Day 16: Going Undercover

On our third day in DC, we still had no electricity in the van, but we'd come up with a plan to have parts delivered to our next stop, and there was nothing we could do about it for a couple of days, so we decided to enjoy the day.  We got some ice to use our fridge as a cooler and went on with our scheduled activity, which was new for all of us: 

The International Spy Museum!

The museum exceeded our expectations--you receive an identity and there are several spots where you check in and get certain information or have to give information that you've found in that part of the museum.

It makes it very interactive and fun.

We all enjoyed the activities.

And there are so many other interactive exhibits where you can experience spy life,

as well as learning all about the history of spies around the world.

It was great timing because we had just finished listening to the audiobook George Washington's Secret Six about the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolutionary War and there was an exhibit  in the museum about Robert Townsend and this ring's contributions to the US winning the war.

We ended up spending most of the day here, which meant we didn't have very long at our next stop, but it was worth it.

We did run into the Air and Space Museum for about 1.5 hours at the end of the day. We've been there before, and there was a major renovation happening, so it wasn't too awful that we didn't have more time.

We got to see the Wright Brothers' plane

and checked out the space exhibits. Peanut had just recently done a report about a Mars rover, so he was excited to see one in person.

And then, the museum was closing and it was time to call it a day.

Because we can't cook in the van without electricity, we found a Peruvian chicken place, District Rico, for dinner. It was a very cold walk to the restaurant--the weather had totally changed from the evening before and it was starting to drizzle a little.

So, after we ate, we got a Lyft back to our van which was parked across the Potomac again. We were too tired and cold to make the almost 3 mile walk.

And then, we drove back to the mall for our last night. We had a couple last things to check out the next day, but then we would be saying goodbye to Washington DC.

Day 15: More Monuments and Museums

Our morning began on the Potomac River again, where we got ready for the day and then walked over to the Washington Monument to get tickets to go up. I've been to DC three times now and this was the first time actually going in the monument.

The views were amazing,

although I didn't love that they wait until you're in the elevator to tell you that there is no rebar or anything connecting the stones of the obelisk--it's just very heavy rocks piled on top of one another.

But it was worth it going up to the top.

We got a good look at everywhere we walked the day before.

The insides of the very top--little bit of metal up here, but most of the metal inside is just for the elevator shaft.

And then, we spent the rest of the day visiting various parts of the Smithsonian Museum.

We started with the National Museum of American History, where we found all types of fun pop culture memorbilia, like Cookie Monster,

and Kristi Yamaguchi's figure skates.

We enjoyed seeing bits from Jurassic Park,

and Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

It was cool to learn about the preservation project of this 1776 gunboat.

One of my favorite exhibits traced a single house through 300 years of history and ownership. I loved reading the stories of some of the families who lived there during various key points in history.

And then, we headed over to the Natural History Museum, which is so amazing.

Peanut was definitely looking forward to this one.

We could have used a few more days in DC to really see everything at this museums,

but we tried to squeeze in the highlights and at least get a quick look at everything.

Love this quote.

And the dinosaurs, of course.

The butterflies are always interesting, too.

And we ran into the rocks and gems exhibit at the end, 

but really could have used more time here.

So many incredible things to see!

I'm a fan of the fluorescent ones!

This museum is just incredible. I've loved every time I've gotten to go in.

By the time we left, it was dark.

We had a beautiful walk back to the van.

Love all the lights on the water.

We stayed in our spot by the river to make dinner and hang out for a couple of hours, enjoying the nice weather. It was great to have the door open and enjoy the views.

Then, we headed to another overnight spot just outside of DC that I'd found on iOverlander. And our night went downhill. First, the spot was pretty popular and it was hard to find a level parking place on the hill. It started raining and it was pretty dark.

And then, as we were getting ready for bed, we tried to use the electricity and something popped and then everything went out. Daddy-o climbed under the bed and tried to look at our electrical set up, but it's hard to get to things with the bed in. From what he could tell, we may have blown the main fuse, which means no electricity until we can get new parts which will take at least a couple of days. But in the moment, there was nothing we could do, and so, we slept.

 

Museum Hopping

Saturday was our dedicated museum day. We knew that we could easily spend the whole day in the British Museum, but also came across a smaller zoology museum--The Grant Museum of Zoology-- on the way there and decided to pop in for a minute.

It was just one room, but really cool.

The architecture alone was beautiful, along with all of the specimens that they had inside.

Lots of fun stuff to look at.

Then, we continued our walk, passing by more old buildings with signs about who had lived here once upon a time, like this one, the home of Charles Darwin from 1838 to 1842.

Then, we finally made it to the British Museum and after standing in a line for a bit (because even with tickets, the line went around the block), we were inside. 

We checked out all the Egyptian mummies

and other ancient artifacts. Who knows how long England will get to keep all of this stuff, but it was interesting to read some of the stories of how they obtained items.

We found stories and Olympians that we know from Greek mythology, like Hermes, Dionysus, Demeter, and Ares.

These statues from the Parthenon are beautiful.

(Bug was ordered to pose this way--not something he would choose, haha.)

And bits of the Mausoleum. It's crazy that these things we read about from 1000s of years ago are still around!

There's an exhibit on clocks through history and this was one of my favorites.

It's a huge museum and I hit my wall before closing time, so while the others rushed through a couple more exhibits, I went to get tea and relaxed for a bit in one of the cafes.

And then it was time for Bean's birthday surprise: tickets for Wicked!

We decided to surprise her with a second show (especially because leading up to it, she wasn't all that excited about Hadestown, even though she ended up loving it.) Wicked was the favorite of the two shows we saw--it was so well done and has such catchy music and great effects.

And then we began our adventure of trying to get home. We had a mix-up in the Paddington tube station and walked in circles for way too long, with everyone getting very tired and still had a longish walk to get home. We've had too many long days, late nights, and upset plans, with an uncomfortable night of sleep to look forward to--not gonna lie--it's been hard at times. I'm not usually ready to be done with a trip, but I'm feeling ready to have my own bed and to not have to plan transportation each day. I'll miss all the exploring and new things, but it's feeling like it's about time to go home. Just a couple of days left.