Washington DC - Day 3

Our last full day is Washington DC was more low-key.  We were able to take our time as the only planned thing we had to do was Ford's Theatre.  We relaxed in the morning, got ready, and headed out into town around 11:00AM.  We walked past the statue of Benjamin Franklin at the Old Post Office.

From the statue, we walked across the street, and ran into the FBI Building.  Marc was really excited to see this.

After checking out the FBI Building, we found Ford's Theatre.  We picked up our tickets at the will call window, but we still had about 45 minutes before our tour.  We found s DC gift shop across the street, so we headed over there to kill some time.  I also picked up my Washington DC coffee mug.  I try to get a unique mug from every place that we go.  I started doing this when we went on our cruise last spring.

Ford's Theatre is a really unique place.  The basement of the theatre is set up like a museum.  It takes you through Lincoln's presidency, a day in the life, and the period of time leading up to his assassination.  There is also a wing devoted to John Wilkes Boothe and the men who were conspiring against Lincoln.  The museum has the actual handgun that was used to assassinate Lincoln.

The stage in Ford's Theatre.

This is the box where Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were watching the play the night he was assassinated.  The theatre is still in use today, however, this box is off-limits to the public.

Marc and I in Ford's Theatre from the balcony.  You can see the Lincoln box across the way.

After our tour at Ford's, we walked down the street to the International Spy Museum.  We spent two and a half hours going through the floors of cool spy stuff.  We say everything from "Cigarette box guns," walking stick swords, coat button microphones, and so on.  They had models how many places there were to hide in cars.  The museum started with the early spies during World War I and followed the trends into today.

When we finished at the spy museum, it was very dark, and the heavens were going to let loose.  Marc and I were hungry, so we found a cute little Tex-Mex restaurant for lunch.  As the rain poured down we enjoyed out steak tacos, chips and salsa, and a beer or two.  An hour or so later and you would have never known it rained.

We wrapped up the day by walking past the White House and the Treasury Department.

Our trip to Washington DC was very memorable.  Marc and I shared many experiences together, and it was a good relationship build for the two of us.  There are so many things in DC that we didn't get to do, so I could see another long weekend trip at a later date.  This trip was one of the best birthday surprises I've ever had!

Washington DC - Day 2

Saturday morning in Washington DC, Marc and I slept in a little.  We were still up and ready to leave the hotel by 10:00AM.  It was a beautiful morning, and we knew it was going to be a HOT day.  We didn't have any "set-in-stone" plans until that afternoon, so we took the morning to see all the monuments/memorials.

We started with the Washington Monument.  We tried to get a tour to go inside, but the tickets have been sold out for weeks.  Next time we make the trip, we will pre-purchase tickets as soon as we know we are going.

The World War II Memorial.  This is only half of it.  I couldn't get a good angle to get the whole memorial.  The other side is a replica of this one.  One side says Atlantic, which were the states that fought on the European front.  The other side says Pacific, which were states that fought in the Pacific/Asia.  Each stone column represented a state.

Marc and I at the Pennsylvania column on the Atlantic side.  We were proud grandchildren of our grandfathers that were/are veterans.  My pappy was a chef stationed in Germany.  His grandpop was a sailor stationed on a submarine in the Pacific.

The Lincoln Memorial

President Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial.  I was so excited to see this.  Lincoln is my favorite president, and I love Civil War history.

Vietnam Veterans Statue

Korean War Memorial

The newest memorial to grace Washington DC.  The MLK Memorial.  This technically was not yet open to the public, but I was able to stick my camera through the fence to get a good pic.  The MLK Memorial was opened this past weekend.

Marc and I in front of a waterfall at the FDR Memorial.

Eleanor Roosevelt portion of the FDR Memorial.

After we say all the memorials, we went back into The Mall at Washington DC.  All the museums like The Mall.  We had timed tickets to the Holocaust Museum, so we went there first.  I wasn't sure how I would feel seeing this museum, but it was one I wanted to see.  The museum focused on Hitler's rise to power, Nazi Germany, and World War II.  Over six million Jews perished in the Holocaust.  Survivors of all ages shared stories of their experiences.  It was a museum I am glad we took the time to explore.

Once we left the Holocaust museum, we snagged a soft pretzel from a street vendor and made our way down to the National Air and Space Museum.

The air and space museum reminded me of Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.  There were several models all over the place, and there were lots of hands-on activities.  We saw a whole room dedicated to all the Apollo missions, the increasing technology of war plans from before WWI to what is used today, and several exhibits of early exploration from the air.

The last place we stopped at this day was the National Museum of American History.  This museum houses all the dresses of the first ladies,  history of the railways, exhibits on US expansion, and evolution of money.

We were starving for dinner once we finished with all the museums.  Marc had picked a special place called Old Ebbitt Grill for my birthday dinner.  It was super-fantastic food, and we enjoyed a really great dinner and a few drinks.  It was a very packed day, and by the end, our brains were on information overload.  We got back to the hotel after 8:00PM, and we were pooped!

Washington DC - Day 1

This year, for my birthday, Marc took me to Washington DC for a long weekend.  I had never been there before, and I was so excited to see EVERYTHING!  We had three days full of site-seeing, building tours, and walking.

We left Pittsburgh at 5:00AM, Friday morning.  It took us about 4.5 hours to get to the city.  We were lucky to check into our hotel early, so that was the first thing we did.  Then we set out.  Below are just a few pictures of some of the sites we saw.

This was our first view of the Capitol Building, as we were walking towards it.  We had a scheduled tour for this building.  We got to see the main halls, the dome, and a video about the history of the building.

The dome of the Capitol Building.  It is said to be George Washington surrounded by thirteen maidens (one representing each state). 

From the Capitol Building, we went to see the US Supreme Court.  Court was not in session, and no tours were available, but we walked around to a few of the exhibits offered to us inside.

 

The third building we visited was the Library of Congress.  We joined a group and took a 35 minute tour.  I was more impressed with the architecture inside, than the contents.  This is a portion of the ceiling.  The entire ceiling is covered with Italian mosaics.  The mosaics were actually made in Italy, then shipped to the US for installation.

After the Library of Congress, we roamed around to some of the memorial statues that were in the area.  Our first stop was the Ulysses S. Grant Statue.

William Howard Taft Memorial

The statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Memorial.

We got back to our hotel around 7:30PM the first night.  Marc and I decided to order pizza for dinner.  There was a mom-and-pop pizza joint not too far from us.  The hotel was advertising them, so we went with it.  Just as Marc got back, it started to pour.  We ate our pizza in our hotel room, and watched the intense lightening from the window.

Fenwick Fun

Marc and I took an extra-long weekend last weekend to travel to Fenwick Island in Delaware to his dad's beach house for family vacation.  I had to work extra late on Thursday, so we didn't get on the road until 5:30PM.  We arrived at the beach house at 12:30AM, but we were able to wake up to the birds and the water the next morning.

It was five days of sun, ocean, Jet-Ski, boat, good food, and laughs.  I also got to bond with Rebecca, Marc's sister, and Julie, Marc's soon-to-be sister-in-law.  Marc and I were able to have "date night/morning."  Our last evening at the shore, we went to Old Pro Golf.  This has been a tradition with my family, and I'm glad that Marc and I are able to continue the tradition.  After I beat Marc at putt-putt, we grabbed ice cream.  I also made my yearly stop at Candy Kitchen!  I only go once a year, so I splurged.

The morning that we were leaving, we headed down to 77th Street in Ocean City, Maryland to the Bayside Skillet for breakfast.  they have AMAZING crepes.  I enjoyed the peach crepes this year.  Marc had an omelet.  When the food came, the portions were bigger than our faces.  However, we weren't shy.  Our plates were clean by the time we left.

Over the winter, Mr. Myszak purchased a pontoon boat.  He had a dock installed behind his beach house, and Mr. M, Marc, Rebecca, and I were able to test out the waters on the bay. 

View of the upper part of OC, MD from the boat

Marc and I on the boat. 

Becca enjoying the ride.

Captain Ed in the driver's seat.  He was like a kid in a toy store with the excitement.

My first ride on a Jet-Ski.  Marc and I toured the bay, and we traveled up the coast toward Bethany Beach.

It was a great five days, and it was sad coming back to rainy Pennsylvania.  However, the countdown to Washington D.C. is on.  Marc is taking me to our nation's capitol for a fun birthday weekend!

Cutie Nephew

July 30th I got the pleasure of babysitting my nephew Evan.  A and D went out for dinner and drinks with friends.  Marc came over with me, and we had a great time.  Evan is beginning to be more active.  I was able to snag this pic of the cutie!