The Whole Shebang

Our trip to Washington DC in 2017 was one that I didn’t keep a daily journal of. And I didn’t write about it right away after coming home. And I (apparently) took only two pictures the entire trip. So when I (finally) forced myself to try and write about this trip – in April 2026(!) – to say that I had little to go on other than really spotty memories is an understatement. But, whatever I remembered in 2026 was going to be better than what I remembered in 2027 and beyond, so here it goes…

Obviously, this is going to be short and sweet compared to my other trip reports. I DO have my Spreadsheet ‘o Fun from the trip, but in 2017 my format was a far cry from what I did later, and therefore its value as a memory aid is far below what later spreadsheets provided.

Anyway…

The purpose behind our trip from June 26, 2017 through July 3, 2017, was to attend my nephew’s wedding which was being held in Bethesda, Maryland on Saturday, July 1. The boys were 12 and 17, and at that time neither of them had yet been to DC. We can’t recall why R didn’t do the trip as a middle school student, but A would do it in 2019 (during which E and I would do the “Bahamas 2019” cruise).

DAY 1: Monday, June 26, 2017

We flew out of SJC on American Airlines at 920A, stopping over at LAX before finally arriving at DCA around 9PM on Monday, June 26. I had not been aware of the convoluted flight pattern that planes had to use in and out of DCA. I recall being shocked and slightly anxious as I wondered why our pilot seemed to be having so much trouble lining up with the runway!

After collecting our luggage, we used the Metro system to get ourselves to the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, where a block of rooms had been secured for wedding guests. We shared a 2Q room with the boys. The hotel sat atop the metro system, so we literally take the hotel elevator to ground floor and then step around the corner to an escalator that went down to the underground station. There was also a large bus terminal in a covered garage area at ground floor level, as well as a small Dunkin’ Donuts shop that supplied us with a number of grab-and-go breakfasts over the next several days.

DAY 2: Tuesday, June 27, 2017

We had a couple of big stops today. The morning was spent at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, while we had timed entry tickets at 2:45P for the National Archives. While I know we greatly enjoyed the Smithsonian, I don’t recall anything specifically at this time (i.e. 9 years after the fact). Ditto for the Archives. I do vaguely remember that there was a small fair setup on one side of The Mall, with (at least) a small Ferris Wheel. I think it was on the “other side” of The Mall from where we were walking, however.

DAY 3: Wednesday, June 28, 2017

The original plan for this day was to stop by the Library of Congress before heading to the Capitol at 1015A for our 11A timed entry tour. We ended up skipping the LoC, however. I think we might have opted to sleep in another half-hour or so and we might have simply walked past the LoC. We did make the Capitol tour as planned, and we also ate at their cafeteria post-tour. We then headed back to the Smithsonian, this time taking in the National Air and Space Museum which was, not surprisingly, a big hit with all of us. I particularly recall standing in a mock-up of Eagle from Apollo 11 with the boys.

While I don’t recall what we did for dinner on any particular night, I do remember that we joined S&W for dinner out one evening at Mamma Lucia’s for an Italian meal. The restaurant was a short (7 minute), pleasant walk to a location south of the hotel. It is possible that we were joined by Paul & Carol – not certain.

DAY 4: Thursday, June 29, 2017

The original plan for the day was to take in three places: Newseum, Ford’s Theater, and the International Spy Museum. I had pre-purchased tickets for that latter two, but the Newseum website had indicated that it was no problem to buy tickets at the door, which is what we did.

Newsuem was FANTASTIC! So good, in fact, that we opted to skip Ford’s Theater so we could eat lunch at Newsuem and spend more time with the exhibits. Among the (many) interesting exhibits were:

· A room featuring several hundred climate controlled drawers, each featuring a newspaper of an important event in American history dating from the earliest publications up to current times. So, for example, you could find a front-page edition announcing Lincoln’s assassination. That same room was ringed by display cases with themed displays. One of them had the garage door from the Watergate complex that a guard found intentionally locked open, causing him to call DC police and precipitate the entire Watergate scandal. Another display case had a notepad from a reporter who’d won on Pulitzer prize in 2017 tracking down all 100 charities that then-newly elected Donald Trump had (falsely) claimed he was donating to. Just a list of charities with handwritten notes like “no”, “never received”, “checking – they’ll get back to me” on it.

· A section of interesting evidence collected by the FBI, including the shoes worn by the Shoe Bomber, the Unabomber’s hideout cabin, and (I think) the D.B. Cooper plane ticket.

· A section commemorating (and providing a live count of) journalists killed doing their jobs, by country. There was also a display of the car in which Arizona Republic reporter Don Boles was killed by a bomb in retaliation of his reporting on organized crime. For some reason I had pretty strong memories of this event from 1976 and I found this simple display really powerful.

· Rubble from Ground Zero from 9/11.

· A special display of rock-and-roll memorabilia.

We were really impressed by everything we was. Sadly, Newseum operated from private donations and closed at the end of 2019. Such a loss.

We did make it to the Spy Museum in time for our 3:05P timed entry. I had purchased tickets that included some kind of special game which I VERY VAGUELY recall us doing, even if I can recall none of the details. Looking at their website in 2026 I can’t find anything that sounds like what we did – but their 2026 website also seems to describe a much more extensive collection of permanent exhibits than we had, and several interactive experiences that might all be vestiges of what we had paid extra for.

DAY 5: Friday, June 30, 2017

On this day we had planned to do “Mall memorials” in the morning – or, at least, that’s what I had written down on the Spreadsheet ‘o Fun. In 2026, neither E or I could recall what actually happened. Certainly the PLAN would have been to see (at least) the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and probably also hit Lincoln, WWII, and Washington Monument. However, we did NOT do this. Best guess is that it was a bazillion degrees out and we chose not to subject ourselves to the heat. What, if anything, we did instead is a mystery, however.

In the afternoon we DID follow the plan and made use of our pre-purchased tickets to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, which was another spectacular and moving experience. There’s no specific exhibit that springs to mind, although I do recall watching a film loop by a survivor and being teary-eyed.

The evening was spent at the home of the bride’s mother, where we enjoyed dinner and drinks. This was the only place we went to that required use of the bus system rather than the Metro, as we had to head out to the suburbs. I do recall seeing fireflies as we walked back to the bus stop late at night – something that was a “first” for all of us.

DAY 6: Saturday, July 1, 2017

We had time in the morning to take a guided tram tour at Arlington National Cemetery, which I recall being very interesting. I had seen the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier when I’d done my own middle school trip around 1977/78, but enjoyed seeing that again, along with things I hadn’t seem previously.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were turned over to the wedding and reception, held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. We arrived around 530P in order to participate in family photos. The wedding itself was around 6P followed by dinner. As expected, it was lovely. Among the family that had made it out to participate were our Cincinnati family (minus Rachel, I think) and some of our Texas cousins (minus Miles, I think, and possibly minus Carl). I THINK we sat with David and Judith at our table – but, again, memory is a fleeting thing.

Another “first” for us: getting from the hotel to the wedding was the first time we had taken a ride share, using Lyft. I’m pretty sure that the previous night, when we’d left the house we been invited to, my aunt (Carol) was talking about how they’d use ride share several times previously, and I believe I thought “well, heck, if Old People can figure it out, so can we”!

DAY 7: Saturday, July 2, 2017

We started the day with a luncheon at the home of friends of the bride. I recall a lovely house with very pretty garden and finally getting a chance to chat with some of our family members. Otherwise, nothing.

The Spreadsheet ‘o Fun has nothing listed for the afternoon, so no idea how we might have passed the time. In the evening, however, we did a Monuments by Moonlight tour. Knowing this was on our schedule was a big reason we were so quick to punt the walking tour on The Mall a few days earlier. I do recall lining up for the bus – and how our bus was one of MANY that were cycling through the busy loading area. I also recall that the night was HOT and pretty humid, and how much the bus’s A/C was appreciated as we’d reboard after each stop. I most recall the Lincoln Memorial, MLK Memorial, and Korean War Veterans Memorial. Although the tour theoretically stopped “at” the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, IIRC it was actually an optional walk from the Korean War Memorial stop and, it being dark and nighttime, we we’re confident that we could get there and back in time to reboard the bus.