DC family vacation 2012 - Day 1

Shannon, BJ (her fiancé) and my parents all arrived into DCA on the night of Thursday 5 April 2012. Carlos and I went to the airport to pick up Shannon and BJ to take them back to our apartment via the metro. Mom and Dad arrived late at night and took a taxi to their hotel (Phoenix Park -- a great little Irish hotel right next to Union Station! We couldn’t have asked for a better hotel).

The following day (6 April) we started by going to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) to get badges for everyone so that we could all bypass the long bag check and security lines and go behind the scenes in all the Smithsonian museums. We were at the NMNH about a half hour prior to opening and it was great to wander around before the hordes entered! We visited the Hope diamond, minerals, and gemstones with no one else around. We also visited the dinosaurs, ocean hall, mammals, and lots of other things in-between. I took everyone behind the scenes to see the National Herbarium (tons and tons of plant specimens) and the entomology department. We had a fun time seeing the museum and looking at how different it is behind the scenes!

After NMNH we visited the Old Post Office Tower food court for lunch. We had planned to go up the tower for a view of downtown, but there was a gigantic line and it just wasn’t worth it (this was one of the busiest tourism weekends in DC).

After a little lunch we visited the Smithsonian Castle on our way over to the Air and Space Museum where we spent the rest of the afternoon. This is one of my favorite museums (after NMNH of course) but it was just so crowded that day! We still managed to see almost everything before heading out for the afternoon.

We made our way back to Mom and Dad’s hotel for an afternoon break (eating some home-made oatmeal cookies that Shannon brought and some astronaut ice cream that I had picked up at Air and Space). For dinner that night, I had made reservations at Zaytinya -- such a popular place! We enjoyed a leisurely and delicious meal. Some of the highlights included: butternut squash hummus, labneh, tzatziki, scallops (2 orders!), cheese plate, salmon, shrimp, calamari, and spanakopita. I had a great apricot tea drink too that I highly recommend!

After stuffing ourselves with delicious Mediterranean tapas, we made our way back to Phoenix Park to drop off Mom and Dad before Shannon, BJ, Carlos, and I walked back to the apartment for the evening. We had an eventful and fun first day of our family vacation!