Best supermarket ever

Time for bed and bath so back up to our current home. Still in time for happy hour drinks as well as a quick trip to the best supermarket ever discovered. Stu stayed with Katy while I popped out to Whole foods. Great fresh pick your own Chinese dinner. Yum!

And Katy all clean and snuggled up after another fun packed day. She's the bestest!

Trick or treat - big style!

We were just thinking about getting the trolley bus back up to the hotel for happy hour, but it turned out that missing it was the best thing that happened today!

We started walking up the road to find a whole street was closed off. Children, dogs and adults alike were all dressed up to the nines in their Halloween best. Such a great atmosphere! Katy didn't get any candy herself but she got alot if compliments, and loved every minute!! We have some great photos but alot on the main camera. We are going to have to cone back next year when she can actually take part properly!

Halloween hot dogs

Alexandrian's are big dog lovers. All of them were dressed up today too!!

Pumpkin wandering

After brunch we wandered around and down to the waterfront. Past the fire station and an ice-cream parlour for grand-pa!!

Katy was having a great time! She has been a really good girl today.

Halloween shopping

The whole town is buzzing with Halloween spookery this weekend. Houses and shops decorated. And everyone dressed up for the occasion. Katy being no exception!

We had popped into a baby shop the day before and alot of the shops were taking part in kids going in to trick or treat there.

This particular shop also had a photo competition for the best fancy dress. The kids get photographed and their friends and relatives all go in and vote the following week. Well we may not get any votes but we think Katy was a winner anyway! She loved sitting with the pumpkin - posing!!

It didn't cost anything, but we felt obliged to buy something as we had gad so much fun! So a green hat was purchased to finish off her pumpkin outfit! Made her a bit boy like, but her pink bunnies on the front of the pram helped out with the cooing Americans.

Sunday fun!

A good nights sleep is enough to make any little pumpkin excited! But the fact that it is Halloween and she gets to be a proper pumpkin in a costume all day made Katy very happy!

First was a spot of swimming in the pool. This time she even sampled the hot tub (don't worry - not that hot!) after smiling her way around the colder main pool.

Then buffet breakfast! Well we had to get our moneys worth!

Katy may have been ready for trick and treatibg already, but before pumpkin revelry, it was time to do a spot of sight seeing!

Directly opposite the hotel but the other side of the railway and metro lines, (did we tell u that our room is great for train spotting!) is the tall tower of the George Washington Masonic monument. A monument overlooking Alexandria, commemorating George Washington, the first president of the USA and a masonic worshipful master initiated in Fredricksburg in 1752. It's tower is 333ft tall but we didn't get to go up it today. We just pushed Katy to the top of the hill. Still a great view. We could see the Capitol building and Washington's monument back in DC. They seem so far apart! And we walked between them twice!!

I saw a sign that prooves that we shouldn't go running - it's prohibited! (tee hee - ok so just prohibited on the Masonic grounds, but I liked the sign)

After savouring the view, we walked back down king street to hotel monaco. This had been one of our possible staying locations but were we are is very nice.

(following a lady who appeared to have completed the marine Corp marathon that was the main event in DC today.)

Now the reason we were going to hotel monaco? We were off to meet up with a lovely expat call Marcia. On our first day in DC we had found ourselves in Godiva chocolate at union station, (looking for a phone but finding chocolate covered strawberries -yum), when marcia walked in and heard us talking. We got chatting and ended up exchanging numbers and then arranging to do Sunday brunch. She lives in Alexandria so hotel Monaco was the perfect choice.

Our Clam chowder and fish cakes were a bit slow coming but they redeemed themselves with the bottomless memosia cocktails! Katy stuck to her milk! We chatted for ages. But finally time to part company after a lovely lunch.

Alexandria old town

As Katy had been in her stroller for much of the morning, it was time for a bit of Katy fun in the hotel pool! Stretch her legs!! Bit cold but Katy didn't seem to mind behind the grin!!

Only a quick dip then warm up and a wander down the main street (kings street) to the waterfront. We likened Alexandria to an American Tenterden, or lanes of Brighton. Lots of quaint (and expensive) shops, restaurants of all sorts, and interesting sights.

A man playing a wine glass orchestra, paddle steamer boats on the river, and everywhere decked out for halloween! Even the boats on the river!

A brisk breeze a-blowing, so instead of walking back we took the free tourist trolley bus back up kings street to our current abode. Great sunset!!

King street trolley bus

Our suite!

A couple of crowded metro trains later and we arrive at our next home. Embassy suites, Alexandria. Very comfortable and Katy approves of the huge bed! Pity she has her cot eh!?

Georgetown

Enough monuments for one day.

We headed up to Georgetown. First a wander thru the blocks that house the many university buildings. Then over to the town area for a bit of a look around and to grab som well earnt dinner! Georgetown is one of the older areas and we even cane across a quaint canal and locks before finding the main highstreet.

Ended up in a lovely restaurant called 'Clydes'. Accommodated the stroller and even had lobster on the menu to make stu smile. (Don't worry we didn't actually put the claw on katy's nose!!! It just looks like that!)

Katy enjoyed being out of the chair, and was smiling at everyone and going crazy with her arms and legs! Yummy food.

Fed and watered we put Katy in her sling in preparation for a bus ride back across town. (strollers have to be folded and young ones carried!) but on our way we exited the restaurant into a small shopping centre and saw a massive line of people queued along the mezzanine. Turns out it was a Q waiting to get into a Halloween shop! People were Q'ing for up to an hour just to get in! Crazy! Didn't look anything more special than what we can get at asda!!

Onto the bus and Katy ran out of steam. She has been a good girl yet again bless her. Appears to love it, and has melted so many American hearts. We have list count of the people making nice comments about her.

Korea Memorial

Another moving place. The memorial to honour all those involved, injured, killed or lost in the Korean action.

Statues of soldiers walking through the greenery with a refection wall on one side with images from all aspects of the conflict shown by engraved images. Lots of visitors. This monument to the south of Lincoln complementing the Vietnam monument was to the north side. Again, thought provoking, especially when Korea still split and half is still ruled by controlling extremists with a huge military arsenal!

Vietnam memorial

Another moving sight. The memorial in remembrance to the Vietnam conflict. A simple black marble wall cut into the bank, tapering from one end from the direction of the Lincoln monument to a right angle then back out up towards the Washington monument. I think it 35,000 names, one for every soldier killed or lost, engraved in the wall in the order they fell.

There was a park police ranger on hand to make a rubbing of a name for any relative who comes and locates their loved ones name in one of the big listing books located at one end. Books list location as tablet, and line. (Ie West 36, line 28) No Hoads, only Hoadley's, but several Connor's.

Lincoln Memorial

We were starting to regret some of our clothing choices, as the sun hid away behind the ever gathering clouds, and the westerly blew harder! (stu in his shorts and my thin trousers!) But we wrapped up as best we could and ignored it! Katy was wrapped up better than anyone there and just slept, and slept and slept some more!

Up to see Lincoln after having just seen Obama, the most recent. Alas the elevator was broken so couldn't get the stroller up all those steps, so took it in turns to look at the view. The sun did make an appearance from time to time. If you look hard enough u can see a bit of the Washington monument reflected in the reflection pool too!