Crazy Travelers...: It was a "Three F" weekend: Family, Food, Football!

Prior to the football schedule being officially announced, we knew FSU would play the University of Maryland, in Maryland this season. It's been quite a few years since we've been to a game there and in that time, more of the Jones family relatives have made that part of the country their home.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and once settled (and Ray & Bonnie arrived), we headed over to the Hoffman's. (Their daughter Lindsay, son-in-law Dan and only grandsons, Will and Charlie.) We hung out at their house for a little while before going to dinner. Those boys have lots of energy!!

Charlie bustin' a move.

Charlie and Will singing and dancing to their favorite tunes.

Dinner at Agaain Tavern (pronounced "aug-win" or something close to that)

Charlie with his pickle lips.

The other Jones family members living in DC are Ray & Bonnie's son, Michael and his wife Jenn. Mike works for the Secret Service and we were really hoping we could get a behind-the-scenes/"be an agent for a day" experience. While Mike is "stationed" at the White House, his schedule isn't always set in stone and may be called for a trip with little notice. So to play it safe, Bonnie made arrangements through her Representative for a tour of the White House and Capitol a couple of months before the trip. Plus, we had to submit everything short of fingerprints for review and approval. I was looking forward to the experience as I hadn't toured Washington before. (And we were all keeping our fingers crossed Mike would be able to give us the tour.)

We headed out at O-dark-thirty Friday morning to get to the White House before our tour was scheduled to start. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Mike was going to be able to join us for the tour of the East Wing! So many questions we had for him! (But knew he might not be at liberty to answer them...he is in the Secret Service remember.) While we didn't get to go ahead of a lot of people, it was pretty cool walking around with an official Agent!

No pictures are allowed inside the White House. (But here are some, along with descriptions of the rooms. Click on the pictures to embiggen.)

We were with a large group of people and were fortunate to have one of Mike's co-workers lead us on the tour. (Mike said usually it's a "self-guided tour" and you just walk around, look in the rooms, but can ask questions of the guards/agents in each room.)

It is very impressive to learn the rooms and antique furniture are used on a regular basis. What surprised me the most is the rooms we hear about alot (the Blue Room, the Red Room, the State Dining Room), seemed to be kind small when you're actually standing in them. I guess the tall ceilings create that illusion. (For example, we were told the State Dining Room holds 140 people - 14 round tables.) I don't see how that is possible, but I guess it could/has worked.

Once we completed the tour, we were finally able to take a picture. But we had to be beyond the columns. (see below). The rooms over the doorway belong to the Obama's daughters. And one of the windows had a pretty butterfly on it.

Ray, Mike, Bonnie, Frank and Leann

General Sherman Statue

"And we're walking, and we're walking."

View of the Washington Memorial walking from the White House.

Boy Scout Memorial

Washington Memorial. We had grand plans to go to the top, but the elevator was broken.

View of the Capitol from the Washington Memorial.

View of the World War II Memorial and Reflecting Pool from the Washington Monument.

After our White House tour and walk to the Washington Monument, we were hungry!
The historic Old Ebbitt Grill was "the" place to have lunch.

We had a 2:30 tour of the Capitol and had plenty of time after lunch to walk from the White House, down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. (Or so we thought.)

FBI Building

"I'm just a bill, sitting on Capitol Hill."

Of course our trip to the Capitol wasn't as easy as it was to the White House. (We probably should have taken a cab because the walk was longer than we thought and we had to go around the Capitol building and down to the Visitor center.)

Corncob capitals in the Senate Vestibule

Declaration of Independence

Inside the Capitol rotunda

The Frieze of American History

Won't be around much longer.

National Statuary Hall

Mr. John Gorrie, State of Florida statue. (Invented what we know today as air conditioning.)
THANK YOU!

Just the adults. A yummy dinner at Timpano.
(Didn't know until I was doing the blog, there's one in Tampa!)

The football game wasn't until 8:00 on Saturday so we had the whole morning and afternoon free to explore. We decided to go to Arlington National Cemetery. Frank and Ray's father and their aunt are inurned at Arlington. It was a beautiful fall day. We were able to park right outside the Columbarium and had the specific locations of their markers. All of which made it easier for everyone to pay their respects.

Frank's father - a Sergeant in the U.S. Army

View of the Pentagon from the Columbarium.
Frank's father's service was September 10, 2001 - the day before 9-11.
His service was being held in this spot, at about the same time when the plane hit the Pentagon the next day.

Aunt Dot - a Corporal in the Marines.

Will and Charlie burned off a little energy looking for spent shells - from the 21 Gun Salutes.

The Potomac River

After a full morning at Arlington, we headed back to DC to see Mike and Jenn.

Will, Dan, Ray, Mike, Jenn, Frank, Leann, Bonnie, Lindsay and Charlie enjoying lunch at the Cactus Cantina.

Mike and Jenn live directly across the street from the National Cathedral! And what an amazing view they have!

View from the roof-top of Mike and Jenn's building.

What a view! Yes, that is the Washington Monument over Frank's left shoulder.

Still on their rooftop. A view of the Capitol building.

Mike and Jenn's cute dog Samson.

After spending time in DC, it was time to head back to the hotel, catch a quick nap and put on the layers. Kickoff was 8:00 and it was supposed to be chilly. But we were prepared!