Independence Day week in our Nation's Capitol -- UPDATED 8/22 About This Page:

[bsblady01]

more please

[bau8]

Sounds like a great start. Our family loves DC. The Folklife festival is great. There is also a restaurant that we love everytime we go, Matchbox. They make the best mini burgers and wood fired pizzas. Getting hungry justing thinking about it. We haven't been able to get there yet, but I have heard great things about the spy museaum. Have a great time. Wish I was going.

[DawnDenise]

Great start Sarah! I am so the planner as well and couldn't get by theout a general idea of what to see. I haven't been to DC since I was in the 8th grade and I know I didn't appreciate it like I would today. Looking forward to living through youtr TR!

[DopeyGirl]

PRE-TRIP . . . PART 2 . . .
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Did I forget anything? Make any last minute tweaks? And how on Earth is this “day-by-day planner” going to make it without a day-by-day plan?!



Well . . . to answer the question about last minute tweaks, of course the answer would be yes. We always do, it seems. OH . . . and not just ONCE did we change the plan, but THREE times.

In mid-May, when Mike got home from one his trips out on the ship, we got to thinking about the fact that his leave ended on July 3rd, but he still had a whole 3 day weekend ahead of him after that. I was really thinking more along the lines of things we could do around our own house/area . . . but, he suggested (and I agreed . . . am I nuts? ) that we extend our stay by a couple of days and leave on July 5th instead. So we were able to easily adjust our dates to extend it 2 days. No problems there. He can check in from leave while we are there and as long as he is within a 500 mile radius of the base, we’re still good to stay there (unless there is some sort of global/national crisis and he has to report back immediately). So, now we’re staying June 27th to July 5th . . .

Yes, that’s right folks . . . the original plan was to AVOID the crazy Independence Day crowds in the Capitol . . . and now we are going to be PART of the crazy Independence Day crowds in the Capitol.


At the end of May, his squadron headed out AGAIN. Originally, the dates they were out for were scheduled to be from June 4 until 24 . . . then it changed to June 2 -24 . . . then to May 30 – June 24 . . . and finally, from May 30 through June 27. Yes, they were now not scheduled to return until the day we were supposed to be leaving to go up to DC.

It wouldn’t be so much a problem if it wasn’t a 3 ½ hour drive up there . . . and the squadron isn’t due to fly back in until 8-9pm. Of course, there will be 3 of the people in Mike’s shop that have to be sent home a couple of days earlier due to a class they have to take before they deploy in September, but due to the fact that he is the boss in the shop, he, of course, isn’t one of the ones who gets to come home early.

SO, we had to change the dates AGAIN . . . this time moving our arrival date to June 28th and changing our departure now to the morning of July 6th. The bad thing about having to adjust the reservation the way we did is that our rate had to change.


We had originally booked a room with double beds and that included the breakfast plan for the mornings (2 adults and kids under 12 could order from the buffet or restaurant and it was included in the room rate) but that rate wasn’t available for the entire stay any longer. Instead, it had to be changed to a lesser nightly rate but that would change us to a room with one king size bed and the possibility of a rollaway bed (Emilie likes to sleep in her tent anyways though, so we plan on bringing it along) AND the original breakfast plan could not be included, so we had to change to a “Kids Eat Free” promotion instead. In the end, the budget ended up being about the same though, as the extra money we would have spent per night for the room with the other rate, just transferred to breakfast each morning instead.


We’re now a week out from our trip . . . HOPEFULLY this is the last time we have to make an adjustment to the reservation . . . HOPE-FUL-LY. As far as I am concerned, at this point, the dates are set at June 28 – July 6.

Keep your fingers crossed for us that they Navy doesn’t go and change things up on us again and we can get going on time!


COMING UP NEXT: And we’re off!

[lauren-roxy]

You will really enjoy being there over the Fourth Sarah!! I did it once and it was so much fun!! Your plans sound wonderful!!

[chezp]

You have been busy making changes to your trip. I hope you enjoy being part of the mad fourth of July crowds.

[NanaTink]

for no more Navy changes....I know those well! Not only must our Navy members have sea legs, we must too in order to deal with the constant changes.

I'm sure you will have a great time, just remember to carry lots of water...and if you decide to venture to the mall to see the fireworks....plan on getting there early....bag checks take time!

[DrDolphin]

Great job on rolling with the punches that the Navy gave you!!! Can't wait to read all about your trip!

[DopeyGirl]

And we're off!

Finishing up the packing now, DH says he "has to" mow the lawn first thing in the morning, then we are on the road!

Will be back on July 6th and will try to get my report started soon after!

[Colexis Mom]

Have a great time Sarah

[lauren-roxy]

Have a great time!!!!

[chezp]

Have a great time!

[NanaTink]

have a great time! Wave as you pass DoJ

[emtpej]

Be safe. Dont make me come get you!

[DopeyGirl]

Hi all!

We're home! We pulled into our driveway right about 5pm yesterday evening after a morning that started at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial then on to the Udvar-Hazy Center (part of the Air and Space Museum at Dulles airport) . . . then a 3 1/2 hour drive home in the (mostly) pouring rain.

Catching up on laundry and all that fun stuff today, and will be working on pictures later on this evening. After I got rid of the blurry pics, the "not so great" pics and the "Whose head popped up in this picture?!" pictures, my final count was 998 photos for the week. That is actually pretty tame for me.

I am getting all of my notes together from the trip (as usual, I kept a notebook and made notes all throughout the day each day ) and will hopefully have the first installment of the report up in the next day or so!

Until then, here are some highlights.