8 States, 1 District, 3 Days

We had a whirlwind weekend this last Fri-Mon. On Friday we drove up to Connecticut to visit our good friends the Berretts. We had to see them one last time before their lives get crazy with the arrival of baby #2 (she's going to be adorable!). We drove from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York to end up in Connecticut. Last time it took us 6 hours - this time we avoided the George Washington Bridge through NYC and we made it in 4 hours. MUCH BETTER!

On Saturday we rented a van and drive up to Rhode Island to see some sweet mansions. We toured the Vanderbilt family's "summer cottage" a small inconsequential place on the coast with 70 bedrooms and some 130,000 square feet.

The fence alone was incredible. You'd have to think an awful lot of yourself to build a fence like this around your place:



These pictures don't really do it justice - the place is huge, and situated right on the coast. It was phenomenal. I wish it was for sale....





Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside. It was incredible though - the lavish decorations rivaled the palaces I saw in Spain. The marble used for the fireplaces and bathtubs was imported from Africa and Italy, Mrs. Vanderbilt's marble tub weighed in at 1500 lbs, the wood used throughout was from all over the world, the "Gold Room" (probably named for the 24k gold in the ceiling, no joke) was actually made in France and then shipped across the sea and reassembled in Newport. Anyway, the place was amazing - it cost 7 million when it was built in 1893, which in today's currency is a cool 300 million. Pretty intense.

The kids were really good and thankfully they only ran wild outside:



After a good visit with the Berretts we drove from Connecticut through New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and down to Virginia to see one of my former college roommates: Michelle! We didn't get there until 9, but we still had fun visiting with Michelle and Roy (Abby was already sleeping). After our visit we drove back to Washington D.C. to spend the night at a hotel where Ryan had a work meeting at 7am the next morning. Mia was really loving the "princess bed":




So - while Ryan was occupied at a conference all day Michelle & I planned to do some catching up. Initially, I had no intentions of venturing very far from the hotel. The DC Zoo was right across the street - and I figured that would be plenty of entertainment. But, when we drove past the WASHINGTON MONUMENT, the CAPITOL BUILDING, and the LINCOLN MEMORIAL, I just decided that this was not the time or place to be a pansy about getting on the subway. So, I was brave and figured out how to meet Michelle at "the mall" all by myself. (Did everyone else in the country know that this area of DC is called the mall? When I popped out of the metro station and Shell asked which side of the mall I was on....I said, "I don't see any stores").

I am pleased to say that Mia and I maneuvered through the DC Metro quite easily. Much of our success is due to the 2 months I spent riding the subway in Spain. I was really glad that we ventured out. Shell & I made quick tours through several of the Smithsonian museums (as much of the bottom floors as the kids could handle). Anyway, it was AWESOME!





Here's Mia flying an airplane in the air & space museum:



One of the museums (i don't remember the name) had tons of awesome plants, and this neat exhibit with miniatures of the White House, Capitol Building etc. It was really cool - Mia, however, was not impressed and so we exited the museum rather quickly. :(



This is the one picture we got with Mia & Abby! It was so fun to see Michelle & Abby & Roy! Thanks for showing us around. :)



PHEW! So that was our crazy weekend. We both picked up some new states on our list of places we've been.