Morning sickness with Mike: Papa and Granny Essary visit DC

Last weekend, we had a great time hosting my mom and dad from Oklahoma. This was their second visit to DC as they visited here last summer. So we had the opportunity to take them to a few places not quite as touristy while also taking them back to some of the sites they wanted to see again.

We spent a beautiful Saturday morning here at the National Cathedral, 2nd largest Cathedral in the U.S. and 6th largest in the world. It was the site of the National Prayer Service hosted by President Obama back in January and also where President Reagan's funeral was held, among other historic events.

Saturday afternoon we visited the National Mall and the monuments.

Jefferson Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument

My dad showed me the Vietnam Wall. As a combat veteran of Vietnam he was pointing out some of the names of buddies of his who died there.

...including his best friend in Vietnam, who took dad's place on point one day and was killed on patrol.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped in Old Towne Alexandria for dinner at this Colonial restaurant, Gadsby's Tavern. It was built in the 1770s and is famous for the many presidents who have eaten there, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.

The restaurant is lit by gaslight lamps and the servers dress in Colonial period dress. Here, Anderson receives a serenade of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

When we returned to the room Daphne had gotten into my mom's bag. If you recall from earlier posts and our stories, she has a habit of snooping in bags while we're gone and she loves sweets.

Final tally included 40 jelly beans, a package of peanut butter and crackers, a portion of three different packs of gum, the top of a plastic bag of coupons, and a York peppermint chocolate bar. And believe it or not, she ate an antacid tablet. Guess the pill helped because she showed no signs of sickness the following day.

And finally, after church on Sunday we went to a pet show. These pics are a little blurry but it was awesome watching these dogs in the distance competition.