President's Day

Today was a tour of Presidents, stopping first at the White House.  It was a beautiful sight especially with all of the tulips in bloom.  There was a cherry blossom race this morning so at first we weren’t sure that we would be able to get a close view, but the gates opened just as we walked by.

We had tickets for Ford’s Theater at noon and wanted to hit the gifts shops beforehand that were located across the street.  The walk to the Lincoln site was a quick one from the White House, so we had plenty of time.  Brett, Cam, Meg and I all found something fun to purchase and even a few gifts for friends.

Ford’s theater was crowded as were most exhibits this weekend, but we were still able to get through it in under two hours.  We found all of it fascinating, but the conspiracy theory and the lives of those involved in the assassination of Lincoln were most interesting to Cam and I.  The tour also included the Peterson House and Lincoln’s death bed.

The day turned out to be beautiful so we decided that Mount Vernon would be next on our agenda.  It also was crowded, but we were able to watch a movie on the life of George Washington, walk the grounds, visit his and Martha’s tomb and tour the mansion before closing.  All of us could agree that we would love to live there.

Dinner was in Alexandria at Clyde’s.  The decor was interesting as we were seated in a room of duck decoys.  The food was good, however, and from there we were easily able to get to Jefferson’s Memorial.  The Heinisch children felt that this was the most impressive of all of the monuments, and I could not argue.  Having the President standing, looking out on the water did make for an awesome sight.

As it was close to nine we decided to say goodbye to Brett after the memorial.  He had to work in the morning and we had a 45 minute drive to our hotel by the Baltimore/Washington airport.  It was fantastic to spend so much time with him these past three days.  He has impressed us all with his ability to live on his own and make each stop home.  Can’t wait to visit again in July.