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DC 2013 Day One
For the first time in years we are all on non-stop flights which gave me a chance to see both groups at school to start the journey. It was an early start. It was nice to see Mr. Bradley waiting in front of school when I drove up at 3:30am, closely followed by a bus leading a number of travelers ready to head East. This first group was a bit on the sleepy side but everyone arrived on-time, loaded up quickly and were on their way in less than 15 minutes. It’s awful quiet around KJHS at 4:00am when you are all by yourself, the only sound coming from the sprinklers. It was quite peaceful actually. Gave me a chance to start reading a book, a pleasure that happens far too seldom during the school year. The second group split onto two buses and we are on our way.
Arriving at SFO and the adventure begins. For some reason the lead bus pulled into the lower courtyard to drop us off. That’s okay. We just need to go up a flight in the elevator but oops, wrong terminal. Up another flight on the escalator and take the train to the correct terminal. Fortunately, the trailing bus went to the correct spot and Mr. Russo was getting us checked in when the second half of the group finished our tour of the airport. Off to the gate where it turns out that our pilot today on Virgin America is from Petaluma. His kids will be going to Kenilworth but not for a while yet since they are only 1 ½ and his wife is pregnant. He gave the kids a nice shout out on board the aircraft when he came out of the cockpit to give his pre-departure announcement. The kids thought that was pretty cool but not as cool as the seatback entertainment system Virgin America provides. As Garrett says, “Mr. Eklund, this is soooooo cool. We need to go on field trips like this more often…like every month.” I agree. Well, the kids have just finished shuffling seats after the seat belt sign went off. I am going to go back to my book. I will be back when we get to Dulles.
So we were supposed to be on the ground about 45 minutes ago. According to the map in the seat in front of me we have been circling over an area near Morgantown, West Virginia. Hopefully the first group didn’t have this trouble. Definitely ready to land….the natives, er the students, are getting restless. Especially the young man by the window who has opened and closed the shade every three minutes for the past five hours to check for….well, I still haven’t figured out why. Even the cool seatback entertainment is losing its appeal……………………
Finally on the ground. There was a huge, although short, thundershower over the airport which was the reason why we were circling. The first group missed this because they were at the Udvar-Hazy extension of the Aie and Space Museum. All I heard was the Space Shuttle is WAAAAAAAY bigger than they thought. I think Ms. Toal would be happy if we left her there and picked her up in a few days. If you like planes, they have some pretty cool ones here, including the Enola Gay, P-51’s, a Concorde, an SR-71 which would go so high and so fast that it would actually change shape in flight. When the second group finally landed, both buses met us at the airport…lead by the greatest bus driver ever…back again to take good care of us Tony Lane. Tony and James will be with us all week as will Karen (year 8) and Dale (2nd time). They were waiting for us at Hamburger Hamlet where we arrived a mere hour late for dinner. Simple fare of mac & cheese, cheeseburgers, fries, roasted chicken and ceasar salad. Simple but tasty then on to our first stop, the Air Force Memorial. This one has there stailess steel spires going up 279 feet to look like the contrails of three jets going skyward and splitting off. Very cool plus the view of the city is amazing. Next week drive around Arlington National Cemetery to the Marine Corp Memorial. This is a giant replica of the Marines raising the American Flag on top of Mount Saribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. The kids were looking intently for the mystical 13th hand, supposedly the hand of God, helping to raise the flag in the sculpture. Does it really exist, hard to tell but impressive none the less.
Time to call the end of a very long day. We drop off Dale and Karen and head to our hotel. Everybody checked in and in their rooms by 11:00pm. Hope they get some shut eye because wake up call is 5:45am. Talk to you tomorrow. Nighty nite.
DC 2013 Day Two
DC 2013 Day Two
A busy first day, a short nights sleep and it’s on to day number two. An early wake up call to more scattered rain and thunderstorms. The weather affected the drive into the city a little bit but not as much as a few raindrops hamper traffic on the 101. We pick up Karen and Dale and drive across the bridge and for the first time actually enter the District of Columbia (up til now we have just been in Virginia.) Driving down Constitution Avenue we pass by the International Peace Institute. It didn’t look like anyone was there yet so I’m guessing they haven’t come up with the solution to for World Peace just yet. Next we pass the Einstein statue. Hopefully we will come back here later for some group photos but no time right now because we are on our way to have our big group photo taken in front of the Capitol.
Doing it early was a good plan. There were no other groups to contend with and it stopped raining right before we arrived. After our photo it’s a long walk up the hill to the Capitol entrance. Since we are running early we have time to go check out the House of Representatives gallery before taking the tour. We have the place practically to ourselves!!! Awesome! This gives me a chance to explain everything they are seeing, how voting works, where the votes are tallied, who sits where, what the images are around the room, and pretty much everything about it I can think of to describe. Once down we still have time for two treats, a visit to the Capitol museum and we even get a chance to stop in the Capitol gift shop for the first time. In the museum we got to see the table Abraham Lincoln used at his second inauguration as well as a photograph of the event which showed the table, Mr. Lincoln, and Lincoln’s assassin john Wilkes Booth standing just a few yards away. Pretty creepy.
Next is the tour of the Capitol with really cool headsets that let everyone hear the guide very easily despite the crowds of people taking tours, working , and just walking and talking their way through the building. This tour is good or dull depending on the tour guides. We had two that were fantastic today. I especially like the way one of the guides talked to our kids as “ninth” graders since they have already promoted. Really made the kids feel good about their newly acquired status. The tour was pretty cool and we did get to see the most recent addition to the statues, a nice sculpture of Rosa Parks.
We walked to our next stop, lunch at Union Station. As we exit the Capitol we are facing the Supreme Court building which is currently being renovated. They did something really cool to make this more visually appealing. Instead of looking at the ugly scaffolding they have printed on the outside covering an image of the building that is being covered up so if you don’t look too close you would think you were looking at the actual building. What a great idea! As for Union Station, this old train station avoided the wrecking ball a few years back and now serves as a train station, a Metro subway station as well as a shopping mall, complete with a massive food court on the bottom floor. I can’t speak for everyone but I had the same thing I always get here, a fantastic Greek Gyro. Mmmmmm tasty!
After lunch, it was time to shop. On to Joe’s International. We have been stopping at Joe’s every year since he is such a nice guy and his prices are better than most of the shops and way better than what you would pay for things at Union Station. Never fear, the hooded sweatshirt lives on for another year! From Joe’s we talk a walk around the corner to see Ford’s Theatre and Peterson House. Unfortunately this year we were unable to fit in an appointment to these sites. There is/was a play in the theater last/this/next week so available slots to tour were few and far between so all can do is look from the outside and add this o our list on what to do when we come back here with our families someday. Fortunately, we have a really cool site next to ease the disappointment, the International SPY Museum. Wow, was this ever awesome, complete with a whole new exhibit taking up almost the entire ground floor on James Bond. I have never been a huge James Bond fan but this exhibit is absolutely fantastic. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this place immensely.
Back on the bus it is on to the very beautiful World War II Memorial. Located about halfway between the Lincoln and the Washington, this is an oval shaped fountain surrounded by columns with bronze wreath, etching describing the events of the war and a wall of 4,000 gold stars commemorating the 400,000 American soldiers who lost their lives during this war. From here we walked to the newest site, the memorial that is a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King. In the center there are three huge chunks of rock with Dr. King carved in to the middle stone. This statue is the only statue allowed to be taller than the nineteen foot height limit that applies to all statues in DC. None are allowed to be taller than Freedom statue which stand nineteen feet above the Capitol Building Dome. Angling out from either side of the two remaining chunks of stone are two polished granite walls with some of Dr. Kings more famous quotes carved into the granite.
At this point we split up, with one group going to dinner while the other tours the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (then we reverse this in about 35 minutes). Dinner is at the Sizzling Express. This is a buffet with loads of great choices, especially the salad, fruit and Korean BBQ Short Ribs. As far as buffets go, this one is pretty good. As for the FDR, this is one of the coolest memorials but there is sooooo much symbolism here that you really miss a lot if you were not listening the Karen or Dale describe what you are viewing. Basically, the FDR is a series of Outdoor rooms, made out of red granite along with bronze statues and other cool details to really bring FDR’s past to life.
Our last stop of the Day is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Often considered to be one of the smartest men every to serve as president, Mr. Jefferson is a huge bronze statue housed inside a domed building designed to look like the dome of his home in Monticello or the dome he designed for the University of Virginia. That about does it for day two. I had my Fitbit (sort of like a pedometer) on for most of the day (didn’t have it on from World War II to Dr MLK) and according to this device we walked over 8.1 miles and the equivalent of 18 flights of stairs. Its approaching midnight after getting 4.5 hours sleep last night…good thing we get to sleep in til 6:00 in the morning! Time to hit the hay…see you tomorrow from Mount Vernon.
DC 2013 Day Three
Today was a journey back in time to the Colonial period with a visit to George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon and what a perfect day for this visit. The weather couldn’t be better with low seventies and low humidity. Makes for a great day along the Potomac. On the way to Mount Vernon we watch a great film produced by the ladies of Mount Vernon called “We Fight to be Free”. It’s a short film that gives a brief overview of Washington’s rise from the French and Indian War to winning the Revolutionary War. This is the film they show as you enter the museum and learning center. I bought it a few years ago to show in class as well as on the bus so we can spend more time on the rest of the tour. Our first stop is the fabulous film presentation about the Revolutionary War. I call it a presentation rather than a film because in this theater the seats shake and it actually snows inside. It was fun for me to watch the reactions of the kids when it started snowing. Quite a nice surprise! After the film we toured the museum until it was time to get in line for our appointment to tour the home. On our way we ran into the group touring from Petaluma Junior High. Sounds like they are having a great time as well.
Going through the house, the “big room” was undergoing restoration which was actually quite interesting. It turns out that by using computer imaging they can go through the 25 plus layers of paint on the wall to see what the color of the room actually was during George Washington’s time so they will be able to match it perfectly. In the house the kids were surprised to see a key to the Bastille, the French prison liberated during the French Revolution, which was given to General Washington by Lafayette as a thank you for inspiring the French to revolt against their rulers just like the colonists did against the British. Upon exiting the house we could take a look at the archeology dig being conducted by the University of Virginia looking for artifacts from the kitchen days of long ago. More time to explore the grounds, finish looking through the museum and shopping before heading off for lunch.
Lunch today looked like it was going to be a zoo but actually went pretty smooth. We ate at a Roy Rogers Restaurant, once a huge national chain but now not to many of them left. Maybe its because none of our kids had any idea who Roy Rogers was let alone who he was married to or the song they sang at the end of every episode of the television show. Toobad, we could use a good singing cowboy about now. Anyway, the restaurant is similar to Arby’s menu but with a whole lot better tasting food. The fried chicken and BBQ beef sandwiches are both excellent.
After lunch we had quite a treat. We went to the White House to take some pictures in front of it. We knew that the President of Chile was in town and he, along with President Obama, was going to visit the wounded troops in the hospital. Turns out they were getting ready to go while we were in front of the White House. We hurried around back (which was quite a walk) and had the thrill of watching the president climb aboard and Marine One take off from the back lawn! What an awesome treat plus we got to see the Chilean President go by in a motorcade and check out a whole bunch of snipers with big rifles up on the roof.
Next it was on to the Mall and the Smithsonian Museums. The buses dropped us all off at the Air & Space Museum and gave everyone four hours to make their way down the Mall to the Natural History and American History museums. Everyone had a say in how long they wanted to stay at each museum as well as which parts of each museum they wanted to see. You are going to have to ask what your student saw in these places but as for me I loved the exhibits in the American History Museum on The First Ladies and the Presidents. I also like how they included the dollhouse Amy Carter used to play with as well as the “Get to Know the Kennedys” Board Game. There was a special section on all the presidents who died in office. For a history guy, this was really cool.
Next, can you believe its time to eat again? Tonight’s dinner is at the Pentagon City Mall, a big four story shopping Mall with a huge food court on the bottom floor. In all the years we have ate at this spot this was the first time the place was not packed with people. You could just walk up to any of the restaurants to pick for yourself what style food you wanted. Wraps? They got em’ BBQ? Got that too! How about Japanese, McDonalds or Subway? Yep, got them as well. The choices are extensive and refreshment is needed because tonight it’s the Big Three Memorials…Vietnam, Lincoln and Korean. But first, lets stop and have all the kids climb into Einstein’s lap for a photo. While all the kids are in his lap for the photo, these three French ladies came over and they were so confused. I think they believed our kids would stay there for hours or something. Quite funny. The statue is located across the street from the Vietnam Memorial so that is the easiest next stop as darkness is falling. I was proud of how respectful of the monument and its visitors our students were this evening. After three long days, remembering to be reverent and quite for an evening can be difficult and our kids handled things quite well.
Next is one of the most beautiful scenes in all of DC…the Lincoln Memorial at night. What a magnificent sight. A great memorial to honor a great man. Not only is it great to see this 18 foot tall replica of Lincoln sitting inside this monument but if you turn around the view up the Mall is absolutely incredible. The reflecting pool has been repaired and is full of water again. Looking up the Mall you can see the Washington Monument (currently surrounded in scaffolding to repair the earthquake damage) as well as its reflection in the pool. Absolutely awe inspiring. This brings us to our final stop of the day, the Korean War Memorial. Like Vietnam and Lincoln, this too is best viewed at night, and tonight it didn’t disappoint. These 16 full size bronze soldiers still look as stressed as ever in the small but bright lights shining up from blow.
Time to call it a day. We owe Tony and James a big thank you for letting us stay out an hour late tonight. Checking the Fitbit, we did walk as much as it seemed since it totaled out at 12.78 miles today. Hopefully we won’t be walking quite so much tomorrow but we do start out with that hefty hike up the hill to Arlington…and with that I am going to call it a night. Talk to you tomorrow.
DC 2013 Day Four
I was so excited last night that I actually made it to bed before 1:00am. I was thinking, “Oh boy, a full six hours sleep…in one night! Woo Hoo! Then, the fire alarm went off at 1:24am. Everybody up and outside. Wow, some of these kids can sleep through anything, well, anything except Mr Russo and Mr Bradley. Fortunately it was a false alarm. It was some kind of boyfriend/girlfriend spat where the girl got so angry that she pulled the fire alarm and, as the hotel manager told this morning as he profusely apologized for disrupting our sleep, that the woman had obtained new accommodations at the old grey bar hotel with a nice pair of silver bracelets to make her ride to her new digs less comfortable. Despite the interruption, everyone made it down to breakfast on time and we are on our way Arlington National Cemetery.
From the parking lot up to the sights we really want to see it’s a very long, uphill climb. Fortunately the weather is pretty cool this morning but the cemetery is probably the busiest I have ever seen. The group took off up the hill with stops at numerous sites along the way to allow Karen and Dale to describe what we are viewing. (Since I have been experiencing some pretty significant back pain I decided I better take the tram up and meet the group at the top. This worked out great on the way up but some interesting stuff happened on the way down I will tell you about later.) So the kids stop to view gravesites and memorials for Heavyweight Champ Joe Louis and Actor Lee Marvin. They also see the tributes to all the Astronauts lost since the beginning of the US Space Program as well as the memorial featuring the mast from the USS Maine which exploded in Havana Harbor 1898. At the Tomb of the Unknowns we got to see a ceremonial wreath laying, the playing of Taps as well as the Changing of the Guard. What an impressive site. We also stepped across the road where I delivered my lesson on America’s Greatest Military Hero Audie L Murphy. If you want to learn more, check out the movie “To Hell and Back” where Audie actually plays himself in the movie. It’s a great film. We also have a chance to view the Kennedy gravesites for John, Jackie, Robert and Ted. The JFK eternal flame is still burning brightly.
Both groups head back down the hill while I take a seat on the tram. As I mentioned earlier, the place is really crowded today. Part of the reason is there is a special ceremony taking place to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Medger Evers. Former president Bill Clinton will be attending so there are police EVERYWHERE! While we didn’t get to see the former president, his presence dramatically affected the trams. Instead of a quick stop at the Lee Mansion and then a return to the entrance to meet the kids, my tram was rerouted around the event, around a funeral, around another funeral, stop and wait for three trucks towing canons to pass us, stop for another funeral, loop back to the side again, etc. On the good side I got to see a LARGE chunk of the cemetery. I saw a lot of it twice since most of the reroutes had us going around in circles. I actually passed in front of the Nurses Memorial (which I didn’t even know existed) three times today, once on the way up and twice on the way down. Good thing the guides stopped a number of times on the way down the hill because by the time I finally got off the tram the buses we loaded, pulled out of their spaces and in the backed up line to get out the exit. Quite an adventure.
Our next stop is lunch at the National Shops which can be as big of a zoo as Union Station at lunch hour. Unfortunately there are not a whole lot of places in DC where a big group can get a quick lunch but today, even though it was crowded we were able to eat and go pretty quickly. Oh, but I almost forgot the best part. On the way to lunch we passed by the back of the White House where we saw a large crowd gathered right near the house. When we sat down to lunch they were televising the president welcoming the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens which os what we just saw as we drove by. How cool is that!
After lunch it is time to head over to the Holocaust Museum. The Daniel’s Story exhibit is a wonderful way for kids to learn about the Holocaust. As we are going through I had a chance to explain to many of the students what was happening to the Jews in Germany prior to World War II and how the Nazi’s were able to garner such control. We also had time to check out the new exhibit downstairs that explains how many of the collaborators with the Nazi’s were actually their very own neighbors. This museum always does such a great job with their special exhibits.
Next is a drive up Embassy Row. I really like both Dale and Karen but Embassy row just wasn’t as exciting without Anne telling us all the gossip along the way. We did see a number of Embassy’s though and even saw (sort of) where the Clintons and the Bidens live. It was also nice to see less construction than lass year. On this same route last year it took us 45 minutes to go a block and a half. This year we made it all the way from the Holocaust Museum to the National Cathedral in about 20 minutes. Arriving early gave us a chance to look for the Darth Vader gargoyle around the side of the building. Pretty cool but it is so high up that unless you have a telephoto lens it is pretty hard to tell what it is.
…………………………. To be continued…..I had a pretty hefty back spasm when we got back to our rooms and took some powerful painkillers which helped a lot but I can barely keep my eyes open so I will finish this on the bus on the way to Gettysburg in the morning. Good night.
DC 2013 Day Four Part Two
Finishing up from yesterday…..
The National Cathedral sustained some pretty serious damage in the same earthquake that hurt the Washington monument. Fortunately most of the damage was to exterior decorative parts and not the structure itself. The inside of this building is incredibly beautiful. From the intricate stonework to the hand carved woodwork to the stunning stained glass windows it really is a sight to behold. We hand a personally guided tour where the guides told us about the many hidden details as well as the history. It is an active church that you may have seen on television over the years. Hopefully your child took lots of pictures here but if not I would really recommend you do a Google and check it out to help your child describe the beauty and grandeur of the cathedral.
Next is an early dinner so we can get good spots at the Twilight Tattoo. Unfortunately, traffic is really heavy going through Georgetown but we did see the shop where they film DC Cupcakes. We also learned about a place nearby where you can take a boat ride on a canal where you can actually go through the locks. I think I might try to add this to a future trip since trying to describe how locks work is always such a challenge. Dinner is at the food court in the Balston Commons Mall. I love this stop because it is not as crowded as most but that’s not necessarily great because a number of the restaurants we used to be able to choose from are now closed. I guess the place wasn’t crowded enough.
Finally, it is time for the best event of the week, the Twilight Tattoo. Tonight’s show is honoring the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and they had a lot of honored guests who had served our country including a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Every year the show is a little different in presentation but includes many of the same elements. They started with the Army Blues, a really talented group of musicians who play everything from Swing music to Rock n Roll. The singers got the crowd involved before bringing out the Continental Color Guard, the Drum and Fife Corps, and the Army Drill Team. In between all these groups soldiers came out depicting various conflicts the US was involved with including firing off M-16, Howitzer Canons and even M-60 Machine Guns. It was AWESOME! They even shot off the howitzers in a 15 gun salute to honor the veterans in attendance. And, as promised, everyone was available to meet and greet after the show…even the Congrssional Medal of Honor winner who graciously took a photo with me…and he had the medal on! So cool! You cannot help but love our country after witnessing this event. It is awe inspiring.
On the way back to the hotel it is time to say farewell to Karen and Dale for another year. They always do such a great job for us and truly appreciate our great kids. Back at the hotel we have a quick meeting to go over packing and check out procedures before going up to our rooms, only to discover that none of our room keys are working. Not good because by the time I got into my roomy back is totally seized up. I am so grateful I have such good co-chaperones to help me this trip. They have been great…as have the kids. That’s it for yesterday. Oh, the kids were asking how far we walked yesterday. I don’t have an accurate count for the whole day since I took that tram but the rest of the day we walked 5.7 miles. Funny, it didn’t seem that far (until I couldn’t walk at all.)
DC 2013 Day Five
We had another busy morning this morning. We told the kids to pack most of their stuff last night since we will be moving out of this hotel today. Everyone was to leave their bags in their rooms until after breakfast when a chaperone would inspect their room and send them down to the bus with their luggage. Great plan and it was going so well until it was time for everyone to head back up to their rooms when we discovered that all the new keys were not working again. Oh well, rather than issue all new keys again the maintenance guy guest let everyone into their rooms and the check out begins. Considering the snafu with the keys the whole process was pretty smooth and we were on our way practically on time.
We are headed to Gettysburg. Along the way we pass somewhat near the Presidential Retreat at Camp David. You will notice I said “somewhat”. This is because it’s not even on the map. There are no real roads leading into the camp, you basically have to arrive by helicopter. So we might have, kinda, sorta drove past it this morning. Traffic is pretty light this morning so we arrive at the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitors center early. This gives the kids time to shop before going in to the movie and Cyclorama. This is a nice gift shop with really cool stuff and there is a lot of special items to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The coolest item? A T-Shirt designed like the Beatles Abby Road album cover with Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S Grant, Stonewall Jackson and Abraham Lincoln taking the place of George, John, Paul and Ringo crossing the street. Of course I got one! Wouldn’t you?
Next it is time to go into the theater. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this film gives a fantastic overview of the historic three-day battle. I wish they sold a DVD so I could show this in class but the don’t sell it, you will have to come to Gettysburg to see it. Basically the film outlines how the battle occurred even though neither side really intended to fight a major battle here. Gettysburg is simply a connecting point for about 10 roads coming in from all sides. Think of it as a freeway interchange on steroids but using horse drawn wagon and thousands of soldiers walking instead of cars. The battle happened here because the roads converged here and over the course of the three day battle, approximately 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing. Up to this point the South was winning almost every battle. The defeat at Gettysburg was devastating to the south. Even though the war continued on for about two years, for all intents and purposes the south lost the war at Gettysburg.
After the film its time to head upstairs to the Cyclorama. This is a 360 degree painting that curves and blends into the diorama on the floor that shows the action of the three day battle. This style of presentation was popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and was primarily found in Europe where you can still see a couple hundred of these today. The Cyclorama at Gettysburg is one of only three still around in North America. Despite being over 100 years old the painting still looks brand new. Using lights, sound and dialogue the painting appears to move as it comes to life to tell the story. By the way, the other two in North America can be found in Atlanta (depicts the Battle of Atlanta) and in Quebec, Canada (depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ).
Can you believe its time to eat again? Ahhhhh, time to visit the Dobbin House. Open since 1776 this tavern serves up a simple yet very tasty fare. Home made soups and desserts, a nice salad bar, the fixin’s for Turkey or Ham n Cheese sandwiches, a penne pasta dish and the BBQ Chicken. Despite its simplicity this is definitely my favorite meal on the trip. It is also a chance to see an actual stopping point on the Underground Railroad. By the way, the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati is supposed to be really cool. Maybe we should schedule a field trip there someday.
After lunch we go back to the visitors center and pick up our Gettysburg Guides for a driving tour of the battlefield. Joel and Les get onboard our buses to take us around the battlesite explaining how to fire a cannon, taking us to the top of a lookout tower, showing us around Little Round Top, the site for Pickett’s Charge, and letting us go inside the Pennsylvania Monument (I never knew you could go inside!) He asked the kids if they could figure out why they call it the John Wilkes Booth stairway. Pssst- just in case they didn’t figure it out, the reason is the window inside the room at the top of the stairs looks out at the back of the Lincoln’s head on the statue standing on a ledge outside the window. We have had a number of guides on this trip but I think today’s were among the best we have seen. They really knew their stuff but didn’t get so technical that the kids lost interest. A great tour!
Time for a bathroom break then it is on to Philadelphia. It started raining while we were touring the battlefield. It rained pretty good on the way to Philly. Dinner tonight was at a new place for us, UNO Pizza. We have been to an UNO Pizza in Fredricksburg and the food was good but I don’t think we have had service this good ever. They were obviously glad to have our business, fed us great food nd plenty of it and thanked us profusely for coming in to their restaurant. Not something you usually hear when you show up with 100 eighth graders.
After dinner we are ready to find the hotel and get some rest. After the fiasco at the hotel we stayed at last year we are trying a new one, a Hilton Garden Inn. I don’t think there is really a garden. In fact the lobby is on the ground floor but the rooms don’t start until the sixth floor with a parking garage in between. Plus it is right downtown, on a one way street, with the door on the traffic side of a one way street. No big deal tonight but I hear it’s a pretty busy street in the morning so we need to be careful and reminded the students to pay close attention in the morning. It stopped raining before we got to the hotel but the leading edge of tropical storm Andrea is headed our way. Hopefully the rain will wait to arrive until we taken off for home. Most likely I will be writing my notes on the flight home tomorrow. If I can I will try to post a partial before we take off (like last nights) and the rest on Saturday morning. Tomorrow we will be touring Philadelphia. See you around midnight Now, I gotta find some more pain medicine and get some sleep!. Ta Ta For Now. Mr. Eklund
DC 2013 Day Six
Hard to believe but today is our last day. Like yesterday, we have to pack all our bags before heading to breakfast. Today there were waffles. Did you know that President Thomas Jefferson introduced waffles to America? He learned how to make them when he was in the Netherlands. Some rooms missed their wake up call (my room had two of them for some reason) so breakfast was rather quick for a few people. Loading the bus turned out to be easier than it looked last night. The hotel actually blocked off a lane of traffic to keep us safe. Once on the bus it is just a few minutes away to the Constitution Center parking lot where we will be meeting our guides for the day.
Unfortunately it is raining today. But not as heavy as it was last night. Murray and Jon are awaiting our arrival while Rob is picking up our tickets for us. That will make things easier….thanks, Rob. Before we even finish unloading the buses, Rob is back and we are set to go. (Note: Each of the three groups sees and does slightly different things and I can barely walk today so I stayed at the Constitution Center which means the following details are recreated in some cases.) From the buses it is a fairly short walk to Independence Hall. On the way to the Hall there is a stop to look through the cemetery fence the Benjamin Franklin gravesite. There are a lot of coins and stones on his tomb. As we learned at Arlington, this is a sign of respect that is considered to be more long term than flowers. It turns out that the cemetery replaced a part of the brick wall near the gravesite with wrought iron because so many people wanted to visit the grave that it was difficult to take care of any other business. This we people can get up close without the hassle of people tramping through the cemetery.
Next stop is the highlight of the tour – Independence Hall! Fortunately, everyone one of us should be familiar with the scene because I gave everybody 10 copies of the portrait depicting this scene that hangs in the Rotunda of the Capitol. This is where the Continental Congress debated and ultimately signed the Declaration of Independence. This is also the painting that appears on the back of every $2.00 bill. Its pretty cool to see George Washington’s chair and think about Benjamin Franklins comments that he hoped it was a rising sun not a setting sun that was carved into the back of the chair.
Next it is over to Congress Hall which looks very much like the inside of a courtroom. This is the room where our first Senators and Representatives met. It is also where they risked treason by debating tossing the Articles of Confederation and replacing it with the Constitution. It is really neat to know we are hanging out in the same places our founding fathers did over 230 years ago. Next up is the other must see site in Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell. The line to view this is ALWAYS long, even in the rain but its one of those things that you never forget. Yes, the crack is still there but ooooh is this symbol of freedom ever cool to view!
Another interesting place was Betsy Ross’s house. Betsy was commissioned to sew the first American flag. The house is small but fairly well maintained. It was a nice tour of her house which was simple and plain since she definitely was not wealthy. We knew this from our visit to Christ Church, where the parishoners had to pay a seat license fee. The Franklins had a nice pew near the center of the church while Betsy Ross could only afford the sight obscure seats behind the pillar. To me, probably the weirdest part is that Betsy Ross is buried in the front yard…of a rental property. I can’t imagine the landlord thinking this would be a good idea.
Benjamin Franklin’s original print shop is long gone but The National Park’s service has built a reimagined version of it that is fully functional, just as it was in Mr. Franklin’s time. As they explain how the printing press works that were actually printing copies of the Declaration of Independence that looked and felt just like the original…well, not that I have touched an original but that’s what the ranger said it looked and felt like. Outside the back of the print shop there are some large cement circles on the ground. It turns out these are covered over pits from the former locations of Benjamin Franklin’s and his neighbors outhouses.
As we walk along, on some of the older homes there are Fire Department Medallions. These are small metal plates that indicate if the homeowner has purchase fire insurance. If you had not paid chances are the firemen would stand by and watch your house burn. Now that would be a bummer. To have the firemen right there with all the equipment only to have them just stand there and watch…I guess that is pretty good incentive to make your fire insurance payments on time. Granted most of the houses are made out of bricks to help limit fire damage but it would be a good idea to have the insurance anyway.
We saw two – very different types of churches today. Christ Church was your basic American version of the Church of England while the other wasn’t really called a church at all. The Quakers called their churches meetinghouses. They do not have a traditional minister or pastor who runs the service but instead, anyone and everyone is allowed to speak in one of their meetings, even the women. As revolutionary fervor starts to build, the Quakers anger many of their fellow citizens due to their pacifist beliefs. In particular William Penn’s son Billy Penn is treated like a coward because he doesn’t want to fight or go to war against Great Britain. He wasn’t alone but the Quakers were probably the most vocal anti-war group in the colonies.
Almost every house on Elfreth’s Alley has the fire department seal. Good thing too because this street is so narrow and the houses so tall that a fire would spread extremely quickly. This was a problem when there wasn’t a fire as well. Since the houses were so narrow and tall it was hard to see who was knocking at the door without going down one or two flights of stairs. To get around this problem people living there began installing mirrors so they could identify who was at the front door from upstairs.
While the group toured the historic section of Philadelphia I checked out the Constitution Center to see if we might want to come here on a future visit (not to mention it was hard to walk very far). The center is divided into two main sections. The lower part is a theater in the round where a single woman gave a monologue about freedom as images are projected on the floor, on a band of screens above the audience at the outside edge of the theater, and on four cloths screens that descend from the ceiling for a little while during the show. Aft the show you exit at the top to a series of displays about the Constitution. Frankly, it was on the dull side, and this is coming from a history nerd. I don’t think the kids missed anything by not going in to this center. The tour was better, even in the rain.
The groups all meet back at the bus and its off to lunch. We had a genuine Philadelphia experience. A drive through crowded, downtown streets to a seedy dive off the main strip (well, that’s the way it seemed anyway.) Lunch was at Steaks on South and yup, the steaks they are talking about are genuine Philly Cheesesteaks. Not the classiest joint in town but they tried and the food was pretty good. Back on the bus and we are off to see the Rocky Stairs. If you have seen the movie “Rocky” then you will remember he trained by running up this massive flight of stairs. In the film they make it look ever bigger but it is still pretty big with about seventy steps to the top. Even though it is raining pretty good a lo of kids wanted to make the run to the top and raise their fists, just like Rocky did in the movie. The were drenched but what a once in a lifetime experience. They came back to the busses all pumped up and excited.
Now we are at the airport awaiting our flights. I don’t know if the United group has left yet. If they are on-time they will be in SFO around 10:00pm. As of right now the Virgin America flight is looking at a 10:13pm departure time, a little later than our scheduled 6:53pm departure time. This should put us into SFO around 1:30am or so, then about another hour to Petaluma. We will have the kids call home when we reach Novato and I will send a final update on Saturday….Ta Ta For Now.
DC 2013 Final Update
Our last day of the trip turned out to be a very long day. Going through security in Philadelphia turned out to be a royal pain. It seems the new high tech machines you stand in with your arms raised as something spins around you has trouble with wet clothes. The TSA agents didn’t even know this would affect the machines. Since we had a bunch of kids run up the Rocky stairs (as did Mr Russo and Mr Klemenok) it took us quite a while to get through security. We finally make it to our gate and since we have a long wait ahead of us we give everyone some cash to go buy some dinner and just hang out.
The flights home were relatively smooth (a little bumpy over the Rockies) and we actually made up some time before arriving in San Francisco. The bus was there waiting for us when each group arrived so all we have to do is sit back and relax for the last hour of our journey. Thus we reach the end of a very long, exciting, informative, tiring, educational, fun trip. I can pretty well guarantee everyone is exhausted but what an adventure. Thank you very much for sending your student on this incredible journey.
I would also like to thank my fellow chaperones for all the help they provided me on this trip. I was in such severe pain, particularly the last couple days, that I physically could not have done it without help. In a few weeks, when the photos we took on the Capitol steps arrive, I will hang out at Kenilworth to pass them out. Until then, rest up, enjoy your summer and thanks again for a wonderful experience.
Michael Eklund
P.S. If you would like to join us again next summer, we still have room. The t rip will go to Washington DC, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Baltimore and possibly Monticello. We are also hoping to meet up with our Congressman as well as Martha Washington. It should be fun.
This is not a school sponsored event.
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