Washington D. C

National Portrait Gallery 

We got the Washington the day before the Pope arrived. To take a break from driving and to avoid having to hunt for free parking, we left our car with our friends in Philadelphia and took the Megabus to Washington D.C.

Washington Memorial

We did so much walking each day! There's a lot to see in Washington, tons of free museums and memorials all within walking distance of the downtown core

The White House, South Side

We really enjoyed all of the walking tours we did with Free Tours By Foot in New Orleans. Turns out they offers tours in Washington as well. We signed up for a bunch of evening tours to avoid the crowds in town to see the Pope.

On our first day we checked into our hostel and went out for lunch at SUN-de-VICH, a really tasty sandwich shop that has a huge range of sandwiches named after the city that inspired them. I had a Buenos Aries with some tasty steak and chimichurri while Bill got the Kingston with jerk chicken and pineapple 

Brand new World War II Memorial

For the afternoon we perused the halls of the National Portrait Museum. We returned to our hostel to relax for an hour over dinner before catching our 7pm walking tour of the National Mall

Our walking tour took us from the Washington Memorial down to the Lincoln Memorial and covered the history of almost all of the memorials in between.

WWII Memorial

Newly added, was the World War II memorial, a huge piece with fountains and lots of detail. 

Lincoln Memorial

Due to the Popes presence in town the following day, the memorials were a lot less crowded than they usually would be for the time of year. We were able to get some pretty good pictures as most tourists and locals were avoiding the downtown area for the next few days. We also found the museums pleasant uncrowded.

Inside the Lincoln Memorial

Washington Memorial and Reflective Pool

After our tour we were looking for some late night food. We found a small El Salvadorian place a block away from our hostel. Their food was amazing! If you're ever in D.C., check out El Rinconcito Cafe!

The White House, North Side

National Portrait Gallery 

Pret A Manger is on every street corner in London England, So strange to see one here in Washington

The Smithsonian Castle serves as the visitors center for the 19 Smithsonian locations.

The next morning we enjoyed some free pancakes for breakfast at our hostel. We made our way down to the National Air and Space Museum. We got there at 10 am, just as they opened to avoid the rush.  

Amelia Earhart's pane at the National Air and Space Museum

The museum is huge and there's lots to see. This is the most popular of the Smithsonian Museum locations so we hit the interactive exhibits first to avoid the lines. 

Flying like birds with the simulator at the National Air and Space Museum

The interactive exhibits allowed you to fly in V formation with a bunch of geese, design your own plane and run it through a course and practice flying in a simulator.

Jet pack

Flying my custom designed plane

The Wright Brother's Plane. 

Model of an air craft carrier

After the Air and Space Museum we made our way down the National Mall to Arlington Cemetery. The cemetery is technically in Virginia and it overlooks the city from a hill. 

View of downtown Washington from Arlington Cemetery  

The cemetery was established after the civil war for the nation's honoured dead on the grounds of Arlington House, home of General Lee and once home to George Washington. Arlington House still stands in the center of the cemetery and is now a museum which we took a tour of as well. 

Arlington Cemetery

A Bill-Sized doorway at Arlington House

We went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just in time to watch the changing of the guard. The tomb represents all American soldiers who were never identified and is guarded round the clock since 1937 by the US Army.

Tomb of the unknown solider, Arlington Cemetery

Later that night we took another walking tour. This one told the story of the Lincoln Assassination.

Korean War Memorial

The next day we walked down to the US Holocaust Memorial and museum. It was a pretty powerful museum

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Afterwards we had enough tome to see some of the American History Museum before it closed for the day.

At the Smithsonian American History Museum

Later that night we made some home made mac and cheese at our hostel with Velveeta cheese. It was really tasty. 

Making home made Mac and Cheese at our hostel

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

We caught the Mega bus back to Philly the next day. Before we left we had enough time in the morning to check out one more museum. We ended up at the Natural History Museum. A beautiful building full of dinosaur bones and lots of other interesting exhibits.