NYC Day Trip

Today we woke up bright and early to catch a Greyhound. Our bus to NYC left DC at 7 am so we visited Union Station that morning when no one else was there! The bus wasn’t bad at all. We sat at the front and it was a very smooth ride. We arrived a bit before 11 and headed straight to Times Square!

We had show tickets for Anastasia at 2 pm so we stayed near Times Square for the most part. We walked to Radio City and checked out the NBC shop. We looked up at Rockerfeller Center and Kacie got a picture in front of the Lottie Moon Palace from Gossip Girl. We had lunch at Bill’s Burgers and that was delicious.

The show though. The show was amazing. We were in the sixth row and OMG. I spent the first 15 minutes sobbing because I just couldn’t believe I was seeing the show. It was my favorite movie as a child and when it was announced that it would be on Broadway, I was so excited but sad because I didn’t think I’d ever see it. When Kacie and I started talking about a potential day trip from DC, we immediately nixed NYC because the train tickets were so expensive. Then we found out about the bus! It was a perfect way to spend the day getting to see my bucket-list Broadway musical. It was just amazing. So amazing. I wish we could have stage-doored, but Kacie needed a picture on the steps of the Met.

We got subway tickets and rushed to the Met so she could get a picture of herself on the stairs. After that, it was time to go back to the bus station to head back to DC. There was no missing this bus or we wouldn’t have made it home!

All in all, the trip was amazing. We are already talking about what we want to do next summer!

Washington DC Day 2

Today, we decided to get another early start. We were exhausted and sore, but we had things to do!

We took the metro to Arlington National Cemetery and arrived a bit before 9 am. When we got there, the metro was fairly empty and the people around the cemetery were all locals out for their morning jog. The Cemetery wasn’t crowded at all. We roamed through seeing Kennedy’s memorial/grave and then made it to The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were in a small group watching the 930 changing. We left the Cemetery shortly after that and what had been completely empty an hour prior was now filled with people. It was amazing how big of a difference just one hour made!

After visiting the Cemetery, we headed out to Eastern Market. My friends recommended it so we decided to check it out! While there, we went into a really neat book store called Capitol Hill Books.

Next, we decided to check out the Holocaust Memorial and Museum. We didn’t have tickets so expected not to be able to get in but we were able to go right in. It wasn’t busy at all! We were there at a perfect time. Very few times did we have to wait in any line while in DC. It was nice and unexpected.

After visiting here, we walked through the mall to head to lunch at BLT Prime in the Trump Hotel. On the way, an elderly volunteer told us to go up the clock tower so we did that too! Apparently it’s a national park but not many people know about it. It’s the highest view in DC when the Washington Monument is closed. Lunch was amazing. We got bacon on a clothesline!

We decided that we had time to visit Ford’s Theatre after lunch so we headed that way and got right into the next tour. It was so fascinating to see that the box Lincoln was shot in was still set up as if it were that night. Seeing Petersen House where he died was also neat.

We were headed to the Air and Space Museum next when Kacie decided she wanted to stop to see the circus. We were there in the middle of the Smithsonian’s 50th Folklife Festival and this year it was circus themed. We had been walking quickly because a storm was about to hit and she thought stopping for the circus would keep us dry. We hopped in line and were almost into the big top when the guard said they weren’t going on with the show because of the storm and to seek cover in the museums. We started running towards the Air and Space Museum because we knew the rain would hit any moment and we hoped we could be inside before it did. We didn’t make it. We did have an umbrella but the rain was so hard and fast and the umbrella was so small that we were completely soaked. The museums weren’t conducting security checks because of the hoards of people trying to get in. They just funneled us all in out of the torrential downpour.

Once inside the dry Air and Space Museum, Kacie and I headed upstairs to break away from the crowd. We walked through each room and even considered visiting the planetarium. My feet were killing me so I was ready to leave pretty quickly, but Kacie wanted to see each room. We ended up calling it an early night that night because we had to be awake at 5:00 the next morning. I think we were asleep by 9!

 

Washington DC Day 1

Tags

travel, wanderlust, washington dc

My sister and I successfully survived our first trip together!! We recently returned home from a long weekend in Washington DC. It was my first time going but her second time. She low-key hated it when she went the first time so she was looking forward to going and making happier memories that didn’t include being with a group of 50 eighth graders in matching colors.

We started our trip by going to eat dinner at a friend’s apartment. It was nice to get to meet this group of girls that I’ve been communicating with on Facebook for the past few years! It was a wonderful way to spend our first evening in the city.

Friday morning, we hit the ground running. I’ll just foreshadow a bit and tell you we walked over 40,000 steps and nearly 19 miles on this day.

We started with a tour of the Capitol. Our guide was a young man from Wichita Falls! Neither of us knew him, but it was neat to have him be from here! Because our tour was early in the morning, we got to the National Mall before it got crowded. This allowed me to get an AMAZING photo of the Capitol with no one in it.

After the Capitol, we went to see the Library of Congress. We hadn’t planned to see it, but the Capitol had a tunnel connecting the two so we decided “Why not! Let’s be spontaneous!”

We walked through the Botanic Gardens also, but were a bit disappointed that there weren’t many flowers. We kind of rushed through that and I think would have skipped it if we had known it was just greenery.

After the gardens, we headed to the Natural History Museum. I was a bit disappointed. After seeing museums in London and Paris, I expected more from our museums. Especially from the building itself. In other countries, the building is a part of the museum. It’s beautiful and extravagant and massive. At the Smithsonian, it was just a building that houses the artifacts. I thought the London Natural History Museum was much better. We didn’t spend a lot of time here. Maybe two hours, including lunch.

We visited the National Archives next. We had tickets for a few days later but plans changed and we weren’t able to keep them. We decided to see what the line looked like and try to go in. There was no line! I was afraid we would be waiting over an hour like the internet said was likely. We waltzed right in! There was a bit of a line in the Rotunda where the Charters are, but still not bad. I wish we could have taken pictures of the Declaration and Constitution, but I understand why we couldn’t.

We visited the American History Museum last. It was probably my favorite museum we saw. We spend a while in this museum since the exhibits were so interesting and so interactive.

We walked around the monuments a bit before dinner also. We had to go to the hotel and check in to our trip at a certain time so after that, we had dinner at Old Ebbitt’s Grill (GO THERE IT WAS AMAZING) and then walked through the monuments again as it was getting dark.

By the end of the day, we had over 40,000 steps and over 18 miles. I had blisters and our feet and legs hurt so much! It didn’t feel like we had walked that much though. I doubled my busiest day from London but it didn’t feel like it at all.

Day 15: A Taste of Norway

We only got about 6 hours to spend in Oslo. When booking our plane back to London to head home, we had to do a layover. No option. We chose to do a long one to allow us to leave the airport! It was only a 15 minute train ride to the city centre and we got to walk around and take a boat tour of the fjord and visit another fortress.