Did you see part 1 of our trip to D.C.?
Here is a recap of the last two days of our trip…
Kelsey was reunited with her long-lost relative–the giant panda.
The best Chinese food I have ever had! Even the sweet and sour chicken was delicious (I normally can’t stand it).
You probably already heard that we spent Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C., and if not, you knew by the title of this post, right?
It’s true, we headed out early on Thursday morning to the Des Moines International Airport (which has no international flights) for a 7:10 flight to our nation’s capitol. The purpose was to not only take in the beautiful city, but also to visit Kelsey’s brother, Cole. The Christiansons, Williamses and the Smiths were on their way!
There are going to be a lot of photos and not much commentary…k thanks!
The plane was light with passengers so the three of us were upgraded to first class! Bingo!
After arriving, we all got metro passes. We relied on the metro and walking to get around. The most I think I have ever walked in four days. Even more than Disney World.
For the readers that don’t live in Iowa, or who may not know about the Okoboji area, it’s one of the few resort areas in Iowa and is called the Great Lakes of Iowa. Big Spirit, East Okoboji and West Okoboji are the three main lakes. We want to share our favorite things to do while in the ‘Boji area, in case you ever make it up there! The post will also serve as a nuts-and-bolts piece to give you an idea of why we love it so much! You might remember from our fairytale that our first summer’s weekends were spent in Okoboji. It’s where we first said “I love you” and also where we said “I do.”
When we created our first budget, vacation did not make the cut as a line item. And the first time we had to plan for a small weekend getaway for a friend’s wedding, we were stressed out. We planned the best we knew how, but throughout the entire weekend we were so concerned about our money situation that we could hardly have fun! We have learned a lot since then and want to share with you the knowledge that we’ve gained over the past few years about vacationing on a budget.
First, I want to clear the air and share some thoughts about vacation. Vacation should be a fun, stress-free getaway from daily life: a time when you can relax and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul so that you can return refreshed. So when you start to think about money as it relates to vacation, this usually adds panic to the equation, but it doesn’t have to.
We got up and headed downtown to meet Sarah, one of the loyal readers of this blog and of Snappy Casual. She happened to be in Charleston for a wedding so we made sure to schedule a lunch meeting with her and her boyfriend, Ian.
We had some time to kill, so we took some advise from Jessamine and Courtney and bought a box of mini cupcakes from Cupcake on King Street. We took them home to our friends for all to enjoy. They were yummers!
We walked down to the American Theater to take some outfit photos for Kelsey, then headed to Groucho’s Deli for lunch with Sarah, Ian and their friend. It was great to meet face to face and we had a lovely conversation. We made time for a picture before parting ways.
Continue Reading…
