Lions and Tigers and Panda Bears...OH MY!

We began our day with our 10:30 AM reservations at the Washington Monument. We'd hoped to ride the elevator to the top and walk down, but sadly, they're not offering that option anymore, at least not to the general public. We did enjoy the view from the top though, on all four sides.

After the Washington Monument, we took what we didn't think was going to be a bad walk towards the Marine Corps Monument. The pedestrian part of the Theodore Roosevelt bridge curved in a way we didn't expect though and it ended up being a long, tiring walk. We made it though!

After Iwo Jima, we walked to Arlington National Cemetary and after paying our respects to Uncle Gareth's Father, who passed away last year...

...we witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

When we left Arlington National Cemetary, the kids experienced a first for them, a ride in a cab. (Apparently they've lived a rather sheltered life!)

We'd taken the cab to the National Zoo, where Steve finally got to witness in person something that had managed to elude him for years...

...THE GIANT PANDAS!!!!

After spending a few hours at the zoo, we experienced another interesting and enjoyable event...a ride in a Pedicab. Yes...the driver was able to take the 4 of us a few blocks from the zoo to the MARC station, though thankfully for him, it was mostly downhill.

We briefly pondered the idea of going back downtown to view Washington D.C. at night from the Washington Monument, but our tired feet overruled us. We packed it in, got dinner at a Tex/Mex place called California Tortilla and called it a night.

Does anyone have any Epsom Salts that we can borrow?