Following our commencement weekend in May, we celebrated Cole’s milestone birthday in Washington DC with family. We toured, ate good food, hiked, visited a farm, and ate birthday cake with family.
One of my favorite (and lesser known about) tours in DC is the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The BEP is responsible for designing, engraving and printing all US paper currency. On the tour we saw millions of dollars being printed, including the various steps of currency production beginning with large, blank sheets of paper, and ending with wallet-ready bills. It was really unbelievable!
Here is what $1 million in ten dollar notes looks like:
Cole is worth $1,794,100 in one hundred dollar notes:
Gold bars:
After the tour we had lunch in the cafeteria of the US Department of Agriculture. It’s one of the best kept secrets that the cafeteria is open to the public! It is reasonably priced, has a fantastic selection of healthy food options, conveniently located right off the Mall, and you know know everything is USDA certified! Then we were off walking around our favorite DC sights after lunch:
And we drove to Great Falls for a hike on the Billy Goat Trail. It is so beautiful!
We saw some frogs, lizards, and turtles:
Great Falls is a series of rapids and waterfalls on the Potomac River near Washington DC. It is a small National Park site on the border of Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia.
We ended the day with a visit to an amazing farm in Maryland. We loved the yellow fields of buttercups and pretty horses. Oh, and of course we had dinner at the Shake Shack and I made his favorite cake. Happy Birthday to Cole! We love you!
