Washington DC Trip - Part 3

On Wednesday we had tickets for the International Spy Museum.  We were able to walk there after breakfast for our 9am time slot.  We started with a movie and then we were each issued a secret identity and mission.  There was a lot to see about the history of spying and stories of specific spies.  They had a huge collection of spying implements as well.

After the Spy Museum we had a snack and then walked to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  I had read that they did tours every 30 minutes and the tickets were first come, first served.  Sure enough we were able to get on the next tour.  Although we went through security at basically every museum and government building, this may have been the strictest.  After an informational video about the history of money printing, we were able to go watch the different steps of printing and packaging money.

We then walked around the Tidal Basin to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.  We continued walking past other memorials.  It was breezy and chilly but mostly sunny.  We were starting to get fairly hungry (Emmett was beyond hungry), but had a ways to walk before we got to any food options.  We finally found some food trucks and got some food.  

After some food we went to the Museum of Natural History.  We spent most of our time seeing gems, rocks, minerals and animals.  After the museum we went back to the hotel for dinner and to relax.

We found a Panda!

Elliott is ready to catch this leaping tiger

a pink fairy armadillo

On Thanksgiving we had tickets for the National Air and Space Museum at 10am.  On our way there we had to cross through a huge charity run, The Run to Stop Hunger.  We spent a few hours seeing the museum, much of it was closed for refurbishment and yet it was still huge and overwhelming.  

Elliott was excited to see moon rocks

Elliott knows the Rolex brand...photobombed by Jim and Ezra

After the museum we got lunch from a food truck.  We ate outside and then we set out on a long walk to see the White House and then the Washington Memorial.  On the way we passed many interesting buildings and an outdoor ice rink.

We then went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  We saw exhibits about the flag, presidents, a gunboat, transportation, etc.  But probably our favorite part was an area that was about entertainment and pop culture, so many recognizable things for the kids.  

We then walked past Ford's Theater and to the Hard Rock Cafe, where we had reservations for our Thanksgiving dinner.  They had a special Thanksgiving dinner option, but also had their normal menu available, which I figured would be the best option for keeping everyone happy.  Jim and I both had the Thanksgiving meal, and the kids got burgers.  It was extra fun for them because they currently have a partnership with soccer great Lionel Messi and they had special "Messi" food items and a small soccer ball came with the kids meals.  Emmett bought a Messi shirt in the gift shop.

On our walk back to the hotel we stopped for pictures by the Capitol building.

Back at the hotel we tidied and packed for our trip home the next day.  In the morning we had breakfast and checked out.  We took the metro to the airport and got through security.  We flew to Milwaukee, but did not deplane as we were continuing on to Denver.  In Denver we had a 4+ hour layover, but we saw that there was an earlier flight.  We were able to get on standby for that flight and we heard that there were 40 open seats.  We got some food there and made it on the earlier flight.  That got us in to Salt Lake City at least 2 hours earlier than planned, which was wonderful!  We got the hotel shuttle to get to our car.  It had snowed, but the roads were fine.  We stopped at In N Out for dinner and the kids got free hot chocolate since it had snowed, and then we drove back to our home. 

We had yummy food options daily for breakfast