Waiting for a train

Waiting for a train
Originally uploaded by thelinkels

Today there was no wind, thank goodness! I don't think we could have handled another day with those winds. We decided last night that we would head home today after we made a final attempt to get into the Washington Monument and stopped into the Smithsonian Castle. Yesterday's trip to Arlington knocked off one of our stops for today and we will pick up our park stamps at Fredrick Douglas, Rock Creek Park, The White House and Theodore Roosevelt Island next time. Luke and I both have colds with stuffy noses and a cough and everyone is ready to head home.

We packed up our stuff in the car and checked out of the hotel at 8:20 and then caught a cab to get in the line for tickets at the Washington Monument. The actual temperature was 25 degrees but with the slight wind it felt like 17. I had some hand warmers that worked great for the kids and they were much happier after I brought those out. The parks service starts handing out tickets at 8:30 for entry times beginning at 9:00 and by the time I got to the window at 9, the earliest time was noon. So we headed over to the castle to have a look around and then we rode the metro over to Union Station to check that out. The kids thought it was really neat to ride the metro - mostly because it meant not walking. We ate lunch at 10:30 in Union Station and then headed back to the monument for our ticket times.

I had never been inside the monument before and Scott had been there as a kid. They no longer let you walk up the 800+ steps because too many people had heart attacks and ambulance calls and they had a lot of vandalism. Really this is a shame because on the interior of the monument there are 193 commemorative stones from different states, community organizations and others. On the elevator they slow down and partially show you some of them through the glass on the doors but really you miss out on seeing those by not walking. Of course we did 303 stairs at the Point Reyes Lighthouse in California and I am not sorry I did not have to climb up AND back down more than double that. There were some great views of the city from the tallest point in Washington and we were happy we were able to get in.

After a long drive, we were all happy to be home and very excited to sleep as late as we want in our own beds. The next trip will be planned soon so stay tuned.