Washington, D.C. Trip
Last weekend (11/11-13) we were in Washington, D.C., to attend John and Kelly’s wedding. John is one of our friends from our MBA program at Washington University. We flew to Baltimore that Friday, picked up our rental car, and headed off to Alexandria, Virginia. We checked into the Sheraton Suites Old Town (high marks all around, great hotel) and walked down to the shopping and dining area in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. It is a shame we didn’t have more time here because Alexandria is a charming place. We noted that the area was very dog-friendly as we saw people with their dogs everywhere. We even saw someone with their Corgi in the Hallmark Store. Collen would have loved it. That evening we had dinner at the Wharf with our friends from Now This and Medley. (Photos)
On Saturday we went to the wedding out in Falls Church. The wedding ended at three, and the reception wasn’t until that evening at the Mount Vernon Inn. I had never visited Mount Vernon before, so we headed there right away, planning on touring the mansion and grounds before the reception. As it turned out, in November Mount Vernon starts closing an hour early for the winter season, so we barely made it inside, buying our tickets just a few minutes before the ticket window closed.
Mind you, we’re still dressed up for the wedding while we’re on the tour. I’ve never been so over dressed for anything as for this tour. We managed to tour the mansion, but that was all we had time for before they started to push us out the door. The mansion was incredible. The view from the piazza at the back of the house was unbelievable. I could have sat in one of those rockers all weekend, just watching the Potomac roll by. I look forward to returning some day and spending a day here. (Photos)
The reception at the Mount Vernon Inn was a lot of fun. Our friend Juliana (like John, a friend from our MBA program) and her husband Ron were there, so we spent most of the evening catching up with them. The food was excellent. The appetizers scored high in my book, with several made of venison. Mmmmm!
On Sunday we headed back to Baltimore to fly home, but first we drove out by Dulles to visit the National Air & Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (whew, what a mouthful). I’ve been to the main facility a couple times, but this new facility is even more impressive (in my opinion). The place is made up of a couple large hangars, one dedicated to aircraft and the other to spacecraft. They have only been open since December 2003, and it still feels like they’re in the middle of moving things in. They have aircraft on display ranging from a one of a kind WWI bomber to German jet aircraft from WWII, to the Joint Strike Fighter. A couple highlights were the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. If you have any interest in historic aircraft, this is a must-see.
I don’t have photos posted from the Udvar-Hazy Center yet, so here’s a preview. Click the photo to see it full size.
Update! Photos from our trip to the Udvar-Hazy Center are finally online. (Photos)