It's HOT! HOT! HOT! in Washington D.C. but we still took the rare opportunity to visit as many sites around D.C. as possible.
Library of Congress, Capitol, Supreme Court
Took Metro Red line to Union Square and walked in the blazing sun to the Library of Congress, then joined 1:45 tour in U.S. Capitol Building, finally had a quick walk around in the Supreme Court.
White House & National Gallery of Art
Took Metro Red line then switched to Green Line. Walked around the White House area then toward the Mall. Again since it was so hot and humid, we decided to stay indoor and take some time in the National Gallery of Art which had Joan Miro's exhibit on. Boys didn't even mind the 10-minutes video on the artist.
Nice walk around the memorials & Tidal Basin at dusk
Finally a little break to the heat. In the morning I took Metro and retrieved tickets to tour the Bureau of Engraving and Printing after boys' camps & had lunch w/ an old classmate in Alexandria area. There was thunderstorm forecasted for the evening, so I decided to drive to D.C. myself, which turned out nicely, roads are well marked and people are more polite.
After look at how money was printed, we visited Lincoln Memorial, walked toward National WWII Memorial, then passed MLK Memorial on the way back to the car. Weather was extremely pleasant and crowd was much less than during the day, we all enjoyed it.
All "News"
Spent over 4 hours in the Newseum, boys love to watch the video clips and hands on games.
Line was too long at Spy Museum, so we just walked around in China Town a little bit before heading back to the car park.
Easy day at Postal Museum
Easy morning at Postal Museum, lunch at Union Square, then head to Rockville's new hotel in the afternoon.
Hot and long day at Baltimore
Left ~9am to Baltimore, traffic was a bit congested around roads to the harbor. Walked around the harbor briefly before getting into the aquarium. After ~4hrs in the aquarium, we toured USS Constellation, then boarded red line water taxi to Fenton. From Fenton, we took the purple water taxi to tour around the harbor, then back to downtown for the green line to aquarium.
Waiting time for a table at Phillip's was quoted at 1.5hr, so the famous Maryland crab cake would have to be tried somewhere else!
It was 9pm when we got back to the hotel.
Everything about George Washington
Drive to Mount Vernon estate via George Washington Memorial Parkway by far was the most enjoyable on this trip, very scenic and relaxing along the glittering Potomac River. Wished there was more time to stop along the way.
Good history lesson about George Washington at his estate and grits mill.
D.C. Wharf (395N and Maine Ave) was super busy and congested with many locals buying loads of crabs and few tourists trying out already cooked seafood. Of all the time I was in VA, this is my first time at the D.C. wharf. I would definitely recommend to visitors who enjoys seafood.