Greetings once again from our nation’s capital, where today we were paid a special surprise visit from an old friend we haven’t seen for quite a while: The sun! Yes, let’s hear it for the sun, giver of life, mother of all things; when it goes, we all go. And it’s been missing for a while, hidden beneath a thick layer of clouds and humidity for most of our vacation. But it did pick a WONDERFUL time to visit us this afternoon, just as we headed off for a long-ish walk between two museums. Sun ☀️, your timing is impeccable as always.

SO: Let’s talk about a fun SUN-day. (I know you saw what I did there…)

What is the meal most closely associated with the seventh day of the week? That’s right, it’s America’s favorite meal, brunch! And there’s no better place to get brunch in D.C. than Emily’s old neighborhood, which is home to Eastern Market. This is a great collection of vendors: Think swap meet/flea market/farmers market/just about anything you could think of market, which takes place every weekend in both an outdoor and indoor space. The indoor space is open Tuesday through Sunday. The outdoor space is more of a weekend thing, with streets and streets lined with booths of individual vendors of all types: Mackie found the dress of her dreams, and Daphne scored a great new handbag/carrying purse thing that she was super excited about.

But for me, the real fun stuff was inside, where on the menu today were delicious brunch items from Market Lunch, a D.C. tradition since 1978. DAMN IT WAS GOOD FOOD!! This was another big win for Emily, who has delivered hit after hit on the food stops of this trip. Yay, Emily! Among us, we had pancakes, Johnny cakes, delightful eggs Benedict, a breakfast sandwich, and some stacked French toast. TRIPLE YUM!

A girl who is about to eat five delicious things…

After Eastern Market, we hopped back on the Metro to visit the National Archives, home to America’s founding documents. There is something special about standing in a room with an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I don’t care how cynical you are about this country, those three documents have proved so monumental historically that you cannot help but feel a bit awed. In fact, if that wasn’t enough, the museum also has an original copy of the Magna Carta downstairs! Wow! All in all, you’re looking at a pretty inspiring trip through Western governing philosophies of the last, oh, seven centuries.

So after checking all that stuff out, along with a great exhibition in the Lawrence O’Brien Gallery featuring unforgettable photographs of coal miners from the 1940s, why not head across the street to view the original Star-Spangled Banner? Yes, the very flag that flew over Fort McHenry to inspire Francis Scott Key is on display at the National Museum of American History. So other than the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the actual Star-Spangled Banner, what is there left to see when it comes to that type of thing? I mean, at that point, you’ve really cleared out the category… so you might as well move on to some fun stuff, like Prince’s guitar, or a Jackie Kennedy dress, or any one of about one trillion other things they have on display which are instantly identifiable icons of American popular culture over the last 200 years.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life…”

We also learned the hard way that while the National Museum of American History remains open until 5:30 PM, the Smithsonian ain’t Disneyland, and they close the gift shops at 5:20 PM. Unlike the mouse, who will drain you for every dollar you’re willing to spend, the fine folks at the Smithsonian apparently figure, hey, they’ve got enough money. Forewarned is forearmed, though, and if you’re looking to hit the gift shops at a Smithsonian museum and plan on doing it on your way out the door, I suggest avoiding that, lest you burst into tears and run away screaming as one poor little visitor did upon being told by the guard that no, it was too late for him to get the souvenir I imagine his parents had been promising him all day. Note to the Smithsonian people: This is a bad policy, and it left many people today with a bad taste in their mouths as they walked out the front door. You really should fix that…

For us, it was off to our next stop on this day of adventure, which took us to an Ethiopian restaurant in Northeast D.C. called Ethiopic. The food was pretty good; well, I should say the part of our order they remembered to bring to the table was pretty good. The part that got forgotten about? We have no idea. A reminder though that Ethiopian food can be very spicy! I’m not gonna point fingers, but there was someone in our party who may have … reacted poorly (from a gastrointestinal standpoint) to the sudden ingestion of extremely spicy food. But don’t worry! Emily bounced back for our last adventure of the evening. (Yes, there still was more!)

Now this was something that started out as a miss, but turned into a huge hit. The National Symphony Orchestra was playing a concert tonight on the front steps of the Capitol. So I figured, it must be just like the inauguration, you can just sit back on the lawn of the Mall all the way down as far as you want, and they’ll pipe the music down there, and you can enjoy a nice leisurely holiday listen.

This was not the case. I should’ve been clued into it when I saw the news release that indicated the doors opened at 3:00 PM for an 8:00 PM concert. I guess this is a bit of a thing! We had no idea, so when we moseyed over around 8:30 PM to catch the last hour or so, we were turned away by an apologetic security guard, who said that they had long ago stopped letting people in because it was just too full. Oops! But you know what? We decided to have fun anyway, and proceeded to have an amazing evening on the other side of the Capitol! There, we found just a few people, a few guards, and not much else! Just a few other folks like us, sitting around, taking photos, basically having a lot of the place to ourselves. It was kind of amazing there really weren’t that many people on the back side of the Capitol, and you could get right up close to the back steps no problem. So we did!

The United States Capitol building, lit up on a gorgeous September 1, 2024.

We also did some goofy photo poses (of course), but mainly, we just kind of sat there and bathed in the glow of the light of the Capitol Dome. Before we knew it, we had spent about 45 minutes of quality time hanging out in the presence of one of America’s truly inspiring national landmarks! Turns out, this is a pretty fun thing to do on a Sunday night at 9:00 PM.

The Capitol at night. Highly recommended!

The girls’ version of the Capitol … at night! Keep working on it…

And since it was so much fun, we decided to head across the street to re-create the scene at the Supreme Court. This was a building we hadn’t gotten too close to so far on our travels, so again, we took advantage of the opportunity to just hang out on the front steps for a half hour. Lots of photos, lots of fun, and even fewer people around. Night monument visits pretty much rock!

‘What? You took rights away from little ole’ ME?? Oh, you shouldn’t have…”

Not pictured: A Sherman Oaks man trying EXTREMELY HARD not to let his fingers do some “freedom of speech” about recent Supreme Court rulings.

And with that, another fun-filled day in D.C. had come to an end! Tomorrow: Air! Space! Museums! And more… We can’t wait to see what our last full day in DC will bring.

We’ll give the last word to Mackie, for tonight’s sign off…

Hello again, dearest blog readers. It's your beloved Campbell family, reporting once again from our nation's capital. Let’s kick it off with a special end-of-day report from Mackie Su!

Hi! It's Mackie, coming to you from the hotel room! Today was yet another fun, but long day in Washington, D.C. We started with some museums in the morning and ended with sightseeing in the evening!

Tonight was the day we went on the Monuments at Night tour. It was super fun. We were able to easily see lots of the major D.C. monuments and buildings. Also, we have really lucked out on tour guides this trip. This tour was hosted by another fantastic tour guide! She was really funny and made sure we saw all the important (and sometimes not too important) things.

Thanks, Mack! You're absolutely right - we have been very lucky with tour guides.

Our day began on a somewhat somber, but incredibly important note: a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here in Washington. This was a rough visit, no doubt, because it hit so very close to home for our family. (Emily’s paternal grandparents were both survivors.) From finding names of villages that Emily had only heard stories about to seeing the horrors of war and persecution… Difficult, yes, but incredibly important. I'm so proud that as a family, we were all able to lean on each other to get through some of the rougher material. I know it doesn't need to be said, but we are obligated to "never forget." And we certainly will never forget our visit to this place of remembrance and loss… and hope for a better future.

After that somber start to the day, we were ready for something a little lighter. So we went to the center of the political universe: the White House!

It was the first time Colin had been there for many, many years. Strangely, it hadn't changed THAT much. For starters, it was still white. But it had been rebuilt since he saw it burned down in 1814. (These are jokes because daddy is old, says Mackie).

True, Mackie's east and west "wings" could be a little more parallel to the ground, but hey, A for effort!

Daphne continued to build her photography skills, and there's certainly few more photogenic buildings on which to practice. In pursuit of the perfect shot, it looks like Daphne means business!

Here you can certainly see Daphne's enthusiastic take on photo journalism...

Meanwhile, Mackie was a little more respectful of the rules ("It says not to touch the fence!")...

...and the resulting photos were perhaps more appropriate should the deposed former president retake the White House in 2025.

Then again, I do remain hopeful a future view of the disturbed, sex criminal convict ex-president will be between bars, as in the Mackie photos.

Oh, and it turns out the twice-impeached felon actually WAS in town yesterday, but not for a court appearance. (Darn.) No, his hate-filled orangeness was addressing the truly awful “Moms for Liberty” when we were tooling around. (Ugh - So I guess the theme of the last two days has been book burning and book burners?) Now, it turns out, we DID actually see some people wearing Moms for Liberty T-shirts yesterday, but had no idea the Orange Julius Caesar was talking to the Moms for Liberty convention. This likely explains the huge, somewhat mysterious traffic jam we ran into in the afternoon near the White House, which was close to his speaking location at the Marriott a few blocks away.

Anyhow, that's MORE than enough about that guy! Let's talk about some other politicians we witnessed up close, namely, statues near the White House honoring the Marquis de Lafayette and Rochambeau. You know what they say about D.C. - it's like watching "Hamilton" lyrics come to life!

*"The code word is "Rochambeau", dig me? (Rochambeau!) You have your orders now, go, man, go!"*

After enjoying the ambiance and street fair vibe on Pennsylvania Avenue for a bit, it was off to a late lunch/early dinner at a restaurant called Founding Farmers, suggested by loyal blog reader Julia. Thanks Julia! The restaurant was fantastic! We sampled a variety of artisanal foods (devil-ish eggs, prosciutto bread, ribs, cheeseburgers, fried chicken, pasta) and delicious desserts (apple pie and carrot cake plus an extraordinarily chocolatey milkshake). Daphne especially recommends the straw and hay pasta (no mushrooms!) which she declared truly spectacular.

After that, it was back to the room for a quick rest and recharge. Then we headed off for our nighttime D.C. monuments tour. We've written before about our enjoyment of the Big Bus system. Sure, it's touristy, but as the saying goes: When in Rome… or any other major city… go ahead and act like a tourist! And in fact, we did! The fact that we once again hit the jackpot in terms of tour guides, as Mackie mentioned previously, only added to the fun of the night. Bonus: At the end of a long day, there's very little walking involved in sitting on a bus for two hours. Now, that may sound boring, but trust me, it wasn't. Seeing all of D.C.'s most famous landmarks at night was really cool!

Our only stop on the trip was a 20-minute break at the Lincoln Memorial, where we were allowed to disembark and visit Honest Abe up close.

If you've never stood there, gazing up at the giant marble likeness of our 16th president, it's highly, highly recommended.

Also recommended: Performing your own living interpretation of the work.

Then we finished up the tour, and were back to the hotel room for a quick night's sleep. As always, we've got another day filled with fun planned for tomorrow, so we better start getting ready by getting some shut-eye!

We also wanted to say a special thank you to the readers who've sent in notes of encouragement and thanks. While we may not be able to respond to your note while we're on the road, know that they ARE read and very, very appreciated!

Good night!

DAY 4 - FOUNDING DOCUMENTS AND FINDING FUN

DAY 3 - A Somber Day, a Celebratory Night