Crazy Happy Lifestyle: Day 13 - Money, Smithsonian, and the Stanley Cup

Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Posted From: Cherry Hill Park Campground - College Hill, MD
Miles driven: 9
Total miles: 1738

In case anyone was not aware, the Capitals hockey team won the Stanley Cup. #allcaps

Today is the day of the parade...deep breath...here goes.

Again, our Metro line was the main line to the parade. It was packed with people. I was standing in line to reload our SmartTrip cards, and the people up ahead in line were from out of town and had no idea what they were doing. After being in D.C. for five days, we were pretty much locals. The family behind me were locals. She rolled her eyes and made a comment to me about tourists. I naturally laughed and said, "No kidding."

We chatted as we were waiting. I confessed to her that I actually had five cards to fill (Matt and the kids were standing off to the side), but assured her I was really fast. She laughed and said no problem.

I get up there and breeze through the first four with her commenting behind me that she has never seen someone fill cards so fast. I told her that when you have five cards you learn that speed is important. She asked if my credit card ever stopped working because of the rapid purchases for the same amount. I said, no never....and then IT happened! The fifth transaction. "Not Approved." What?! Grr. Thankfully I had a ten dollar bill handy, so I threw that in the machine and moved on. I’ll deal with the card later. The lady’s husband laughed and said, "That was still the fastest I’ve seen someone fill cards." Believe it or not, he also offered me $10 a few seconds earlier when my card was declined.

We arrive in the city and see red. Literally. Red is everywhere. Everyone is wearing it...except us.

We first walked to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to pick up tickets for the tour of money being printed. We got 3:30 pm tickets. So we headed to the Museum of American History.

This is what we saw from the steps of the museum:

This had to have been one of the best places to watch the parade.

Inside the museum, we saw the real Batmobile.

After walking around for an hour, we walked back outside because the parade was beginning. The fans were screaming and cheering and chanting continuously for two hours before the parade even began. Now that it had begun, they were really going crazy.

After seeing the Old Glory American flag, Julia Child’s kitchen, First Lady dresses, President memorabilia, and NOT Dorothy’s ruby red slippers (they need restoration to the tune of $300,000...), we headed to the Museum of Natural History next door.

We were quite excited about the elephant. I actually can’t remember what was said right before this picture was taken, but it made us all react.

A big whale.

Saltwater fish tanks are always fun.

Walking through the packed Mall to get to the money printing tour. They were introducing each player, so we stopped and watched for awhile.

Finally, it was time for our money printing tour. I didn’t realize it was two different government departments that make money. The Bureau of Printing and Engraving prints paper money, while the Mint makes coins. (I’m sure everyone else knew that.)

This is the last picture taken before the tour. Taking pictures on the tour is frowned upon...as in jail time. Got it.

Matt’s dad let us know that there would be a Marine silent drill today at 7:00 pm at the Lincoln Memorial, so we decided to eat dinner in the city and walk to the event. We ate at a nice Mexican restaurant near the White House. (Caleb did not think it was great...the flavors were a little too sophisticated.)

It was a beautiful evening. The entire day was perfectly cool. I comfortably wore a light jacket all day.

The drill team and band were practicing in the shade.

It was packed! We found a decent place to watch.

The band was perfect. The songs were fun and patriotic.

The silent drill team was amazing to watch. So very impressive.

As a final wonderful surprise of the night, there was a concert going on at the Navy Memorial. Our Metro station lands us directly at this memorial, so we more or less stumbled across this concert.