Welcome to Washington

Our first day in DC proved to be fruitful as we somehow got our time management mojo back. We started off at the Museum of American History, where got an awesome look at....well, American history (duh, we know). We saw a ton of stuff, including the First Ladies' dresses, Julia Child's kitchen, a creepy George Washington Zeus statue, the original Star Spangled Banner, and KJ's favorite- the shirt Tom Selleck wore as Thomas Magnum in Magnum PI- she was 'whooping' and 'whoa-ing' over it (so Tom Selleck if you're reading this, KJ loves you and Magnum!). Chunk got to see his favorite Ninja Turtle, Michelangelo, and was almost as excited as KJ was about the Magnum shirt.



We then moved on to the Museum of Natural History, which was overrun by groups of school children (as noted in our last post...). Although we didn't get to see everything, we did get to see multiple examples of animals, the evolution of man, and the Hope Diamond (beware of the curse! ahh!).



Afterward, we strolled by the National Archives, but since the line was winding around the block, we decided to stop at Potbelly's (which, as posted before, helped us regain our sanity). So with full stomachs and clear minds, we checked out the International Spy Museum. Fairly new in DC and definitely cool. There was even a Minox spy camera from the 1940s that had been made in Riga, Latvia! Worth checking out and spending the extra bucks to see it.*

*Side note: Most museums and attractions in Washington DC are free, which makes it an awesome place to visit.


(Chunk doing his Japanese tourist pose)

We then decided to check out the Archives again to see if the line had died down. They close at 7pm, and since it was around 6pm we were in luck! The line was fairly short, and we got to see The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and The Constitution. Very cool!



All in all it was a great first day, plus we get to take the train in, and the stations look like something out of the Death Star.



However.....

Here is a short list of ridiculousness we observed:

• Julia Child's kitchen being super packed most likely due to the movie Julie and Julia (good movie, but we're just wondering how many people were only interested because of that).
• A little girl reading books and urging her parents to hurry up so that she can learn and see more, while a 14-year-old boy was being entertained by a long red balloon that he was carrying around.
• A woman asking her husband why braille was just random dots instead of carved letters (um, because it's easier).
• A woman telling her husband what he was going to eat while standing in line at a cafe (a Caesar salad, in case you're wondering).
• A five person family at the Spy Museum , of which two members would constantly cut people and be rude, while the others were visibly embarrassed by their behavior.

Now off to plan day two!