Snyder's Scoop: DC '13 DAY TWO

Day two of our trip started bright and early with breakfast at the hotel. We enjoyed a buffet of goodies before loading the bus to head to the city! We were all dressed ever so cute in our matching yellow DC shirts and bundled up for the chilly day ahead. The bus ride into the city took us about an hour each day. The ride was a little quiet as many took time to catch up on some sleep, read or listen to music. Once we got closer to the city everyone got very excited to see the monuments, buildings and landmarks that we recognized. Once in the city we picked up our tour guides Walter and Bernie. These two were amazing and taught us so much throughout the week. They went everywhere with us and knew all the answers to our many questions. As soon as they stepped on the bus each day the learning began. They had all sorts of fun facts and bits of history about everything we drove past.

Our first stop was a visit to The White House. No, we did not get to go inside this year, but we walked around, took pictures and learned neat facts from Bernie and Walter. We all thought it was pretty neat to be able to just walk down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue and be among so much history.

After we had a few photo opps in front of the home of the president we moved right along. We took a walk over to the WW2 memorial. At this memorial we learned all about the symbolism behind the sculptures and a little about the impact WW2 had on our country. The monument was under construction as they are doing some repairs so the pool was not filled with water, but we were able to learn about the structure, take a look around and of course...take pictures!

Next we were off to Ford's Theater to the place were President Lincoln was assassinated. At the theater we saw a play about the night Mr. Lincoln was shot and how it all happened called One Destiny. It is such a beautiful place and a place full of history and so exciting to sit in the actual seats and be a part of it all. After the show we walked across the street where we visited The Peterson House- the house where Lincoln died. At The Peterson House we saw the actual room he died in and the bed where he died. It also has a fabulous museum a tower of every book written about him and a fun shop. We spent some time in the house before loading the bus to head to our next stop.

After a long morning of amazing sites we made our way to The National Mall. Where we stopped at the Natural History Museum for lunch at the US's largest McDonald's and some museum touring. We had a few hours to spend in the museum of our group choice and we went in all different directions. It was a great afternoon and many adventures were had. I tagged along with a group that went to lunch and The American History Museum. There was so much to see!!

These ladies touched an actual moon rock!!

A piece of Plymouth Rock!!

With Michelle Obama's Dress!

Once our museum tour time was done we loaded the bus to head to the mall. Food Courts at the mall are a great place to feed 101 people so that is where we went. We had our vouchers to eat at the place of our choice. We split up into groups and headed for dinner. After our bellies were full we made our way back to the monuments to take a night time tour! We went to the Air Force Memorial that had amazing views of The Pentagon and the city.Next, we went to The Vietnam War Memorial and The Lincoln Memorial. We learned all about the historical significance of these places and impressed the tour guides with all of our knowledge of the spots too!

Looking for loved ones at the Vietnam Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial at Night!

After our night time tours we found our bus and made the one hour trek to our hotel. It was a FULL day of sightseeing and adventure but the night was not over yet. Once we got back to the hotel we had a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream to celebrate the FOUR birthdays we had during the trip and lots of journal writing to be done. Finally at about 10:30 it was time for lights out and some much needed rest to get ready for the next day.