What a night!

We made it! Our flights to PDX and to DC went without a hitch and were over all very smooth. I had a 42-year-old guy sitting next to me on the flight to DC who had never flown before! It was kind of fun taking in the whole process from his point of view. He did really well, considering it was his first.

Once in DC, we did another first, we took an Uber car to our hotel! What a great system. Much cheaper than a taxi and the driver was friendlier. It actually felt safer than a taxi to me. Kind of weird to hop out of the car and not pay the driver anything directly. Will definitely use Uber again.


Our hotel is walking distance to the national mall and our room is beautiful. Thanks to our Marriott timeshare points!

As soon as we settled in, we headed off to explore. We headed to the White House first. There were throngs of people everywhere...one of the busiest weeks of the year in our nation's capital. It was interesting to us that MANY of the people around us were foreigners, seemingly more than there were Americans.

After a yummy hamburger and delicious chocolate milkshake for dinner, we headed toward the mall. It was getting dark, which was perfect as we wanted our first view of the monuments to be at night when they were lit up. Walking down the mall, the Washington Monument began looming in the distance. What an incredible feat of architecture. Unfortunately, it is not open at night to go to the top. From the base, there are gorgeous views of the Capitol Building and Lincoln Memorial in opposite directions.

Next we headed down the mall toward the Lincoln Memorial. It is deceptively close looking, but it is quite a walk. Even though I had seen it before (Will had not), it was still just as moving. Now that I know I am distantly related to Honest Abe, it has even more significance for me. There were people everywhere, but Abe just sat calmly taking it all in. The view from the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial back toward the Washington Monument is breath taking, seeing the obelisk reflected in the reflecting pool.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked by the Vietnam Memorial. There
were wreaths lining the walk way and personal memorabilia lined the wall itself. The names seemed to stretch forever. It really got to me, what a tragic loss of life. We were able to find the name of a POW that Will wore on a POW bracelet when he was in high school. Seemed surreal to him to connect the bracelet to a real person.

A fifteen minute walk back to our hotel and we are exhausted. Even though we were on a plane most of the day, my FitBit still registered 14,500 steps!! So off to bed as soon as I post this. Tomorrow is the concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building, can't wait! And of course, more exploring!

Hope your Memorial Day weekend is off to a great start!