Spring Vacation Day 2

We started our second day in Washington D.C. looking for a place to eat breakfast. We started walking with no idea where we were going. We stopped and asked a city worker where a good place for breakfast would be, she told us to go to Lincoln's Waffle House. She gave us directions and we headed that way, unfortunately when we got there a line was forming outside the door. We were hungry and not willing to wait so we walked a few more blocks and settled for a sandwich at Subway. The Metro station was just across the street so we found the train that would take us to the Holocaust Museum. We were not permitted to take pictures; the museum was amazing. We learned so much about that period of history. The kids got pretty tired after about three hours but I could have spent another three hours there; it was so interesting. Our next destination was Arlington National Cemetery. We saw the eternal flame at John F. Kennedy's grave.

We also saw the graves of Robert and Edward Kennedy. We toured the Arlington house which was built by the step-grandson of George Washington and later became the home of Robert E. Lee and his family.

Next we visited the grave of the unknown soldier and watched the changing of the guard.

At this point we were getting pretty tired. Even though we had been able to ride the subway there had been a lot of walking and it had been over eight hours since we had eaten breakfast. The Marine Memorial also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial was nearby (1/2 mile away) so we walked or dragged ourselves the distance.

Ryan remarked that our day seemed to be focused on dead people, he was right. We were officially exhausted and facing a long walk back to the subway. We wondered if there was a subway station that was closer. We spoke with some people at the memorial who had a better map than we did which showed another Metro station which was possibly a little closer. We headed in that direction and then decided that maybe we should try to find a place to eat before we went back to Washington D.C.. Again we asked some people on the street who recommended a place called Red, Hot and Blue. Several blocks up a hill and we were finally rewarded with a great place for dinner. They served barbecued ribs and all kinds of yummy food along with pitchers for drinks and place to rest our weary legs. It was just what we needed to revive our bodies and spirits.

After a stop for some Ibuprofen for our sore muscles and some Oreo's for our sweet tooth we made our way to the subway and back to our hotel where we crashed. We promised the kids that we wouldn't be walking as much the following day.