DC at Christmas

Since we were visiting Noni, Grandpa and Oma, we decided to take in some of the DC holiday sights.  We headed down into the city twice.  On the recommendation of some friends we drove down on the 26th.  For the first time ever, we found parking right in front of where we were headed (the National Building Museum).  Not sure if it was the date (the 26th) or the fact that it was snowing and that 3 inches were called for -- frightening most of metropolitan DC into staying home.

We headed to the National Building Museum to see the Leggo exhibit.  There were these awesome architectural reproductions built out of Leggos.  Jeff was in heaven.  Then we got to the section of 1000 Leggos.  The visitors were encouraged to construct their own Leggo buildings and add them to a Leggo City.  We all made our own buildings.  Jeff worked on a few with Tom and I, and Erin worked on one with her Noni.  There were also some other interesting exhibits in the Museum -- and awe inspiring building itself with huge columns and arches in the main hall. 

On the way home we stopped at a restaurant/bar that advertised 30 beers on tap.  It was just around the corner from the Building museum and we'd passed it on the way in.  The kids were happy just to get some lunch with everyone.  Grandpa and Oma entertained them while Noni, Tom and I tasted several fantastic beers each.  Yes folks,  I've been corrupted ;)  But let me tell you -- good food, good company, good beer!  Works for me.


Later in the week we decided to head back into the city to take in the model train display at Union Station.  I've never been down to the city at Christmas and really wanted to see the station all done up.  It certainly was beautiful.  The model train was very cool.  Jeff took a bunch of photos from his perspective.  And just watched it for quite a long time.

Then we decided to walk to a pizza place I've been wanting to try out.  It's owned by one of the Top Chef contestants and just looked cool.  So we bundled up a bit and walked out towards the Capitol.  It was simply a beautiful day. A little windy, but gorgeous sky.  It's been years since I explored Capitol Hill and I'd forgotten how lovely it is back there.  We pointed out the Supreme Court building, the Library of Congress and several other federal buildings.  We couldn't visit any of them because Tom had his pocket knife with him -- whoops.

After some great pizza and fun sodas (If you're ever at We The Pizza try the pineapple soda) we decided to take in some of the Museums.  Back onto the Metro we headed and went to the Natural History Museum.  It was quite crowded but Jeff and Tom got a chance to see the dinos, and Erin showed me her favorite gems and then the bug exhibit.  After meeting back together Erin wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens and Jeff wanted to see airplanes.  We split again.  (BTW Tom was only able to get into these places because he found a place to secretly hide his knife outside).

By mid afternoon we were ready to hop back onto the Metro.  We walked past the other side of the Capitol and saw the Capitol Christmas Tree.  On the way back to Union Station Tom spied the Capitol Ale House so we headed in for a pint (and some soft pretzels for the kids). 

The whole day was a 5-year old boy's delight -- a ride on a "train", a train exhibit, pizza for lunch, dinosaurs and then airplanes.  Turns out we all enjoyed our super special day.