Paul & Sarah go to Washington

We realize that you have been anxiously awaiting THE post on our vacation to Washington DC. Well, here it is. We had a great time seeing stuff we'd only read about in History books as well as spending time with our friends, Seth and Kristen Kolb! It was one of those vacations where we got home needing a vacation from our vacation, but it was so fun none the less. Upon setting out to DC, we made a list of all the things we wanted to do while there. And, I am happy to say that we got to most things on our list - Yay us! I think all in all, we probably walked a total of like 40 miles during the entire week that we were there. Here's a list of everything we got see:

- White House (yes, we had a tour of the INSIDE). On the way out, we saw a secret service agent. Kristen mentioned to him that we were supposed to have breakfast with the President. The secret service guy played along and couldn't believe that George didn't honor that commitment. Then, I opened my big mouth and said that we would've taken the First Lady...you don't say things like that at the White House.
- Capitol - another tour set up by our Congressman
- Library of Congress
- Supreme Court Building
- Air & Space Museum, American Art and Portraiture Museums - part of the Smithsonian Institute
- National Holocaust Museum
- Washington Monument
- Lincoln Memorial
- Arlington Cemetery and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
- Mt. Vernon - George Washington's house and tomb
- International Spy Museum - we are well trained to spot spies among us!
- Vietnam Memorial
- Union Station
- Old Town Alexandria
- Folger's Shakespeare Museum
- Ford Theater and house where Lincoln died

We also got to eat lots of really good food...I guess the perk of being in an international city. This is something we really miss living in Lubbock!

As with any trip, there were a few antics along the way.
1) on the day that we toured the Capitol, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress, we forgot the camera...we bought a disposable one. We were pretty sad not to have our camera this day!

2) on our last night, we decided to see The Mall all lit up. We had been out and walking around for the entire day and wanted to eat dinner then walk around The Mall. So, we went up this one street looking for a place to eat. The menu of this one Mexican eatery looked good and affordable, so we went in. Now, we had been outside all day, but we still didn't look disgusting. The hostess told us that their bar served their entire menu, so we could just take a seat there! I asked her how long before a table would be available, and she sat us immediately. We knew what that was about. We were pretty upset to have been treated that way...this places prices did not warrant snootiness. We went ahead and ordered, and our food came - it was bite size servings! We dropped $30 on dinner, Paul talked to the manager about the hostess, and we got pizza later that night.

3) for the last two nights of our trip, we stayed in a hotel near the Capitol. It was a little warm in our room, so Paul turned on the air. It sounded like a car that needed some work, and no cold air came out. The next morning, we told the front desk. They said they'd fix it...but of course didn't. So, we sweated as it was unseasonably warm in DC.

4) Upon returning to Lubbock, we stood at baggage claim patiently waiting for our bags that never came. Somehow through all the plane changes that we made on our way home (four total), our bags got lost. Thank goodness they showed up later that night, and Southwest delivered them to our house.

Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!