Throw Bretto From the Train

As noted in the prologue, a motivation for the DC leg was being able to have a train adventure.  At some point I am sure I started to amalgamate my desire for a train ride with the kids yearning. This became apparent about two hours into the 7 hour trip when the novelty and romance of riding the rails quickly wore thin on the troops.   Especially after we realized that we left the two iPads loaded with their movies and TV shows sitting back at the house.

Kelsey still smiling as we pass through NYC

The fact that the train Wifi was about as fast a 56K modem did not help the overall mood - especially of my youngest.  He spent a good portion of the trip questioning my fitness as a parent and decision making.   He could not understand why anybody would choose to take a mode of transportation that would take 7 hours when another was available that would only take 1 hour.  Luckily I was able to distract him for a bit by streaming the Celtics playoff game to my phone.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and while certainly not as efficient as riding the rails in Europe it was a nice experience.

We pulled into Union station in DC about 30 minutes late (~6pm) and grabbed a car out to our hotel in Arlington VA.  We were staying at a Embassy Suites - that has two beds and a pull out coach.  That use to be more than enough for our family of 5 but as the kids grow to larger sizes it is becoming a bit  tighter.

We headed out to dinner at a small mall around the corner and discovered a Hurricane simulator that the kids had to try out.  Not the worst $2 that I ever spent....

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for our museum day in DC.