Maryland's State Capital, known as a State House, was quite different than expected at first thought. As the very first Capitol it seemed as if it would have been fairly grand, however it was rather simplistic and understated. The building itself was made of brick no differently than any of the other buildings which surrounded it and it was really no taller either. Sadly it was in need of some cleaning upkeep and a little restoration on the outside. The interior ...

Last day in DC!!! We extended our stay in DC by a day due to the fact we lost a couple of days of full family touring as several of us got the stomach flu! So today we caught up and saw the National Museums of Natural History and American University. It was a full day but the crowds were tolerable and we saw everything we wanted. We even saw a 3D IMAX movie about the ocean. I got yelled at by Michael as usual I fell asleep; not sure what the total number of thes...

Although it rained intermittently during the day, the night ended with fireworks over the nation's capital.... sort of. We began the day riding the Metro into the city early to hit the White House Visitor Center right after they opened. They were not too busy, and had a nice series of dsiplays about life in the White House for those of us who couldn't get admission to the House itself. We enjoyed the 10 minute video featuring all of the current living presidents...

Earlier today prior to going to Arlington we stopped at Roosevelt Island to see the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial. The island preserve would be a great area to spend a day hiking and picnicking. The short walk to the memorial was quite pleasant. However for Katherine, whom was getting over the fabulous stomach flu, the walk was a bit much. As we approached the memorial we were all a little saddened. Teddy is placed toward the back of a large circle created by four lon...

Nationals Game Trying something new was the theme for this event as none of us had ever been to a major league baseball game before, never have seen a professional game outside of California, and none of us were Giants fans! None-the-less, we dressed the parts and had a good time despite the rain! We believe it was possibly Mitt Romney that won the "President's Race" (bobble headed figures that run around the field and cross the finish line or don't as the major...