Me and my family went to Washington D.C. for six days during Spring Break. It was during Cherry Blossom season and my first time in D.C. This year was also special because the Cherry Blossom trees stayed in bloom much longer than they usually do. So, here are some of the highlights of our trip.

We left early on Sunday, March 31st. We got to the Washington D.C. airport around 7:30 a.m., got on the metro, and headed into D.C. We went straight to the Washington Memorial and saw the U.S. Capitol and The White House from a distance. Even though it was still early, many people were already out and about. The weather was also perfect on Sunday. This was probably my favorite day of the trip. 

After the memorial, we visited the Tidal Basin and saw the Cherry Blossoms. They were so beautiful. Me and my sisters took a ton of pictures. The trees were so full of Cherry Blossoms it was crazy. We spent a while there then went to the Natural History Museum where we ate lunch. 

The Natural History Museum was one of my favorite museums because seeing different animals and learning about their different environments was very cool. My favorite part of the museum was the ocean section because we got to see the animals living there and learned how to care for the oceans. We then went to the museum’s second level to see all the rocks and crystals. We saw so much stuff. There were different types of jewelry, glow-in-the-dark rocks, rainbow minerals, and a ton of other gems.

The last thing we did on our first day was a tour of D.C. We passed the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the White House, and the WWII memorial. We then made our way to the Lincoln Memorial and we got off the bus to take pictures. This was another one of my favorite parts of the trip because it was cool to see all the monuments lit up at night. Our next stop was the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. We also saw the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Air Force Memorial. Our last stop on the tour was the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. This was my favorite memorial on the tour because it was pretty popular and one of the most important memorials.

The next day, the first thing we did was go to Ford’s Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. We got to go into the theatre and we saw where he got shot. We then went to The Peterson House and went into the room where he died. After that, we went to the Holocaust Museum. We saw so much stuff it was crazy. There were so many pictures, books, etc. It was sad to see but also the most interesting. We also spent the most amount of time here because there was so much stuff to see.

We then headed to the Wharf to hang out until we ate dinner. The weather was decent but it was pretty cloudy. We walked around for a while and watched the pigeons. We ate at a restaurant called The Grill. It was one of my favorite restaurants on the trip. I had shrimp and it was delicious. When we left, we had ice cream which was also amazing.

The last thing we did was Artechouse Blooming Parallel Worlds. This was my favorite part of the day because it had different exhibitions about art and Cherry Blossoms which I really liked. Since it was the end of our second day, we were all pretty tired so we went back to the hotel and I swam with my sisters.

Today was our third day in D.C. It was also the day it started raining. We began the day by taking a tour of Arlington Cemetary. We saw a bunch of memorials which was very cool to see. My favorite part was getting to see Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s headstone. We also saw Fort Myer, the Military Women’s Memorial, the JFK Memorial, and a lot of other places.

We then got to go inside the Robert E. Lee House. We got to see all the different rooms inside the house and all of the old furniture and art. We also got to go in the back of the house to see where slaves were kept. Each room had a poster where we could read about what it was used for. In one of the bedrooms, there was a little statue of an orange cat sleeping on the bed which I loved.

After we left the Robert E. Lee House, we finished the tour and headed to the Pentagon and the 9/11 Memorial. This memorial was very sad but also really cool. Each person had their own memorial which went in order of their ages. The ones pointing towards the Pentagon were the people who died in the plane and the ones facing away were the people who died inside of the Pentagon. I learned a lot of information from the cemetery and memorials and I would encourage anyone who is going to D.C. to visit them. We finished out the day by going to the Fashion Center in Pentagon City to eat dinner and do some shopping.

Today was our fourth day in D.C. We went to the United States Botanic Garden. This was the most beautiful part of the trip because we got to see all sorts of plants and flowers I had never seen before. It also had different levels so you could see the different plants and trees from high above which I liked. It had a very cool gift shop too. I got pins for my backpack, a pen, and stickers.

We headed to the National Museum of American History which I was really excited about because I knew they had a lot of cool things. We saw famous objects from popular movies, TV shows, singers, etc. Some things we saw were Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Hamilton’s coat from the musical, Hamilton, Catwoman’s headband, necklace, and gloves from Batman, R2D2, and C3PO from Star Wars, and a bunch of other cool things.

At the National Museum of African American History, one of my sisters learned to step dance with me which was really fun. We saw a lot of popular culture from African American History which was cool to see. We spent most of our time in the sports section and we got to watch videos and look at pictures about the history of African Americans in sports.

The last thing we did today was go to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. This was one of my favorite parts of the day because I had seen the sculptures before but seeing them in person was cool. My favorite sculpture in the garden was the House I sculpture because it was an illusion. When you move, it would change perspectives.

On our fifth day, it was finally sunny again today which was perfect since we were going to the U.S. capitol. We took a tour throughout the capitol and saw a lot of cool art pieces from different states, statues of important people, the various rooms throughout the capitol, and the Rotunda. When we finished the tour, we got to go outside and see the capital from the back. My family and I also took pictures of a colorful tulip garden. We went around to the front of the capitol and saw the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial. Me and my sisters then went to the little pond across from it and watched the ducks.

We went to a fancy restaurant for lunch across from the capitol called Charlie Palmer Steakhouse. They had delicious bread and soup. I ate a falafel sandwich and one of my sisters ate lobster for the first time. After lunch, we went to see the Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon. We also saw a little squirrel who followed us around. Our last stop of the day was the Asian Art Museum. I thought this art museum had the coolest art because it was different than the other art museums. They also had a cool gift shop where I got lucky cat earrings and a little book with haikus about cats.

On our last day, we didn’t leave until nighttime so we did a bunch of stuff during the day. We started the day by going to a very interesting museum called Planet Word. We learned a lot about how language works and how we communicate through using words. This museum had my favorite gift shop too because there were a lot of book-related things to buy.

We then went to the Women’s Art Museum where we saw a bunch of art pieces created by women and how they have a great impact on our world. It was another one of my favorite museums and I would love to come here again. They also apparently had a really cool gift shop but it wasn’t open. After we left the museum, we headed to Chinatown and got Boba Tea on the way to our very last stop of the trip, the American Art Museum.

At the American Art Museum, they had so many different art pieces by different artists and they were all so unique. Not only did they have paintings but they had sculptures, statues, books, quilts, etc. As it got closer to nighttime, we decided it was time to go and headed back to the airport.

Anyone who is into history or loves traveling, in general, should think about visiting D.C. one day. Anyway, I was delighted that I got to go to D.C. for spring break and I would love to go again!