Washington DC! ( Day One)

Well, were back from our trip to Washington DC and it was sure awesome! We arrived in DC at 9:15 and checked our bags into a locker at Union Station since we still had a few hours until check in. A few blocks from the train station was the Capitol, our first destination. It was raining but fortunately we packed two umbrella’s! Alicia and I walked around the Capitol before heading down the National Mall. Our next stop was the Smithsonian (Castle) visitor center before heading to the Washington Monument, WWII memorial and Lincoln Memorial. By the time we left the Lincoln Memorial the rain started to come down heavier and our umbrella’s failed! They were so soaked that it just came through! We had to be back at Union Station by 1 to get our bags and check into the hotel so that we would make it to the Capitol tour on time. From the Lincoln Memorial to Union station it was about an hour walk… By the time we got to the train station we were drenched! Our jeans were soaked all the way up to our butts and our sweaters arms were soaked! Oh and later we found out that the backpack was collecting rain, there was an inch of water at the bottom too!
OHHHH, and on Thursday it was the last day of shooting for the new Transformers 3 movie! While we didnt get to see them shooting any scenes we did get to see all their equipment and truck loads of stuff! And it was right in front of the Capitol and a few blocks from our Hotel!
We made it on time for the tour of the Capitol tour. There is a visitors center that is underground and that is where the tour starts.  Our tour guide took us all over the Capitol, we got to see the old Supreme Court chamber, the old Senate chamber, Nancy Pelosi office, the original Capitol doors, the entry way where the shooting in the 90’s took place, the center of the building and the Rotunda (the huge dome)! There were tons of paintings and statues (and men with guns). The tour lasted about 2 hours and it was awesome, to be inside the same building where so many important people work…afterwards we got lunch at the cafeteria there, dumb I know…it was $5 for a hotdog!
After the tour and lunch we walked over to the Library of Congress. We didn't get to see the whole building and to get to the Jefferson building you needed a Reader’s Pass but we were able to see it from the balcony. It was a lot bigger in person and the architecture of the building…amazing! Alicia and I went back to the hotel to relax a little bit before we went to the Cirque Du Soliel show…and I took a nap! When your up at 4 am and only got 5 hours of sleep, ohh and when your walking all day!?! We stayed at the Washington Court Hotel and it was absolutely the best hotel ever. The staff treated us with such respect and were very willing to go out of their way to help us. For instance, before we were able to check in the allowed us to check our bags in so that we could walk around and go to our Capitol tour, they let us use the gym bathrooms to change out of our wet clothes and the doorman flagged down a taxi for us (and gave him the address of where we were going) for the show. We would def. stay there again, not just for the outstanding service and professionalism but also because of the proximity to everything!
The Cirque show was amazing and Alicia really had a great time. We saw the show OVO…it was about insects and love…weird combo but a great show. There were so many different types of acts from a contortionist, to a juggler, trapeze, tight rope and so much more! It was a very entertaining show! We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the tent but leave it to Alicia to not listen! She took pictures anyway and got yelled at twice for it! She was able to get a few good pictures before she put it away, the pictures were at the end of the show when all the cast was out! The show lasted a little over 2 hours and we got back to the hotel at 11…and that ends day one!

Here's a link of pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2176235&id=38804938&l=88a691fae2

 

Day 2- Coming tomorrow