History Comes Alive

Welcome

I will be posting updates as we visit all of the amazing sites in Washington, D.C.

Through Security

So far, so good. Everyone arrived on time, got checked in at the airport and made it through security. The students are all still energetic and excited - the adults are looking a bit tired.

Arrived.

We've arrived safely in Washington, D.C. First stop...lunch!

Panda!

At the National Zoo.

National Cathedral

The only thing the students could say when they stepped inside was "Wow!" It really is an awe inspiring building.

At the (National) Mall

A quick photo stop at the National Mall on our walk between the National Holocaust Museum and the American History Museum. The Holocaust Museum is pretty heavy stuff, but it's important for the students to see.

It Ain't Easy Being Green

At the Museum of American History. Everything from Abraham Lincoln's top hat and George Washington's uniform to Kermit, Dumbo, and Dorothy's ruby slippers. The students are really enjoying this one despite the exhaustion that is setting in.

The Big Man

The Lincoln Memorial at night. The students are loving looking up at Lincoln then looking out from the spot where MLK gave the "I Have a Dream" speech. It seems to have reenergized them.
After a little adventure finding dinner, we changed up the schedule a little to do the Lincoln, Vietnam, and Korean War memorials tonight in case the predicted storms roll in tomorrow afternoon.
They're still having fun, but about ready to crash.

Day 1

Well we’ve reached the end of our first day in D.C.  The kids are all safe in their rooms and the night chaperone is on duty (so I can sleep too).

Overall, I have to say that this is a great group of students.  They have been attentive and respectful and really seem to appreciate what they are seeing.  It was a whirlwind day starting with meeting at the school at 4 AM and going straight through until we got to the hotel just before 10 PM.  There was a little whining about being tired along the way but when we got to the next place to see, they were excited all over again.  Many hundreds of pictures have been taken and there have been nearly constant “Wow” and “I can’t believe I’m here” comments.  The favorites from today are probably the National Cathedral, pandas and Lincoln Memorial.

This year we are touring with another group.  They are a group of eighth graders from California who started their trip two days ago in Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg.  Everyone is getting along well, although we haven’t gotten them to mingle a whole lot yet.  We’re going to work on that some tomorrow.

Our course leader, Aaron, is great.  He is a former social studies teacher and has a lot of energy and a great rapport with middle schoolers.  He’s going to add a great deal to the experience for these students.

 The weather is looking pretty sketchy for tomorrow – a chance of rain early building to possible severe thunderstorms in the afternoon.  We have some Plan B’s laid out just in case, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it won’t be as bad as predicted.

Sleep is calling me, so I’m going to wrap this up for tonight.  Look for more updates tomorrow!

 

 

Good Morning!

It's a cold and dreary morning at Arlington National Cemetetry but it's not raining (yet). Everyone was actually up and at breakfast at 6:15 this morning so we're off to a good start. We're heading up the hill to the Tomb of the Unknowns for the changing of the gaurd and our wreath laying. It should be very special.

Changing of the Guard

Just finished watching the Changing of the Gaurd and laying our wreath at the Tomb. It is an incredibly moving ceremony no matter how many times you've seen it. I'm always impressed at how much the students "get it" and appreciate what they are seeing too. To quote one of the wreath laying party "That was freaking awesome!"

A Spring Surprise

Much to our delight, the cherry blosoms have started to bloom. I thought we were going to be here too early but we got lucky.

Still dry!

We're done with our major outdoor activities for the day and the rain has held off.
We just left the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Aaron gave the kids a brief history lesson on 9/11 and the adults shared some of their "Where were you?" stories to try to give them a sense of what it's all about. He also explained the symbolism of the memorial and some of the students were explaining it to other tourists while they walked around.

Heading to Union Station for lunch now.

Death of a President

After a hectic lunch at Union Station and a little souvenier shopping, we went to the Ford's Theatre Museum. The picture is of the gun used to kill Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, the Theatre itself is closed so we didn't get to see it in person. 

Next up are some of the Smithsonian museums.

History Comes Naturally

We're at the Museum of Natural History. It's the home of dinosaurs, whales, the Hope Diamond, orchids, butterflies and, of course, a huge elephant. This place is absolutely huge. It's so big I haven't even bumped in to any of the students since we sent them off exploring a half hour ago. Another hour to explore here then we're hiking over to the Air & Space Museum

Spaced Out

We've made it to the Air & Space Museum. I got harassed by the kids because I was 5 minutes late meeting to leave the last museum after I got entranced taking pictures of butterflies for my daughter. They're as tough on me as I am on them.  Fortunately, there was a little group of musicians singing Christian songs outside the museum, so the kids entertained themselves by singing along.

A&S is always a favorite. All of the exhibts are huge and many of them are things the students are somewhat familiar with. They can see the Wright Brother's plane, a real airline cockpit, a lunar landing module and even a Tomahawk Cruise missle like the ones used this weekend in Lybia. That should make it pretty relevant for them.

So far it has been cold and breezy but dry. There is still a line of storms that are supposed to move in soon so we may head to the hotel a little early this evening. Some pool time and an earlier bed time would probably be good for everyone.

Spaced Out 2

The picture.

Happy and Fed

After a quick stop at the Iwo Jima memorial, we let them stuff themselves at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Now, we're heading back to the hotel a bit early. We'll let them swim some in the indoor pool and encourage an early bedtime.

Day 2

We're halfway through our trip already.  Glad to see many people seem to be enjoying the blog.
Heading in to the hotel early turned out to be a good decision - the storms rolled in about 8:15 and it's still looking pretty ugly.  It's not too bad at our hotel, but it the news says it's stormy in D.C. itself.  The kids enjoyed about 45 minutes in the pool to unwind and burn off a little energy (yes, they still had some).  Most of them are already settling down quietly in their rooms for the evening.

Today was pretty good.  We spent a lot of time in museums and I think they had a bit of sensory overload.  They started to get a little of that glazed-over look to them by the end of the day.  I sort of wish today and tomorrow had been switched in our itinerary, although it wouldn't have worked well with the weather.  Tomorrow will be the big 3 - the White House, the Capitol, and the Washington Monument.  We'll also be seeing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights at the National Archives.  This should be a very exciting day for them as they see some of the icons they associate with D.C. and the Federal government - the first things they imagined seeing when they decided to come here.

It's about time to check them into their rooms for the night so they hopefully can catch up on a little sleep.  They get to sleep in tomorrow morning for a "late" 6:45 breakfast.

There should be some great pictures tomorrow, so check back!

Rainy Morning

It's drizzling and cold this morning but the rain is supposed to stop in the nexy hour or so and it's supposed to warm up to a balmy 48 today. We had a little trouble getting some of them up today. I think they're realizing that they're tired. Everyone made it to breakfast though.

We're heading to the White House for photos then to the top of the Washington Monument

White House

We spent some time taking lots of pictures in front of the White House and now we're walking to the Washinton Monument. The rain has stopped but boy it's COLD.

What a View!

The view of D.C. from 500 feet is great. It was also nice to get indoors for a while. The temperature has made it above 40, but the windchill is 33.
We stopped at the WWII Memorial and now we're at the Reagan Center for lunch. I've noticed something funny at the last couple of food courts - it seems sweet tea is a specialty item and they all charge more for it than they do fountain drinks.

What a View! 2

Archives

We're at the National Archives about to see the Charters of Freedom. The kids were pretty excited when they realized that these are the actual documents that our Founding Fathers touched and signed. Sorry, they don't allow any photos in here.

Comments from the Archives

"Mr. Dow, this is so exciting!" "This is awesome!" "Wow! Wow! Wow!"
On to Capitol Hill.

A Capitol Hike

We made it up Capitol Hill with only a little moaning and groaning.  Now were heading inside for the tour of the Rotunda.

Aaron is the man!

After touring the Capitol Rotunda, Aaron (our course leader) surprised us with passes to go into the House of Representatives chamber.  These passes are normally only available by special request from your representative, but Aaron managed to have some available for us. This was a really special treat and something previous groups have not had a chance to do.   Several of the kids recognized it from the State of the Union address and, since the House was not in session, Aaron was able to talk to us some about the chamber.  Unfortunately, no electronics are allowed so no pictures.

Now it's underground to the Library of Congress.

Library

Inside the Library of Congress Jefferson Building.  Easily the most ornante and beautiful interior in D.C.

Jefferson and FDR

We made stops at the Jefferson and FDR Memorials since we skipped them last night. The kids have pretty muched reached their limit for the day.
We're about to head to the Pentagon City Mall for dinner and a little shopping time before we call it a night. The kids were very excited to find out that this mall actually has stores! :-)

Teenage Paradise

A four-story shopping mall.

Day 3

Sorry that I didn’t post last night.  I was especially tired and then I was on the phone with my wife about my daughter who apparently has a stomach bug (she’s feeling a little better now).  You’ll also have to excuse the many typos I’m sure are on the blog yesterday in particular.  I was almost always typing on a cell phone while walking with the group.

Yesterday was pretty exciting.  The students got to see all of the big sites that they are familiar with in D.C.  They were a lot of comments through the day expressing excitement and/or awe at what they were experiencing.  I really enjoyed seeing their appreciation and recognition for the importance of what they were seeing.  It stayed cold throughout the day, but we were in and out of buildings enough to keep from getting too chilled.

 

The wear and tear of the trip is starting to show on the adults and even some of the kids.  After sitting down for dinner at the mall yesterday, I noticed my legs and feet were awfully sore when I got up.  I’m not sure I would do very well if this was a five day trip.

It is even colder today, but the sun is finally out and it is supposed to make it up to the upper forties.  We managed to get the rooms reasonably cleaned out and all of our luggage on the bus although some of the boys missed breakfast in order to get it done.  Apparently our advice to pack and clean up last night wasn’t heeded.
We’re on our way to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.  It’s always cool for the kids to be in his actual home.  After lunch, we’ll head back to D.C. to drop off the group we are travelling with, visit the Dulles campus of the Air and Space museum and head to the airport to come home.  It will be nice to be home with my family and back in my own bed tonight.  I’ve enjoyed the trip, but I sure miss them.

Mount Vernon

I had some connection issues so I'm posting a couple of posts at once.
Walking through George Washington's home impressed many of the students. I think this is on many of their top 5 lists. At least on of them told me it was their favorite thing we did. After the mansion, we saw an interactive movie that includes battle scenes and snow falling on the audience. As we were leaving, two of the students were trying to plot to claim the flight had been cancelled so they could stay another week. I think they've enjoyed the trip

We're heading for another buffet lunch now. After that, Aaron has made some phone calls to arrange a tour of the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts since we skipped it earlier whenw we rearranged our evenings.

Kennedy Center

We got a personal tour. I thought it was cool, but not the most exciting stop for the kids.

Winding it up

We've dropped our friends from California off at the airport. It's pretty quiet in the bus now except for the whining about staying longer. We have one more short stop to make then it's time to head home.

Wow!

We made a (too) brief stop at the Dulles branch of the Air and Space Museum. It is absolutely incredible. It has an SR-71 Blackbird, a Space Shuttle, the Enola Gay and a Concorde just to name a few. These aren't models or mock-ups - they're the real aircraft! I got a workout trying to see as much as I could. I checked with some of the girls to see if it was just a guy thing, but even they were impressed.

We've all made it through security after a small snow globe incident. Everyone is grabbing some dinner at the food court, then we're on our way home.
See you all soon!

Flying high

There is wi-fi on the plane so I thought just for fun I'd post a picture of the pretty pattern the sun was making on the cloud tops.

Wiped Out

Now that they're away from the excitement of D.C., this is one tired looking bunch. On our last plane. Almost home!

Home Sweet Home

and sweet tea (inside joke)