Day 3 (Washington D.C.July 27)

I rode the subway for the second time and as if I had'nt got on and off the subway all day yesterday. The subway doors bagan to close on me. It was avious to everyone in the subway that I was not a "native". That is how I started my day with my family.

We took the subway to the Smithsonian area, there was a cool breezeand the tempurature was around 70 degrees. We planned to go to The Air and Space Museum and a fraction of The National Gallery. I was trilled and now that I have been their it is something I could not have gone without. As we walked to The Air and Space Museum, we saw The Castle which is a red brick building between The Mall, The Smithsonian Museums and The Capital.

We came up to a modern gray building and my dad announced it was The Air and Space Museum. Inside their were all types of planes and satillites hanging from the ceilling it was awsome, the way the museum was set up is perfect for pictures.

My dad and I went inside a room called "The Golden Years of Flying" and some of the prepelairs my great grandfather work on were there. Seeing the prepelairs was very neat. There is a completelly different egine for the prepelairs. I found it facinating. While Nate an my mom were going on a very long flite simulation (which I heard did not go so well) I had Dog Tags made for Nate. After my mom and Nate came back I gave them to him and he loved the Dog Tags.

Then we went to the National Gallery and we saw the only Divinchi in America. The painting was magnificient. Guess what? People were taking pictures of the Divinchi painting and other paintings. Apearantlly you are allowed to take pictures as long as they are taken without a flash. I did not have the heart to take a picture of the Divinchi but I did take a picture withthe famous Self Portrait of Van Gogh.

For dinner we went to 1789 a restuarant in Georgetown. This was not just any dinner it was the best dinner I have ever had and I'm not exajerating. 1789 is set in an old home that is over 100 years old and there is not one main dining room. There are an asortment of rooms, I guess what use to be the bedrooms. I had a delightful three course meal and dessert. The first course was a beat salad but the dressing was not heavy it was more of a beat vinegrette. The second course I shared with my mom. I was not so sure about this course it was escargo in puffpaistry. Then for the main course I had rack of lamb. It was great, especially the blueberry crumble dessert. So worth putting on a suit.

Time with Couch Part 2

Day 3, Monday was all about the Smithsonian. We started the day at the Air and Space Museum with about 300 other people who were also waiting for the museum to open. We could have stayed there all day. It was mind blowing the progress in aviation over the years. Nate and I decided it would be a good idea to do a flight simulator - we quickly regretted our decision as we were literally spinning upside down and had to hit the emergency red button! We then opted for a more sedate simulator where we sat and looked at the 3D images. My favorite part was seeing the X1 plane that Chuck Yeager flew when he broke the sound barrier at 700 MPH. Seeing the actual 1903 Wright Brothers' plane the Wright Flyer was not something I expected to see preserved in such amazing condition. Learning that Lindbergh's kept his head out of the plane window in the cold air to keep awake during his solo flight to Paris. He stayed awake for over 50 hours straight. All of these scientists and inventors who came before us just so that we could take a Southwest plane to take vacations - and send man into space too!

We had lunch in the National Gallery in the Garden Cafe and it was a traditional Spanish buffet. They had a really neat game for the kids to find the art throughout the museum. So, Nate lead us through the galleries and we were able to see so much beautiful art it was overwhelming. It was impossible to see it all. We were taken aback by the fact that they allowed people to take pictures of the art. Even though it was without a flash - we just couldn't believe it. But of course we jumped right in and took pictures too. Architecturally speaking, the National Gallery is truly the most beautiful museum I have ever seen.

After 6 hours on the mall we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at 1789 in Georgetown. The restaurant started in 1962 and is in a home over 100 years old. The guys had to wear their blazers. The service was spectacular and the food divine. One of the best meals ever!

Tomorrow we are off to the Capitol, White House and maybe the Museum of Natural History....

Nate's Awsome Amazonia Adventure

We were at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and Nate was starting to become a very tired little boy. We were near Amazonia a part of the zoo wear small animals and reptiles are kept. I gave Nate my camera and he was off through Amazonia asking "Are there snakes? Are there snakes? I'm afraid of snakes." Then he continued rushing through Amazonia taking pictures of anything that interested him. Nate was disgusted by the tarantula and all the other creepy critters. After he had searched the in tier floor, Nate wanted to see more so he ran down the steps in to a more rain forest like part of the exhibition he saw what he described as bad butterflies, spiders and cockroaches. There were signs that said stay five feet away there are monkeys in trees. Bats! Bats! Bats! Nate started to yell. I saw no bats but could see the flash of a camera and Nate saying chiching as he took a picture of a strawberry poison frog. Then he looked in a microscope and was disappointed in the next few rooms until he found some bone models. Nate went back to the frogs expressing that they are his favorite, then headed for the EXIT.

Nate's Snapshots from Amazonia:

Time with Couch Part 1

We are so excited to be here! I can't believe all that we have seen already. We navigated the airports and made it to the hotel. Our room is great and the hotel has cookies every evening. Nate is in charge of getting cookies.

The Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials were not at all what I expected. The Lincoln Memorial is huge and so beautiful-we had a great breeze coming off the Potomac. The Vietnam Memorial took me by surprise;so many names of those who fought for our country. It was the annual day when soldiers who were MIA or POWs are remembered by their families. There is a cross by the name of all who who MIAs or POWs. A woman in her 80's was there with a special framed collage of her brother's life who was MIA. She comes every year to his name and leaves a different token of her love. By the way we got a snack before the Mall at a funny German restaurant called Mozart's and had fondue - which Aidan aptly named "fundue."

Today was the National Zoo and we took the Metro - wheelchair and all. We got to the zoo early and it puts the Houston Zoo to shame. The pandas were walking around and were just amazing. The habitat where they live is so large and plush. DC is in general even greener than Houston. We also saw the baby gorilla - a little girl just born a few months ago. The big silver back was bossing everyone around while at the same time the baby was practicing standing up. So human. The orangutans have large distances of metal cable attached to 40 foot towers all connected through the zoo. And throughout the day they swing across the cable overhead while you walk down the zoo paths.

They say the zoo is massive and how right they are...Aidan would not have been able to make it without his wheelchair. Needless to say we are all tired and "our dogs are barking." Walking into the zoo is over a mile downhill and back up feels like six miles uphill. The zoo was such a treat and the conservation work amazing. We loved it!!

More from the Couch later...as in Hallie Couch.

Day One (Washington D.C.July 25)

We woke up early this morning. It was 5:00am and my alarm woke me up to the singer Jason Meralley who was on the radio. Dispite the time non of us were unusually tired becuase the intier Immroth family knew we were on our way to Washington D.C. the first stop in our eight day summer vacation.The idea of our trip begining was intemidating and overwelming. Probably only because our family has never been on a trip so great and long.

Our flight flew out of Houston at 7:20pm then landed in Midway, Chicago. We were half way to D.C. Once our flight left Midway (the name is just a coensidence) and we spent some time in the air we arrived in Washington D.C. at 1:55pm. turns out the airport where we landed was really in Virginia.

After we where unpacked we set out for the Mall. The Mall is the area where there is pattle boating, the Washigton monument, the Reflecting Pool, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnom Memorial. I stepped out of the taxi and admeadeatly saw the Lincoln Memorial, it was huge, much bigger than it looks in pictures or as I said than it looks on the penny. When the Lincoln Memorial is shown in movies it appearse that there are five steps to the monument in acuality there are over fifty. I never expected that the statue of Lincoln would be set back and covered by a roof of hand painted frascos, I guess to prevent weathering, so that marvilous 19ft by 19ft white marble monument can last lifetimes.

Itinerary

We're leaving for Washington D.C. on July 25 and we will stay until July 29. From there we are going to take the train to New York City where we will vacation there till August 2.

Until then we are planning and reading our Frommer's guide books...