Daphne Claire Goes to Washington

Yesterday, I decided to take Daphne to Washington D.C. on the train by myself.  There we are, above, on the Orange Metro line from Vienna.  Things could have gone horribly horribly wrong.  But they didn't.  We had a pretty great day out aside from some complaining about walking and some silliness at lunch.  And the weather was unusually cool and delightful.  We got lucky.  It's hot today.

We visited the Air and Space Museum first.  We got to see some cool old planes and a Mars rover, Daphne touched a moon rock, and we rode in a Space Shuttle Simulator all the way to the ISS for a space walk and back.  I sort of prefer the museum on the Mall to the one out here by Dulles airport.  But we didn't get to see much of it before it was time to meet Uncle Jeff for lunch.

Because of the complaining, we decided to take a taxi to the restaurant on Capitol Hill. This was Daphne's first cab ride, and she thought it was the Coolest Thing Ever because she didn't have to ride in a car seat.  We went to the Good Stuff Eatery, which is one of Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn's restaurants.  The line was ridiculous and the food took forever, but I will tell you this was one of the best burgers I have ever had in my life.  Totally worth the wait.  And to go with it, we had awesome fries with thyme and rosemary and sea salt, and a toasted marshmallow milkshake, which was pretty amazing. ( I am going to attempt to make this at home - I found a recipe on line right here (notice they are in mason jars!).)

 After lunch, we got to see Jeff's office in the Department of Health and Human Services building, which is also home to the Voice of America radio stations, so we watched some of the broadcasters there.  Very cool.  So, thanks for the tour, Uncle Jeff.  Daphne has been playing with her eagles non-stop since we got home.

After we left Jeff's building, we crossed the Mall to go to the Natural History Museum.  Daphne stopped for a photo op:

Our feet were killing us both by then, so a nice man directed us to the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery to stick them in the fountain for some relief.  This may have been my favorite part of the day that wasn't food.

No wading allowed in the fountain, by the way!  But just sitting there sticking our feet in did wonders for our physical and mental states.  At the Natural History Museum, we checked out the dinosaurs as always, and then saw a cool 3D IMAX about orphaned elephants and orangutans.  Then it was time to head back home on Metro.  Daphne wanted to stand up and hold the pole.  That lasted about one stop.

So, overall, I'd call the day a success, and I will definitely do it again.  It would have been more fun with Kev, but I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do it solo.  And it was easy.  No problem.

Kev is painting the TV room today.  It's very exciting.  I hope he can finish it up so we can have some family time tomorrow.  We'll be watching the Women's World Cup Final.  Then, Daphne's summer camp starts Monday.  I will have three hours a day all to myself for two weeks.  And I still haven't figured out a plan.  Maybe that's what I should be doing now.  Um...gotta go!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!