2016 Spring Break trip

This year we decided to go see my Baltimore family for spring break and then go to Washington D.C. for a couple days. I'm realizing as I get older and my family gets older how special these trips are. Dad passed away a couple years ago and now his sister (Aunt Gloria) is gone. She passed away a couple weeks ago. My only Aunt left is Aunt Jean (ironically she is the oldest of the 3: currently 88 I believe). It was extra special to spend some time with her. While in Baltimore, we stayed with my cousin Diane and Harlene again. They make the visit so fun and easy.

We had a great time eating blue crabs. Drew really enjoyed it. Emily - not so much. She likes the taste but doesn't like picking them. She says she doesn't like eating animals when they still look like the animal. Drew and Emily both love Old Bay Seasoning (as do I) and when we were down at the harbor they both bought Old Bay Seasoning shirts. Too funny! We do love to put that stuff on everything: seafood, fries, potatoes, mac-n-cheese.



Aunt Jean and I



Suzanne, Eric, Danny, and Heather with Diane

Diane setting up Henry and Luke with some toys.



Of course I had to play with the kid toys at the park. I let Luke and Henry (Henrietta) use it too :)



At the Baltimore harbor with Diane and Harlene

Drew learning to pick crabs. My cousin Suzanne (on Drew's left) and her daughter Danny both gave me a refresher course.

Blue crabs, beer and family. The best.

Aunt Jean and I playing some shuffle board.



We spend most of our first day in Washington at Arlington National Cemetery. I haven't been there since my grandmother's(Mom Mom) funeral. Now they had added her name to the plaque. I didn't think it would be emotional this time since so much time had passed but there is just something about that place. As soon as I started to leave, I lost it and had to go have and spend a few extra moments with Mom Mom and Pop Pop before leaving.

 

We also caught the very tale end of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and observed a wreath laying ceremony which was really nice.

 

That evening we had dinner with our good friend from college, Annette Puente. She noticed we were in town when we posted some photos on Facebook. We met for dinner at Ted's Bulletin in D.C. and had a great time. It was so good seeing her. We will definitely do it again.





Updated plaque at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

Wreath laying ceremony at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Family shot with Annette after dinner

 

The second day in D.C. we did some museums and monuments. During the day we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the United States Botanic Garden, and  the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The kids were kind of tired by the time we got to the American Indian museum and weren't to psyched about going but I think they enjoyed it once we got there. There are so many sites and museums to see in D.C. and we didn't really even see everything each museum had to offer.

 

Emily was really enjoying taking photographs with our nice camera; especially at the botanic garden. Most of those will have to be shared elsewhere or this post will never end.

 

The back side of the capitol currently under renovation.

Natural History Museum



Natural History Museum



View of Washington Monument through window at Natural History Museum.

Diane getting hands on at the Natural History Museum.

American Indian Museum



Drew and Emily at U.S. Botanic Garden

Strolling outside the botanic garden.

At night we took a moonlight bus tour of the monuments. Annette recommended it to us and it didn't disappoint. Our tour guide told as all kind of good stuff as we drove around the city and we got off the bus 3 times to explore numerous monuments including: Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, MLK, Roosevelt, and Marine Corps. I may be forgetting some.

 

MLK monument. I thought it was stunning.



One of my favorite quotes at MLK monument.

Franklin Roosevelt memorial



Lincoln Memorial. Very crowded and loud in there.



Korean Memorial - One of my favorites. So life like.

What a trip! Some much fun hanging with family and seeing sights. We haven't even scratched the surface in D.C. We definitely need to go see more. And it was so nice being in Baltimore.