Day 1 and 2

I made it to D.C!!! Where to begin?! I have most definitely gotten my walking in these past two days. The flights were smooth yesterday, and upon arrival, my mother and I decided we didn't want to wait an hour for the uber... so we got to our hotel via the metro, which was very exciting since I've never been on anything like it before. After we had lunch at this wonderful pasta place across the street and were settled into the hotel, we went out exploring the city. We first walked to the United States Capitol, where we took some great pictures and talked to the very kind security guard out front. Seeing that the Senate side was under construction, our curiosity led us to ask what they were doing. Apparently it is undergoing some high-tech laser updates. From there, we went to the Washington Monument and were able to photograph it with the night sky in the background. Though we were able to see the Lincoln Memorial from where we were, we chose not to walk to it, and we headed towards The White House instead.

The architecture here is absolutely beautiful! Everywhere you look, you can see incredible masonry that has been here for hundreds of years. The detail is unbelievable and I am still in awe of everything on day 2, and I probably will remain in awe for the rest of the week. This morning we headed for the touristy parts of D.C., and we got quite a bit of shopping in for some great deals. Some highlights of today include walking to Ford's Theater, the house where Lincoln died, The Spy Museum, and The FBI Building. We did not go inside any of these places, but around midday we went through the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History where we soaked in all of the information from the exhibits. After some more shopping and walking, we passed by the Trump International Hotel. Only expecting to take pictures from the street, we started to head off, but then my mom asked a guard about something, and he recommended that we go up inside the clock tower of the hotel. We had no idea it was open to the public or that it was free, so we decided to check it out. The Trump Hotel is the second tallest building in D.C., and it used to be the old Post Office. The view from the top of the clock tower was breathtaking, and I think it has been a pretty successful day.

One of the many things I have loved about this trip is the live street music, which ranges from singers, drummers, and guitarists to flute players and larger instrumental bands. This is just the start of my adventure here, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the week holds.