I usually like to get my vacation blogs up ASAP when I get home, but this time is a little different. We arrived back in Tampa at 8:40 Tuesday night, and by 8:30 Wednesday morning I was boarding my plane to come to Ohio. Mom had some meetings to attend, and so I said I would come up to help out grandma, and that was before we got invited to the Easter Egg Roll. So, I knew I'd have a time crunch. I've tried to write a bit here and there, but it hasn't worked out so well- I don't have my laptop with me, so that complicated matters. So anyway, if you've anxiously been awaiting the Easter Egg Roll blog, I will get to it, I just don't know when.
Let's rewind back to a week ago Thursday, we were up at 6:30 to get on our 9:30 flight. Those 9:30 flights never seem so early until you start doing the math backwards, but we had been gradually getting the boys up earlier and earlier so they were slightly adjusted.
We flew Southwest, which is always nice- free bags and drinks, and snacks! And you don't have to pay for seating assignments.
We landed at Reagan in D.C. a little after 11, and rented our car, and then we were off to Baltimore for the day. We did a food network search for lunch spots between Baltimore and D.C. and came up with the R&R Taqueria. The pros? The food was really good, and decently priced. The cons? They forgot my tacos, and by the time I got them everyone else had eaten. When I did get them, they were awesome, but the service there wasn't great.
Our main reason for heading to Baltimore was to go to Fort McHenry. For those of you who don't know, this is the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner.
It's $10 for adults to get in, but kids 16 and under are free, so for $20 it was a steal! First they direct you into the museum section to watch a video on the War of 1812 (though the battle of Fort McHenry occurred in 1814- right after the burning of Washington D.C.) Anyway, so you're watching this video screen and it ends with a panoramic picture of the fort, and then the screen goes up into the ceiling and behind it is a wall of windows looking out onto the Fort. It's very cool.
The museum also houses the Star Spangled Banner Poem.
I feel like National Parks have really kicked it up a notch since I was a kid- there's always tons of interactive educational displays to play around with.
Then we were off to walk around the Fort. As a kid, I went to lots of National Parks, battlefields and forts, but forts were always my favorite. The boys had a good time running around, and there were still lots of cannons and places to climb around and run through. The pictures don't really do it justice, but I'll let them speak for themselves.
Inside the fort, besides the flag, there are buildings you can go into. Even in these buildings there's interactive displays, and videos to watch, and they're all pretty short and entertaining. They held the boys interest pretty well.
Apparently during WWII Fort McHenry was used as a hospital, so we learned all about that too.
They also had some artifacts that have been found on display, and even some original beams under glass. (It reminded me of Jamestown!)
They even have the artillery shed open, and lots of cannons on display.
Fun fact: a couple of days later when we were at the American History museum, they too had a cannonball just like this one.
This is General Armistead, we learned all about him- and this awesome punch bowl he was given for his efforts at the Fort. Asa said he needed to track down the punch bowl so he could eat cereal out of it. (It is pretty cool!) A couple days later we also found the punch bowl- at the Star Spangled Banner display at the Smithsonian. I guess he won't be eating cereal out of it anytime soon.
It was pretty cool to go see the flag and the whole Star Spangled Banner display at the Smithsonian right after we were at Fort McHenry. That video Asa and the boys are watching is all about the line of people who had the flag, before it was finally turned over to the Smithsonian.
The Fort sits right on the water, which made for a pretty setting. But it was a cold, windy day. We were there a few hours, and probably could have stayed a little longer, but we had other things to do and see.
We made a quick stop by the gift shop for a magnet for me to add to my collection, and we were off.
Since we were in Baltimore, I had to add another to my list. A shout out to the nice lady at the parking booth who sent me around to the other side of the stadium for a better picture, with the statues.
Also worth noting, the boys loved the car rental (we had a Ford Fusion) they were super impressed with the sun roof. I liked the gas mileage on it. It was also a Rhode Island license plate, which we thought was funny.
For dinner we were off to Captain James Landing. It's a little past the Inner Harbor area, and had great reviews. Plus, I found a really good deal on Groupon for $80 worth of food for $30. You can't beat that. And the restaurant looks like a boat!
We ordered seafood nachos and crab fries, and they were gone in an instant. Peyton was the only one not super impressed- he doesn't like any sort of creamy sauce on anything- but the rest of us loved them.
Asa, Calib, and Hayden all ordered burgers- with various toppings, although Calib's crab burger looked the best. Peyton ordered a club sandwich, and I got the crab mac & cheese. Everyone was pretty happy with their choices.
It took forever to get back to D.C., and we had to go all the way around, back over to Virginia. In a weird twist of fate, my cousin Joanne, her husband, Ray and their boys Max and Henry just happened to be going to D.C. the same weekend as us- so we decided to stay at the same hotel just across the river from D.C.
Our room had a living room and a bedroom, which made it nice to have everyone over in our room.
Joanne and Ray showed up around 10, and brought all kinds of snacks and drinks, and we watched March Madness. Luckily we were the last room, and only had neighbors on one side- although I still can't believe we didn't have neighbors on the other side complain about us.
That's it for day one in D.C. I'll be back soon/ish with Day 2.
Next Up: Our 12 miles of walking day!
