It still amazes me...

...that we live close enough to go down to Washington, DC, just to spend the day! My high school French teacher, Madame Taylor (or just Madame for short) and her sister Teresa came to Washington for the weekend, and we were so glad that they called us up to grab a cup of coffee together! It was nice to get to catch up with them for a little while. I wish I had the picture we took together, maybe Madame will email it to me :)

After a nice breakfast, they had to go back to the hotel to catch the shuttle for the airport, so Shane and I did some exploring in Georgetown...

We found Georgetown Cupcakes, home of the TLC show DC Cupcakes. Although I don't really like that show, I love cupcakes, so I wanted to give them a try...

...unfortunately everyone else and their brother wanted to try them too.

Don't worry, we did get cupcakes! We ended up down the street at Sprinkles Cupcakes, which little did I know is the "original cupcake bakery" and was founded by Candace Nelson from Cupcake Wars. I swear that was the best vanilla cupcake I have ever tasted!

The canal in Georgetown.

Later, we went to downtown DC to walk around and enjoy the nice weather.

Saw this monument (can't remember what it's for)...

...these giant tulips (which were as big as my head I swear)...

...got a better view of the White House than our last visit...

...and marveled at  how far away people have to stand from it nowadays.

Eventually we ended up at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I love the Smithsonian because it's free, and they have some really awesome stuff! (I apologize in advance for any blurry/dark/sucky photos. They have to keep the lighting low in most parts of the museum to protect the pieces on display.)

We saw Stanley, the VW Touraeg that drives itself. Pretty awesome!

This is the Ghost Bike, which also drives itself. I don't really understand why you would need a riderless motorcycle though, unless you just wanted to really freak some people out.

The original Washington Monument, which was deemed too "inappropriate."

Martha Washington's dress. Looks like something an American Girl doll would wear.

Dorothy's ruby red slippers

They claim this to be a television...

Autographed Lou Gehrig baseball, baseball legend and member of Phi Delta Theta (Shane's fraternity).

I don't think I have to tell you who these guys are! But where's Miss Piggy?

The Fonz's leather jacket, Minnie Pearls' hat (complete with $1.98 price tag), and some Phyllis Diller props.

Catwoman costume, which we found to be oddly lumpy in the stomach region, as well as having some long gold fingernails glued on. Weird. (click to make bigger)

+5 points if you know what these chairs are from!

(I'll give you a hint, think 1970s groundbreaking sitcom, several famous spin-offs, anybody?)

From my favorite ride at Disney World :)

The top hat President Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot.

Abe Lincoln's tux and Mary Todd Lincoln's dress

Lincoln campaign banner.

Teddy Roosevelt's leather chaps.

Huey helicopter from the Vietnam War.

And C3PO! Who we almost missed. We spotted him while going out the door. Too bad they didn't have R2-D2 too!

They also have on display the American flag (made by a woman from Baltimore) which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner while at Fort McHenry (also in Baltimore)...but considering the fact that the flag is almost 200 years old and pretty delicate, they don't allow pictures. In fact they barely allow you to see the flag at all, the whole room is black except for a few tiny lights on the ground and the blacklight they use to light up the flag.

Overall, it was a great day! We had a nice time catching up with Madame and Teresa, and we got to see some neat things at the Museum of American History. I think it's pretty interesting to see what we have chosen to represent our country and it's relatively short history. Shane and I plan on making a lot more trips down to DC in the future, we might as well experience it all while we have the chance!