Finally back from Washington DC and the trip was just like the others… fun! On our last blog post you can read why we decided to make that trip and it was all because because my daughter, Ziana Eliz, loves autobiographies and history. We left NYC at 6:15 AM and arrived at 10:30ish on Friday morning.
Also, if you happen to be someone who is more visual or you just want to watch the vlogs check out my channel or watch them down below!
Smithsonian National Zoo Washington DC
Before heading to the hotel we made our first stop to the National Zoo. Something we always like to do is visit zoo’s in different states because they’re always different, plus this was the National Zoo! Here they have Panda’s and elephants! We saw those cute little Panda’s eating bamboo, eating food out of a container and licking… rocks. Then, we got up close and personal with elephants! Did you know they’re actually really smart animals? They love apples and broccoli mixed in with hay? Yeah, pretty neat facts.
There’s many exhibits to see with animals actually in them! So many zoo’s claim to have all these animals and then, there’s none. Got time to bee a kid? Well, the Kid’s farm where kids can have the opportunity to meet and greet cows, alpacas, hogs, donkeys, goats, chickens and fish. There’s was also a “Me and Bee” playground with fun sets that were made up of what Bee’s like– honeycombs, flowers and statues of themselves.
Overall, a great zoo! It was super clean, gorgeous, animals always out and about, and they seemed to be very well-taken care of.
We also made a pit-stop to Obama’s neighborhood which was guarded by the police. Womp, womp. At least we smelled the same air as him for a couple minutes!
Washington DC National Cathedral
Of course, we did some research before our trip and seen that there was a pretty neat playground– one that is like no other, at least in NYC. BUT, on our way, we accidentally stumbled upon the National Cathedral! It was GORGEOUS, so gorgeous we decided to step out and walk around their botanical garden. Get your cameras out and those “oh’s” and “ah’s” ready because it’s all so breath-taking!
Beauvoir Playground
Then, it was finally time to stop by the main reason we had made our way to the Cathedral– the Beauvoir Playground which is attached to the Beauvoir School. Imagine a tree house, rock climbing, zip-lining, castle slides, sandbox and endless amounts of more places to grow a child’s imagination! FYI, you can only visit the playground when school isn’t in session.
How to get around in Washington DC
We all know walking around Washington DC is tiring. It got to the point that I wanted to chop my legs off and call it a day! But, wait, what did we see? We saw electric scoters! Tons of people going from one museum to the next in Lyft scooters, Byrd scooters, and Lyme Scooters!
We ended up going with Lyft scooters, which had a lower handle bar for me and was cheaper than the others (.15 cents a minute). Also, beware the scooters do get your feet tired as well since you’re standing on a metal board, but it beats walking!
Must-see museums this time around…
Our first stop for the start of our museum fun was the National Museum of American History— read up on everything America created, stole and loved. Did you know we are a nation of snackers? That Texas was once part of Mexico? Check out the original Batmobile or even see the dresses some of favorite first ladies wore during inauguration.
Next, we were excited to finally visit The African American Museum. When we visited three years back it hadn’t been up. HOWEVER, when we got there we weren’t allowed in. Although, it is free, you still need tickets due to high visitation. Advance timed entry passes for weekends are available when passes are released the first Wednesday of each month. Forewarning, if you want to visit make sure you get your tickets!
First time around we also hadn’t visited the Martin Luther King Jr. monument so it was a nice surprise for Ziana, who also adores him.
Of course, we had to stop by the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, The White House and the Air and Space museum. We’ve done all these before, but these are always ones we need to see again. The Air and Space Museum we visited again since Gunner is into planes and Ziana Eliz had also enjoyed the autobiography of Amelia Earhart.
For those of you who may not know, you can tour the White House, but it requires advance planning. Public tour requests must be made through your member of Congress and submitted up to three months in advance and no less than 21 days prior to your visit. All White House tours are free. For more information- click here!
Mount Vernon- George Washington’s Estate
On our last and again, the main reason we decided to come to DC… we finally made our way to Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is where George Washington resided before his presidency, during and after his presidency. Heck, it’s even where he took his last breath! May 4th and 5th there was a reenactment of the Revolutionary War on the property! Super stoked, I mean what better way to learn about our country’s history than to actually see it play out right in front of you?
Well… it didn’t happen. The rain decided to rain on our parade and both reenactments were canceled! I was truly upset, but at least we still got to see a lot. We met with George Washington, THE George Washington and Martha Washington. Toured his house and farm, which is ridiculously huge. Viewed where him and Martha’s tombs laid. And we even got to view one of the many tents where they showcased how maps were made, how bread was made, canon demonstrations, musket shooting, and spoke to a few merchants! There’s tons of tours to go on while there, like the National Treasure tour where they filmed the movie!
Mount Vernon is about 35-45 minutes from DC and definitely a place I highly recommend.
For even more check out https://washington.org/
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