had been to D.C. before and was a pro, and the rest of us quickly learned the ropes. The public transportation in D.C. was super easy to use and very clean. 

Our first view of the Washington Monument 

We had planned TONS of sightseeing this day, so we hit the ground running at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. There were 3 or 4 floors of exhibits, and unfortunately we were only able to cover 1. There was just SO much to see that we could have easily spent the whole day here, but we just had to choose what we were most interested in, and leave with the promise of coming back! We ended up eating lunch in the cafeteria to save time, and although the food wasn't bad, it definitely wasn't great and it was expensive. 

Next we went to the Natural History Museum. They had some neat exhibits, but Caleb and I agreed that we liked the Natural History Museum in NYC better. 

Easter Island statue

Next we got a little crazy and decided to squeeze Ford's Theatre and the Peterson House into our already packed day. We made our way over there, and unfortunately Ford's Theatre was closed for the afternoon for some kind of production they had going on. We headed across the street to the Peterson House, which is where Abraham Lincoln was carried after being shot. We got to see the room where he died, which was just totally crazy and surreal. 

They have the room set up to look how it did the night Lincoln died. There was someone who drew a picture of the room who was there that night, which is how they know what it looked like. So interesting! 

There was a neat little museum after walking through the house, including this tower of all of the biographies that have been written about Lincoln over the years. It was pretty crazy!

We walked by Trump's new hotel in the Old Post Office Building. Absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately our choice was to stay here or send Henry to college one day. I think we made the right decision ;)

We high-tailed it back to the Air and Space Museum because there was only about an hour until closing. Jessica and I decided that we just wanted to go sit down and let the boy's go through the museum without us. We were so hot and tired, plus I needed to nurse Henry and change his diaper. We found a solitary corner of the museum and plopped ourselves down for the next hour. The boys loved the museum and took lots of cool pictures. It definitely sounded interesting, and I'll make sure to see it next time!

Wright Brother's plane

Amelia Earhart's plane

We wrapped up our first full day with dinner and a walk back to the hotel. Aaron and Jessica came over to our room to talk about the next day's itinerary, and then we all hit the sack. We walked over 10 miles everyday, so needless to say, we all slept well! Come back tomorrow to see days 3 & 4! Happy Tuesday, friends!