So, Lindsey's brother (Chris, for those not in the know) decided to get married and graduate from law school at William and Mary on the same weekend. This was very considerate for us West Coast folks as we only needed to make one trip across the country for the events. Since we were going all the way across the country we decided to stay a week and take in some of the Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania sights.
We decided to play with fire and take a red eye back east on Virgin American. Red eye flights with 3 year olds are typically not recommended, but Oliver is pretty good at sleeping in seats so we decided to give it a go. I will have to say it worked out pretty well. The flight was delayed which was a good thing, instead of getting to DC at 3am Pacific time we got there closer to 5am, a time closer to when Oliver normally wakes up. When we finally got on the plane and on our way, Oliver was asleep before the plane got off the ground. When we fly with him we typically give him a lollipop on the ascent and descent to keep his ears popping, which he’s a fan of and talks about continuously when we get to airports. With that said, Oliver ended up falling asleep before we even got off the ground and he didn't getting his lollipop, which isn't really a big deal on the way up as ears typically pop pretty easy on the way up. But, about halfway through the flight he woke up and wanted his lollipop that he was looking forward too, so he sucked on it for five minutes and went back to sleep. He ended up sleeping the entire flight excluding the little lollipop suck. We actually didn't get up quite early enough and the descent started prior to Oliver getting his lollipop, so he had to deal with some ear equalization issues.
We landed at Dulles, made our way to the car rental place, got our minivan, and headed down to Richmond, VA. We made it down to Richmond in about three hours due to some traffic between DC and Richmond, which allowed Oliver a desperately needed hour nap. We stayed at the Omni in Richmond for the wedding festivities, which ended up being a pretty nice place. Friday night there was a pre wedding dinner at a local brewery called Hardywood. They had some tasty beer, bbq was brought in, and Oliver and I played a ton of corn hole. While in the middle of a little corn hole a thunder storm rolled through and dropped a bit of rain. Oliver, like many other kids, loves splashing in puddles. Since the temperature was in the 80s and when I was sure the lightning passed, I let Oliver go wild. He got absolutely soaked, but had a grin on his face the whole time.
 |
| Oliver with Uncle Chris, Mommy, and Nana |
 |
| Papa and Oliver |
 |
| Eye on the target |
 |
| Splashing in puddles |
 |
| Oliver and Lindsey with Lindsey's Uncle Eric and Aunt Karen |
Saturday was wedding day. Lindsey got her hair done with Jen (Chris' bride to be) and Oliver and I hung with Lindsey's folks and brother. We had lunch at a little Cafe called the Urban Farmhouse, tasty food but pretty slow service. After lunch we headed back up to the room to get ready for the wedding. The ceremony was at a small 19th century church on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School (where Jen is currently attending medical school). Shortly after arriving at the church a thunderstorm came by and the heavens opened up. The ceremony was short and sweet, just like I prefer. Oliver was the ring bearer and walked down the aisle like a rockstar beside mommy, smiling the whole way. This was likely due to the reward lollipop if he completed his task. After some pictures there was a lull in the storms, so I retrieved the car and we headed to the reception location. The reception was at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in a hall adjacent to a gallery featuring paintings of 18th and 19th century British Sporting (i.e. men in red coats, horses, dogs and foxes) and another gallery featuring Mid to Late 20th Century Art. It was a cool spot for sure and Oliver had fun looking at the horses once we got over the fact he couldn’t touch anything. As we were entering the VMFA is started raining on us a little and as we were going up the elevator to the second floor a biblical monsoon started (trees bent in half due to the winds and sheets of water). Luckily we were safely in the museum by the time it started really coming down. Oliver was the hit of the party with his dancing, which looked a little like break dancing. With about an hour left he literally passed out, at which time his limp body was passed around, so everyone could get a cuddle with the monkey. The food, beverages and company were all solid. A good time was had by all.
 |
| Oliver getting ready to walk down the aisle |
 |
| Oliver with a ring delivery |
 |
| The bride and groom |
 |
| Oliver having a little sparkling water |
 |
| Happy campers |
 |
| Oliver was impressed by the art |
 |
| Cutting the cake |
Mother's day, Nancy's birthday and Chris' graduation day started with brunch at the hotel, which we didn't have enough time to thoroughly take advantage of (probably best for my waistline). After that we all hoped in the minivan and headed to Williamsburg for Chris' graduation ceremony. About an hour later we arrived at the law school where everyone had to get in busses to go to the location of the ceremony. It was pretty hot that day and not California hot, it was Virginia hot, which means sticky (god I hate being sticky). We probably waited in line about an hour at the law school to catch a bus to the location of the graduation ceremony. Once we got to the amphitheater it was like you were in a jar with a magnifying glass on top. Blazing sun and zero breeze. It was HOT. Most of us found shelter back in the woods where shade could be found. About an hour into the ceremony, Lindsey and I realized that getting back on the bus after the whole thing was done would likely be a nightmare. So, I took one for the team and walked a mile and a half back to the Law School, picked up the car and drove much closer to the amphitheater. After all the festivities we made our way back to Richmond for dinner.
 |
| Chris and Jen at the Graduation |
 |
| Founders of the William & Mary Law School |
 |
Auntie Jen reading to Oliver while we wait for festivities begin
 |
| Chris on his way to get all growed up |
|
 |
| Oliver keeping cool by...running around and jumping? |
Monday morning we (Lindsey’s folks, Chris (Jen had to work all week so Chris decided to hang with us), Lindsey, Oliver and I) packed up the minivan and headed to a restaurant called Stella’s (http://stellasrichmond.com/), which is a fabulous place that serves Greek/Mediterranean food. The Lamb Frites appetizer does not suck. After lunch and a visit from Jen, who had to work, we all set on our way towards DC. After a ton of traffic between Richmond and DC, we made it to our new Hotel, the Hay Adams. It is a pretty nice place about a block from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. After we got settled in we decided to take a walk around the DC mall. We headed down towards the Lincoln Memorial via the Vietnam War Memorial. Oliver was impressed with the Lincoln Memorial and since we’ve been working on his ‘church voice’ for our trip to Europe, he was very respectful during our walk through the Vietnam War Memorial. Then we headed up the mall to the Washington Monument. After that we made our way back up to the Hotel to get ready for dinner. Dinner was at The Hamilton, which was decent. Then it was back to the Hotel to rest up for a day filled with Smithsonians.
 |
| Oliver fueling up for his day |
 |
| What white house? The White House |
 |
| Nana and Papa with Oliver |
 |
| Lindsey explaining the Vietnam War Memorial to Oliver |
 |
| Oliver, Lindsey, and Abe |
 |
| Next stop...Washington Monument |
 |
| Oliver and I at the WWII Memorial. My Grandfather landed on Tarawa. |
 |
| Lindsey and Chris at the WWII Memorial |
 |
| Lindsey and Oliver checking out the top of the Washington Monument |
After breakfast on Tuesday, we made our way over to the Air and Space Museum. We figured it was the Museum that Oliver would have the most fun at and we were not wrong. Oliver had a ball, nothing like rockets and planes to get a 3 year old excited. When we were finished with the Air and Space Museum we walked down the mall to the Natural History Museum. Unfortunately they have just recent closed the dinosaur bone exhibit to refresh it. That was a bummer because Oliver was really looking forward to seeing dinosaur bones. We check out the stuffed animals and found a tyrannosaurus skull, so we fulfilled the dinosaur bone requirement. After a quick visit we made our way to the American History Museum, in hopes of finding a pop culture exhibit with some of Oliver favorites like Mickey Mouse or maybe Kermit the Frog, but like the dinosaur bones the pop culture exhibits were all being updated. We found a couple trains and a giant America flag as Oliver called it (the Star Spangled Banner), which made Oliver happy. Then we headed back to the Hotel to clean up for dinner. For dinner we went to a place called Bayou (http://bayouonpenn.com/www/) a solid place for some Cajun/Creole food, my only disappointment was with the fact they lacked beignets for desert. Really how can a Cajun/Creole place not have Beignets on the desert menu?
 |
| Chris and Papa next to Felix Baumgartner's sky dive suit |
 |
| Oliver loved the rockets and astronauts |
 |
| Oliver practicing flying |
 |
| On the Capitol Mall |
 |
| Lindsey and her family |
 |
| Oliver and Lindsey both love Giraffes |
 |
| Oliver found Nemo |
 |
| We found some dinosaur bones |
 |
| They have trains at the American History Museum |
Wednesday, Lindsey’s folks were headed back to the Pacific Northwest, so we dropped them off at the airport and made our way to our next destination. The next stop was Gettysburg, PA. Before the trip Lindsey mentioned going to Gettysburg on the way to Baltimore (our final destination) and I thought it was out of the way and did not think it was a good idea. But, I’m glad she pushed because it was one of my favorite days of the trip. We made it to Gettysburg around lunch and Yelp led us to Café Saint-Amand, a French bistro. It was a good spot with some traditional French lunch items like Croque Monsieurs, crepes (both sweet and savory) and onion soup (I don’t think you call it French onion soup in a French restaurant). After lunch we headed over to the Gettysburg Battlefield Museum, which we went through then bought the audio tour CDs and book. We popped the audio tour CDs in the car and drive around the battlefield for the next few hours. It was really cool to see the battlefield that was considered a turning point in the Civil War. When we were done in Gettysburg we made our way to Baltimore. When we arrived at our hotel in Baltimore they had lost our reservation, so after 15 or 20 mins of arguing with them they found us a room and we unloaded the car. Once settled we went to a pretty crappy Irish pub for dinner.
 |
| Oliver sitting on Abe's lap in Gettysburg |
 |
| Gettysburg battlefield museum |
 |
| Checking out the Gettysburg battlefield museum |
 |
| Canons on the battlefield |
 |
| Oliver looking down on the battlefield from Little Round Top |
 |
| Fire! |
On Thursday we headed down to the Baltimore inner harbor to see the USS Constellation (an early US frigate with 38 canons) and the USS Torsk (a WWII era submarine). Oliver had a good time aboard the USS Constellation and they even fired off one of the canons while we were aboard. The USS Torsk was much like the WWII era submarine in San Francisco. After a mediocre seafood lunch we took a cab out to the B&O train museum. We got out to the museum kind of late which is too bad because as far as railroad museums go it was top notch. Oliver and I went to the train museum in Sacramento earlier this year and it can’t hold a candle to the B&O Museum in Baltimore. They have many more engines that one can go in and at least two where they allow you to turn knobs and pull levers which Oliver enjoyed. Unlike the Sacramento museum they had a Caboose that you could go in (seriously Sacramento train museum how can you not have a caboose that you can go in??). We closed down the train museum and would have stayed longer if they would have allowed us. So we waited outside the train museum for our cab back to the Hotel and the only drawback to the museum is it’s on the wrong side of MLK Boulevard. Finally the cab driver showed up and back to the hotel we went. For dinner we decided on Italian in little Italy at a place called Amiccis. After a tasty dinner we found an Italian pastry shop where I got some ‘fill at home’ cannolis. Lindsey’s brother had never had a cannoli, but after their creamy goodness I’m sure they won’t be the last cannolis he has.
 |
| First mate saluting Captain Oliver |
 |
| Fire! |
 |
| About to fire the deck gun |
 |
| Oliver, Uncle Chris and Mommy in front of the USS Torsk |
 |
| Oliver pulling levers and turning knobs |
 |
| All aboard! |
 |
| Oliver in a Caboose |
 |
| All of us eating at Amiccis |
We knew Friday was going to be a bit of a rainy day so we purposely saved the National Aquarium as it’s an indoor activity. The National Aquarium is pretty good. While I think the Monterey Bay Aquarium is slightly better for kids, the National Aquarium is a pretty solid rival to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We spent most of the day at the National Aquarium seeing its unique exhibits. They have two large walk-in exhibits one that places you in a tropical rain forest with birds, amphibians, fish, and tamarins (small monkeys) and another that puts you in Australia with flying foxes (Bat), turtles, snakes, fish, and even some fresh water crocodiles. After the aquarium we hung out and waited for Jen who was going to join us for dinner Friday night. For dinner we went to Pratt Street Alehouse. Why did we choose the Pratt Street Ale House? Well because it’s the home of the Oliver Brewery. How could we not go with a name like that? The food was standard pub fare and the beer was tasty. On the way back to the hotel after dinner Oliver had a great time running around downtown Baltimore.
 |
| A ray and a reef shark at the National Aquarium |
 |
| Lindsey and Oliver at the National Aquarium |
 |
| Checking out the turtles in the Australia exhibit |
 |
| Oliver at the Oliver Brewery |
Saturday we decided to check out Fort McHenry where the big America flag flew that we saw in DC, so we caught a water taxi at the inner harbor which took us to Fell’s Point. Then we boarded another taxi to Fort McHenry. We went through the museum and then checked out the fort. It was definitely cool to see where the Star Spangled Banner flew all those years ago. After the fort we hoped back on the water taxi and stopped at Fells Point to eat lunch. We chose the Thames Street Oyster House which had some tasty oysters. After lunch we walked around Fell’s Point a little bit then made our way back to the hotel. To get good use out of our all day water taxi ticket we decided to head back to Fell’s Point for dinner. We went to a Tapas restaurant called Adela’s. It was a good spot. I’m a huge fan of tapas, you get to experience so many tastes. After dinner we said goodbye to Uncle Chris and Auntie Jen, got back on our water taxis, and headed back to the Hotel.
 |
| Oliver on the water taxi |
 |
| Oliver and Lindsey at Fort McHenry |
 |
| Uncle Chris, Oliver and Auntie Jen at Fort McHenry |
 |
| Oliver in front of the main gate at Fort McHenry |
 |
| Baltimore skyline |
Sunday was the day we flew home from DC. On the way to DC we stopped in Annapolis for lunch. After walking around a bit we ate at Café Normandie. What can I say we like French food? Lindsey had another Croque Monsieur and Oliver and I had Ratatouille crepes. The food was awesome. Then back in the car to head to the airport in DC. We got to the airport with plenty of time and after an uneventful flight we were back in California.
