Ben and Justin's Adventure to Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. Trip - August 2009

Note: This is why I don't blog as often as Dana - it takes me three months to publish a post!

As explained in the a previous blog entry, our vacation in early August turned into two vacations. One for Dana, Ian and Cami and another for Ben and Justin. This is the story of Ben's Washington DC adventure.

After Dana, Cami, and Ian left for LA, Ben and I waited in the airport for 4 1/2 hours to catch the flight to Washington DC. Ben had been wanting to go to Washington DC to see the Smithsonian Museums since the beginning of summer so while he was bummed about missing out on the trip to California, this was an ok substitute in his mind. His interest in the Smithsonian seemed to coincide with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, but even without the movie he has an interest in museums, history, and the like. So since we still had flight benefits through Midwest, we were planning a father/son trip trip to DC to see the Smithsonian museums, but we hadn't planned on it this weekend.

So while we waited, I hooked the laptop up to the airport wireless to book a hotel room, learn the DC Metrorail system, and determine when the Smithsonian museums were open. Our flight was good and we arrived around 5pm and took a shuttle to our hotel. We arranged our stuff and headed to the Metrorail station to get down to the National Mall area. The Museum of Natural History was open until 7:30pm so we went in an explored for about an hour. We saw some gigantic dinosaur bones, a huge elephant, the Korea exhibit, the ice man, and some sea creatures. When the place closed, we headed back and swam in the pool and then went back to the room to watch TV. One of the things Ben still talks about from the trip is sitting in the hotel room, eating popcorn and watching the River Monsters show on Animal Planet about giant man-eating Piraiba Catfish in the Amazon.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed back down to the national mall. We stopped at the Smithsonian castle because a prop from the Night at the Museum movie was on display. After that, we went to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. August was national inventor's month and to celebrate, a world record, 8 foot tall lightbulb was being constructed there. Thousands of kids built bricks for the giant light bulb which was assembled by two Lego master builders. Ben was one of the first 1o kids in line to build a brick. Then we talked to the Lego master builders a bit. Ben loved the joke he heard from the younger master builder who asked, "Do you know how Steve (the other Lego Master) got his job? Because he's such a blockhead." Perfect humor for a 6 year old!

After seeing some of the exhibits at the American History museum (Lincoln's tophat, ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, an old American flag, and Oscar the Grouch), we grabbed a bite to eat before heading over to the Air and Space Museum. However, before we got there, Ben was intrigued by the circular Hirshorn Museum and the fountain in the center. So we spent some time looking at the sculptures in the garden and some of the sculptures and artwork inside the building. Ben says this was not his favorite place, but he did show some interest.

Ben standing by a sculpture at the Hirshorn

At this time, Ben was starting to lose steam so we started heading back to the subway. We made a quick dash through the Air and Space museum and I told Ben we could come back later that evening after he took a rest. He didn't resist because he was beat. He fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel and I carried him to the room. He slept for a couple of hours and then we grabbed a little to eat and some snacks and headed back down, stopping at the Air and Space museum until it closed at 7:30pm. We saw several space craft, airplanes, the Wright flyer, Amelia Aerheart's Spirit of St. Louis, military jets, etc. Ben really enjoyed this museum.

After Air and Space closed, I asked Ben if he would be interested in going down the National Mall to see the Washington Monument and visit the Lincoln Memorial. I told him he could

have a piggyback ride any time he wanted as long as he was patient because it was a long walk. He eagerly agreed and we walked down the mall to the Washington Monument, then on the World War II memorial. It was a beautiful evening with a gorgeous sunset and a crescent moon overhead. Unfortunately, I ran out of film before we made it to the WWII memorial. We then trekked on to the Lincoln Memorial, arriving after sunset. I had never seen the Jefferson Memorial and hoped that we could see it, but wasn't sure if Ben would have enough energy. I asked him if he'd be up for it and he agreed. We ended up seeing the Korean War Memorial, Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, and finally the Jefferson Memorial. Ben was a trooper as we stayed up way past bedtime. After we got on the Metrorail, he eventually fell asleep. The Metrorail was one of his favorite things about the trip. I showed him how to read the map and he was getting the hang of it after a few rides. He especially liked putting his ticket into the reader when we would enter and exit the station.

Ben still wanted to see the White House, so on Sunday morning, our last day, we got up a little earlier, ate a quick breakfast and headed down to see the White House. We walked as close as we could get, took a few pictures and then headed to the Museum of Natural History to see the Ice Man. We also looked at the rocks and gems. Ben really enjoyed this section and we probably would have spent more time there had we not been as rushed to finish up and get back to the hotel so we could get to the airport. Before leaving, we made a quick stop back at the American History Museum to see how the light bulb was coming along. Ben created another brick and then we headed back to catch the early afternoon flight.

Our flight back went fine. We were hoping Dana, Cami and Ian would be able to make the earlier flight of the day so we could all go home together. But even with the earlier flight, we'd have at least a 4 hour wait for them. So we dropped off our pictures to be developed, stopped at Culver's for a bite to eat, then went to my alma mater, Concordia University Wisconsin, to see the renovations they did to the bluff that hugs the Lake Michigan coast. At the bottom of the bluff, there is a trail that leads to nice beach area. Ben and I enjoyed throwing rocks into the water and talking about the time I spent at Concordia. I showed him the dorm where I lived all four years, the Peace Center - it was gutted - apparently for renovations.

Dana, Cami, and Ian made the earlier flight back so we picked up our pictures and got back to the airport to reunite the family. What an adventure!