Washington DC

On Thursday we began our journey to DC.  It proved to be a long but enjoyable day...traveling through Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Maryland before we got to our hotel in Virginia.  We traveled highway 95 most of the way although Steve made a few detours so we could see some of the smaller towns, and villages.  The town of Mystic, Conn. was a favorite...years ago the scene of the movie "Mystic Pizza"...Julia Roberts early debut.
It is a very lovely little seaside community full of cute shops and restaurants.  I think Steve likes to travel early so these shops aren't open when we go through!  We enjoyed dinner along the way which was a good thing because it was a longer trip due to traffic surrounding the New York area.  It has been interesting to be among communities that are called villages, townships and commonwealths. 
I've lost track of how many toll booths we have had to stop at...that and how many Dunkin Donuts there are back here...they definitely outnumber Starbucks!!
Friday was an extremely Hot and Humid day...we explored the Manassas battlefield.  They have a
good visitors center and we walked the battlefield there.  We purchased a CD that directed us through 12 stops along the way.  Much of day we stayed in the car listening as it was so uncomfortable outside.  Later that evening we spend several "delightful" hours doing laundry in the nearby Laundromat!
Since Saturday was also promising to be a hot and humid day we chose to spend it indoors.  We drove out to the Fairfax area and visited both the National Firearms Museum and the Air and Space Museum.  Both were extremely well done and we were thankful to be in air conditioning.  The Air and Space was amazing...very large and so many exhibits.  It is free but you pay $15 for parking. It is a great place for all ages...lots of families there!
That evening we had the pleasure of having dinner at Paul and Pam Wiest's home.  We met them when we were all students at SPU.  They have recently moved to the DC area and it was so fun to spend the evening with them.  Thanks for a great meal and fellowship...so grateful for those early friendships!
Today we chose to do a bus tour of DC.  It was a great way to see the city and the monuments.  There were only 11 on our bus so we got a very personalized 6 hr. tour that included a cruise on the Potomac.  It was much cooler today so a perfect day to walk among the sights of DC.  We were able to see all of the major monuments.  Tonight we had a excellent dinner in Arlington and now it is time to pack up for our short journey tomorrow.  Blessings!