Sunday, April 5, 2015

Thus Far

It's been a busy few days since I last posted. In case you didn't know, I'm on vacation. That's right. It's once again time for my yearly travels with my dad. This year's location is Washington, D.C. which may not sounds like fun to some people, but being the political junkie and lover of America that I am, I thought it was time to visit again because I haven't taken a vacation to DC since I was 12. 

We left Huntsville on Thursday morning around 10:00 a.m. and headed north. Our first stop was Abingdon, Virginia. We have been to Abingdon in the past and like it a lot and so we decided it would be a good place to stay both coming and going. After arriving, we had dinner at a local restaurant The Tavern which was good, but not as good as we remembered it being. After dinner, we saw a live production of Hamlet. There were only six cast members and five of them played multiple characters which I thought might get confusing, but it seemed to work out rather well. The show was good and even my dad liked it for which I was grateful because he wasn't overly excited about seeing a Shakespearean production. 

On Friday, we got up and drove to Alexandria, Virginia where we have rented a condo for the week. We had a little time to kill along the way and so we swung by Virginia Tech so I could take a look at their football stadium. My dad has seen quite a few games there from when he was traveling for work and so it was nice to finally see it for myself. 

We arrived in Alexandria around 3:303 p.m. and after dropping off all our belongings, we decided to head on in to see something and so we settled on Arlington Cemetery. We got on the metro and got off at the cemetery with about an hour to spare before it closed. So, we went over to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After that, we headed back to Alexandria and ate dinner at a local place called Carlyle which was really good and then called it a night. 

Saturday we started the day at Arlington and took the tour around the cemetery, getting off and back on the trolley at various spots. We saw the Kennedy grave site, went back to the Tob of the Unknown Soldier, visited Arlington House and also walked over to the Iwo Jima Memorial. When we were finished at Arlington, we went down to the waterfront to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival fun. There were lots of things to do, mostly activities for children. We scored a lot of free samples from Proctor and Gamble which was nice. We then had a lot of time to kill before the fireworks show that night so we went over to the Pentagon Memorial. This memorial is for those who lost their lives at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. 

When we were finished at the Pentagon Memorial, we went back to the water front and got some dinner from the food trucks and about froze to death waiting on the fireworks. It was a super cold day and I wished 1,000 times over I had brought my jacket with me, but, alas, I did not and I nearly became a Popsicle before the night was over. 

When the fireworks were complete, we stopped at a grocery store by the metro and got a few things to cook for breakfast and then went down the metro only to discover the whole system was down. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like 30 minutes, a train came and we were able to make our way back to the condo. 

Sunday, we got a late start as we went to church in Arlington and it didn't start until 10:30 a.m. After church we went to the National Mall and were able to visit the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument before we had to head back to the waterfront for our 4:00 p.m. cruise we had scheduled. The cruise was just around the Washington Channel and lasted about 45 minutes. We were supposed to be able to enjoy the cherry blossoms, but the trees still haven't blossomed and we have our fingers cross that they will open up before we leave. 

So far it's been a good trip. We haven't been completely organized the whole time, but we have figured some things out along the way and I think the rest of the week will go a lot smoother. 

 














2 comments:

Erika said...

Glad y'all are having fun!!!

Mary McLaughlin said...

It is fantastic that you and your dad get to experience so much together! Enjoy all the time you can!