Monuments, Museums, and ERs . . . oh my!

Since this was my mom's third time to upstate NY we thought we would combine her coming with a vacation.  We packed up the car and, keeping in mind the valuable lessons the last time I did a road trip with a baby, we hit the road for Washington, DC.  Thanks to the presence of three adults, and splitting the 8 hour drive between two days, Monica did great in the car.  We arrived in DC on Friday morning about 11 am and spent the rest of the day walking around seeing all the monuments and other outdoor things to see, including the White House.  We found out too late that you can still get a tour of the White House if you contact your representative or senator.  Oh well, we'll have to save that for next time.  DC was gearing up for a cherry blossom festival at the end of March so some of the trees were already in bloom, along with Magnolias, so DC looked quite pretty.  Our hotel was just a couple blocks from the Capital Mall and, thanks to Priceline, we were not only able to save time by not riding the metro, but a ton of money as well.

My artsy photo of the flag's reflection on the Vietnam Memorial.

On Saturday we went to the Holocaust museum, where we had to wait in line for 40 minutes to get tickets to their permanent exhibit (the reason you go the that museum).  I had no problem with the wait: chatted with people in line and Monica slept.  Then we got inside and found out that active duty military didn't have to wait.  Then I had a problem with the wait.  ;o)  Seeing museums with a baby in a stroller is an experience in and of itself.  You try to make the most of your time, read and look quickly, entertain the babe while trying not to run into people or get in their way.  Monica did very well in the stroller considering she had to be in there for the better part of 3 full days.  She took her naps, played and snacked and let us know when she needed a break.  I think her favorite parts of the trip were the hotel room and the stairs in the Holocaust museum.

In the afternoon we went to the American History Museum.  I was excited to see the flag that inspired the National Anthem (check) and Dorothy's shoes (not checked).  The shoes where off display and there were signs saying they'd be back in April.  Oh well.  I saw the hat the Abraham Lincoln was wearing when he was killed and enjoyed seeing the dresses of the First Ladies.  They aren't all on display, but they have a piece a clothing from every single one!  What I learned was women used to be shorter (I mean short) and rounder. 

Daddy showing Monica the WWII Memorial.  Or maybe the other way around.

 We spent 3 hours at each museum and certainly didn't see everything, but that was about as much as our feet and Monica could take.  Tony announced that he needed to take off work for a month (yea right) and come down here by himself.  He's one of those read/see every single thing there is to see people.  Silly guy who likes to learn.



Saturday night mom watched Monica and put her to bed so Tony and I could go to dinner.  We went out for Indian and after two bites Tony got his I think I just ate nuts face.  He never actually says anything, which drives me nuts!  It was ground up in a sauce, didn't say it on the menu and we didn't ask.  Sigh.  I usually give him about 3 to 5 minutes to see if it gets worse before jumping into action (we've only had to jump into action once, there have been four eating nuts incidence since I've known him).  He said he was fine so we finished dinner and went back to the hotel where we proceeded to get in the hot tub.  Hey, did you know heat is a catalyst?  So I took my now rashy, red, swollen and wheezing husband to the George Washington University Memorial Hospital at 11:00 pm.  He was given a hard time by about 10 doctors and nurses about not having his epi pen with him (and an even harder time by my mother) and was given steroids and benedryl.  When he was back to normal we went back to the hotel (now about 2:30 in the morning).  Did I mention this was daylight savings weekend?  Thank God my mom was there because otherwise we would have had to take Monica along and get up with her when she rose 4 hours later.  The upside to the adventure was that we got to see the monuments lit up at night which were quite beautiful.

 Sunday, we did not make it out the door by 9 am to get to Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and instead tried to make it to noon Mass.  We were late.  After our half a Mass we walked around the beautiful building.  I wish I could go on retreat there!  There were so many beautiful, calm and quiet spaces for reflection and prayer.  Once again, Monica did not quite understand the solemnity of the place and enjoyed testing out the acoustics.  I restrained myself in the gift shop and only bought one small thing.  Then my husband mistakenly pointed out the book shop.  All restraint was lost.

My favorite chapel room.

One small portion of the ceiling.  Every inch of the church seemed to be decorated.

My favorite statue: Our Lady of Sorrows.

In the afternoon we mustered up the energy to go the air and space museum for a couple hours, only skimming the surface of what the place has to offer.  There were several exploratory places which, though I'm sure weren't meant for babies, kept Monica a little more entertained than the other museums.  And of course all she needs in a stair.

Escalators are fun, Mom!

Maybe someday her Uncle will teach her to fly.

That evening we took her swimming for the first time since our trip to Florida in October.  She did great and as long as she was on her tummy had a lot of fun.  She kept trying to drink the pool water (she does not do this in the tub) and when we wouldn't let her she would dunk her hand and suck on that.  I guess she likes the taste of chlorine?

Monday morning we went to the capitol building.  I should have done more research before coming because I thought the capitol tour I booked showed more than just the rotunda, but unfortunately no.  We could have seen the House and Senate chambers and maybe even a session if we had contacted our congressmen.  We'll just have to add that to the long list of things to do on our next trip.  There are two statues chosen to represent each state.  Interesting who each state chose.  The inventor of air conditioning was there.  He IS important.  We saw the bier (stand for a coffin) that was used for Abraham Lincoln and every person deemed worthy by Congress since (other past presidents and the most recent being Rosa Parks).  The artwork, statues and architecture of the Capitol was beautiful and impressive.  There were metal detectors at all of the museums, but the capitol was certainly the strictest.  They took or threw out everyone's bottles.  The only reason we got to keep ours was because of Monica.  I understand the reasons behind all the security, but just imagine going through airport security (we got to keep our shoes on) every time you wanted to enter a building.  Not the easiest thing with a baby.

Monica and Grandma's "ET phone home" handshake. 

The fresco on the top of the dome, George Washington with 13 ladies (the Colonies) and scenes with Greek Gods.  It was pretty, but a little weird to be honest.

This was part of a circular painting on the dome of the Capitol.  It was painted to look like statues.

 "The inquiry, knowledge and belief of truth is the sovereign good of human nature"

Tony mentioned wanting to see the Library of Congress so I, being the great wife that I am, planned time for us to walk to the building, take a look and walk back to the hotel before we needed to drop my mom at the airport.  Because popping your head into a library is all you really need to do right?  Wrong.  Another time when research would have been good.  There was a whole tour you could do there and lots to see and I'm sure my husband would have loved to just sit and read.  Doesn't he know libraries are just for looking?
But after our brief look we dragged a disappointed husband from the place, took my mom to the airport (enter tears) and started driving home.  This time we drove through Pennsylvania to avoid all tolls and traffic.  Monica was a bit more restless during this trip (could it be because she had been stuck in a car and stroller for four days?) so we had to stop a bit more.  We made it to southern NY that day and then did the final two hours on Tuesday morning.

I know that this is some important persons last name, but I just found it entertaining that Bacon was beautifully ornamented on the ceiling of the Library of Congress.

Overall it was a great trip and I would highly recommend visiting Washington, DC and would definitely go back again.  Thanks again to my mom for being such a big help.  I know she sacrificed seeing things in the museums to entertain Monica so that Tony and I could see more.  Hopefully her consolation prize wasn't too awful.

Heerrreee's Monica!