Mount Vernon

We waited in so many lines today! This morning, we only found out after breakfast that the public transportation in town would be operating on a weekend schedule since it's a Federal Holiday today. The fact that we didn't already know this meant that we were already behind schedule. We had to take the train to its terminal point and then wait for a bus to take us to Mount Vernon. The problem was the bus was only running once every hour today and we missed the last one by 15 minutes. By the time it arrived, lots and lots of other people were waiting for the bus. We managed to be one of the first to get on, but three of our seats were taken away by a wheelchair-bound child that boarded the bus after eveyone else had taken the rest of the seats. To top it off, the fare machine malfunctioned after we had already paid and sat down, so the bus driver let almost everyone else on for free, but we had paid plus we didn't all get seats.

When we got to Mount Vernon, the line for the mansion was reportedly 50 minutes long, so that was yet another line to wait in. It actually ended up being an hour and a half wait, but we passed the time playing games with each other on the IPhones. Luckily, the weather was actually very nice--cloudy in the 70s with an occasional breeze. The price was that when we were waiting for the return bus, it started pouring rain on us, right after I tried to be optimistic about the drizzling by saying, "At least the rain isn't coming down hard on us." You should have seen DH and DS#2 whip their heads around to look at me and ask, "Why did you have to say that?"

At least DS#3 let us put his hat on to keep a little of the rain from his face. He let me take this photo after we had made it back to the Metro station. He had just awakened from his nap a few minutes before it started raining, and he was in a decent mood after that, despite the rain.

I should add that we all thought that visiting Mount Vernon was worth the wait. The property is beautiful and everything is well-preserved. There were quite a few knowledgeable docents that told some interesting stories about George Washington and his beloved estate. The view of the Potomac River is just breathtaking.

On the way back to the hotel, DH and DS#1 decided to return to the National Gallery of Art to finish what they didn't see yesterday while the rest of returned to the hotel. I spent some nervous moments trying to navigate the crowded subway station with three kids in tow, but it was worth it for DH and DS#1 to be able to feel like they could see all that they could see.

After a nice dinner together in the hotel restaurant, DH and DS#2 this time, went out so they could see the monuments all lit up. A good friend suggested that we try to see the monuments at night, but it just wasn't practical for the two smallest children. DS#2 really, really seemed to enjoy himself. He even let DH take a number of pictures, with a great big smile on his face and everything. In all it was quite a fitting end to an awesome week here.

Tomorrow we finally return home. It's been really fun, but it will be nice to be home again.