After three very long driving days, we got to the Capitol KOA outside of Washington, D.C for the first stop of our epic month long road trip. It was hot, we were tired, hungry, and grumpy. The dogs were tired, sick of the truck, and ready to stretch their legs. So of course, when we arrived, around 6:30pm when the staff was gone, there was no information about our reservation left outside as promised. Off to a great start. Thankfully the camp host answered the after hours phone call and helped us get checked in, only to discover none of the late arrival information had been left waiting. At least that’s the worst that happened.

National Mall Exploration

Since this isn’t a vacation, we both worked all day and were eager and ready for our touristy afternoon and evening! The clear choice for the first day is the National Mall; the monuments, the capitol, the memorials – it’s the iconic must-do of Washington D.C. We walked the full length of the National Mall and then some, leaving us with sore feet and in awe of the history of our country.

Between COVID-19 and a failed insurrection, a lot of things were closed or blocked off. It was a unique experience, that’s for sure.

The National Mall at night was very cool. Everything was lit up and felt a little sacred. The Vietnam Memorial was humbling, and visiting the church across from the White House, where the former guy tear-gassed protestors just for a photo op was surreal. The Lincoln Memorial was very interesting, and a good reminder that while he disliked slavery, Lincoln lead the Civil War to preserve the Union, not free the slaves.

If someone told me today that Texas was going to secede, I’d be mad about it, but I wouldn’t put my life on the line to make them stay. But if Texas decided human beings were property, I’d fight and die against that cause. Even still, the words are inspiring and call to mind that we are all the United States of America, and we already fought this war once – it was horrible and stupid, so let’s not do that again. Let’s leave the evils of slavery and segregation along with racism, hatred and the confederacy dead in the past where it belongs. Can we work on that, America?

Baltimore Inner Harbor

Tuesday we headed toward Baltimore, specifically the Inner Harbor. Near our campground, and on the way toward Baltimore was the Crooked Crab Brewery, so of course we stopped in for a couple of pints.

Once we got into the Inner Harbor, having no plans on what to do or where to go, we parked and started to roam around. I really liked this area! It was very charming and walkable. Unfortunately, the downside of working a full day before getting into the tourist adventures is that a lot of things close at 5pm. So we didn’t get a chance to take any tours, and COVID still had a lot of things closed or off-limits. But we enjoyed walking by the water, the twinkly string lights between the buildings, the cobblestone roads and the row houses. Such a charming area!

And of course, no trip would be complete without eating crab, so we visited a restaurant for delicious all you can eat crab legs! I love crab legs, Jamey not so much – it’s too much work for your food in his opinion. But it was fun to whack the crabs with the mallet and pull out the delicious meat. Eventually it was an overwhelming amount of Old Bay Seasoning.

Arlington National Cemetery

When you think Washington, DC – Arlington National Cemetery comes to mind (after the White House, stupid politics and the National Mall, of course). The changing of the guard, the rows and rows of headstones, the history, the sacrifice.

We watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, visited Lincoln’s sons tombstone, JFKs eternal flame, RFKs more humble resting place and the tomb of the Unknown Civil War soldiers, where more than 2,000 unidentifiable soldiers were crammed in a mass burial on the former grounds of Robert E Lee’s previous estate. There are so many sections, so many buried here. It’s humbling and overwhelming. The grounds are gorgeous, is it ok to admit that part?

Space and (more) Sad Stuff

Thanks to COVID-19, the cool indoor things were still closed. We knew it would be likely, vaccines hadn’t been widely available for long. So while we longed to tour the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum we couldn’t. But we could visit their sister museum, Steven F. Udvsr-Hazy Center in Fairfax County, VA. Fortunately, I scored tickets for the last tour of the day, at 4pm. Unfortunately they closed at 6pm. So we saw a lot of cool stuff, but got kicked out before we saw all the cool stuff. This place was a jaunt away, but it was really cool. I don’t know what I’m missing at the National Air and Space Museum, but if you find yourself unable to go there, we recommend this place as a backup!

There was so much more to see, but we ran out time. They closed the museum and shooed us away. So our next stop was the US Marine Corps Memorial.

Followed by the signature meal of Washington D.C, the chili dogs at Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Ben’s Chili Bowl is a historic institution. Everyone loves this place. Anthony freaking Bourdain loved the Half-Smoke (which we both ordered). It was the first local restaurant President Obama ate at when he lived at the White House. It’s featured on all the tourism recommendations, all the travel channel shows.

It feels blasphemous to even write this, but it was fine. It was chili on a hot dog. It was fine. My mind wasn’t blown, my life wasn’t changed. It was fine. The history is cool though.

Gettysburg

Jamey majored in history, his entire senior thesis was all about how Minnesota showed up at the Battle of Gettysburg in the nick of time to save the Union. Without Minnesota, the Confederates would have won and we’d be two separate countries today. Thank a Minnesotan. All that to say, he was looking forward to this day the most.

Of course it was cold and rainy. And the whole thing is outdoors.

The visitors center museum had some very cool exhibits and history to explore. But we had the boys with. So I bought the self-guided audio tour and walked Buddy for an hour while Jamey toured the indoor museum. Toby held down the backseat of the truck and napped.

Once Jamey had seen everything in the museum we headed out for the driving / walking tour.

I’ll turn this section over to Jamey so he can tell you all about the amazing history, the sites, how profoundly moving the experience was. I’ll just add, it was very interesting. For a while. And then it was repetitive. There was a battle here. A bunch of people died there. Rain. Rain rain.

Jameys take: Even with temps in the low 40s and rain all day long, I loved every minute of this day. To clarify, my senior thesis in college was about how the 1st Minnesota Infantry saved the Union by holding off 2300 Alabama soldiers on the 2nd day of the battle long enough for reinforcements to arrive while being outnumbered 6 men to 1 and suffering 84% casualties. Had they broken, the Union Army would have been split in two and easily overrun by the Confederates. Since Gettysburg was the turning point of the war, the Confederates probably would have ended up winning the war had it not been for the 1st Minnesota. (Sam’s note: sure… that’s what I said… lol)

With all the research I had done over the years about Gettysburg, it was absolutely amazing actually being able to see in person what I had researched with my own eyes. It was a very sobering experienced knowing what happened there and seeing where it happened and visualizing what was going through the soldiers minds. For anyone with any interest in American History, Gettysburg is a must visit.

It was a full somber day. It was also our last day in D.C.

We grabbed a meal and went back home. Made it an early night and got ready for another travel day. Week one, done.

I really enjoyed our time in DC but I was so ready to move on from the deep, dark, unrelenting history of war.

War is hell. Thank you to every soldier who has fought for our country, our rights, our freedom.