Washington, D.C. 2018

Day 1: American History Museum, US Capitol, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and Washington Monument

To kick off the summer, Colt and I visited Washington, D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. We flew out Friday morning, arriving in DC just after 9am. After checking in, our first order of business was to visit the American History Museum. There, we saw the original Star Spangled Banner, many presidential artifacts like Jefferson's desk and Lincoln's top hat, Willie Mayes' cleats, Archie Bunker's chair, and much, much more. We allotted about 2.5 hours for the museum which wasn't nearly enough for a couple of history buffs like Colt and myself, so we'd have to return to finish the remaining exhibits.

After lunch, Susan put together a Capitol Tour for us - (the entire trip was a birthday surprise from my awesome wife!). Our tour was led by Congressman Aderholt, who represents Alabama's 4th District. The Congressman personally led the first part of our tour, showing us the House Chambers, before turning the tour over to his interns. The tour was incredible, we toured the entire capitol building, posed for a picture on the senate balcony. One of the cooler moments of the tour was seeing John Quincy Adams desk and the famous acoustical sweet spot dubbed the "whisper spot" in Statuary Hall. Legend has it that Adams would pretend to sleep while listening in on his political opponents conversations.

After the capitol tour, we walked by the Supreme Court building, Library of Congress, and the White House before heading to a local hot spot, Duke's Grocery for a delicious burger. Following dinner, we returned to the National Mall and visited the Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and Washington Monument.

Day 2: Library of Congress, Air & Space Museum, Museum of Natural History, American History Museum, Star Wars
On Saturday, we started the day at the Library of Congress. Walking by the building on Friday peaked Colt's interest - we all know his love for books! There, we saw Thomas Jefferson's impressive personal library as well as one of the Gutenberg Bibles.

Our next stop was the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. We took the guided tour (about 90 minutes) which we found very interesting. Here we saw the Wright Brother's plane, various artifacts from space exploration, and various aircraft. We then headed over to the Natural History Museum to spend a few hours before closing.

That evening, we had tickets to see the opening of the latest Star Wars movie, "Solo" at the iMAX Theater at the Air & Space Museum. This gave us after hours access to the museum while it wasn't very crowded - very cool to see all the exhibits without the crowds. And since it was opening night for the movie, the theater brought in many Star Wars characters to promote the event. Colt enjoyed taking photographs with the likes of Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and Bobba Fett.

Day 3: Gettysburg
After two days of touring the museums, it was time to change things up. On Sunday, Colt and I rented a car and made the 2 hour drive to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to visit the famous battlefield. Our first stop was the Inn at Cemetery Hill, where we picked up our Licensed Battefield Guide, Gary. Gary is the direct descendent of Medal of Honor recipient Patrick DeLacy, who served under the famed Union General Joshua Chamberlain. Gary spent about half a day with us, giving us an insider tour of the Gettysburg grounds. If you are going to tour Gettysburg, having a licensed battlefield guide is the way to do it.

We saw the sites of the major battles at Gettysburg, the monuments dedicated to the men who fought there on both sides, checked out the visitor center and cyclorama. It was a very memorable day.

Colt, being the history buff that he is, had previously memorized Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. This was not for a school assignment, but because he thought it was "a cool speech". Our visit gave Colt a chance to delivery Lincoln's famous address in the very spot that Lincoln gave his original address. Check it out:

Day 4: Arlington
Memorial Day was our last day in DC, and we decided to spend the day honoring those who served and gave all. We started our morning at Arlington National Cemetery for the Presidential Armed Forces Full Honor Wreath-Laying Ceremony. President Trump was there to pay his respects as well. Colt was able to see his 2nd United States President (we personally met President Jimmy Carter back in 2016.

After lunch at Penn Station, we watched the Memorial Day Parade, headlined by actor Gary Senise, who you will remember as Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump. We then visited the American Spy Museum (Colt's Pick!) to see a collection of James Bond memoriabila, including old Bond cars and other cool stuff! We made made a quick visit to the Jefferson Memorial before taking the metro to the airport.

With as much as we saw in 4 fun-packed days in DC, we also realized just how much there is to see and do here. We could easily have spent a week or even 2 and still not have seen everything. It was a great father-son trip that I will remember for the rest of my life, and hopefully one that Colt will too!

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