DC: Day 3

I went to Washington DC for three days. I was going to post while I was up there, but that obviously didn't happen. Anyway, rather than having one huge post about my trip to DC, I divided it up, and did one post for each day. Even though this is actually the third post, it's the first one that will show up when you pull up my blog, so therefore the disclaimer is here and not in day 1.

I wanted to see the Folger Shakespeare Library but unfortunately it's closed Sundays (obviously, I didn't plan ahead that well - I didn't even know the library existed until Saturday). So what did we do with our last day in DC? We went to the zoo. And did I mention it was a rainy day? A lot of the animals were actually inside because of the rain but it was fun. Even though all of the wolves had gone into hiding.

We also stopped by Mount Vernon on the way back. We got there around 3:30, and the guard told us we wouldn't have time to see everything or give it enough time but we could still see the house. When we asked if there was a military discount at the ticket counter, the woman said, "There was yesterday. You're a day late and a dollar short." Yeah, I thought she was pretty rude. How about a "it's almost closing time" discount? No? Full price it is then at $13 a piece. While it's great that all these historic monuments were free for military on Veterans Day (the Smithsonians are always free to the public), I think having a daily military discount would be a much better way of showing one's support for the troops than a one time a year deal. The back porch had an amazing view - it's right on the Potomac, and it was also nicely decorated. I guess the hideous wallpaper that was popular when Lincoln's house was decorated hadn't become a fad yet. We were on the tour with three other people who were wearing LSU sweatshirts (apparently LSU and Ole Miss are huge rivals so I'm lucky I didn't witness a bloodbath). When the guide showed us Washington's bedroom, she said that Washington also died in that bed. The people from LSU looked so sad - you didn't think he was still alive, did you? Unfortunately, we didn't have that much time to walk the grounds but it was a rainy fall day, so it wasn't as if we had come at the right time of year for that anyway.

I definitely want to go back to DC some time but I really hope that next time I go I can go with someone or visit someone who knows the area so I can see the less obvious places than the monuments and the Smithsonian museums. I think it was a good start for a three day trip, though.

View from Mt. Vernon

Front of Mt. Vernon