Our last full day in the DC area was pouring rain. We were tired after 2.5 weeks of going non-stop. However, I knew we couldn’t stay home all day or the kids would get bored and fight with each other. Luckily, Hampton National Historic Site isn’t too far from my parent’s house, so we decided to go there. Plus a chance to earn another Junior Ranger badge!
We should have checked the website – they only offer tours at certain times. We got there like 5 minutes after the tour started. Ugh. They do them about every hour, except at lunch-ish time, which is when we went. So we left and got some lunch – Pit Beef!! YUM!!!. We returned and were the only ones in the 2:00 tour. You HAVE to take a tour if you want to see the house. Kinda lame, but whatever. Since it was only us on the tour, we didn’t have to worry about the kids getting bored and disturbing other people. I don’t have any pictures of the inside because a toddler had my phone to keep him happy on the tour. My husband took pictures, and someday, when I’m not lazy, I’ll have to upload them! You can always google pictures of the inside. It is quite beautiful. They apparently change the furnishings with the seasons, so it will be different each time you visit. At one time, this was one of the largest homes in the United States. It is quite impressive! My husband managed to set off one of the alarms taking a picture too! Not the kids… my husband. We all thought it was funny. Our tour guide was lots of fun and very knowledgeable.
Since it was pouring rain, we didn’t get to see much of the grounds, which was disappointing. You don’t need to be on a tour to see the grounds, you can wander at your leisure. Maybe next time it won’t be pouring, so we can explore some more. We did get to check out the big Ice hole, which is a giant hole in the ground where they kept ice… My son thought it was cool.
You have to get your Junior Ranger Badge here. No mailing it in. Thankfully, they were pretty easy to fill out! We got a bonus 50th Anniversary leftover from last year too. Double score – another 2 to add to their collection. They got quite a few on this trip!!
With this post, it ends all of our stops during this trip to DC! Man, we accomplished a lot during this trip. We love our time out there, but are always happy to be home to less humidity, traffic, and people!
Now onto our next big trip to Hawaii!
