As we headed in to the city, exhausted from so many days of travel and last minute planning of details, a late night up talking with friends, and 90+ degree heat with matching humidity, we decided we were not up for any self-made tour.
We had plans to meet Franz's cousin Kendra at Central Station for lunch. She is a lawyer who works nearby. So, we headed that direction. When we arrived, we couldn't find a garage for parking, so we circled the streets endlessly and eventually found a metered spot not too far away.
It seemed almost all available parking in that area was metered. The meters, of course, were not the kind that would allow you to swipe a debit or credit card, nor were they connected to a terminal nearby where you could insert dollars. They required coins. I had cleaned out my coin collection recently doing laundry in one of the hotels. So, we put in what we had, and then traded the girls dollars for coins. We thought that was fine, especially since they were making out in the positive. For instance, they'd get a dollar themselves in exchange for like $0.60 in coins. Well, Katie about had a breakdown as we began to walk away. Apparently, receiving one dollar bill and surrendering a handful of small change was not the kind of deal that made sense to her at all. She was so upset, in fact, that the whole trip almost folded right there. We made all sorts of promises and dragged her along to Central Station. Once inside, we met Kendra and had lunch at Potbelly - a great sandwich place that I'd never heard of before.
After lunch, we purchased tickets in the lobby for a Duck Tour on the Potomac. It seemed just the thing on such a hot and tiring day. Then we divided up to conquer. Franz made some change, gave some of it to Katie, and ran to the car to refill the meter. I took the kids to the bathroom, and then got in line for the Tour. The line was outside on a median between several lanes of traffic, in the direct sunlight. We waited there for about 25 minutes. That was great fun with the kids!
The wait was worth it, however, as we had seats all together at the front, in the shade. Franz made it back just before we loaded onto the big auto/boat. Halfway through the tour Jackson fell asleep in a hot, sweaty mess on my lap.
We navigated traffic through the city, with our tour guide / Duck Boat pilot. Our particular Duck was named "Duck Soup."
The World War II Memorial
The Lincoln Monument
The Washington Monument
Approaching the Potomac River
We launched into the water at a local park.
The Pentagon
The Capitol Building
By the presence of flags on both ends of the building, you can tell that the Senate and Congress were both in session.
The White House
We were so glad we opted to do a tour that day. It was hot and hotter. Getting back into the air conditioned car had never felt so good! Franz had been to the Library of Congress before, but I hadn't. He suggested that I take the girls in to see the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Consitution. Jackson was done in and there was no parking, so the girls and I jumped out at a curb, determined to get in and out. 
I asked at the door, and there was no wait. We went through the metal detector, and directly to the second floor, which housed all three documents in one large room. When we arrived, we learned that the guard for that room let about 50 people at a time up to see the three glass-encased documents for a period of time. When they filtered out, the next group of 50 was allowed access. There was a group just finishing up, and two more in front of us. We finally made it up to see them. It was amazing to see the words and the signatures in person!
I asked at the door, and there was no wait. We went through the metal detector, and directly to the second floor, which housed all three documents in one large room. When we arrived, we learned that the guard for that room let about 50 people at a time up to see the three glass-encased documents for a period of time. When they filtered out, the next group of 50 was allowed access. There was a group just finishing up, and two more in front of us. We finally made it up to see them. It was amazing to see the words and the signatures in person!
Once we had our time in the viewing arena, we headed straight for the exit. We crossed one street and Franz had just enough time to pull up to the curb, mid-traffic. According to our pre-arranged plan, I opened the front passenger door first and Maddie scrambled in and across the arm rest to her rear driver's side seat while I grabbed Katie's rear passenger door and then shut her in. I hopped in last, and we managed to pull it off in less than 30 seconds. Pretty good show.
Exhausted, we headed out of D.C. toward Western Maryland, and a hotel we were currently scrambing to find and reserve.
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