All around D.C.

We slept in today and then went to our hotel's gym. Yes, we worked out on vacation. I know. We're good kids. Then we roamed all around our nation's capital. ALL OVER.

Our first stop in D.C. was one of my favorite lunch places, Cosi. Yum! We then hopped over to the Hard Rock Cafe to get my Mom a guitar pin (Jackson thinks we are now the collectors and she just houses our pins- LOL!) when I saw the Ford's Theatre (where President Lincoln was assassinated!). I love being surrounded by so much history. No, we did not go inside because the line was long.

This is the Willard Hotel where the term "lobbyists" comes from because back in the day it was the place to get a politician's ear. (Also, they supposedly have great food. Jackson went there once years ago with a young Gracie and she preferred hot dogs. HA!)

Jackson "leading" the way around town. We went to the Holocaust Museum next. It was really moving, but so crowded that it was hard to really get into everything. It was such a well done museum that it really made you feel like you were experiencing some of the hurt.

To continue our downer day (unintentionally planned in such a manner) we headed to Arlington National Cemetery. (We bought an all-day Metro pass and it turned out to be a really good decision.) We got the passes to ride the trams around the cemetery because it was over 100 degrees and we were over walking.

It was such a gorgeous, well-maintained area that you almost forgot that normally cemeteries are creepy.

It was amazing how many graves there were, all lined up perfectly.

We saw President Kennedy's grave with the eternal flame.

The house on top of the hill is the original home of the first owner's of the land. It was gorgeous!

The view from Kennedy's grave was breathtaking.

Can you tell that Jackson is hot and facing the sun? HAHA!

Again with the lines.

I know, I know the columns of the building are gorgeous but more beautiful was that water fountain. I'm not kidding. It was SO hot.

This is where they have services for the fallen.

Ok, ok I was a little obsessed with the ceremony building. Sue me.

We went over to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider(s) and watched the changing of the guard (see posted video for live action shots!).

It was an impressive ceremony. The guards are there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I bet this was one long, hot shift. I cannot decide if being there in the snow would have been more miserable or not.

They had steps you could sit on and just watch the guard. We stood.

Again, the views from Arlington of the city were amazing!

I'm so glad that of military's veterans get to be laid to rest in such a gorgeous area. We headed back to our hotel to clean ourselves up (we were SO gross from sweating all day) and headed for dinner at the Crystal City Sports Pub. It was a really good dinner and then we collapsed. Wow, we did a ton of walking on the surface of the sun. ;)

We remembered while at our hotel that when we stayed there 5 years ago we stole their idea of taking cool photos around town and framing them. We've been doing it ever since so I wanted to document what inspired our now vast collection in the foyer of our home.