Note: Before I get anything further in our tales from DC, I must acknowledge that this trip was made possible by a phenomenal husband willing to man the home-front and his awesome parents who flew from Pennsylvania to help take care of the four younger kids.
If we thought Wednesday morning required an early wake-up, it was nothing compared to Thursday morning! On Thursday morning we had a tour of the White House scheduled at 7:30 am, which required us to be in line no later than 7:15 am. A 7:30 am tour would not have been our first choice, but when you request a White House tour, you have to apply months ahead of time (sending in names, birth dates, and social security numbers), and only find out if you get a tour two weeks ahead of time. You're not given a choice on time.
So, we found ourselves huddling in line to keep ourselves warm (the kids called themselves penguins) well before any of us would have chosen to open our tired eyes.
Like the Senate gallery, no bags are allowed on the White House tour. Unlike the Senate gallery, they provide no place to store any bags outside this tour. Jamie, a DC veteran, offered to stay outside and hold all of our bags (actually, she hung out at a nearby Starbucks during our tour). She made quite a sight covered in all our bags! She earned the title "Bag Lady."
It was surreal being in the White House. This was a self-guided tour, which worked better for our kids; they liked being able to move at their own pace. We appreciated the knowledgeable security agents who doubled as stationary tour guides.
I'd been to DC twice before, but this was my first time visiting the White House. So. Much. History! I loved it.
The tour was not long, and soon we found ourselves back out in the cold with hours before the Smithsonian Museums opened. We used up some time perusing the souvenir trucks, and some of the kids (including Aubree) got themselves DC sweatshirts.
We also discovered the White House Visitor's Center, which is considered a National Park. Besides giving us a warm place to explore, it also provided an opportunity for the kids (and some parents) to earn a Junior Ranger badge. Aubree put her badge (okay, it's a pin) on her backpack and wears it with pride.
The "plan" called for us to go to the African American Museum next, but we realized that we needed to reserve tickets in order to visit there. Unfortunately, half of us got tickets for 10:30 and the other half couldn't get in until 11 am. We were in the latter group, so we decided to make the best use of our time and visit the Natural History museum from 10-10:45 am. Have I mentioned yet how much security we endured on our trip? There were scanners, officers, and metal detectors everywhere!
Clearly, 45 minutes is not nearly enough time to visit a Smithsonian, but we managed to see some neat things. We really enjoyed the gems and minerals exhibit.
Soon it was time to run over to the African American Museum. I hadn't done any research on this museum and probably wasn't quite prepared for the overwhelming emotion it engendered. You enter the main floor of the museum and then there are three upper floors full of mostly cultural, sports, music, and entertainment type displays. There are also three lower floors. To get to the lower floors, you enter an enormous elevator. As you descend, there are dates on the walls showing you going back in time. When you leave the elevator, you enter the 1400's and the beginning of the slave trade. It's dark and somber. Making your way up the bottom three floors takes you on a mile and a half walk through the history of slavery. It reminded me of the Holocaust museum in terms of impact and heartbreak.
We stopped halfway through for a lunch break. We decided to eat in the museum cafeteria which was especially interesting because the cafeteria offered traditional southern foods.
We planned to spend a couple hours at the museum, but there was just so much to see and take in. Aubree and I spent most of our day there. Once you make your way through the slavery sections, there is a special, peaceful room where patrons are invited to sit and decompress. I loved the quote on the wall which read, "I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom." - Nelson Mandela.
The rest area was a welcome relief, not only emotionally, but also for our feet which were screaming. I should note that in preparing for this trip I realized that both Aubree and I needed new shoes. Aubree's were a touch too small, and mine were old and worn out. Feeling ahead of the game, I ordered us new sneakers. Of course, the shoes arrived at our home about 5 hours after our flight left for DC. Whoooops again.
While we were exploring the African American Museum, some of our friends took a bicycle tour of the Monuments. While riding, they encountered a local TV news crew doing a story on swastikas that had been graffitied on the Holocaust Museum. Jamie, Hank, and Jaiden were asked to share their opinions on the graffiti and their interview aired that evening on local TV! More co-op lore.
When we finished in DC for the day, we took the Metro down to Old Town Alexandria. We had the co-op kids pop into a hotel to ask for a recommendation for a place to eat (we're practicing self-advocacy skills), then we rode the free trolley down to an Italian restaurant called Mia's. It wasn't our favorite restaurant ever, but we ordered a variety of items and enjoyed sharing.
The kids loved having their own table and getting to order for themselves.
Afterwards we hopped across the street for some ice cream at Pop's. That was probably Aubree's favorite part of the day!
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