Day three started early with a scheduled White House tour for Sarah and I. We were sooo excited to be able to see the inside of the White House. Brett and Riley hopped on the Metro with us in the morning so that we could join up with them for some more sightseeing after the tour.
We arrived just in time and made it through security with just our phones, IDs, and a little bit of cash around 9 am. The history inside the White House is amazing. We were able to walk through several rooms on the main floor. It was amazing to see where dinners are held, interviews are conducted, and government documents are signed. The art works was amazing and in such great shape for being up to 150 years (give or take a few years) old! In each room there were secret service officers who knew every last detail about the room they guarded. One interesting fact: Fresh flowers in every room. In the state dining room there were flowers in a vase that was covered in dried apricots. If only I had my camera! We ended our tour by walking through the front doors of the White House. Such a cool view! Sarah and I laughed about how just a day earlier we were wondering why people were standing in the doorway to the White House and ruining our photo ops!
After our 30 minute self-guided tour we took a 30 minute walk with several too many left turns and met up with Brett and Riley to begin the rest of our sightseeing day. We decided to head over to the Smithsonian Institute: National Museum of Natural History. The great thing about DC is that many of the museums and attractions are FREE! There was so much to see in this museum and it was neat to see all of the school children there filling out worksheets. Riley loved looking at the animals and was a bit terrified of the evolution of the man and ape heads on display. Through most of this she clung to me and said "I scared."
Next, we met up with the Mercer's for lunch before we had to leave the city to go and get ready for the Bookey/Baker Wedding Rehearsal Dinner.
We spent a lot of time traveling back and forth and ended up back in DC at 5 so that we could take the shuttle over to the rehearsal. It was a beautiful evening and Riley loved looking out of the river and watching airplanes fly in and out of the airport. We enjoyed a great Italian dinner and enjoyed listening to the wedding party stories and toasts to the couple.
Saturday we woke up, said our goodbyes to the Mercers', and headed back into DC. We had to change hotels for a second time so that we'd be in the city for the wedding. It was kind of gloomy day so Brett and Riley hung around the hotel while Sarah and I did a little shopping around the DC. We stopped in Macy's, H & M, and a souvenir shop. I found some jewelry for the wedding since I forgot every single piece of jewelry that I owned. We also picked up a Christmas ornament to hang on our tree this year. Of course, almost all of our souvenirs include a picture of Abe!
Saturday night Brett and I ventured down to the Willard to attend our friends' Natalie and Mike's wedding, while Riley and Sarah stayed back at our hotel. It was a beautiful event. Unfortunately, just as the wedding began we received a text from Sarah saying that Riley was totally freaking out and I may need to come back. I ended up taking a cab back 30 minutes later. Poor Sarah! Riley was freaking out and the neighbors were even pounding on the wall! Not good. So Brett enjoyed the rest of the evening and finally made it back to our room around 12:30 am feeling pretty good! All in all it was a great trip!!
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