A Capital Easter: Family Weekend in Washington DC

My fingers were crossed and I made a wish, but waited for the final confirmation email before  updating my facebook status. On March 29, I finally announced, "It's official! Our family managed to get our hands on four tickets to the Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn, so we're making a weekend of it. We are fitting in the American Girl Doll Store, Easter Sunday service at my former pastor Don Davidson's church in Alexandria, Easter Sunday lunch at Mount Vernon with a tour, and the Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Easter Monday."

Easter was this past weekend, and we were able to go and do exactly as we had planned. Our trip was busy, but wonderful, the perfect spring trip for our family. Below and on the page links are pictures of what we experienced, recommendations and information on how you can do the same, and a few mom-tips that might make your trip a little easier and maybe a little more enjoyable.   

We left our home in South Boston, Virginia early on Saturday morning and drove straight to Northern Virginia to Tyson's Corner Galleria Mall, where we had lunch reservations at the American Girl Cafe.  

Courtland and Mom at American Girl Washington DC

Courtland's dolls Caroline, the American Girl from The War of 1812, and Saige, the 2013 Girl of the Year, joined us for lunch. 

After lunch, both Caroline and Saige had their hair styled at the American Girl Doll Salon.
See more pictures of our American Girl trip and to see how you can take this trip yourself.

Of course we shopped a little, too. Courtland brought Isabelle, the 2014 Girl of the Year, home with her, along with a few other American Girl goodies, including a shirt that matches Isabelle's. Carrington was such a great sport that we treated him to the Lego store while we were at Tyson's Corner, which made him very happy!

When we left Tyson's Corner, we drove to Old Town Alexandria, about twenty minutes away, where we checked into the Hotel Monaco. I can't say enough nice things about this boutique hotel in the heart of the Old Town historic shopping district. The hotel itself was nice, but it was the little touches that made the hotel and our stay there very special.

This is what the street just outside of our hotel looks like. Old Town Alexandria was such a fun and friendly place. Not only was it people friendly, but it was the most dog friendly place I have ever seen or visited. For additional pictures and to find out more about Hotel Monaco Alexandria and Old Town Alexandria, click here.

Family Selfie in the Lobby - What? It had been a long day.

Arlington National Cemetery at Sunrise, Easter Sunday

I thought I had our trip all planned out perfectly, but when we arrived in Alexandria, I discovered something I had missed when planning our itinerary. An Easter Sunrise Service was held at the Arlington National Cemetery.  We woke up at 5am Sunday morning to go to the service at the cemetery. The Chaplain of the United States and United States Navy Rear Admiral Kibben delivered the message and the United States Army Band performed the music. How was the service, you ask? I don't know...we didn't make it. We mapquested directions to the cemetery, not realizing how enormous and expansive the property is. There is a main gate at Arlington with a visitor center that is usually used, but our directions took us another direction, to the Myers Joint Forces Military Base. Luckily, Mark and I carried our military ID badges and had military ino on our vehicle, so we got onto the military base and watched the sun rise, hearing the music played over the hill. For future reference, we will get directions to the main entrance of the cemetery and take the shuttle from there.    

We were in such a hurry to get to the sunrise service that we hadn't had coffee, so we stopped at Starbucks, which was only two blocks from our hotel. A good cup of coffee makes everything alright.

Remember I said that it was the little personal touches that made the Hotel Monaco so special? Well, the Easter Bunny had to arrange for the children's Easter baskets to be delivered to them in Alexandria, and the hotel staff was very accomodating in making sure that the children found their baskets. The children rode the elevator to the lobby on Easter morning looking to see if the bunny had found them. They were pleasently surprised to find that their baskets were waiting for them at the front desk.  How does that bunny work his magic?

The sunrise service had been a last minute decision, but attending church on Easter Sunday had been a big part of our plans all along. My friends in Southern Virginia may remember Pastor Don Davidson and his wife Audrey. Pastor Don led Mount Hermon Baptist Church in the Mount Hermon area of Danville, Virginia for many years. He was the pastor who baptised me as a young teenager and later married Mark and me at Mount Hermon, then performed Courtland's dedication ceremony when she was an infant. Pastor Don left Mount Hermon to pastor First Baptist Church of Alexandria. We attended the church on Easter morning, and it was like coming home. The music and the message were so powerful, and I was moved to tears during the service.  After the service, we stopped at the flowered cross for a picture with Don and Audrey.

Carrington and George Washington, Virginia Gentlemen

One of the first orders of business that I took care of in planning our trip, right behind making hotel reservations, was making reservations for Easter Sunday lunch. I love to go out for Easter lunch, so when I discovered that the Mount Vernon Inn Resaurant at George Washington's Mount Vernon in Alexandria offered a special Easter Sunday buffet, I called and made our reservations. We enjoyed our lunch, then set out for a tour of George Washington's Mount Vernon. The temperature was in the upper 60s with sunshine and clear blue skies. We may have missed the cherry blossom festival by a week or so, but the trees and flowers were still beautifully blooming, and we could not have asked for a more picture perfect day. 

George Washington said about Mount Vernon, "No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated than this..." and we all know that George Washington never told a lie. 

Monument at the entrance to George and Martha Washington's burial tomb

A view of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon's back lawn

Easter Dogwood at Mount Vernon

The Dogwood is not only one of my favorite things, but is Virginia's state flower and state tree. It is also recognized as a symbol of Easter, which was fitting for this day.

This time our family selfie took place first in the morning when our energy was at a premium.  We took a taxi from our hotel to Alexandria's Union Station, then rode the metro to the Smithsonian.  There is a free trolley that runs the length of King Street in Alexandria where we were staying, but doesn't begin its daily run until 11:30 am, so we had to take a cab or walk about twelve blocks.   

We got off the metro at the Smithsonian, and arrived at the Natural History Museum waited in line for the doors to open at 10am. We spent about an hour at the museum, where we saw animals, skeletons, dinosaurs, mummies,and the Hope Diamond.

We then headed to the White House, passing by the Washington Monument along the way. We were able to walk everywhere that we went, and simply followed the crowd with no problem straight to the White House.

Happy Easter to all of our family and friends from

The 136th Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn!

Carrington was serious about rolling his egg! 

The egg roll itself was much shorter than I had imagined. It had a long line which moved pretty quickly, and only lasted about a minute to complete. It was just fine with us, though, because the egg roll itself is only one small part of the day's festivities. There were stations set up around the lawn with arts, crafts, cooking demonstrations, snacks, exercise demonstrations, story time, and live music. All in all, the 136th Annual Easter Egg Roll was a hit!

The band R5 performed on stage at the event. On the left is singer Ross Lynch, who plays the role of Austin on Disney's Austin and Ally. Courtland likes this band, and was thrilled that the band members hung around to give autographs and take pictures.

It wasn't too crowded, but it didn't hurt to have Dad lift Courtland up to get a better view.

Debby Ryan, who plays Disney's Jessie, read one of her favorite children's books. Jim Carrey read a book earlier in the afternoon, but we didn't see him. There is much to do, so you have to pick and choose what you really want to do and who you want to see.

The Easter Egg Roll had several sponsors, one of which was Peeps. After the egg roll, each child received a box of Peeps and a commemorative wooden egg. 

After the egg roll, we strolled through the National Mall, where we saw the

Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

When planning our trip, Carrington said that it was important for him to see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. He was thrilled to stand here, and asked me to take his picture by himself. Between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial are many more memorials. We stopped to view the World War II Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. Next time we plan to see the Korean War Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the others that we missed.

Our last stop was the Arlington National Cemetery. We went for a brief visit Sunday morning, but wanted to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Changing of the Guard, so we went back for another visit, this time through the main entrance. 

The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

We took the Metro from Arlington (there is a station at the entrance) back to Alexandria, and I finally was able to take a Old Town Alexandria trolley ride. I think we packed as much into three days in Northern Virginia and Washington DC as humanly possible. (See very tired eyes, above.) We hated to leave, and are already thinking of what we'll do next time we're in our great nation's Capital, but it sure is nice to have a home in Southern Virginia to come home to!

More about American Girl Store, Salon, and Cafe

More about Hotel Monaco in Old Town Alexandria

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