Hello!! It's Tuesday, honestly, I have no idea what day it is since we left last Monday! We have traveled thru 10, maybe more states, we lost count! And now we are driving back home! It has been the absolute best trip ever! The kids did fantastic, considering the long days and miles in the car and wallking around big cities! I honestly can't wait until we can plan another road trip!!
We ended up renting a 12 passenger van, but they didn't have one available, so they gave us a 15 passenger for the same price. We booked it online thru priceline.com to get unlimited miles and then picked it up at our nearest budget store. It was about $950 for nine days. WORTH IT! The kids could spread out and we were able to pack what we needed, plus a full size cooler and plastic tub for food! We ended up only eating out once a day, usually at dinner. So that saved us a lot! And packing gallons of water and refilling their yeti water bottles was definitly a great idea!
Our first stop was in St. Louis where we stayed the night and went to the City Museum the following morning. It was the coolest place for kids and adults! If I would have known, I would have packed knee pads, some of the attractions had you climbing on your hands and knees! There was even a little circus act! We had gotten there right after they opened and it wasn't too busy. When we left at about 1:30, it was getting pretty packed, so I would recommend going early to avoid crowds!
A must see if you are traveling thru St. Louis! I had then made lunch from the food items I had packed and we drove to Indianapolis, Indiana. Once we got to Indianapolis, we had dinner at a neat little burger place, Bru Burger Bar. I had ordered a wonderful salad and I loved the name of some of their signature cocktails! Everyone loved it!
Next stop, was Washington DC. On the way, we stopped in Dayton, Ohio for a quick little hike to stretch our legs. Beautiful and serene, with a waterfall! After our hike, I made lunch again and we ate in the car!
We stopped at a little Lebanese place to eat dinner, Markook Authentic Mediterranean Eats and it was excellent! Nate said some of the best he has had! We made it to Fredrick, Maryland, which worked in our favor. I had nothing really planned for this trip, no hotels. So I was having to look to see what towns were coming up and book online. I had booked our room online and then received a call that it wasn't available, that they would have to upgrade us to a 2-bedroom suite....for the same price! OK!! We were staying in rooms with 2 queen beds and we had brought a blow up mattress. Which the boys loved sleeping on! But having a night not to do all of that was fantastic!
We woke the next moring and drove about 30 minutes to Washington DC! Again, nothing planned! Ended up driving around a bit to find parking, which we ended up with the best spot! Pretty much right next to the White House! We first saw the White House, then walked to the White House museum to use the restrooms and then to look around. Very neat seeing the history of everyone living in the White House and how it has evolved. We then walked to the Washington Monument, the kids loved taking picturers here.
After some fun pictures, we went back to the van to eat lunch, again just ate what I had packed. Then we went to the World War I memorial, walked along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and stopped by the Abraham Lincoln memorial.
I knew another place I wanted the kids to see was the Arlington Cemetary, we had to drive there. That is my favorite site to see, honoring all those that have served to protect us. My kids loved it too. They couldn't believe all the fallen soldiers, it spread for miles.
The guard that guards the unknown soldier is so emotional. The amount of dignity, respect, honor and discipline they have to march is just astounding to me. Every movement is timed to perfection and every motion has meaning. Definitely something everyone should see!!
Lastly, the kids were on their last leg, the whining and crying had set in with Noah, so we drove past the capitol building. And on out of DC we went! Our one day trip was worth it, the kids learned and saw so many things! I'm so grateful they were able to see such a huge part of our history!
Now on to dinner, we are such huge fans of the show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, we looked up a place and found a great Mexican place in Maryland for dinner, R&R Taqueria. It was so good!!
Our travel essentials have been worth every bit!
pillow | ipad mount | yeti bottle | straw lid | snacks | crayons | sudoku | ice packs yeti cooler | word search | snack pack olives | cards | earphones
I'll continue the rest of our journey on the next post!! Thanks for following along!