A Tourist in Our Own Town

We are lucky to live in a very picturesque, historic area that is ripe for tourists. But, like many, we tend to ignore all the feature available to us. So thanks to Groupon and Living Social, in the last few weeks we have acted like tourists.

We took the Old Town Trolley (tour bus) around town, seeing all the sites. We only got off at a few stops, but had a great time. We stopped at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and saw lots and lots of money! The kids thought it was very cool. Then we walked down to the Jefferson Memorial and hopped back on the trolley. We took it past the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, etc. Then we hopped on the other trolley and took it up Embassy Row to National Cathedral. It was a random Friday when the girls didn't have school, so the Cathedral was not crowded at all. We took the elevator to the top and enjoyed the view. We stopped by and saw some of the amazing stained glass (including the cool moon rock space window), and then played hide-and-seek in the Bishop's garden. Then we took the trolley back through Georgetown to our car.

This weekend we went to Mount Vernon (with a family friend). It is less than 20 miles from our house and I don't think I'd been there in 15-20 years!!! It was a lovely day and we had a great visit. They even provide a kind of scavenger hunt map for kids!! The house itself is very impressive, and we learned some fun things. (Did you know George Washington wanted to make the house out of stones, but it was too expensive, so he did it in wood planks, had them cut to look like stone blocks, and mixed the wet paint with sand to make it feel like stone?) The new museum and visitor's center were very impressive. The kids all loved the cool holographic head of George, who seemed to follow you around the room.
So playing tourist in our town is what works for me! For more works for me, visit Works for Me Wednesdays!