The Line Hotel
#hosted by Winterthur Museum & Gardens
And just like that…it’s Turkey time again! We just love our annual visit to New Jersey to be with our cousins, siblings and grandparents for Thanksgiving. This weekend every year is filled with the same traditions: a Christmas Secret Santa Exchange with cousins on Thanksgiving evening, Jeopardy with Grammy & Pop, Braddock’s Tavern for a sibling meal and wonderful time together.
En route to New Jersey this year we did something a little different: stops in Washington D.C., Maryland and Delaware. The bros are beginning to learn about the historic parts of America such as The White House and The Washington Monument, so we were thrilled to experience some of those together.
Our favorite historic stops in Washington D.C. with kids were:
- the ducks at The National Mall
- Lincoln Memorial
- Washington Monument (look for bald eagles in the trees!)
- Jefferson Memorial
- White House
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial and WWII Memorial
Be sure to make reservations at Old Ebbitt’s Grill, a historic tavern located across the street from the US Treasury. Get the crab and artichoke appetizer!
Our favorite areas to explore in D.C. were the Capitol Hill streets, lined with street vendors and beautiful, old row homes and Adams Morgan, where we stayed at a good hotel, The Line DC.
This hotel had a convenient location to downtown Washington D.C. and walkable streets that were kid-friendly. The hotel was modern and chic but provided the comforts of home. The on-site to-go cafe was our favorite, grabbing pastries and coffee for the road. It felt so good knowing where we chose to stay on this mini-vacation was making such a difference.
On our second day in D.C., we had an amazing breakfast experience at Ted’s Bulletin, indulging in their Cinnamon Bun as Big as Ya Head, and enjoying Ted’s tarts homemade pop tarts filled will all types of goodness like s’mores and blueberry cheesecake.
Our favorite experience in D.C., though, was the Museum of the Bible. We spent close to three hours there and could have spent hours more. Their children’s exhibit was fantastic, giving the bros the chance to fight Goliath and help Delilah. Their New Testament interactive video experience was a wonderful portrayal of the gospel and the like-new museum was filled with state-of-the-art technology along with wonderful information. I highly recommend this museum over any other museum in D.C.!
We also visited the International Spy Museum which many people have raved about. While it was fun and different, all of us, including the bros thought it was a little bit cheesy. The Argo exhibit and others were interesting but the museum as a whole did not wow us for the price.
We ended the D.C. portion of our trip with a surprise visit to Children’s Center hospital due to Landon experiencing severe ear pain. It was a change to the plans but the hospital accommodated us well and it gave him the healing he needed.
The next day, and with good rest for Landon and him feeling better, we headed to Annapolis, Maryland and experienced a Maryland crabcake at Boatyard Bar & Grill. Annapolis is a beautiful city with sprawling views of the water and delicious seafood. We then headed to Wilmington, Delaware and visited the gorgeous Winterthur Museum & Gardens, a property owned by the DuPont family not far from Philadelphia, PA.
The bros loved Winterthur’s Enchanted Woods, a fairy tale garden with twists and turns that kept them on their toes, trying to to enter’s a troll home and sitting in a person’s nest. It was so well-done! The museum/former home itself was beautiful and all decorated for Christmas for their annual Yuletide event. If you are ever in Wilmington, a visit to Winterthur is highly recommended.
Final destination: Thanksgiving with the family in NJ! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
