Visiting the District

We have decided that as long as we are here in Jacksonville we are going to make the best of it. We then decided making the best of it means traveling to bigger, cooler cities as much as possible. Last weekend it was DC. 

We visited the beauuuutiful DC temple while we were there. Neither of us had been inside so that was neat. We then headed over and checked out the Newseum. I really liked it! I really enjoyed the pulitzer prize winning photograph exhibit and learning a little behind each photograph. 

The Berlin Wall...have to admit I didn't know much about the history of it until this exhibit.

An exhibit full of old front page papers of big events. Very cool I thought.

I loved the rooftop they had! Great views.

9/11 exhibit with front pages from all over the world

Totally got rained on. Twice.

Visited the Air & Space museum...I think I have been there more than I have been anywhere else in DC. Sure it's great, but I'm kind of over it. However, Duke was super excited bc he hadn't been since he finished flight school. He was geeking out in the "How Flight Works" exhibit. I think I learned more than I ever wanted to know ;). But I'm glad he had his moment and that he is doing what he loves!!

There was a group of children surrounding us while duke was explaining how this works...i was trying really hard not to laugh. Love you duke!!

Wright's Brother's original bike. Learned lots about them.

I think he's handsome.

I just love the capitol building. It's one of my favorites. Never gets old.

Let's be honest, the main reason we drove to DC was for the food. This burger was amazing. Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill. I'm still dreaming about it. I think this will go in my top 5 burgers I've had list. 

Sunday we finished up the Newsuem, walked around and had some more good food. Not enough time, but still fun!

Also want to put in a good word for Airbnb. If you haven't used it, you are missing out! We've been using it when we travel and this time we got a great place in Arlington for $69/night. It was way nicer than any hotel in that area would be for the same price. Plus, the lady had homemade chocolate chip cookies waiting for us. Win-win-win. 

Gus

I instagrammed about this a few days ago, but I feel this needs to be put into the archives of this here blog. Theres a little pond of water down the road from us and this one lone gator lives there. They say he probably got there during a hurricane, and there he has stayed. Sometimes he's out sunning on the grass, sometimes he's swimming, other times I suppose he's hiding out under water. 

We walked over the other day and I got out my zoom lens to take some pics of him. We also named him Gus. I like to drive by and see if he's there. He's kinda like my substitute Winston except much less friendly.

Wilmington

Wilmington, North Carolina aka: the refuge for my city-loving soul. Currently we are living in Jacksonville, NC. Can I be honest? Within my first 10 minutes of driving around Jacksonville, NC I thought to myself "if we are EVER stationed here (longer than a few months), I will cry..like everyday." There are pros and cons to this military-moving-around business.  Pros: seeing different parts of the country, being within driving distance to places I want to visit. Cons: the actual cities these bases in are...lacking (so far). Luckily, there have been pretty cool places within driving distance of every city we have lived in, and thus I continue to live day-to-day. Back to Wilmington--it is about an hour drive south and really so worth the drive. There is close to nothing in Jacksonville, and close to everything in Wilmington. So I make the drive at least once a week. I went down by myself this last week and explored the historic district. It is absolutely charming. Blocks and blocks of historic homes from the 1800's, cobblestone streets, and a riverfront boardwalk a couple blocks away. I die.

 This beautiful house is the Bellamy Mansion. I missed the inside tour by 20 mins, but took a bunch of pictures of the outside. So incredibly gorgeous.

 ^this one is the building they show in Hart of Dixie for the Dr's office. And its for sale!

Does anyone know the name of these trees??^^ I am in love with them.

As you can tell, this place is charm-city!!! If we are ever stationed in Jacksonville again, we're living here. Ok husband?!