Day Two ~ Metro and American History

 

September 13, 2022 ~ Written by Jarret

A trip to the hot tub and a quick dip in the pool was almost enough to clear the cobwebs out of my brain and convince me to wake up when the sun rises here - 3 hours earlier than at home. Reflecting on our first full day on the east coast, I’m astounded at how much we fit into a day! We got up late, barely having enough time for the incredible hotel breakfast, then spent what felt like hours in indecision about which bus tour to book. So, I felt like we had let the day slip by when we finally had our tour booked.  Back home, I had confidently said that I knew a certain bus company well, after Kendra and I had used them on two previous trips.  We'd bragged them up pretty hard, in spite of their busses being a teeny bit late (okay, maybe a lot late) at some of the pickup points on those trips.  I'd gone to their website when we were preparing for this trip, to ensure that they were still in business, not being put off by the fact that their site sure buried the hop on/hop off tour.  The links to book the different ticket options didn't click through to their pay merchant either, but I was still confident that while this company may struggle with the minor details, but they sure give a great tour!  So, when I picked up the phone and heard the employee say, "I'm sorry, but we don't offer those tours anymore", I was more than a bit flustered.  

Once I stopped looking like a deer in the headlights, we three adults put our heads together and booked a nighttime tour with a different company.  The nighttime tour had been a really special part of our previous trips, so we wanted to share that experience with Grammy and our girls.  Next we had to figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our day and how we were going to travel from our hotel to the various attractions.  We settled on the Museum of American History as our other primary goal of the day, and it was agreed to try the Metro subway system to get from the hotel to the National Mall, where the museums are located.

Buying Metro passes for the family

After a reasonably short walk to the station, getting re-oriented to the Metro system was quite easy. We learned after a couple of trips whether we could catch “any eastbound train” and the simplest way of knowing which direction a train was going (it’s pretty disorienting to a person’s sense of direction being underground). So, this method of travel soon ended up being our preferred mode of transport, with the only caveat being that it requires more walking than using Uber. But there were stations within less than half a mile of all the places we were throughout the day, so it was a system that worked well for us.

Waiting for our first Metro train was pretty exciting!

After catching our first subway ride, we ascended an escalator back above ground and found ourselves within the National Mall. It was every bit as impressive as it’s been each time I’ve been there. The majesty of the buildings is unparalleled in my limited travel experience. The “feel” I get standing in the Mall is one of awe as I think of the founding of our country, the idea of it being a beacon of hope and a really good way among countless ways of governing a people. 

On the National Mall, before heading into the Smithsonian Museum of American History

We soaked in the experience as we walked to the Museum of American History, amid perfect weather. The museum is one I’ve been to, but never fully explored. We enjoyed seeing America’s progress of industry in one of the first exhibits we explored, and I thought the museum did a great job of telling the facts plainly in the uncomfortable parts of our national history. Many of us wanted to find the military history exhibits, but we were confused by some of the exhibit titles on the map, so we accidentally ended up with a quick tour through some of America’s transportation history, before getting to the war exhibits. In the transportation exhibit, I discovered my backup career, as I was endlessly fascinated by the scale models (in most cases of ships). When we reached the war exhibits, I enjoyed seeing our boys come alive and Abel identifying lots of the weaponry, and we all enjoyed the finish of the tour with an actual Vietnam-era helicopter. As is typical, many of us felt like we’d had only about half the time we really needed, but it was closing time, nonetheless.

Everyone loved the Statue of Liberty, made entirely of Lego bricks

Cutaway model of a slave ship

Huey chopper, one of about 4,000 that served in the Vietnam War