Washington DC is so historic and has so many things to do. We’ve visited twice and have only scratched the surface with the activities we did!
At the end of school, I wanted to take the kids to a local play place to have some fun. Hubby called from work asking if I’d rather go to DC for the weekend instead (that same Friday evening). Normally, I’d hesitate on these last minute trips since they usually require packing and going out of state. However, since we were just out of school and feeling less pressure along with no other weekend plans, I decided to go with the plan. The kids were super excited to get out a little bit and go on a “trip”. They loved every minute of it!
At first, hubby suggested just an overnight trip as in get there Friday night, do some activities on Saturday and leave that Saturday night. I thought it sounded rushed and suggested we extended the stay for two nights. So we left Friday evening and drove for about 4 hours to DC. Driving 4 hours to DC to us is not considered that long of a trip considering most of what we’ve done involved at least 7 – 14 hours. One time we drove all the way from Chicago to Fl for about 20 hours and back! So 4 hours seemed easy.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites. It’s such a beautiful chain of hotels. We’ve stayed at a Chicago location a while back but I didn’t realize it was the same branch we were going to stay at in DC until hubby mentioned it. My husband is a big fan of staying at hotels that offer breakfast and Embassy Suites is one of the best we’ve found.
Our hotel room had a queen bed along with a pull-out couch! It works if you plan to stay in one room with more than 2 people or so.
Breakfast at the hotel
Here are some of the things we did on our quick trip.
- Went to the Zoo
- Went to the History Museum
- Swam at the Hotel’s Swimming Pool
The Zoo
Went to the DC Zoo – It’s the second time we’ve been to this zoo and it’s one of the zoo’s that’s kind of shaded by the abundance of trees. But the parking is always full so we usually have to park way up the streets and walk. Either way, we really enjoyed this zoo the first time around so we thought we’d go again. One of the reasons is because the walk through didn’t feel burdensome (it could have also been that we went in the Fall the first time). There are lots of animals all spread throughout with also a little petting zoo for the kids.
These are the streets for parking on the way to the zoo. They are very narrow but are usually full of cars and other vehicles. My guess is from others heading to the zoo and from those who live in the houses on the streets.
The History Museum
One of the largest in the nation with so much history. Keep in mind that Washington DC is a very historical place. Outside of the museum were lots of food trucks and people just casually hanging out. Once again, parking was tight so my husband had to go find parking far out and walk back to the museum. Our kids had fun chasing the birds and pigeons while we waited to go inside when hubby came back.
I took some photos but not from such a variety of different things. Below you can see a few of what’s in the museum, starting with this humungous create as we walked in.
Here’s some stuff collected from the ocean.
One of the things I was amazed by were these beauties below. All different types of genuine crystals and gems on display. I got some images of some of them. There were so many people looking at these it was hard to get photos without others being in the photos.
And then we walked over to the insect and arachnid area – spiders, centipedes, bugs and what-nots!! Some were brave enough to hold them while others (like me) were not:) You can see our 4 year old with some kind of big bug in his hand. Yikes!
Outside of the museum just a building away. We stayed there while hubby walked back down the street to find the van to pick us up. It was too far for everyone too walk, amidst the hustle and the bustle. That’s all we did on Saturday. Those two events were enough to fill the day with little kids. I thought we’d walk through the mall when we went back to the hotel but we opted to buy food and stay in the room (the hotel is connected to a mall).
The Pool
Before heading back home on Sunday, we let the kids swim in the Hotel’s swimming pool. We looked at going to a splash pad instead but it was rainy.
Headed back home – It was such a fun little get away even though we didn’t stay very long and didn’t do a ton. Our family felt so refreshed and ready to be back in our home.
Since it was a two day trip, we couldn’t do very much more but can I tell you, it was all that our family needed. There are times as family “on the whole” when things around you may feel a bit stressful. Sometimes a small getaway can help the family to feel refreshed and boosted.
