Our second day in D.C. was a day full of museums. I had intentionally planned an outdoor day and an indoor day in case the weather got rainy. However, we had beautiful weather both days we were there.

We took the metro to the White House area. At first we were disappointed when we got to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue because we could barely see the White House through a fence. However, as we walked toward the Smithsonian Museums, we went in front of the White House and could see it clearly from where they put the Christmas tree. It’s still very far back, but we got some good pictures there.

We stopped by the Smithsonian American History Museum first to see the Star Spangled Banner flag and the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. We saw outfits from Hamilton, R2DR and C3PO, Kermit and Piggy and some other recent cultural items. We also went through the First Ladies’ dress exhibit and presidential exhibit where they have the hat Abraham Lincoln was wearing when he was killed.

Then, we went in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We had lunch here and then saw the dinosaurs and the Hope Diamond. They have a fun ocean exhibit, too.

The National Archives was our next stop. There was a line, but it wasn’t too long, to view the founding documents. We saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They even had a letter from King George about taxation. 

We had a time set to go on a tour of the Capitol (free, but you need a timed ticket). We had to walk to the back of the building to the visitor’s entrance and go through security. You really do need to get there at least 30 minutes ahead of your tour time. The tour started with a short movie about the history of the Capitol Building. Then we were taken to the catacombs, rotunda and the statue room. Our tour guide gave us interesting tidbits in every room. The catacombs were built for George Washington, but by the time the building was done, his family did not want to move his remains so no one is buried there. The rotunda is where people lay in state before burial. The statue room is where the president has lunch with Congress after the inauguration. Every state can have two statues in the Capitol.

After the Capitol tour, we went through a connecting tunnel to the Library of Congress. We walked around some exhibits, including what’s left of Thomas Jefferson’s library. We saw the reading room, which is the largest one in the world. 

Next to the Library of Congress is the Supreme Court. It was closed by that time in the afternoon, so we just looked from the outside and then headed out to find some dinner. We took the metro back to our hotel and then slept very well before flying home early the next day. It was really nice to be able to take the metro to the airport to catch our standby flight.