Visiting Washington D.C. (Dec 31)

Finally a chance to visit D.C.!  I had actually been here a long time ago during my golfing/touring days.  My housing host drove me around but somehow I don't remember much of it at all.  Ha!  Like I said, it was a long time ago.  It's definitely nice to be able to see some of these iconic places with the boys now.

Another foggy morning!

We are going through the Fort McHenry Tunnel - it's underground, with its lowest elevation is at 107ft below harbor water surface.  Yikes! Would hate for anything to happen while we're driving through it:

And, it's still foggy on the other side:

We're close!

Some amazing sculptures around here.  Although I took this photo mostly to remember where we parked. Ha!

We decided to walk towards the Lincoln Memorial first.  Family we-fie with the Washington Monument in the backdrop:

Yup, it's gloomy and there's fog right above the lake:

Family we-fie!

Charlie - having some fun :-D

Walking up to the Lincoln Memorial... and look at how tall these columns are!!  The memorial is surrounded by 36 of what's called Doric columns, 44ft tall and one for each of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death:

Here's the statue - which took the Piccirilli brothers (under the supervision of sculptor Daniel Chester French) four years to complete!

In one of the chambers, Graham recognized this as the Gettysburg address.  Nicely done, Graham!

I'm glad there are not too many people here today:

On the way down, we spotted the spot where Martin Luther King made his famous "I had a dream" speech.  Cool!!

It's crazy how low those airplanes are flying over the memorial:

On the way to the Washington Monument, we come across this memorial:

It's actually a water fountain, which unfortunately has been turned off.  And each "pillar" is represented by one of the 50 states:

The Washington Monument is quite an impressive feat!

Some facts:

I didn't realize that the stones were two different colors.

Ha ha, boys having some photography fun :-D

We don't have much time so we aren't going up to the top.  Maybe some other day:

Another family we-fie!

This monument is sooooo tall!!!

And the corners are amazingly precise!!!

And on the far end, you can see the U.S. Capitol:

Nope, the Cherry Blossoms are not blooming:

On the way back to the car, we come across this interesting little house - the Lockkeeper's House. Come to find out, built in 1837 - it is the oldest building on the National Mall in D.C, excluding the White House. And it served the canal lock keeper who collected tolls, managed traffic and maintenance of the canal, and recorded commerce along the canal that used to run along here:

And after all that walking, it's finally time for some lunch.  We find a spot near the George Washington University:

Woah, the university is founded in 1821!

OMG, BEST BURGER EVER!!!

It was a wagyu beef burger and wow, out of all the burgers that I have eaten in my entire life - this is definitely THE best!  Will definitely have to come back here again.  I actually wanted to take a photo of the stained glass windows of the building next door.  But there it is - Duke's Grocery and nope, it's not a grocery store at all!

We're just doing a quick driving tour now.  Here's what little I can see of the White House:

I believe this is the Waldorf, but I really liked those wreaths.  I told Bobby we need a big one like that for our house, for next Christmas :-D

There's the U.S. Capitol again:

Looks like we are not getting very close to it from this road!

Bobby showed us the building where he used to work near there waaay back when.  And then, we are off again - on our way to Ohio.

I'm not sure what Bobby is pointing to here:

The boys are already back on their computers.  Sigh... I wonder how much longer they will want to go on road trips with us. They spend so much time on those screens!!

The fog is rolling back in:

And then it starts to rain:

And now, it's just dark:

I'm glad Bobby's eyes are still good for driving at night because mine aren't! 

We stop in Cumberland, MD for the night.  And actually, come to find out later that Cumberland has quite the history here.  There's a one-room cabin in Riverside Park that used to be George Washington's headquarters.  It was built between 1755 and 1758 and was used by then Colonel George Washington during the French and Indian War. 

We make a dinner reservation at a restaurant in town.  We were expecting it to be busy but there were only one or two other tables taken.  And so here we are - Charlie and I deciding to have some crab as our New Year's eve dinner:

Ha ha, I tell you... these kids.  Such actors!  Here's Graham pretending to be pinched by the (dead) crab. LOL!!

Charlie isn't so sure how to eat this crab leg.  By the end of it, he said it was too much work.  Ha ha!

Well, everyone is safe and sound in the hotel room on New Year's eve!

Looks like Graham's stuffed giraffe (named Fluffy) has taken up my spot in bed.  Graham has such a cheeky smile on his face:

Can't believe 2022 has come to an end!  The biggest life event for us has obviously been the move from California to Illinois. I don't think I've ever been so stressed about a house sale. Lots of ups and downs throughout the year, but let's hope for more ups in 2023!!