Washington DC - Day 1

We survived our first day of vacation in the nations Capitol. And I say "survived" because my legs feel as though I just ran with the bulls. We landed at Reagan, taxi'ed to the Marriott Renaissance M hotel, and immediately darted south to The Mall.

We started with the Womens Viet Nam Memorial, stared at the stoic Lincoln, saw our reflections in The Wall, admired the soldiers at the Korean War Memorial (my favorite from my first trip to DC), circled the World War II Memorial, admired the immensity of the Washington Monument, and enjoyed the Cherry Blossoms. We headed north from there and walked by the White House.

We spotted and spotter spotting us and a snapped his picture. After that we slipped into the Renwick Gallery and admired some classic and contemporary art. A few blocks later we were back at the hotel.

After a short rest we made our way toward the metro and caught the Blue line toward Alexandria, VA. We had dinner reservations to feast in the 13th century. But the metro was turned away before reaching the Pentagon. Supposedly there was some kind of "situation". Desperate to not miss our reservation we hopped into a cab and paid too much money to get to King Street in the old town of Alexandria.

Medieval Madness was awesome. The kids were mortified for most of the meal but warmed up toward the end of the show. There is just so much to tell about it but I don't even know where to start. The "cast" all role-played the parts of maidens ("wenches"), knights, a jester, and even the Duke and Duchess. The meal was served over four courses and was in the style of food from the 13th century. The kids were knighted as squires and helped out in the sword play that took place later in the show. It is a memory, good or bad, that they will never forget.

So much for the first night. We all slept well. Maybe too well, as Will snored off and on all night :)