Sonya's Blog - Day 147 - The Big Bus Tour

Sonya's Blog - Day 147 - November 16th - The Big Bus Tour

Today was going to be the nicest day while we are visiting Washington, DC. We decided that this would be the best day to do the Big Bus Tour. I had bought the tickets online because that saved us some money. There are several loops that you can take on the tour (5 altogether), so I bought the 48 hour tickets as they were only $10 more than the 24 hour tickets. We also got free tickets to the Wax Museum, which was exciting for the kids as they had never been to one.

We had a good start to our day on the train. The subway train driver was hilarious and very happy to be doing his job. At every stop he would say Good Morning and then say "All Aboooard". At one point he thanked everyone for riding the train because without us, there would be no him. My goodness, he was so chipper and funny. We all enjoyed our train ride today and kudos to the driver for being so enthusiastic.

We got out a little earlier today and managed to find the bus stop quite quickly. We had enough time to grab some hot drinks before we got on the bus. I was a little disappointed when we got on the bus because it was not live narrated, we had to use headphones the the tour was pre-recorded. We asked if their were any with live narration and were assured that some of the busses did indeed have a live narrator. It is not as easy to know what the narrator is talking about in the pre-recorded tours because there is nobody to point them out. Furthermore, there is a lot of blank time where you are just listening to their music. With a live narrator, they fill in all of the time chatting about stuff and telling you interesting stories.

We got off the bus at Union Station to have a look around and to use the facilities. We were also hoping that we would be able to get on a bus that had live narration. Union Station was massive and very ornate. We had a good look around and then went outside to catch the next bus. There was one waiting, but it did not have a live narrator. The next one with a live narrator was going to be another 40 minutes. We decided to hop on and get off at the Lincoln Memorial.

We went past the Capital building and the dome is under reconstruction right now, we still got some pictures. We went past countless statues and memorials on our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

We also saw the Washington Monument from every angle possible. The Lincoln Memorial is massive. It looks a little like a Greek Temple and the statue of Lincoln inside on his chair is very large indeed. We got some pictures and then sat outside and ate our lunch. We looked around a bit more and then headed back to get on another bus.

Still no live narrator - very disappointed. We had only seen one bus the whole day with a live narrator and we were not on it. We did the rest of the tour, which took us past the Pentagon and to Arlington Cemetery.

Once we got back to our first stop, it was time to start heading back to camp. We had to walk right by the J. Edgar Hoover Building, so we snapped some pictures with the crest that is outside. We didn't see any Feds coming and going, but I am sure we were being watched.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, just supper and hanging out. Natasha and Blake went to enjoy the hot tub, and below is a picture of Tash having her soak.

We have theatre tickets for tomorrow, so I arranged with a local dog sitter to come and check on Kizmet. We are going to go in a little later, otherwise it will be too long of a day.

Sonya