I See DC

I have been lucky enough to have been to DC a few times. My grandmother lives in Baltimore and my Uncle lives in Virginia; both are less than an hour away from the city. So this trip was nice and relaxed; I didn't feel pressured to see all of the Smithsonian Museums in one day (by the way: NOT possible); I didn't run around like a chicken trying to make sure I went to the Changing of The Guards at Arlington Cemetery and the White House and all the other Federal Buildings. There weren't really very many cherry blossoms, so I didn't even feel pressured to get the perfect photo from the perfect angle. And, like I said, I was there by myself. So I did what I wanted.
I just strolled. And by strolled I meant walked really fast, because that is the only way I walk, much to the annoyance of people like my boyfriend who always asks why I am in "such a hurry". I just strolled, and even ran a little. Here is a quick recap.
Saturday
On Saturday, I arrived in the afternoon and went to pick up my packet for the race (see B). Then I walked over to the Mall (C/D). From there I walked past the Washington Monument (F), where there was a kite flying free for all! I walked to the Lincoln Memorial (H) via the WWII Memorial (G) and the Korean War Memorial (I). Unfortunately, the reflecting pool was closed. It seems like they may have done this sometime NOT during the 100 Year Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival, but whatever.
After that, I went to the Tidal Basin (J) to see if there were any blossoms. There weren't. But I got to see the new MLK Memorial (K) which was neat. Then I went back to the hotel to get ready for the next day's race!

Day 1 walking route: 7 miles

Tidal Basin

WWII memorial

I love photos of people taking photos.

Reflecting pool = closed

Lovely kite flying day!

Random DC

Lincoln

Sunday
The race. And then I went over to Arlington, where I stayed the night. From my hotel, I walked to lunch and then to Georgetown, where I found my new house. Or a few of them. Once I make billions of dollars, that is. It was so crowded there. In hindsight, I should have waited until Monday, because this speedwalker was quite annoyed by the slow, looky loo walkers who stop in the middle of the sidewalk to talk on their phones while walking their dogs. I did escape to the less crowded streets, which were beautiful.
In the evening, I met up with the aforementioned Uncle for a stroll around Old Town Alexandria and dinner at the Fish Market. 

My new house, thank you very much. (Georgetown)

Alexandria

Monday
First I went for a gorgeous run (my 10k for the Jelly Bean) along the Potomac on the Mt Vernon trail. The trail runs along the river directly opposite the Mall, so the entire run I got a view of the monuments! Also, it was a nice sunny, although super windy day and there were tons of people on the trail with me.
My ingenious plan was to go to the Museum of Natural History (my favorite!) on Monday, since it would not be as busy as the weekend. I was wrong. It must have been field trip time, because it was PACKED. I did a quick skim of the Africa room, the ocean room and the dinosaurs and then headed to the Museum of American History. It was equally as crowded. Bummer. I couldn't handle it. If I hadn't been there before I would have stuck it out, but I have, so I left. I went via the Mall so I could take a few photos of the Capitol building (and maybe I "accidentally" caught this runner in the photo. Oops)
I went back to my hotel and went to bed early because I had to get up at 4 am the next day to catch my flight home! That sure made for a tired lady when I got back home (12 pm PDT + getting up at 4 in the morning EDT = confusion and fatigue).

Mt Vernon Trail

Half Naked Guy Running Capitol Building / Mall

 What is your favorite museum to go to? Do you do a lot of walking when you travel? Do early morning flights (and time changes) wear you out?