Washington DC - Day 1

Leave NOLA: 4:20pm
Supposed to leave NOLA: 3:50pm
Leave Birmingham: 8:40pm
Supposed to leave Birmingham: 6:oopm
Arrive in DC: 11:25pm (Eastern time)
Supposed to arrive in DC: 8:00pm (Eastern time)
Arrive at The Melrose: 12:34am (Eastern time)

...not a good start...
but, things got better...

Washington, DC - Day 1 (East Coast time)
Shower: 7:00am
Breakfast: 10:00am
11:00am - off to the Metro (blue line from Foggy Bottom to Capitol South)
[we had to figure out how to work the machine to put money on our SmarTrip cards]
We came off the Metro and just followed the people that came off after us because we didn't know where we were (or where we were going) and ended up at the Library of Congress. 2 1/2 hrs later, we went through a tunnel to...the CAPITOL!!...(after checking dad's bag at the LOC because it had food in it)...
The lines for the tour were ridiculous so we walked around the Visitors' Center [the coolest part was the many models of the city and watching the growth and change that took place over the years]. We hadn't had anything to eat or drink since breakfast so we went to the restaurant in the Center and got drinks (thankfully!!). Dad went to see about getting tickets for the Capitol tour for Saturday and the lady didn't even let him ask...she handed him tickets for the tour that was actually supposed to start at, umm, 1:50pm (20 min before), but hadn't started yet (don't worry). Yay!! We got to do the Capitol tour without having to wait forever and ever with tickets.
The Rotunda was cool as was what I've come to call the Echo Room but I liked the room with all the arches (don't remember the name) with the spot where the 4 quadrants of the city meet. Oops, tour's over...Gift Shop time (didn't buy anything though...stuff here's soooooo expensive).
Oh, let's go walk around the outside of the Capitol...oh snap, it's starting to rain = umbrella time.
We walked toward the Botanic Garden and saw some of the outside part but then continued on to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum...and spent the next 3 hrs walking around (Mom and I were finished, but Evan and Dad were pretty far from done) - dinner was (thankfully) included in this trip at the food court in the museum (BigMac for Evan, Donatos Pepperoni for me, and a Carver sandwich for Mom and Dad). Soooo, tired...back to the Metro for the ride "home". We stopped at the "grocery" not far from our hotel to get drinks and a snack then back to the room to crash
...loooooooooong day...
tomorrow's coming fast...