Let's go for a bike ride in DC!

Garrett Tershel

Let's go for a bike ride in DC!

If you only have one day to see DC and you have kids I highly recommend you do it on bikes.  We were able to see so many places and it would not have been possible without the bikes.  We drove into to DC late morning, negotiated a parking spot and pulled the bikes off the rack.  We walked them on the sidewalk through the city to the Mall.  Once at the Mall we biked for the next couple of hours.

DC is built on a monumental scale, every building is two or three blocks in size.  Every monument and park area is incredibly large.  Parking near each attraction is not an easy task and hopping in and out of a car all day is not as fun as it sounds.  We had a beautiful day for biking DC.  We started at the White House

We made it to the White House, another punch list item for our trip. We made it to the White House, another punch list item for our trip.

 
Here is looking at you looking at me. They had lots of people on the roof, you know, just hanging out... Here is looking at you looking at me. They had lots of people on the roof, you know, just hanging out...

 
White House White House

 

We didn't do the tour, unfortunately we didn't have time to go into any of the buildings. When the kids get a little older and if things haven't complexly fallen apart after the current (2016) election we will be back to learn more about how our government works.  And we are moving, we are moving...

We made it Biking through DC kept the kids active and moving through this monumental city.

 

Next stop was the Washington Monument.  It was closed so we didn't go to the top.

Biking DC Biking up to the Washington Monument

 
Family at the Washington Monument Family at the Washington Monument

 
Aurora being silly Aurora being silly

 
Washington Memorial Washington Memorial

 
The Capital Building The Capital Building, this is as close as we got.

 
The Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial

 
The Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial

 

After the Washington Memorial we biked around the Mall.  Again this would have been an exhausting walk for everyone but it was a very nice bike ride.

Family at the Mall Family at the Mall

 
National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall

 
img_1548 Aurora taking it all in. I wonder what is going on in her head?

 
National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall

 
National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall

 
National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall National WWII Memorial at the DC Mall

 
Washington Monument from afar Washington Monument from afar

 
Washington Monument reflecting pool Washington Monument reflecting in the pool

 
Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Memorial, more steps...

 
Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Memorial

 
Abe Abe

 
Gettysburg Address Gettysburg Address

 
Gettysburg Address Gettysburg Address

 
Inaugural Speech Inaugural Speech

 

The perfect slide.

 

After our fun with Honest Abe, we were hungry so we stopped for a bite and assessed our time.  We had 1 hour before the National Archives closed.  Going and seeing the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights was the number one goal for DC.  So we headed over to the Archives.

The National Archives The National Archives

 
The National Archives The National Archives

 

The National Archives didn't allow pictures but the documents were amazing.  The Constitution is enormous.  I had no idea the document was so big.  I have only seen pictures.  The cursive is beautiful.  The lines were straight across the page.  It is an amazing document.  We took the full hour to look at the different documents.  Talked about the importance of each document and how life is easier today because people felt it was important to write down some principled ideas.

And that wrapped up our day.

Before we started the day I touched base with a friend I have not talked to since high school.  He suggest I stop by Virginia Beach.  So since we need to break the drive up over a couple of days traveling from Washington, DC to Marietta, GA it seems as good a stop as any.  I am really glad we stopped and I will tell you all about it  in our next installment.