Spencer and I had such a nice time at his brother’s graduation in Annapolis. Neither one of us had ever been to Washington DC before and we so enjoyed seeing all of the monuments-- Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam. It was all just awesome. We also loved just strolling through the beautiful downtown area of Annapolis, window shopping through the crowded streets and holding hands. Things I learned from our trip: 1. My husband and I need to go on more dates. Truly. We love spending time with our children, but 4 days together with no children and no Bible conference agenda (which is how we usually get time away from the kids) was so refreshing for us personally as well for our marriage. 2. We need to take our kids to Washington WHILE THEY’RE STILL KIDS--so they can be inspired by our Founding Fathers. I don’t want them to have to wait until they’re 36 and 38 to see these things. 3. Never, never, never go to a hotel where your only bedding option is a pull out couch. I woke up each morning feeling like I had a permanent indention in my back. 4. Never, never, never try to improve the pull out couch with a blow up mattress. The only thing worse than trying to sleep with a rod in your back is trying to sleep on a giant balloon. 5. Be thankful that you are even getting to sleep on a pull-out couch with a giant balloon atop when your in-laws are the ones paying for your hotel! (We never could have gone on this trip if my inlaws had not GRACIOUSLY offered for us to sleep in their hotel room with them.) 6. Taking your I-pod on the plane is a fantastic way to pass the time away. Also-- I usually suffer with terrible pain from pressure on my ears--no amount of yawning, gum-chewing, etc. ever helps. This time, I took a sinus pill 30 minutes before each flight and wa-la! No pain whatsoever. WOW!! 7. The Blue Angels are awesome!!!!!!!!! 8. Maryland’s crab cakes are wonderful! If you love crab cakes-- there are none better. However, if you’re expecting them to taste like crab legs, don’t. They do not taste even remotely the same. 9. Don’t plan on moving to Annapolis unless you have millions stashed away. I saw a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house advertised for sale for $919,000. This same house would sell for about $350,000 in NW Arkansas. Whoa. 10. GPS systems are very useful. To a point. However, one is always wise to cross reference with a map. We plugged “Mount Vernon” into the GPS system expecting it to take us to George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Imagine how bummed we were when we ended up at the MOUNT VERNON APARTMENTS in downtown Baltimore!! We still made it to the real Mount Vernon-- and had plenty of time to tour the entire estate (thanks to my cell-phone, my mom and Google.) But we sure could have done without the THREE EXTRA HOURS on the road!!! 11. The Smithsonian houses things such as Mr. Roger’s sweater, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and Archie Bunker’s easy chair. I knew to expect things like Abraham Lincoln’s hat and Jacqueline Onassis’ inaugural gown. I did NOT expect all of the pop culture. So cool! 12. They really do say the Pledge of Allegiance EVERY MORNING at the famous Chick and Ruth’s Deli. I had seen this restaurant featured on Good Morning America about a year ago and couldn’t believe that I got to eat breakfast there—TWICE. And say the pledge twice! 13. Dick Cheney is a great speech giver. What a privilege to hear him speak in person and then watch him shake all 980 Naval Academy graduate’s hands. 14. Did I mention that my husband and I need to go on more dates? Seriously, we just had the best time.