Day 1 - Washington D.C.

You know how there are some experiences in your life that you romanticize? You look back and what actually happened gets mixed in with a little bit more fluff from your memory so that the memory is better than what you really experienced?

Well...I do that sometimes.

In September, we took a VACATION (Yes, a vacation. NOT a trip. No children).

Our brother-in-law is living in Washington D.C. for a short time and so it gave us a place to stay. We planned the trip within a few weeks. We are so spontaneous.

I used to fly to Washington D.C. all of the time when I was a flight attendant.

One of my most memorable trips was a 72 hour layover to D.C. and my Dad decided to come along with me. It had all of the ingredients to a perfect trip. 3 days with my Dad. Free hotel. Money for food and spending. What could go wrong?

Well...

the trip occurred at the same time that the Virginia sniper shootings were happening.

Remember when that was happening?

Well...

as we were deplaning, the pilot gathered our flight crew together and told us that because the shooter(s) had not yet been caught, we needed to take extra precaution. If we planned to do any sight seeing, we needed to walk in a brisk walk and in a zig zag pattern...

you know...to throw off the shooter.

Genius.

I told my Dad...sort of in passing...but he pretty much took it to mean that our lives depended on our vigilance to this advice.

Oh...and it was poring rain outside.

My Dad was intent on seeing EVERY.SINGLE.MONUMENT/MUSEUM that D.C. had to offer within the 3 day period. This ended up not being as impossible as you would think.

The 2 of us ran, zig zag, throughout the whole downtown D.C. area for 3 days.

Did we see everything?

I think so.

Every time we would get to our destination, my dad would yell for me to take a picture, we would touch whatever it was and then we would be running to our next destination.

This was almost 9 years ago.

That story was probably romanticized a bit. It was probably more miserable than what I described, but over time it has become really funny.

But I digress.

This vacation was perfect in every way. Even while we were experiencing it, I knew that I was living what would become some of my fondest memories. Over the course of 6 days, we traveled throughout Washington D.C., Virginia, Philadelphia and New York City.

It was amazing.

This vacation has become my new "happy place" and now when I am folding laundry or the kids are screaming at me to referee a dispute, this is where I go.

My happy place.

Do you have one of those?

Get one.

Even if you have to romanticize a memory to get one.

The White House

Washington Monument

National World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

Day 2 - Washington D.C.

U.S. Capitol

We spent the second day on a tour of the U.S. Capitol. It really was amazing. We had a representative from Senator Harry Reid's office give us a detailed tour of the whole building.

Jon is standing on the star that is inlaid in the floor that marks the point where Washington D.C.'s streets are numbered. It used to mark the center of Washington D.C. It is found in the crypt of the Capitol (it is called the Crypt because it was built to house the body of President Washington...but he ended up being laid to rest at Mt. Vernon).

Original Supreme Court Chambers

Rotunda

Okay...so this is awesome. There is a statue that is made for each of the Presidents of the United States. President Reagan's statue has little pieces of the Berlin Wall in it.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Entrance to Nancy Pelosi's office

Brigham Young???

Each state was asked to choose 2 notable people from their state's history and have statues made of them to be added to the Capitol's Statuary Hall.

This one is from Utah.

This is us standing on the balcony outside of Senator Reid's office. The view is amazing!

After we left Senator Reid's office, a security guard asked us if we wanted to go to the President's Room. This is the room where all of the President's go after they are inaugurated. Our tour guide had never been in this room before and so we all learned about it together. There were no cameras allowed. There was, however, a picture of President Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the room after the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The table that is in the room is the table that President Lincoln used when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Ummm...pretty amazing.

Her name is the Statue of Freedom and she is what tops the roof of the Capitol Building and she (and what she represents) is beautiful.

After we finished up our 4 hour tour of the Capitol, we whipped out our very touristy tour book to find where we could go before everything closed. We must have looked totally lost and a random man came up and asked if we needed help finding something. Since we didn't know where we should go, he suggested that we follow him. There were 4 of us and 1 of him so we totally followed.

So...

We found out that he was the head of the secret service for the Capitol and he ended up being the perfect tour guide. He whisked us off to see the Library of Congress. I had heard of it (and probably touched the building with my Dad!), but I didn't really know what went on inside.

It was breathtaking. The art. The books. Everything.

Did you know that you have to get permission to even do research there?

I didn't.

After a quick dinner, we ventured to the Thomas Jefferson Monument. It was awesome to see D.C. at night. All of the monuments are lit up and the weather was so calm. It was peaceful to sit on the steps of the monument and just think.

I feel blessed to live in America.

Day 3 - Philadelphia/NYC

Since we were already making a trip across the country, we had decided that we wanted to visit New York City. Instead of taking the bus, we decided to rent a car and drive. We stopped off in Philadelphia for a potty break.

Amazing place for a potty break.

We visited the Liberty Bell and picked up some Philly Cheese steak sandwiches for the road.

We rolled in to NYC (listening to Alicia Keys, of course) just in time for the guys to drop Melissa and me off to our Broadway play. We decided to see Promises, Promises mostly because Kristin Chenoweth was in it. It was a fun play. Great music. Oh, and Kristin was excellent.

Sean Hayes signing playbills after the show.

While the girls were at Promises, Promises, the guys went to New Jersey to see a pro soccer game. After the game and play, we met up to see Jersey Boys.

The soundtrack can now be heard playing at our house all of the time. I had no idea that I knew so many Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons songs. Loved It.

After the play, we had a wonderful, 4 star (thanks to Vance) dinner and even dined with Tyne Daly (you know...Lacey from Cagney and Lacey???)...

So, when I say "dined with" I mean that she sat a few tables away from us, but I am counting it.

After dinner, we caught a cab and headed to our hotel room...

Day 4 - NYC

We arrived in NYC on September 11. It was kind of eerie. We went downtown to look at Ground Zero on September 12. There were make shift memorials everywhere. People were solemn. It was hard to believe that just 9 years ago the spot where we were standing was covered in massive piles of debris. There was an old church, St. Paul's Church, across the street from where the towers once stood. The church was a piece of history in and of itself. It was the church that President George Washington would go to worship for the 2 years that New York was the nation's capitol. It is also the place of worship for other Presidents who followed. But history had also given this church a new role. For 9 months following the attacks, the church became a safe haven for victims, families and rescue workers. As we walked inside, the church had been transformed with tokens and memorabilia from those who had come to this church seeking help. Although the "old" history of this church was significant, the "new" history of this church was too. I realized that I was alive when the new history was written and that the world would never be the same.

We had lunch on the pier. The weather was cloudy but calm. We bought an umbrella and visited Central Park, shopped and visited the Manhattan Temple/meeting house. It was a laid back day filled with reverence and great conversation.

Manhattan Temple

Central Park

Day 5 - Washington D.C.

The last day of our trip began by visiting Arlington Cemetery and watching the changing of the guard.

President John and Jacqueline Kennedy's grave with the eternal flame.

US Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Monument)

Holocaust Memorial Museum

Smithsonian: American History Museum

Dorothy's Red Slippers!

Abraham Lincoln's hat that was worn when he was assassinated

Jacqueline Kennedy's Inaugural ball gown

(She is my favorite)

Melissa with the Obama's

We finished the day by walking through Georgetown. It is a beautiful, quaint town with so much charm (and cupcakes). It was the perfect end to a perfect get away.