Miss Libby Gordon Goes to Washington

Day one of our long-planned trip to Washington, D.C., began EARLY.  As we walked out the door at approximately 5:57 a.m., we basically threw Libby into some clothes as we exited.

And then it was off to her first trip to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and on an airplane. And "Nanny" got to go too, as you can see. 

First, the shuttle ride on the small bus to the airport was exciting, because the girl has always loved a “shuttle ride.”

Once at the airport, we stuck close together, and although we didn’t have a long trek to our gate, we walked to the “A” gates anyway simply so she could ride on the moving sidewalk. They have recently redecorated that first area, and the music and lights did add something even more fun to the experience. She seriously could have probably spent an hour playing on the sidewalks, and it would have been a successful day.

BUT, there were also escalators to play on, the terminal to explore, games to play on Michael’s phone… and then boarding the plane.

As we boarded, I let the captain and the flight attendants know that this was Libby’s FIRST airplane ride, and they treated her like a queen. She got to go right up in the cockpit with the very kind pilot, who took a nice bit of his time to give an overview of the controls and monitors.

He also gave her a flight wings pin, along with a baseball-type card about the plane we were on.

Libby quickly got comfy in her seat and once she figured out the seatbelt, chose to watch “Trolls” on the screen on the headrest in front of her. The sweet girl asked for water from the flight attendant and then wore an even bigger smile after we told her that she could order a Sprite instead – AND the yummy Biscoff cookies.

She loved looking out the windows and tracking our progress, and our flight was very smooth. We didn’t see a lot of the Washington landmarks with our flight path, but not to worry, because we spent a great deal of time at many of them over the next four days, and pointing out the Washington Monument and the Capitol became a running joke and race to see whether Libby would spot one or the other first when it came into view, or if I would! She was a GREAT sport throughout the trip.

So. Right there, we had a successful trip, could have boarded a return flight immediately and gone straight home.

Instead, we walked out into the airport and ran immediately into the first person of many who I knew and she was going to meet on the trip – Scott Orr with Georgia Power!

Of course baggage claim was also a fascinating experience, and THEN we hopped into a cab to drop our bags off at our hotel and check in.

In more delights, there was cold water in the lobby for guests to enjoy, AND the lobby was on the third floor, so we took an elevator up to it from the ground level. PLUS, our room was on the SAME floor, and Libby found that extremely amusing, too.

Alas, the pool was outdoors, so it was closed despite the unseasonably warm weather we experienced at the end of September, but we did visit the rooftop bar at night so Libby could look out at the lights over the city.

And before we ventured back out, Libby took a little rest...

Our next bit of walking took us to the Smithsonian Institute’s Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. Even before we entered, Libby was fascinated by the display of the planets outside. There is a scale representation of the distance between the sun and planets in its orbit, along with tidbits about each planet outside of the museum and that extends WAY down the Mall. So she was actually finding planets for days while we were there.

Inside, she saw spaceship rocket replicas, planes, information on our astronauts, the International Space Station, and the early days of flight, including a replica of the Wright Brothers’ plane.

But her favorite thing was the Virtual Reality space walk adventure we took. She was fascinated by the helmets and had fun imagining we were on a space walk… where everything was going wrong! (I’m not sure how much this particular ride encourages youngsters to want to become an astronaut… but maybe so!?!)

We also had plans on Saturday to meet our friend Linda Lingle for lunch, and we really enjoyed our meal at Jaleo. Libby especially had fun with the tables there that were foosball tables, and I was glad to finally introduce Libby and Michael to Linda.

She also did some adventurous taste-testing and found a number of menu items that satisfied!

We went back to Air and Space afterward because there was SO MUCH more. And we still didn't find fit in everything.

Of course, her food highlight on Saturday was definitely the snow cone icy on the Mall. And I’ll admit, we needed a refreshing treat by late afternoon.

Next, it was time to visit the Jefferson Memorial!

We really did take a bit of time there, appreciating the views, and teaching Libby more than the Thomas Jefferson she’s heard in “Hamilton.” The display down below the monument was really well done and updated. And Michael and I took time to read a bit out loud to her from the murals and some of his writings. She really seemed to enjoy learning and had some good questions for us, too.

Of course, the snow cone probably helped, but we’ll take the needed burst of energy.

We had a great Uber driver from the memorial over to our dinner destination, with some good recommendations, though we had to stick to the pizza option this time, as promised. Libby loved her pepperoni pizza at We the Pizza over on the House side of the Capitol. There was a bit of a line, but we were thankful for another tasty meal in the air-conditioning after a very full day.

Two more things we had to do before a “not too late” bedtime though: get back to the hotel, and visit the rooftop bar.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed a beautiful fountain in the House park.

But WOW, we also walked past the Disabled American Veterans Memorial. Fire lit in the middle of a star with water pouring over it. It was quite something at night, and I’m sure it’s also impressing during the day. There were quotes from veterans, and they were etched, along with pictures, in glass/plexiglass. It was beautiful, and fragile, and I can’t think of a monument more perfect to remember these service members.

THEN, we definitely had to visit the top of the hotel for the view! Libby really enjoyed it, but she was also quite tired. So we weren’t up long before we hunkered down for the night, dreaming of airplanes, and for Libby, apparently dreaming that she was still on the moving sidewalk!

Okay, we were all tired, but it was an amazing first day!