Here's a run down of the trip ... We took 7 adults and 16 students to Washington DC for a week. We left Salt Lake on a 6am flight, which means most of us slept all the way to Atlanta before we ran to our connection to DC. Arriving during a record heat wave, it was a kind of baptism by fire for these kids who are not used to humidity. We arrived at the hotel around 3:30pm, had dinner, then headed out for a walk around the monuments. It is a 6 1/2 mile walk if you see all of the monuments (which we did, of course), and in 90+ degrees plus 90% humidity -- everyone learned the value of a water bottle and air conditioning. We got back to the hotel around 10:30pm, and everyone crashed into bed.
Monday morning, everyone awoke early in the morning so we could go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We began our day later than planned, though, as the car rental experience wasn't exactly smooth as silk. No worries, though, because we made excellent time (NO TRAFFIC!!) and were only 15 minutes late for our appointment with the National Park Rangers. Elsha had arranged for us to have official guides get in our car with us and tell us about the battle (and all the cool stories) as we drove. It was so cool, and totally worth the money!! It was my 4th trip to Gettysburg, and by far the best. After our tour and lunch, we went to the cemetery. We saw the unmarked graves. There was a somber mood. We felt the Spirit. We even took a picture on the very spot (or pretty close) where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address.
Tuesday, we were in uniforms!! It made it a little more uncomfortable than before, but I have to say that I felt a little spoiled in my skirt when I looked at all the guys in their long black pants and ties. We visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to see the changing of the guard. It was HOT!! But looking at the Marines in their wool uniforms where the only skin showing was their face suddenly made us all feel very cool. That is, all of us but one who almost passed out from the heat, because she hadn't been drinking enough water. After Arlington, we headed to Union Station for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the hubbub and a chance to sit and relax a bit. Our final stop on Tuesday was a tour of the United States Capitol Building. Even though I lived in DC for three years, I hadn't been to the actual Capitol since I was 13 so this was a fun tour for me too. Our Congressman was even in his office to greet us and take a picture ... usually they are too busy.
Wednesday was another fun filled day -- albeit a little less structured. In the morning, we got a semi-late start (we left around 9am) and headed for the International Spy Museum. If you've never been, it's a MUST SEE! The kids loved it, and I loved seeing James Bond's car ... the real one. It was also so fascinating to see the times in history where world orders literally rose and fell due to the efforts of 1 or 2 spies. So cool! After the spy museum, we all kind of split up and headed to the various Smithsonian museums. Most kids went with a teacher to the Zoo -- oh yeah, did I mention that the heat broke on this day so we weren't melting the whole time :) -- I went to the Museum of Natural History with a couple girls; and everyone else went to Air and Space. We made it back to the hotel around 5ish, and RELAXED for the rest of the evening. Well, I only relaxed until 8 or so when my dear friend Cristy Campbell came down and took me out for ice cream in Georgetown -- she's not Cristy CAMPBELL anymore but she was then, so I can still publish it. :)
Thursday. First, we were privileged to see the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Magna Charta and other "Documents of Freedom" at the National Archives. It was quite impressive, though, as with most things in DC, the line to get in took longer to get through than actually looking at the documents did. After lunch, we got to go to the top of the Washington Monument. I had never done that before and it was so cool! Eddie and I went into the city early to get the tickets and learned a little trick -- if you are with a school, and have some ID or something to prove it -- they'll give you more than your 6 tickets per adult maximum. Two other cool bits of trivia learned at the Washington Monument. 1. You can see the LDS temple from the top. If you've never been to DC to know how amazing that is, the temple is in Maryland several miles away (I'm not good at guessing). 2. When the states sent in their stones to help complete the building several decades ago, Utah actually had to send in two. The first one they sent was of a beehive with honey bees and the word "Deseret" inscribed. I guess no one outside of Utah understood that, so they sent another stone explaining. It says something to the effect of "Deseret means honey bee. Utah." The Utah state symbol (and insect) is the honey bee representing the value of work. It's a word from the Book of Mormon (Ether 2:3).
Oh! I almost forgot!! On our way to the Washington Monument, we walked past the White House and took some pictures (which is the picture you see here). After the Washington Monument, we walked the short distance to the Holocaust Museum. Again, if you've never been, it's a must see -- but for a totally different reason than the Spy Museum. What an amazing monument to the people who suffered and saved others during the Holocaust. It's sobering to remember that the same sort of ethnic cleansing goes on today -- do we react the same way we did then??
Friday. Almost home. We got up at dawn to rent vans (much smoother experience this time) and drive the three hours to Williamsburg and Jamestown in Southern Virginia. It was great. We spend the morning at Jamestown, then drove the 15 minutes to Williamsburg. Once there, we split up, designated a meeting spot and time, and enjoyed traveling back to the late 1700's when Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia. They even do live "reenactments" during the afternoon, so Eddie and I saw what it was like when the Declaration of Independence was first read in Virginia in July 1776. We also saw George Washington travel through town on his way the battle at Yorktown to rally support and more volunteers. It was really cool. Once we met up with everyone, it was a pleasant drive back to our hotel. I was amazed no one slept, but we actually still had energy! We got back around 10pm and settled down for our last night in DC.
Saturday (finally), we had a chance to see the things we hadn't seen yet in the morning. Some of us went to Old Town Alexandria, some to the Air and Space Museum, and others to the mall a block from our hotel. :) Then it was to the airport and on our way home ...
I wish that could be the end of this post, but alas, it's not. Seven of us, myself included, had a very hard time checking in. Once Elsha got there, we discovered that our tickets were for JULY 14th (which would mean I should still be in DC). The Delta employees at the counter were very nice, though, and we got to go home with everyone else. WHEW!!!
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