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2019 Washington DC Trip – Day One  - June 2, 2019

 

It was an early start today.  I arrived at school about 1:20am to see my daughter, who was on her way home from work, waiting to see me off. What a nice surprise.  The other nice surprise was the lights were on in front of school.  When both buses arrived shortly before two almost everyone was there for the Delta flights. We loaded up and only had to wait for one late arrival before that bus headed out.  The second bus loaded up right on time and we are on our way. SFO here we come!

 

As I am writing this we are cruising at an altitude of 37,000 (I didn’t bring an altimeter so I will just take the pilots word for it) on our way to a plane change in Chicago before landing in Norfolk, Virginia.  The other group is changing planes in Atlanta on their way to Richmond, Virginia. I have never been through Richmond so I am not sure what sights they will take in on the way to Williamsburg but I know in Norfolk we will have a nice view of the United States Naval Base and shipyard before descending into the tunnel under the river (or is it a bay?...I am not sure).  The two groups will be meeting up for dinner at Sal’s Italian Restaurant. This is a new stop for us so I am interested to see how the food is here.  After dinner it is on to the Ghost Tour and the hotel so I will be back later with more.

 

Our second flight was a bit bumpy and we boarded a half hour late but we made it to Norfolk pretty much on time.  Tony is driving this bus, James will be picking up the other group in Richmond. As we head towards Williamsburg we pass by the naval base and sure enough, there are three aircraft carriers in the harbor. Pretty cool site to behold. According to Tony we just missed the fourth carrier, which was exiting the base as he drove into the airport.  We arrive into Williamsburg a little early so we took a little driving tour of Williamsburg and then stopped for a little photo-op at the stocks.  It was fun to pretend to get locked up although I doubt it would be as fun if it had been the real thing.  Then it is time to meet up with the other group at dinner.

 

It is a new restaurant this year,  an Italian Restaurant called Sal’s.  The food was really good. Excellent pizza as well as pasta, huge meatballs, salad and brownies.  Very nice, large enough for all of us.  The service was quick, the food was tasty, definitely a keeper.  We will definitely come back to this restaurant. 

 

After dinner it is time for the Ghost Tour.  We had three excellent guides this year. They took us in three groups wandering throughout Colonial Williamsburg in the dark.  One interesting site was an obelisk at the cemetery that had a skeleton head and a dog that appears on it in the dark but it isn’t “really” there.  They show up in the flash photos but if you just look at it you don’t see anything except the cement.  I am not sure how many people saw ghosts tonight but the guides sure had everybody scared.  They were probably the best ghost tours we have ever had.  Such fun.

 

Time to go to the hotel.  Have not stayed in this hotel before. Nice layout but  I was bummed that I could not get the internet to work or even get cell phone coverage (which is why this is being published late).   Tomorrow is a late start to the day, wake up call is a 6:30am  Talk to you tomorrow.

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2019 Washington DC Trip – Day Two  - June 3, 2019
 
What a beautiful day!!!! 70-80 degrees with low humidity and cool breezes, we could not have asked for nicer weather.  It is especially nice after the huge thunderstorm at 1:30 this morning.  Breakfast was at 7:30 this morning but I was very surprised to see how many of us were down in the lobby ready to go before seven.  Had a small buffet with eggs, potatoes, sausage, pancakes, cereal, fruit, Danish and donuts. Great start to the day.
 
This is a new hotel for us and other than the terrible WiFi and spotty cell phone coverage it was a pretty decent hotel.  Easy to get to our rooms and all on one floor Well played for a Best Western. Our two guides from Worldstrides met us at breakfast to go over our plan for the day.  On the way to Jamestown we saw a real life example of well, real life.  Up ahead of us we saw a couple turkey vultures poking at some road kill but as we got closer we found it was a young raccoon that had apparently been hit by a car but wasn’t dead.  The reaction on the bus was horrified as we passed them living out the cycle of life. I thought I should mention it in case the topic came up at home.  Now, on to our first stop, the Jamestown settlement.  Here we go out by the river to check out the glass blowing operation. Just like in the early 1600’s the folks at Jamestown are making their money making and selling glassware. You can even purchase the items they make right there. An $80 glass Pineapple anyone?  We also step out to the river side in time to watch a ferry boat coming in with a load of cars to pick up some of the cars that were waiting on our side for a ride.
 
Next we go around the corner for a tour of the actual settlement. We pick up four Jamestown guides who are each absolutely wonderful.  We split into four groups so each group has a different experience but I will try to paint the general picture. This site is broken into few parts.  There is a reproduction of a Powhatan Indian Village. the docks with replica’s of the three ships the settlers used to come to America, the reproduced fort and settlement and fort, a visitors center with a gallery and education center plus an awesome gift shop.  
 
In the Powhatan village. there were demonstrations with live docents playing the parts showing us how they tanned hides, making and using bows and arrows,  different types of bows and arrows, making a dugout canoe, weaving reeds into mats and walls for their houses. It was interesting to see how they heated their homes with a fire pit in the middle without filling the homes with smoke.  The hunky Indian hunter was eye candy for certain chaperones but he also really knew his arrowheads and which ones to use for hunting which animal. And how to switch them out on the different arrow shafts.
 
The docks are under construction so only one of the ships was available to board but it was the largest ship – the Susan Constant.  I say largest but it isn’t really that big.  You can barely stand up in most of it. There was a total of 104 passengers on all four ships but how they fit that many I have no idea.  We did take a tour of this ship but we could just look at the other two, the Godspeed and the Discovery.  They were also giving a pretty neat demo on various types of knots and how to tie them. The guy tying the knots was great with the kids and very funny. I really enjoyed his presentation.  There was even a demonstration of how to make rope.
 
The Fort and Settlement is probably the coolest part of this site. In the fort we saw all kinds of cool stuff.  The blacksmith was making nails. The gunsmith was demonstrating how to fire a matchlock musket (DANG! It was loud!), touring the church and community meeting center, the governors house, the tobacco drying room, trying on the armor,  and laughing at the chicken sitting on top the  shelf above the big fancy chair no one but the governor was allowed to sit in.  We learned that there were multiple men per bed (funny I am not hearing a bunch of complaints from the boys sharing beds this year…yeah!) and that there was armor in all the rooms so they could be ready to fight at a moments notice.  Everyone throughout the entire place is dressed in the period clothing, including body paint on the native Americans.  They are even growing tobacco and other crops the same way they did it all the way back in 1607.  Very cool.
 
The visitors center is a pretty nice museum all on its own.  It takes you through the whole history of Jamestown from its founding up to today.  They also have one of the nicest gift shops. If you are history nerd like me you could easily drop hundreds of dollars in this shop picking up stuff to use in class.  Oh, wait a minute, over the years I already have.  If you ever make it out this way, this is definitely worth a stop.
 
Next up, it is time to each again. This time it is a time period restaurant called the King’s Arms Inn.  The fare today is fried chicken, green beans and French fries. I am not sure the fries were time period correct but it hit the spot.  Dessert was home made  ice cream, just like the colonists used to have although in colonial times the ice cream was only available in the wintertime because you needed the ice to  make it and there was no refrigeration. Funny, most of us think of ice cream as a summertime treat but it was not possible.  I guess it makes sense when you think about it when you consider that Alaskans eat more ice cream per person than any place else in the country.
 
After lunch we take a tour of Historic Colonial Williamsburg. This place is set up like it is 1775, shortly before the American Revolution.  Everyone is dressed in period clothing, the streets were blocked off from cars, and just about every building has some type of docent and/or tour describing how life was at the time.  Each group had a different experience because there are just so many places to visit it is impossible to see them all in a singe day let alone in just a few hours. The only spot I am pretty sure everyone did see was the Capitol.  This is the building where the House of Burgesses (which was essentially their version of Congress) would meet.  Ion the upper floor , the Burgesses would meet on one side while the Kings representatives would meet on the other with a negotiation room in between where both sides would meet to reach a compromise.  The final room downstairs was the courthouse where Capitol crimes would be heard. You didn’t want to be on trial in this room because capitol crimes are crimes where there is a possibility you would be put to death if you were found guilty. In fact, there were four crimes that death was pretty much the only sentence.  They were murder, rape, horse theft and sedition.  Now if you were found guilty of the murder, rape or horse theft the death penalty would be carried out almost immediately (usually within ten minutes right out back) and the conviction rate was about 95% with NO possibility of an appeal. The penalty for sedition could be even worse than death. For this you would be hung until you were almost dead then revived, your eyes were forced open so you had to watch yourself being disemboweled (meaning having his intestines cut out) then drawn and quartered (where they attach each arm and leg to four separate horse then slap their butts to run off in four separate directions. Yikes!
 
In addition to the Capitol some of our groups toured the prison. The prison was only used to hold prisoners while they were awaiting trial not as a punishment after conviction. There was also the gunsmith where you can purchase an actual period musket made by one of the craftsman there but beware there is a thirteen year waitlist to get one and they cost up to $100,000.  We went into the wig shop where we could get one of those cool white wigs the officials wore at that time. By the way, George Washington was one of the few who didn’t have a wig but that was his actual hair. Some of us had an opportunity to mix the mud to make bricks. We could also tour the jewelry maker’s shop, the cabinet maker, the blacksmith, the horse stables, or anyone of a host of period shops and businesses.  Pretty fun day finished off with a bit of shopping in the College of William & Mary Bookstore, the Candy store and/or the Doll Shop.
 
Next up its dinner, tonight we dine at the Golden Corral Buffet. I am not a big fan of buffets but the Golden Corral is in a league of its own. Lots of options not seen in most buffets including steak, ribs, a chocolate fountain and …well, I think Charlie Lewis summed it up best. She came walking up to her table with chocolate all over her face with a plate of six chocolate covered strawberries singing out in a deep, loud voice…”I LOVE THIS PLACE”! Too darn funny. 
 
After dinner it is about a two hour drive to Charlottesville and the singing busted out on the bus.  I was pleasantly surprised how into it the students were tonight.  We got quite loud especially during Tiny Dancer, Shake It Off and even Take Me Home Country Roads! Love it!  Tonight is our second hotel.  This time it is a Doubletree and it is quite nice. We have our first evening meeting where we have a debrief about the day, ask a bunch of trivia questions about the stuff we learned today, toss out a bunch of prizes and generally cap off a great day with a fun get together.  All in all it was a great day.  Everyone is exhausted but everyone was smiling. Time for bed to rest up for more fun times tomorrow. Nighty Night

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2019 Washington DC Trip – Day Three  - June 4, 2019

 

Our adventure continues!  We start off the day with breakfast in the hotel again, this time there is a wonderful fruit salad with the biggest blackberries in the mix. They also had everyone’s favorite---BACON!  A yummy breakfast and this morning, the kids appear to be much better rested.  That’s a good thing because it is going to be a fun but long day.

 

First stop today is Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello. What an impressive place! Located at the top of the hill overlooking a 5,000 acre farm the view of the surrounding valley is quite impressive.  We are divided up into four tour groups and we have to take a from the visitors center up the hill in a number of shuttle buses.  I am bringing up the rear today so by the time we get up the hill the first two groups have already started the tour.  The tour inside the home takes about forty minutes. The guide for our group, Danna, turns out to be one of the greatest tour guides I have ever encountered. She is so knowledgeable and friendly and really knows her stuff.

 

After sitting for a photo op and a story on the front steps it is time to enter the home. The entry foyer is decorated with numerous artifacts from our country, many of which were brought back to Jefferson by the Lewis and Clark expedition.  There is a buffalo skin decorated by Native American hieroglyphics given by the Mandan’s, a huge set of Elk antlers,  as well as lots of bows, arrows and peace pipes obtained from various native tribes.  The next room is Jefferson’s private office complete with the desk he used to design the buildings for the University of Virginia (which he founded and you could see from his house through the trees about three miles away.) Here our guide talked extensively about Jefferson’s personal life. He had been married for ten years and had six children (only two of which lived to adulthood) before his wife passed away while delivering his sixth child (this child died when she was two).  He was so upset by this that he moved to France with his oldest daughter leaving his second daughter and the baby to live with an Aunt in Virginia.  In France, he put his daughter into a school, which was practically unheard of for girls at the time.  The baby passed away at the age of two at which point Jefferson sent for his now 9 year old to come to Paris. She is brought over by Sally Hemmings. Now it is getting complicated, and you are just going to have to read the book. Actually there are a few books. I can’t wait to get the biography of Jefferson’s oldest daughter. It seems she liked the Convent School so much that she told Dad she waned to be a nun so he took her out of school and brought her home to America where he had her married off  within two months…and it just gets more interesting BUT I digress…..back to Monticello.

 

The next room was Jefferson’s private quarters and study. Her had his version of a copying machine. A contraption with two pens where he wrote with one and the second one made a copy at the same time.  Pretty cool. On to his bedroom but wait, there is a bed in the wall in between the two rooms.  Apparently this is a very French way to do beds. Kinda cool but also kinda short.  It had lots of pillows and you would sleep almost sitting up.  Sounds to me like it was his way of fighting acid reflux.  The bedroom had a hidden stairway that lead to a closet that was located above the bed with the round windows open over the bedroom to let light and air into the closet.  Next is the dining room and since Jefferson didn’t want slaves or servants interrupting his conversations (or overhearing something) there was a dumbwaiter on either side of the fireplace as well as a door size lazy susan between the hallway and the kitchen so food and drink could be delivered without disruption. Very interesting.  The last room we entered on the main floor of the has was a guest bedroom where Thomas Jefferson’s best friend  James Madison and his wife Dolly frequently stayed (although Dolly didn’t like that bed.)

 

That is essentially the main floor. There are two floors above and another underneath.  Upstairs is pretty much only bedrooms. Downstairs  at either end of the house were rarities for the time, indoor necessaries or privy’s. We know them as indoor toilets.  From here everyone had a different experience. They could have gone through an excellent exhibit on Sally Hemmings, gone to visit the Jefferson Family cemetery, visited the Mulberry Garden or a host of other cool things to see.  There is also a museum, a film (although I told everyone to skip the film since I bought it and we would show it on the bus on the way to Quantico) and an excellent gift shop.  This gift shop was a very, very bad place for this history nerd.  I had to tear myself away as my credit card had a meltdown. I bought a lot of cool stuff to use in my classroom.  (Sssshhhhhhh, there’s no need to tell my wife how much I spent today.)

 

Next up is it’s time for lunch at Michies Tavern. We knew we in for a treat because everyone we encountered who asked where we would be eating responded with the same comment of how much we were going to love it. Oh My, was this ever a tasty stop! A true southern style meal with the juiciest, tenderist tastiest fried chicken ever.  To go with the chicken was black eyed peas, mashed potatoes, green beans, cole slaw, and for dessert, Peach Cobbler.  The food was great, all you could eat, and the service was even better.  They also had a pretty nifty gift shop next to the buses that made the stop even better.  Pretty awesome morning if you ask me.

 

After lunch we have a bit of a drive so we watched the film that I bought which we had skipped at Monticello as well as the introductory film for the Marine Corps Museum, which is our next stop.  This museum does a great job of walking us through the entire history of the Marine Corps.  From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli there was a series of life size diorama’s showing Marine’s involvement if every military conflict our country has faced before heading into Washington DC

 

We come in to the nation’s capitol past the Pentagon and over the Potomac River., watching aircraft make their crazy approach over the river as they land at Ronald Reagan Airport. Our first stop is the Holocaust Museum where we meet up with our DC guides, Dale and Debbie.  After making our way through security we go through Daniels Story which tells the story of the Jewish experience in Germany under the rule of the Nazi’s.  While this is a version of the story geared towards kids it is still pretty intense and I was very impressed with how seriously our students took in the information.  It was especially gratifying to see how well our students behaved when a totally unruly group of students from Ohio came tromping through the exhibit without a single thought to anyone else. Thank goodness our students have been taught better manners (Thank you moms and dads!).

 

Next stop was dinner. Tonight we dined at a sports themed restaurant called Champs.  There were burgers, quesadillas, or chicken fingers with fries and a salad.  Not fine dining like our lunch was but it still hit the spot.  The students seemed pretty happy with the choices. While we were at dinner I made some changes to our schedule with our guides.

 

After dinner we made our photo op at the Einstein Statue. All the kids climbed in his lap for a picture.  The place was really busy so we didn’t take the shot with everyone’s camera but I will try to get a copy and post it later in the week.  We then cross the street to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. This is a very solemn place.  Of all the memorials it is this one where you are most likely to encounter people crying and getting emotional.  It really is a powerful sight with over 58,000 names carved into the black granite walls.  There are also two other parts to this memorial saluting the soldiers themselves as well as the female nurses who assisted during this conflict.  We also saw another site at this memorial, the Petaluma Junior High DC Trip students and teachers, including Mr Klemenock.  Mr K used to be at Kenilworth so he wanted me to make sure I said hello to everyone back at Kenilworth for him.  So, from Mr Klemenock   “HELLO!”

 

Next we cross past the reflecting pool (which is drained again for some reason…and smells REALLY bad) over to the Korean War Memorial. This features 16 full size bronze statues of soldiers walking through the rice paddies of Korea. You can really see the fear and apprehension in the eyes of these statutes.  Also, it is said that no matter where you are standing on the “V” shaped cement walkway around the statues, at least one of the soldiers will be looking right at you. I was checking this out and sure enough, that is entirely true.  It is pretty creepy when it looks like their eyes are following you around the exhibit.

 

Our last stop of the evening is considered by most to be the most impressive memorial of all, the Lincoln Memorial.  It is not quite dark but we are upstairs inside the memorial when the lights come on. What a beautiful sight, not just of Lincoln but when you turn around and look at the Washington Monument and the Capitol beyond, there just isn’t a better view anywhere. What a great way to end a perfect day of touring.

 

Tomorrow morning it is off to the Capitol.  Good night.

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2019 DC Trip  Day Four - June 5, 2019

 

Hi Everyone,

Another full day, here's what we were doing.  We started off getting our picture taken on the steps of the Grant Memorial with the Capitol in the background. I am not sure what the deal is but this monument has been under construction/cleaning/fixing for at least four years now.  How long does it take to clean up a statue?  Anyway we lined up on the steps and I am pretty sure these photos are going to be the best pictures ever taken. They have to be. This photographer spent forever moving people slightly this way and that.  These photos are included in the price of your trip so I will let you know when they are available.  Once they arrive I will come hang out in front of Kenilworth for a morning passing them out.  Most likely this will not happen until after we get back from Europe in early July but I will let you know.

One downside of having such a perfectionist for a photographer is we are now running late to get up to the Capitol.We arrive at security and the line is huge. Fortunately we know to go to the other side where the line is shorter. They did process us very quickly but once we got inside we saw why it was so difficult to get Capitol Tour appointments this year. The place is an absolute zoo. Wall to wall people, all waiting to take a tour. We have four separate tour times as well as an appointment to meet with our Congressman Jared Huffman.  The first group leaves on their tour before Mr Huffman arrives which is a bummer for them but they actually luck out by leaving early because they end up being the only group who is able to visit the House of Representatives gallery.  Pretty cool for them. Unfortunately the House was not in session when they went in but they did get to see it and hear from one of the guides how everything worked.  As for the other groups, because of the slow photographer we end up not having time to go the gallery so it is a good thing they get to meet their congressman.

As usual, Congressman Huffman does not disappoint. He is always so great with the kids. He is great at relating to them on their level. He is genuine and kind and even takes the tough questions with a smile and an honest response. I especially liked his response to Avery when she asked if 16 year olds should have the right to vote. I am so glad our kids had a chance to meet him. 

After meeting the Congressman we have a chance to tour the visitors center. The main exhibition hall is closed for remodeling but many of the exhibits are spread out in the hallways throughout the building. Finally the tour begins with a film called "Out of Many, One".  This is a great film that reminds me of the old America the Beautiful film in the circle at Disneyland.  Beautiful visuals as the voice over talks about how our government is designed to have all of our representatives work together for the benefit of all. After the film it is time to join up with our Capitol tour guide. 

The guide for the group I went with was fantastic.  She was very funny and personable but she was also very knowledgeable.  There is so much here to see that everyone's story will be different but some of the highlights include George Washington's crypt  (he is not in it!), the statues in the Rotunda (there are a lot of them including Dwight D Eisenhower, Alexander Hamilton, Dr Martin Luther King as well as one of California's statues, Ronald Regan...every state gets two statues.) She also talks about a painting that goes all the way around the Rotunda that looks 3-D but is actually a flat painting depicting our history from Columbus to the Wright Brothers, the huge paintings on the wall including the portrait of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that is featured on the back of the $2 bill. It became painfully obvious that some of us did not read the info in the packet I gave the when they got on the bus because they had no idea tat there was an envelope with $10 in $2 bills in the packet.  She also mentioned the painting on the ceiling of George Washington and 15 women. The women represent the 13 original states plus liberty and freedom.  What is amazing about these paintings is their size.  The don't look it but the people shown in the round the building painting are all about 7 feet high while the painting on the ceiling is the size of a basketball court. We also tour the old house chambers which is now pretty much just a hall of statues. Pretty cool. 

Next up it is lunch time. To avoid wasting tons of time in the vastly overcrowded lunchtime restaurants in this part of town we have boxed lunches while seated on the steps of the Navy Memorial.  I had never been here before. It was simple but kind of neat. It had a couple statues showing sailors on the edge of a huge globe etched into the ground. Like I said, simple but nice.

After lunch we walk down to the Newseum. It is sad to know that this museum is closing at the end of December. There are lots of interesting exhibits such as a section of the Berlin Wall, the radio tower off the top of one of the World Trade Center Towers, today's front page of virtually every major newspaper around the world, A series of short films explaining unusual events that helped lead to the Declaration of Independence and a host of other news related exhibits.  It was hard to tell they will be closing except when it came to shopping in the gift shops.  There was very little on display, few items to choose from and their prices were still crazy expensive. Very sad day indeed. 

Next up time to shop for some souvenirs so we head over to Joe's. Joe operates on of the nicest discount souvenir shops in the city. Unfortunately we were not the only ones to figure this out.  The place is packed.  It is full because he has good prices but also because of some of the news we learned while at the Newseum.  Due to the threat of thunderstorms the Twilight Tattoo was moved inside for this evening.  When performed inside there is less room and as a result some schools are not allowed to attend. Unfortunately, we were one of the groups that didn't get invited. Bummer, but that gives us an opportunity to try something different. 

From Joe's we stop to drop our purchases to head inside the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.  Two museums contained in one large three story building. I had never been here before either but it was quite nice.  There are portraits of every president that are quite impressive but that is just the beginning. There are also portraits of every period in our country's history from revolutionary times up through modern times.  There is a special exhibit about the Vietnam War. There was even a portrait of OPRAH! A lot more to see here than I had expected. 

Dinner tonight is at the Pentagon City Mall.  This a regular larger, four story city mall with an extra large food court. Everyone gets a voucher with a list of choices at many of the restaurants in the food court.  I am not sure who chose what but the lines at Charleys Philly Steaks, Popeye's Chicken, Panda Express and Taco Bell were awful long!

After dinner we have time for one last stop, this time at the United States Maine Corps Memorial. This hug statue depicts the events of Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the raising of the American flag on Mt Sirabachi during the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II What an impressive site! What a day.
That is it for today. We have an early start in the morning and I really need to get some sleep.

 

2019 Washington DC Trip – Day Five  - June 6, 2019
 
Time to start our day. Traffic is much heavier this morning but we are ready for a great day. Rather appropriate that we are visiting Arlington National Cemetery first thing this morning since today is the 75th anniversary of the invasion of the beaches of Normandy on D-Day during World War II. It is sprinkling this morning with lots of clouds in the sky when we left the hotel but by the time we get to Arlington it is already getting hot…and humid…and crowded!  I have been here 14 times and I have never seen it this crowded and this is at 8:00 in the morning. Yikes!  We decide to make the hike straight up the hill to catch the 9:00am changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldiers. We get there early enough to get the prime viewing spot near the end where the sergeant will inspect the incoming guard. The precision with which these men perform their duties is amazing, not to mention, they never seem to sweat despite wearing wool uniforms.
 
We saw a change as well as a wreath laying ceremony then headed across the street to Audie L Murphy’s gravesite.  Murphy is the single most highly decorated American soldier…ever. It is also the second most visited gravesite at Arlington.  Make sure you read the handout regarding this great man that I included in your packet. Our next stop is the most visited site - the Kennedy grave sites (John and Jackie,  Joe, Robert and Ted)  on the hill below the Robert E Lee house.  While John & Jackie’s grave has an eternal burning flame, Joe, Robert and Ted’s graves are marked by a simple white, wooden cross.
 
It takes forever to get the buses out of the parking lot but James and Tony are the masters so we make it to Ford’s Theater in plenty of time.  Ford’s Theater is where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.  We start this tour off in a great museum that has been added underneath the theater. It has lots of neat little exhibits and artifacts such as the door that Booth carved the view hole through and the gun that was used.  After touring the museum we head up into the theater itself where a park ranger told the story from the perspective of a sergeant who was the soldier who eventually shot John Wilkes Booth.  Wow! Very different from the normal ranger talk. This guide was fantastic.
 
Next up was lunch.  This was at a different mall, again with a number of choices to eat. I noticed a lot of kids in line at Subway. I had the falafel but it sounds like the Mediterranean place was the best choice among the parents.
 
After lunch we headed over to the African American Museum.  Like everyplace else this museum was really crowded today, especially the bottom floors.  This museum is sort of split in two.  The bottom floors (underground) tell the entire African American Experience story from Jamestown until today.  Quite impressive although the bottom floors were so crowded I am not sure how many of us got to tour this part. Most of us went to the upper floors, which were pretty cool as well.  The fourth floor was the best (in my opinion) because this is where they have the music displays. Everyone from Chuck Berry and Little Richard to Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson.  They have guitars from Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Bootsy Collins, a bass guitar from Stanley Clarke, outfits from Prince, Diana Ross,  EnVogue, and James Brown just to name a few.  They even have the mothership from Parliament/Funkadelic  as well as video of it coming in for a landing onstage with George Clinton on board.  Just awesome. and that was just part of the fourth floor.
On the third floor it was sports, television, movies, comedians, the military and Civil Rights. On the Second floor there were a lot of interactive stuff including a video dance lesson that was kinda like an ultra high-tech Dance Dance Revolution simulator. Dang fun! I love this museum, I just wish it wasn’t so crowded.
 
Next stop is the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. This is a series of outdoor “rooms” each of which depicts a different term in FDR’s presidency. Unfortunately the  water was not flowing in the fountains (which are in pretty much every room)  because the pump room , which is underground,  Wait…it is underground…and it flooded…am I the only one thinking…UH, Duh! The  memorial is still pretty impressive, just not quite as cool as it is with water.
 
From here we walk around the tidal basin to the Dr Martin Luther King Memorial. Designed to look like DR King is just emerging out of a stone mountain it is quite an impressive sight.  To go with the giant sculpture there are a number of quotes from Dr King’s speeches carved into the walls. Pretty cool
 
Time for dinner. This time another new place, well, new to us.  It has actually been quite a while. We take a drive through Georgetown and actually turn in to the University to have dinner in the campus cafeteria.  Similar to many college cafeterias, Georgetown has pretty good food but I am sure it wouldn’t be so awesome if that was what you ate everyday for four years. That being said the kids actually liked this one a lot. They had a wide array of choices and could eat as much as they wanted including hand scoop your own ice cream sundaes for dessert.  This one is definitely a keeper.
 
After dinner, we have three more stops. The first is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Since I talked so much about Jefferson before I won’t say a whole lot about him here. Also, the memorial is partially being fenced off and scaffolded since it is being cleaned and restored (and it really needs it. The top of the dome is so filthy .it is disgusting.) The kids did have a chance to go up inside the memorial to check out the giant statue of Jefferson then it is back to the bus. Next stop, the World War II Memorial.
 
We hit this memorial on the perfect day since today was the 75th anniversary of D-Day.  There were a dozen wreaths placed near the wall of stars today representing the 12 allied countries fighting with us against the Nazi’s. There were four different television crews standing around waiting to do news casts later in the evening. It was a beautiful evening and the perfect day to experience this memorial… I even had some boys find the “Kilroy was here” sign.  We could have stayed here for hours but it time for our last stop of the day.
We finish up todays adventure by going to the White House. Unfortunately we can’t go inside but we did get pretty close.  There was a large group of protestors out front singing and playing music. They were saying that they are there protesting three nights a week. According to the Secret Service agent I talked with, there are protestors out front every single day. Whether I agreed with the protestors or not it sure would drive me nuts listening to every day. Thank goodness this doesn’t happen at school
 
I guess that does it for today except I will leave you with our lost item recap…
 
Our lost item tally so far…
Ten Cellphones
Two Wallets
One Back Pack
One Hat
One bag of souvenirs
and
One Credit Card
 
Believe it or not, we found them all except the bag of souvenirs but it sure wasted a lot of our time.  Take care of your stuff!
 
See in front of Kenilworth Friday night. We will call or text when we are about 15 minutes away from school.

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