What we did on our Thanksgiving break

Since we were all (all of us, I swear) itching for a change of scenery, and the weather was stunning, we decided on a last minute road trip.

We packed the car with juice boxes, trail mix, a whole jar of peanut butter, M&M's, and were on the road by mid-day Wednesday.

Our first stop (not counting rest stops, of course, because you know there were a lot of those) was Hershey, PA. We took the free factory tour, ate the free samples, and crashed at a hotel for the night.


Thursday we drove to Washington, DC. All of the Smithsonian museums on the Mall were open, so we spent the afternoon at the Air and Space museum. W1 and L1 were in heaven.


That night we had a Chinese-food-take-out Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. And Charlie Brown was on TV, so that completed the evening for us.


Back on the National Mall the next morning, we walked around the Capitol building.


And up to the Postal Museum. This was one museum R1 and I hadn't been in before, and thought the kids would like it, too.


It was pretty cool. But, considering the confusing juxtaposition of things you could touch and things you couldn't touch, it's impressive we only got yelled at once.

After a quick picnic lunch, we went to the Natural History museum. It was a bit crowded so we went upstairs into the farthest corners. In the insect zoo, we saw lots of creepy stuff.


We also spent a lot of time in the Forensic lab learning about bones, and putting together a skeleton.


We ended the night with a bang at the Shake Shack in Dupont Circle. Their caramel shakes are a can't miss.

Saturday was spent viewing the White House,


at the holiday miniature train display at the National Botanic Gardens,


the Native American Museum,


and the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport. That place is huge.

On the road home Sunday, we stopped in Gettysburg, PA for a short tour of the battlefield.

We climbed to the top of Big Round Top, freaked L1 out by sitting too close to the edge of the cliff, jumped off every rock we could find, then settled in for the long drive home.


By 8pm we were home. It was fun, perhaps we'll do it again next year?