Back in March we bought plane tickets to Dulles to visit Bryan's parents and show the girls D.C. It's been years since we visited Guy and Susan in their own home (we think the last time was Christmas 2014) and we thought fall would be a wonderful time to come. We also thought surely by October covid-19 would be well under control in the U.S.A. Oh our naïveté!
I know many people wouldn't risk flying and that we took some risks. We went back and forth on whether or not to come but ultimately we felt the greatest risks were the ones being taken by Guy and Susan. They felt comfortable having us and told us to go for it. I'm glad we did-- its been wonderful for the girls. They've loved spending time with their grandparents and seeing the capital .
Day 1:
The day we arrived we had time to visit the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. We spent a lot of time looking at the Discovery Space Shuttle.
The girls were interested in the WWII planes and loved seeing the grasshopper (see below) which is the same plane their Great-Grandpa Weggeland flew in WWII. Amelia Earhart's flight suit was also a big hit.
We had a little extra time before Susan was scheduled to pick us up (such great service at the Hicks Hilton!) so we bought at toy parachute man in the gift shop (and astronaut ice cream, obviously) and took turns dropping him from the third level cat walk until a security guard finally told us to knock it off. Alice was mortified but the rest of us felt like it was worth it.
Day 2:
Friday we went to Mount Vernon.
We were only able to get three tickets for the house tour so we decided Bryan, Alice and Norah would go since Guy and I had been and I thought Freya wouldn't care. She surprised me by chattering away about how excited she was to see inside George Washington's house the whole time we explored the grounds.
Fortunately they had the nicest (and most animated) tour guide and he snuck Freya in. She was happy she got to go and proudly reported that she saw a key. She knew this key was a big deal because the tour guide broke the pandemic-time rules and spoke inside the house to make sure she saw it. Bryan said it was a key to the Bastille that France had presented G.W.
We saw the outbuildings and gardens (including this formal garden in front of the greenhouse), the slave memorial, slave quarters and and Washington's tomb.
We also a Tulip Poplar tree that George Washington planted which was my favorite discovery on the estate. I'm so sad this picture is blurry.
After lunch we went into D.C. to see the National Art Gallery. On our way there we took a lovely stroll through the sculpture garden.
We were hoping to show the girls the Mary Cassatt paintings but the Impressionists' gallery was closed. In fact, only the ground floor of the National Gallery was open. I was disappointed at first but it turned out one floor of the National Gallery is still more art than we could see. We started with the masterpieces of American furniture from 1700-1830. There were several Gilbert Stuarts including portraits of George Washington and John Adams. It felt appropriate after visiting Mount Vernon.
Then we even managed to find a few impressionists. Here is Freya with two dogs by Manet.
We spent time in the "True to Nature" exhibit which was beautiful.
Other highlights were seeing several Rodin and Degas sculptures including Degas' original little dancer. Freya wondered why all the Degas sculptures were encased while the other sculptures weren't. A security guard explained that the beeswax in the Degas sculptures are melting. He also gave us a mini tour of the gallery and showed us where there was real hair on the little dancer.
We finished strong at the gift shop and then made our way to the historic Evening Star building where Guy had parked (because Airbus is there). By this point Freya urgently needed to use the restroom so Guy was able to justify giving us a tour of the Airbus office. It was amazing--a large model satellite hung from the ceiling and 1:4 model Perlan glider was on the wall. It was like a mini air and space museum. There was even simulation pilot seat! However none of these were more impressive than the views of Pennsylvania avenue. And if you ask the kids, the views were not as impressive as the office mini fridge stocked with complimentary sodas!
