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Day 1. 

The adventure started at the airport. Where Owen asked if “where we are going is on a different planet?” LOL! A guy sitting next to us couldn’t help but laugh. Although, Owen may have been on to something, Laguardia airport DID feel like another planet in many ways.

We were trying to be economical and take the city bus. But it took us a rather long time, with 6 suitcases in tow, to find it. And then the bus driver apparently decided that his shift was over when we were still over a mile from our hotel, and kicked everyone off! So we gave off and hailed a cab to get us the rest of the way.

We got check in at the Exclesior Hotel, and made it to our dinner reservation just in time. I had picked it because it was supposed to be kid friendly, and sure enough, Cars was playing in the booth.

The rest of the night was uneventful, getting settled into the hotel and ready for a big day tomorrow.

Day 2. 

We started the day with a quick walk in Central Park. We were headed to the American Museum of Natural History, but it wasn’t open yet. So we walked the paths a little and found the lake. It was surprising how quiet and peaceful it was, when the noisy, bustling city was just outside it’s bounds.

Once the museum opened, we headed on over. We had tickets already so we just breezed right in. I have been a big fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson for many years, and was anxious to see his handiwork in person.

So many exhibits! We spent most of our time in the space and fossil areas. Unfortunately Owen panicked about going into the planetarium, so he and I had to sit out while Brian and Lily watched the show. But it was still a good day overall, and we saw some amazing things.

We had dinner at a little cafe across the street. Once again, I had carefully researched which places would be kid friendly, and this one even gave out wiki stix 🙂

Day 3. 

We again started the day in Central Park, but on the other side, which required our first subway ride. The kids were a little intimidated!

We played on a playground for a while and rode the carousel before heading on into the zoo. We just happened to come in right before a sea lion show was starting. A stroke of luck – Lily made her way right to the front to watch and was mesmerized! I didn’t think much of it at first, but it set off a long term fascination with sea lions, and aquatic life in general. She even went through a phase after this of wanting to be an animal trainer. She has mostly moved on from that, but still loves sea lion and now whales as well.

To be a small zoo in the middle of the city, it was very well done and we all enjoyed our time there a lot.

On our way back to the hotel, the kids spotted Victorian Gardens Amusement Park, and talked us into stopping for a while. Unfortunately, we had probably tried to do too much already. It was hot, and we had been out in it all day with little AC or even shade. Both kids were in meltdown mode by the time we made it to the hotel. So we had to postpone our evening plans in favor of a nap!

Once everyone got going again, we took the subway down to the Rockafeller Center and rode the elevator to the top. Great views of the city in every direction!

The it was on to Hard Rock Cafe for our “cheesy tourist dinner”, lol!

Thinking we might as well make the most out of our location, we explored Times Square when we left. I don’t think it had truly occurred to me until that night how many people there were in this city, it was simply mind-boggling! My senses were in overload, not just the sights but the myriads of sounds and smells!

We spent a while in the massive Toys are Us and even rode the ferris wheel, yes it’s inside the store! And of course the kids each picked out a toy.

What a day – no wonder we needed a nap in the middle of it!

Day 4.

We decided to sleep in a little this morning since everyone was worn out from the previous day. It would mean missing the 9/11 museum, which I felt bad about, but sometimes you gotta know your limits!

We were taking the train out of town tonight, so we hauled our luggage to the Amtrack station so they could store it for us.

We had lunch at a restaurant across the water from the Statue of Liberty, then wandered around the waterfront since we were still early for our sightseeing cruise.

We decided that we had just enough time to go see Ground Zero, even though we had missed the museum that morning. It was a mad dash through unfamiliar territory, but we made it with just a few minutes before we had to head back. It was probably one of the most humbling sights I’ve ever seen. So much history, so much grief, and yet so much hope, all in the same place.

We got back to the dock just in time to get on our boat! It was a great tour around the Statue of Liberty and nearby sights. The cruise itself was very relaxing – on a tall sailing ship! One of the highlights of the trip, for me at least.

But our time in NY was over – time to head off to Washington DC for the next part of the adventure!

The it was time to head back to the Amtrak station. We got into Washington DC late that night, around 10pm. The contrast when we came out of the train station there, as opposed to in New York, was remarkable. It was so quiet! Even though it was still quiet busy. It was like everyone was whispering. it’s always interesting to see the different personalities of cities. New York had prided itself on being as loud and crazy as possible, whereas DC seemed to have an air of dignity and seriousness to it.

We checked into our hotel, the JW Marriott and got right to sleep.

Day 5. 

First on the agenda was the Smithsonian museum of American History. We go to so many science museums, so I thought this would be a nice change.

Of course we saw the Star Spangled Banner, and Owen really loved the transportation section. Lily hadn’t learned much about any of our more modern wars, so those exhibits were especially fascinating to her.

After the museum, we decided to walk over and see the Washington Monument. Neat, but it was so HOT! We decided to head back to the hotel and go swimming to cool off before the evening.

After swimming, we had our second wind and so walked back to the Lincoln Memorial, and then finally the World War II Memorial. I hadn’t seen that one before, and Lily had read in a book that we should go at night, because it’s especially pretty all lit up. And was it ever! truly Spectacular.

We walked back to the hotel by way of teh white house, and stopped to look for a while. Again, security everywhere, and there was no escaping the feeling that even our innocent-looking little family was constantly being watched!

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Day 6.

We got off to a later start today, but headed to the National Air and Space Museum. This was one of my favorites! Tons of spacecraft models, and exhibits about space exploration. Plus, the planetarium there was playing the same show that I had missed at the museum in New York, so I got a chance to see it afterall with Lily.

From there we went to the National Archives building, where we saw the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc. Some of the tightest security I’ve seen anywhere, you can tell they mean business!

We went to an Italian Restaurant for dinner, unfortunately Owen was asleep in the stroller when we got there and never woke up the whole time, oh well!

Day 7. 

We had breakfast at Starbucks in the hotel, then were off on another cruise – this time to Mt. Vernon! The boat ride itself was very scenic, then we got to tour the grounds and house. This was probably my favorite thing on this part of the trip. The house has been restored to exactly the way it was the day he died, right down to the arrangement of items in his bedroom! And lots of information about his life and presidency. The kids were intrigued too, and Owen still recognizes pictures of Washington two years later because of our trip there. There was a 4D movie with canon fire – Owen was a little intimidated but fascinated too, and fortunately no panicking!

Once back on shore, we decided on one more adventure for the day – the Smithsonian Museum of Natural history. Owen slept through most of it, but we saw some neat fossil exhibits and Brian and Lily went in the butterfly garden. Brian chose this moment to join the Smithsonian, I gave him a hard time about it since it was our last day, lol!

There was a horrible rain storm as we left, but we managed to make our way to Old Ebbits, where we had dinner reservations. It was a great meal though, so I was glad we didn’t give up on it.

Day 8. 

It was July 4 – and we were in the Nation’s Capitol! I could tell the city was suddenly buzzing with excitement, and it was as if the occupancy had doubled overnight.

We decided to spend the morning at the Newseum. I hadn’t really been planning to do this one, since unlike most museums here, it cost money. But Lily really wanted to, and I ended up being glad because it was really cool.

It was based around the history of journalism, but that ended up lending itself to a general overview of world history as well. There was even a large segment of the Berlin Wall! And Lily did a newscast that we later downloaded online.

But we couldn’t stay all day, as we were headed to the Capitol Lawn for fireworks, and the gates would be opening at 3pm. I meant to pick up a picnic dinner on the way, but somehow we didn’t, and before I knew it, we were inside. So, there we were, camped out for the next 5 hours!

Overall, the wait went better than I thought it would. Luckily, we got a break with the weather and it was a good 10 degrees cooler today than it had been, and much less humid. Otherwise I don’t think we would have made it. I did have to rescue Lily one time – she left the secured area on her own to go to the bathrooms, and security wouldn’t let her back in!

Several times throughout the afternoon they tested the audio system, and for whatever reason, they kept using Phillip Phillips, who was performing Raging Fire later that night. It became “the song” of the trip since we heard it so many times! Now every time it comes on the radio, Owen talks about hearing it at the fireworks 🙂

The Capitol Fourth concert finally started. We had been waiting for this night for several years, and it was the main reason for the trip! It did not disappoint, what an experience to be there in person after watching on TV every year!

Near the end of the concert, Owen had fallen asleep in the stroller. When the fireworks started, I tried to wake him up, not knowing if it was a good idea or not. He opened his eyes for a couple of minutes, but wasn’t interested and quickly fell back asleep. So all of my worrying that he would panic during the fireworks had been moot!

Afterwards we slowly made our way back to our hotel. Fortunately it was within walking distance, even if a long walk. Traffic on the street was a total standstill as far as the eye could see. We stopped at a couple of hot-dog stands to pick up a make-do dinner, then collapsed into bed. What a day!

Day 9. 

No rest for the weary, we had to be up bright and early to catch another train out of town, this time to Williamsburg for the last leg of our adventure. The train was so crowded that we weren’t able to get seats even in the same car together at first. A few stops later we were able to rearrange fortunately.

We would need a car here, so we called ahead while on the train for a shuttle to the rental office, which was in town. It was s small operation and took a while to get us settled, and they didn’t have a car seat for Owen, so he would have to ride “like a big boy” and hope for the best.

The vibe here was different than either New York or DC, not surpassingly. NY clinged to chaos, DC to dignity, but Williamsburg was all about being quaint and cute. The buildings were all perfectly matched shades of red brick and white trim, and everyone had colonial smiles plastered on. I was glad we did the trip in this order though, it was like every place we went was more laid back than the last, so the trip got more relaxing as we went.

We checked in at the Williamsburg Lodge (which of course matched the rest of the town). Our room was huge, we weren’t used to having so much space! We still had plenty of time this afternoon so we drove over to Jamestown Settlement.

There was a recreated Indian Village that really fascinated Lily. Lots of small houses covered with skins and a lady showing people how to make leather. It was HOT though, and we dealt with a few bouts of bad moods from both kids.

Owen really liked the ships. They were built to be exactly like the ones the colonists came over on. He loved pretending to shoot the canon and thought it must be Captain Hook’s ship, lol!

Back in town, we had dinner at the historic Campbell’s tavern, known to be a favorite of George Washington when he came to visit.

Day 10. 

Again, we were up fairly early for the day’s adventure – something different for today though – we were headed to Busch Gardens! Probably the only thing during our trip that had no educational value at all, lol!

We were there for opening of course, and it turned out that even though it was a holiday week, it wasn’t all that crowded. I had already pre-purchased a front-of-line pass, but we probably would have been fine without it.

Most of the rides here fell into one of two categories – thrill ride or little kid ride. So there would be a lot of splitting up. But it ended up working really well. Owen was scared of even the simple rides at first, but ended up loving them and rode again and again, while we took turns going with Lily on the roller coasters.

Lily’s favorite ride was the Griffin- a roller coaster with long rows of 10 people, that drops down a nearly vertical section of track, after holding you perched precariously at the top for several seconds. She even bought a stuffed Griffin to remember it by. I liked the Soarin’ clone – it was about a trip through Europe and the mechanics were a little more like Star Tours, but still made me think of Soarin’.

For lunch we had reservations for the Sesame Street Character meal and show. It was a lot of fun! We were given a table right at the front to watch the show, and then the characters all came by for photo ops. A great way to rest in the middle of the day, and the kids really enjoyed it.

By the time the fireworks started, we ended up split into 3 groups. Brian and Lily were each off on their own somewhere, and Owen of course got scared. So I managed to find a place where we could sit under a roof and be “protected”, but I occasionally ducked out to get a brief glimpse. Brian and Lily both had good views where they were at least.

We left with the masses as the park closed, another successful day under our belt.

Day 11. 

We realized a problem when we got up -I had lost Brian’s ticket to Jamestown/Yorktown the other day, so we made an unplanned trip back to Jamestown to see if by chance someone had turned it in. Luckily they had, and the extra time here gave us a chance to see some of the indoor exhibits we had missed. Lily even got to hold a skunk skin!

We explored the historic site, the actual location of the first settlement at Jamestown. Unfortunately, almost nothing is left so it mostly looks like an empty field with various markers pointing out what used to be there.

We left there and went to Yorktown, the site of the last decisive battle of the Revolutionary War. There was a recreated military encampment, and Lily did a secret spy mission for the colonial army! When she solved it, she was rewarded with 20 colonial dollars. We explored the battlefields and did a car-tour of some of the significant places. Again, not much left to indicate anything important happened here, but still cool to be in the same place as so much history.

All too soon, the day, and our vacation was done. We were taking a 5am flight back home tomorrow, and Brian had to be back at work – he was actually flying right back out almost immediately to California! No rest for the weary for sure.

But, what an adventure we had!