Exploring... Finally...

Hello there!
Well, we made it to the last week in November... aka hell week for me. I just keep telling myself that I only have about 72 hours of extreme craziness until the worst is over. I still can't believe Thanksgiving is just days away. This year has flown.. the older I get, the faster they go. Even though I don't work until the evening, our plans for the day are pretty simple. We're just going to eat a lot of food together. :) Maybe someday I'll actually be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving...
Fall seems to be gone for good now. It's absolutely freezing outside. I didn't haven't to deal with this in Monterey! Sigh... As much as I'm looking forward to Christmas, I am not thrilled about this weather. I don't mind a little snow or a little cold, but if it's already starting before Thanksgiving, I'm not going to be a happy camper..
Anywho... My sister-in-law and her boyfriend came out to visit last week. We had such a blast with them. The first day they were here we explored Baltimore a bit for really the first time. We mostly just drove around and then perused down by the harbor. As I am with most "big" cities, I wasn't too impressed. There were some potentially nice parts, but nothing that got me too excited to go back.
The next day was our planned day to finally go to D.C. We got a late start, however, so decided to make it a two day tour. We decided to drive even though everyone told us to take the train. I'll admit I was a little too nervous about trying to figure out the train routes and times and lines to go that route. So we drove.. it wasn't too bad going down since it was during the work day and we got to really see the city.We decided our first stop should be the National Space and Air Museum considering Ty is in the Air Force and don't all boys have a thing for planes??? I wasn't as excited about it, but it was actually really interesting. I'm a history buff, so history I'm game when it comes to anything regarding the past. It was actually really cute too how excited Ty was about all of it. Such a little boy sometimes. :)
On the way out after the museum we finally met the famous D.C. traffic and their crazy streets. I mean, what is up with the lanes switching at a certain time of day??!! The trip back took twice as long with the traffic... ugh.
The next day, we decided we were going to see all of the touristy places so we headed out early. We started out having brunch at this amazing restaurant called Founding Farmers. It's all very natural and fresh made... The food was amazing and the drinks were just as delicious. We contemplated just spending the day there... but decided to move on. Our first stop was the White House. It was kind of surreal to be standing outside the gate. I know it's just a building, but it's representative of so much and you know, the President lives there.. We kept saying we just wanted to hang out with Michelle and the girls. No luck. But there was a polar bear....
Up next was the Washington monument. We were all excited to see the site of the Forrest Gump scene (yes, that's what we associated it with). Unfortunately it was under construction from the earthquake a few years ago so it wasn't as awe inspiring as I would have hoped. It was still something to see, though.
Right down the reflecting pool from that was the WW2 memorial. It was really beautiful to see especially with the Lincoln memorial  and the Washington memorial in either background.
We moved right on to the Lincoln memorial. I don't know why, but this was the memorial I was most excited to see. Being in that place was incredibly moving. The cool air and stark marble with this great man seated before you... amazing.
After visiting Honest Abe, we moved on briefly past the Korean War memorial and onto the Holocaust museum. I have been wanting to visit the museum ever since I first heard about it. I don't know why, but I've always loved learning about the Holocaust and no matter how many times I hear about it, it always moves me. It was incredibly fascinating and intensely moving to go through the museum and essentially go through the timeline of the Holocaust. Seeing the faces of those that suffered and those that caused the suffering... seeing the shoes and the gate posts of the concentration camps... it hits you just how real all of it was. I mean, you hear about it and you know it happened, but to see the artifacts and to see the faces and hear the voices of those who lived through it and those who didn't brings it home to you. You have to experience it if you ever go to D.C. It's amazing.
After walking all over the city, we were officially exhausted and decided to grab something to eat and head home.
After living here for 9  months it feels good to finally say we've been to Baltimore and D.C. I can't believe it's taken us this long. I don't know if we'll ever go for a day trip to Baltimore again, but there is so much still to see in D.C. we'll definitely have to visit again. Which I don't mind because it's a beautiful city with all of it's monuments and historical buildings.
That's all that I've got for you guys. Now I'm going to go and prepare myself for the next few days of craziness. Wish me luck!
And Happy early Thanksgiving!!

Represent!

The Korean War Memorial