The Clarks Visit Washington, D.C.

Okay, so we knew it was the busiest weekend of the year in Washington, D.C., because of the Cherry Blossom Festival, Spring Break, and Easter, however, we needed to take advantage of the couple of days off of school for Sean and Dani. We really wanted Dani to see D.C. before he goes home to Spain. We knew that there would be millions of people and that we would just have to deal with it. The weather was a fabulous 80* - 85*! To make things perfect, Ashley flew in to meet us and enjoy the sights. We appreciate Ryan for giving her up for a few days!
Thursday, April 1, right after work and school we hopped in the car and drove the 5 1/2 hours to Rockville where we stayed at the Chase Suite Hotel because it was familiar territory for us (i.e. previous temple trips). Ashley's flight arrived much earlier, so she had us all checked and settled in.
Friday morning we jumped on the Metro and rode in to the city. Our first stop was the Mall area: the Washington Monument (tickets had been 'sold out' [they're free, but they had been spoken for] for months!), the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall. Then we walked to the White House where they were still readying for the big Easter Egg Party and to the National Archives Museum where we waited in line for 1 1/2 hours to view the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. We rushed to the Holocaust Museum and saw one floor of the display before they closed, and we decided that we would return on Saturday to see the rest - if we could get tickets for it. We rode the Metro to Georgetown and walked forever to try to find the Pizzeria Paradise that Ashley had picked as our restaurant for dinner! While the guys all waited in line, Ashley and I enjoyed some of the fun stores! It was great shopping and great pizza!
Saturday we drove to Mt. Vernon and saw the fabulous grounds of George Washington. The wait to get into the home was so much longer than we expected - about 2 hours. We ate lunch on the grounds and then hurried back to D.C. to tour the Holocaust Museum. Lyle could never find a place to park, so he just stayed with the car while Ashley, Sean, Dani, and I toured the Museum. It was an extremely emotional display. Really makes you think. It was not all that long ago that those brutal things happened. As I was getting ready to leave, I heard someone call my name and turned around to see Terry Echo Hawk. Incredible! We had a great little visit. Lyle was waiting for us at the Natural History Museum, and it was open until 7:30 p.m. so we were able to fit that in as well. There we enjoyed the dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond, the ocean and mammal rooms, and the photography displays. That night we ate in Rockville at Ono's Asian and Pacific Sushi Bar. Then we walked down to a theater and watched the late showing of Clash of the Titans. I believe we have walked about 20 miles so far on this trip!
Sunday, Easter Morning, we drove in to Dupont Circle and ate at Bistro Bistro, a great little French... BISTRO! They had an impressive Easter buffet. Ashley, thanks for finding this place also! Then we headed to Arlington Cemetery where we paid our respects to John F. Kennedy and watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
Mom, love the pictures of the Cherry Blossoms and the Magnolias!
We all really enjoyed the trip. Dani has never had to ride in a car so far, nor has he ever walked so much, but he thanked us over and over for taking him. Great memories!