We packed everything up this morning and left our bags at the hotel reception. We got an Uber to the Lincoln Memorial so the kids could collect their Junior Ranger badges since they had done all the work. They had to recite the Junior Ranger motto and were given their badges.
It came to my attention yesterday that TJ really wanted to go and see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We decided we had time to fit it in so we walked across the Arlington Memorial Bridge spanning the Potomac River and onto Arlington National Cemetery. Once we had cleared security we walked up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the end of the changing of the guard. We read about the history of the tomb and watched the guard. If you’re interested in knowing more about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, check out this link:
https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Tomb-of-the-Unknown-Soldier
We then went to see the gravesite of John F. Kennedy and the eternal flame. It seemed fitting after having been to Dallas and seen where he was assassinated to also see this. We then left the park and got an Uber back to the hotel to collect our bags.
We walked about 6 mins with our bags to Union Station and the kids finally got their fix of Chick-Fil-A before we boarded our train to Philadelphia. It was an easy 1.5 hour ride.
Once in Philadelphia, we caught Ubers to our hotel. We are staying at the Sonder, which is an apartment style hotel. This one is very industrial looking and has amazing views. After all being stuck in one room with two beds, a pull out sofa and one bathroom and not much room to swing a cat (especially with all our bags), a three bedroom apartment was a welcome relief.
We walked to the local Whole Foods, about 7 minutes away for some dinner. They had a good selection of hot meals and everyone got what they wanted. Mark was happy to find it was one with a bar inside of it. We walked home via the CVS Pharmacy and Target (literally across the road from the hotel) where we finally got our matching Christmas pajamas (well all except Mark as they didn’t have his size but we have made him order some online ?). Back home and the kids enjoyed a pint of Haagen Dazs ice-cream before bed.
