Washington DC - second week - Nick

Hamilton's Restaurant

3/9/17

Yesterday we went to the Library of Congress.  There was a kids’ area where you could actually take the books off the shelf and read them. In the main area you can only look at the books. There was a puppet show thing that Andi liked. After the Library of Congress we ate lunch at a place called Hamilton’s. My grandparents’ last name is Hamilton. We got some cheese curds to share and they were so good that I liked them and I don’t even like cheese!

3/9/17

I am continuing 3/8/17. I did not finish yesterday. After we ate lunch at Hamilton’s we got a giant pretzel from Hamilton’s and gave it to Office Dqqki. Next we went on a tour of the Capitol Building. We saw the Senate and House Galleries which were kind of boring because there was nothing going on in them. We also learned that there were 103 statues in the Capitol. After we saw the Capitol we went to the Supreme Court which is where they check the Constitution to make sure the laws are legal. There was also a museum which was not very interesting buy the building was really cool.

Yesterday we went to the Air and Space Museum. It was super interesting. We saw bombing planes, fighter jets, remote controlled fighter jets, passenger planes, really old planes and lots more. We also saw a model of a plane called the flying boat. Its wing span was 350 feet long. And it was made entirely out of wood. It only flew for twenty seconds and it was never used again. I also won a paper airplane contest where you have to throw a paper airplane through a hula hoop. I won a medal with a blue ribbon. On my last throw it hit the edge of the hula hoop and then bounced in. we also saw a model of the inside of a really old plane and the seats were facing each other with a table in the middle. I like that setup more than modern planes. Then we went to the mall. The mall was not like I expected at all. It wasn’t even a building. It was just a big open field. In the ‘mall’ we saw the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. My favorite was the Lincoln Memorial. After we walked through the ‘mall’ we went to the National Archives. The National Archives is where they keep the real Declaration of Independence, the real Constitution, and the real Bill of Rights. They were all really faded and we couldn’t read them. My favorite was the Bill of Rights because it was the least faded and we could sort of see it. We didn’t stay in the National Archives for very long because it closed right away. Then we walked the whole mall again at night because it was supposed to be really pretty. All the memorials were really pretty especially the World War II Memorial.

 

Wall of Freedom at the World War II Memorial - there are 4048 gold stars,
each of which represents 100 WWII servicemen who died or were missing

Today we went on a tour of the Pentagon which was not very cool because all we got to see were the hallways. The tour guide said that one Capitol building could fit in the middle of the Pentagon and one more in each side. He also said that 3 Empire State Buildings could fit in the Pentagon. After the Pentagon tour we went to the American Indian Museum. I didn’t understand most of the adult museum but some of it I did understand. I went in the Children’s Museum which had more hands-on stuff. There was a ride that simulated how hard it was to stay up in an Indian canoe. Then we got dinner at a seafood place and I got crab.

3/10/17

the Blue Room

Today we went on a tour of the White House. We saw the Library, China Room, East Room, North Entrance, old family dining room, State Dining Room, Red Room, Blue Room, and the Green Room. My favorite was the Blue Room only because blue is my favorite color. After we finished the White House we got lunch at Taylor Gourmet. My Aunt Lisa recommended it to us. I got a sandwich called a 9^th and it had a bunch of different meats in one sandwich. It was delicious. After lunch we went to the American History Museum. There were lots of exhibits. My favorite one was an exhibit about really cool athletes who lost their legs and stuff but continue to do sports. One was a guy who lost his leg in a snowmobile accident and then went to do dirt biking. The rest of the exhibits were also really cool too. Then we went back to my Grandparents’ hotel, went swimming, and had dinner.

3/11/17

My Spy Identity

Today we went to the Spy Museum. It, of course was all about spies. There was stuff like daggers that could be hidden in your show, sniper rifles made out of umbrellas, tiny guns hidden in watches, and lots more. We also got to see the James Bond car. It had machine guns in the front, things that could come out of the tires and pop other tires, a bullet proof shield and lots more. In the beginning we were given a fake identity. I was Billy Henderson. I was 14 and I lived in the USA. We spent the whole day at the Spy Museum and then went to eat dinner at Outback Steak House. I got clam chowder that I didn’t like. Andi got mac ‘n cheese that she didn’t like so we traded. After dinner we got ice cream at McDonalds. We also went swimming in the pool and we met a nice boy who we played Marco Polo with.

3/12/17

Today we went to Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. It wasn't really even a museum because it didn't even have very many signs. It was just a bunch of planes in a giant hangar. I think my favorite plane was the SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 Blackbird was the fastest plane ever built. It could go 2,193 miles per hour. It was so long that if it made a sharp turn it would snap in half. The SR-71 Blackbird was 107 feet long. I also like a plane called the Enola Gay. Enola Gay was just the name it was given. The type of plane it was is a B-29. It dropped the nuclear bomb, Little Boy on Hiroshima, a city in Japan. We also saw the space shuttle Discovery. It was kind of the same as the Atlantis. The whole museum had 169 planes in all. After we were done with the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum, we went and got dinner at a sports bar and watched the Badgers basketball game. We are planning on going swimming and playing board games with my grandparents.

  

Nick completing a space shuttle landing simulator

3/15/17

Two days ago we woke up early in the morning and ate breakfast. Then we drove my grandparents to the airport. I was really sad that they were leaving but I was happy because my Uncle was coming in two days. After we dropped my grandparents off, we went back to my camper and Mom and Andi did laundry while Dad and I went shopping to get me a dress coat because in one day we are eating lunch in the Senate Dining Room. Then we went back to the camper and folded laundry. After that we packed up our camper and went to our new campsite. Next we went shopping again to get Dad a suit coat. Yesterday it was really snowy so we stayed at the camper. The lunch at the Senate Dining Room was cancelled because of snow. We spent awhile getting dressed in our nice clothes and then we figured out it was cancelled. Then we ate lunch and watched Thor. After we watched Thor it was time for dinner. So we ate dinner and then watched another movie.

Cockatoo Squid

Today we sat around all morning and did a bunch of math. Then we went and ate lunch at a Chinese place with David Jewett. He is the son of one of the people my mom works with. Then we went to the Museum of Natural History. We didn’t have much time so we only went to one exhibit. It was called Ocean Hall. My favorite thing I saw was a Cockatoo Squid. It was completely clear. We also saw a Megaladon jaw. It was huge. If it wasn’t in a case I would be able to stand up inside of it. After the museum we went home and had dinner.