day 5

we crossed over (and under) lots of water today.  after a hotel breakfast, we checked out and continued north.

first, we crossed under it via the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel.

but after spending $14.00 to go 17.6 miles....we were still in virginia! we could not resist stopping at yet another welcome center.

right around noon, we entered into state #5: maryland.

and then a slow-paced 55 mph 1.5 hours later...we briefly passed thru state #6: delaware.  we did stop long enough to take some photos.

then we slowly made our turn towards the west, entered back into maryland, crossed over more water, and finally arrived at our ultimate destination: washington d.c.

after entering town from the east and fighting our way to foggy bottom thru the expected evening traffic, we managed to check into our hotel for the next 2 nights by 6pm.  we briefly enjoyed the setting sun from our hotel window.

uninterested in getting back into the car, we proceeded to explore on foot and found a fun spot for dinner, circa bistro - nice comfort food after another long day of exploring.

miles driven: 263

day 4

today we headed north to the next state, #3 on the trip: north carolina.

we stopped at the visitor center to see what there was to see.....not much.

lots of backroads, dollar generals, and plenty of sunshine.

after close to 5 hours of driving, it was early afternoon and we made it to our first stop: bodie island light station along the cape hatteras national seashore.

without advance reservations, we were not able to climb to the top, but it was nice just to explore the grounds anyway.  a narrow boardwalk led the way.

refreshed and legs stretched, we continued up the coastline another 20 minutes to our next stop: the wright brothers national memorial & visitor center.

with only 20 minutes left until the museum closed, so started there.

the wright brothers monument is a 60-foot-tall, art deco style, granite monument that sits atop big kill devil hill - the primary location of the brothers' glider experiments.

the sculpture depicting the first flight was probably everyone's favorite part of the stop. 

the last leg of today's drive took us even further north, into state #4: virginia. we found our hotel for the night in chesapeake. with our longest driving day behind us, we found dinner near the hotel and rested up for the next big adventure.

miles driven: 387

day 3

we started our day with breakfast at the hotel, then we made our way over to broadway at the beach - a fun tourist spot full of shops, attractions, and pretty waterfront scenery.  it was sunny, but not super humid or hot just yet so it was nice to walk around and explore.  

there were no takers for the ferris wheel, but is sure was pretty, and large!

daddy and big sister explored the simpsons attraction and 3D movie while little sister and i kept exploring the shops and eventually stumbled upon a starbucks.

after we met up again, we headed over to the aquarium.

for dinner, we went to hard rock since it was right in that same boardwalk area, near our hotel.

it was nice just to hang out in one place today, but we're ready to get back on the road tomorrow.