Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC - Day 2

Hello and welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday where I talk about something on my mind and invite you to link up and do the same.  Today I'm continuing my summary of our trip to Washington, DC to see the cherry blossoms!

After a fun first day, we woke ready to seize day two of our trip.  Upon peeking out the curtains, we saw it was going to be a rainy one.  We were not going to let the rain deter us from our plans so out into the weather we went!  Our first stop was Tatte Bakery and Cafe to get caffeinated up for the day.  I was pleasantly surprised to run into an old coworker of mine.  We chatted for a bit and then we were off to our next adventure. 

We had been lucky enough to get tickets to visit the White House.  I had applied for tickets through our representative.  You can request tickets between three months and 21 days in advance.  Tours are limited to Friday and Saturday mornings (excluding federal holidays or other special events) from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm and are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, so plan ahead!  You will want to request your tickets as early as possible.

This was my first visit to The White House and it was so utterly fascinating!  Being in the areas where you've seen the President stand in person was a bit thrilling. 

It was also a bit thrilling to see the Grand Staircase.  Flashbacks of one of my favorite movies, American President, came rushing back to me.  Remember the scene when Annette Benning was standing on the steps with Michael Douglas?  I know that's not where they actually filmed the scene, but it was the location they were pretending to be at.  

Then there are the beautiful views out the windows.  It's just quite the place!  

Our next stop was the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.  There are so many fascinating things tucked in those walls.  The things I was most interested in seeing were the Hope Diamond and the display of First Ladies' dresses.  Checked both off the list!

After leaving the museum, we worked our way to the Library of Congress.  I'm not sure why we hadn't visited this site before, but we had really been missing something!  The place is stunning!  Remember how I've said before to remember to look up?  Well, you can't help but notice how magnificent the ceilings are in the Library of Congress!

Eric managed to find a newspaper article on display about a town near where we live.  That was fun to see something in the Library of Congress that related to a place so close to home.

We rounded out the day by walking back to the hotel and ordering pizza for dinner.  As we ate, we laid out our plan for the following day and played cards.  It was so wonderful to have this time with our adult kids!  Stay tuned for day three!

If you missed the recap of day one, you can see it HERE.

Now it's your turn - what are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and share!

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