Because our first trip to Washington DC had been so miserable with Ian in tow, JC and I made the executive decision that any future trips would be taken 2 at a time (meaning 1 would stay at home with Ian while the other took Hannah to the city)... so yesterday, Hannah and I took our first trip to DC alone!

We got up before the chickens and headed to catch the train in Shady Grove... the train was full of Washington Capitals hockey fans, so I had already determined that we should probably stay away from downtown... then, at one of the other stops before we got to the Metro Center station, people that were going to DC for an AIDS Walk loaded up.  Whoops, guess we should stay away from Pennsylvania Avenue, too.  :p

When we got off the train, we consulted our handy-dandy map, then headed to Ford's Theater.  It's fascinating!  I had been there before, back in the early 90's when I went with Mr. Shaw's group between 8th and 9th grade, but to experience it as an adult was pretty dang awesome.  They've redone the museum, and it's amazing.  They now house the pillow that has Lincoln's blood on it in the museum itself (it had been in the Peterson House across the street, where they took him after he was shot)... and they have the actual gun that fired the shot.  Pretty amazing stuff.  See?

Afterwards, some nice ladies took our picture outside the theater... because I took theirs for them!  :)

We took off for Constitution Avenue, with our ultimate goal being to hit the Lincoln Memorial... along the way, Hannah decided she felt strong enough to uproot the Washington Monument...

She felt bad, though, so she put it back... ;)  Unfortunately, while our efforts to skip the AIDS Walk and Capitals hockey crowds were successful, our efforts to skip the 10.02.10 One Nation Working Together march on the capitol weren't.  Thankfully, it WAS a peaceful march, and thankfully, we managed to avoid the actual march itself, but it was an experience for we small-town girls from Texas!  The Lincoln Memorial area looked like a scene out of Forrest Gump, though, so we didn't make it all the way down there... we'll have to hit it our next trip...

We opted to eat an over-priced hot dog, then, and checked out the American History and Natural History Museums, walked through a few memorials, and then came on back to good ole Frederick.  Perhaps, later today, we'll check out Frederick's Oktoberfest festivities with Daddy and Ian, but for now, we're just a momma and a daughter, who are super-silly, and enjoying our time here in the big M-D!