Final Day in DC: Who doesn't love a parade??

On our final day of our vacation, we would pack a few more things in. It would be an early start with a late finish, but totally worth it!!

First on the agenda was a trip into downtown DC with Brad's Aunt Cindy and Uncle Bob for the National Cherry Blossom Parade! As I mentioned previously, we had originally planned this trip to coincide with the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms, however, due to strange weather, they popped about a month early! That didn't stop the already planned parade from happening, especially since it was celebrating the 100th anniversary. So, we went down early to get a good seat and enjoyed the sights.

It is quite a big deal. The Grand Marshalls were Katie Couric and Alex Trebec (whom we never actually saw - only heard their voices). High school bands from ALL OVER the US come to participate and their were talent acts of every variety you could imagine. Of course, there was quite a bit of Japanese influence too, since they did give us the Cherry Blossoms after all!

There was a huge Children's Choir - see them in the shape of a blossom on the steps?

Every branch of the military was represented.

Ever wonder what the Macy's parade floats do in their off time? Make appearances at other parades! We saw Miss PIggy, Kermit, Scooby Doo and others!

LOOK MOM!! Pearl, Mississippi!

Awesome Japanese drum group

Even the folks that tend to the Blossoms were in the parade!

The high school band geek in me loved every minute of it. After the parade was over, we walked around a HUGE Japanese street festival. We had lunch (some of the yummiest Asian noodles I have ever had) and looked around for a while. (Sadly, these pictures were lost with the Pentagon pictures...) Then we made the walk over to the US Capitol for our private tour!

We were met by an Intern working for Texas Senator John Carter's office. She was super nice and obviously enjoyed giving the tours.

She took us around all of the places we could enter and even some not included on the public tours.

After our tour, we said goodbye to Bob & Cindy as they headed home... but we still had a full afternoon and evening ahead!! We made our way back to Union Station and had dinner. I will forever remind Brad NOT to get BBQ in DC. That was not BBQ by Texas standard (more like slices of roast beef with BBQ sauce on it)... I played it safe with a salad. After dinner we checked in and waited to be picked up for what could, quite possibly, be considered my FAVORITE tour of our DC trip... The Monuments At Night Trolley Tour. 

Our pictures really don't do this justice. I can tell you that the city we had just spent days exploring, changed before my eyes when the sun went down. It came alive in a whole new way. Our tour started at dusk and we had a fantastic tour guide that told us SO much as the sun went down and we traveled around to the different monuments and memorials. If you are ever in DC, this tour is an absolute MUST. I was given some advice before booking this - do the trolley tour, not the bus tour. I agree. The windows on most tour buses are very heavily tinted - for this tour, you want to be able to see everything clearly.

In the Trolley leaving Union Station.

Our first stop was the one I had been anticipating our entire trip. I had been told how cool it would be, but it was WAY more then I expected... The Marine Corp War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. Simply stunning at night... 

And behind the monument, we could begin to see the rest of the monuments lit up across the city.

See the Capitol and the Washington Monument? Beautiful view in person...

Then we headed over to see the MLK Memorial...

The FDR monument, Jefferson and the Tidal Basin...

Then over to another favorite - the Korean War Memorial. We saw this during the day and thought it was good. At night it takes on its own life. None of our pictures turned out well... but trust me - it was almost spooky. The soldiers were making their way through a field in dangerous territory, and we were with them...

BOO!

 

 Then our final stop would be the Lincoln Memorial. AMAZING. The way the light accents Lincoln sitting in his chair makes him visible from far away.

Our trolley took us back to the train station and then we made our way home. It would be a VERY early morning to make the drive to BWI and fly home.  

It was an awesome trip! I fell in love with the beauty of that part of our country. There are endless possibilities of things to see and learn there. We already have an itinerary long enough to fill several more trips. Not to mention that Brad's super fun family is there - so we will definitely go back!!