SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST ENTRY
Day One - Sunday June 12, 2022
Well, it was quite the early start this morning. Funny thing is Bus #2 arrived at Kenilworth before Bus #1. It turns out that the bus driver on Bus #1 usually drive a Google Employee transportation bus but they borrowed him to drive us this morning. We only had to circle Oakland Airport once but it gave us a chance to see an extremely busy terminal….especially when you realize it was only 3:30am. Despite the crowd we got our boarding passes, checked our luggage, made it through security and up to our gate with only one packet and one suitcase left behind on the way. Don’t worry…I nabbed them both. No harm no foul!
Of course since the terminal was pretty full, so was our flight. The main advantage of flying on Southwest is the students usually can sit all together BUT not today. Even though I got up to check us in at 5:25am on Saturday we still had late boarding numbers. I think they must have purposely put the groups at the back of the list. Sorry I tried. Once we arrived in Chicago, we had to spend a bit of time searching for a lost ear pod. Never found it on the plane but the student who lost it found it in the terminal when “it just fell off him onto the floor”. Ahhhh, 8th graders.
Last I heard Bus #2 was running on time and were changing planes in Atlanta. Bus # 3 however encountered a delay in Dallas. as did Bus #1 in Chicago. We are currently in the air on the way to Norfolk after leaving Chicago almost an hour late while we waited for flight attendants to arrive on another flight. I checked with Bus #3 right before we boarded and it looked like they were running about an hour late as well. Everyone will make it to dinner alright but some of us might not make it in time for the Ghost Tour. Unfortunately, there are just some things we can’t control.
Dinner tonight was at Sal’s Restaurant in Williamsburg. Sal’s has some wonderful Italian food. The bread is so soft it melts in your mouth. The salad was nicely chilled and fresh. A number of pasta choices including rigatoni in sauce, lasagna, cheese filled Canoli (? I think that’s what they are called). Plus some big ole Italian meatballs. I especially liked their pizza. It was simple, just cheese or pepperoni but boy was it tasty. And in some chelate brownies and it was a great meal to top a very long day.
For some of us the day was extra long. Bus #3 was further delayed and didn’t even make it to dinner from the airport until 9:30pm. Fortunately Sal’s prepared everything hot and fresh for them even though they were late. Unfortunately, they missed the Ghost Tour. After dinner, groups 1 and 2 heads over to Colonial Williamsburg. We had about 30 minutes before meeting the guides so we did a little shopping. Some of us went into the William & Mary Campus Shop. I picked up a long sleeve t-shirt but I saw a number of students eyeing those hooded sweatshirts. I am not sure if anyone picked one up but the were 20-20% off.
Next up was the ghost tour. We divided up into four groups and wandered through Colonial Williamsburg with some of the greatest stories you have ever heard. Since every guide tells different stories be sure to ask your student about what stories they heard. I loved the story about Blackbeard and how they killed him…as well as what happened to his crewmates after they were captured. It is a pretty gruesome story. You also might hear about the peg leg Lindsay Lohan wanna be that lost a heeled shoe and still clopped her way up the stairs in the Wyiche house. Or scariest of all, how about the woman wringing her hands in the Randolph Payton house. Wanna know more? Check out the book The Ghosts of Williamsburg by L.B. Taylor Jr. I read the book on the flight here. It is an easy read, well, as long as you don’t read it right before bedtime.
All three buses make it to our hotel at about the same time. We unload, get up to our rooms and would you believe, in under five minutes, four girls locked themselves out of their room. Life lessons. That’s if for today. Time to hit the sack. Wake up call is 6:30 for a full day at Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg. See you tomorrow.
2022 DC Trip - Day Two
Yesterday was such a long day that I was a bit worried that we were going to have a difficult time getting top and getting moving this morning but that was definitely not the case. I think everyone was down at breakfast early this morning. There were, however, three more groups that locked themselves out of their rooms. I think that is a new record. Four locked out of room rescues within the first 24 hours. Hopefully tonight we will do better at remembering to take our key with us.
Today started out with a very pleasant surprise. Hannah, the wonderful guide from the ghost tour last night was our Worldstrides Course Leader for today. Since we have guides at each location we visit today, Hannah is just there to make sure we get to the right places, have all of our entrance tickets, and just take care of our logistics so we are prepared to have a wonderful day. We got lucky. Hannah was just as good taking care of us today as she was telling the scary ghost stories last night!
The day starts off with a visit to the glassblowing operation at the Jamestown settlement. Believe it or not, one of the ways the settlers at Jamestown were trying to make money was by making items out of glass. I am not sure who they were hoping to sell their products to, and they probably didn’t either, because this venture never really made them any money but it is still a fun process to watch. Before we even made it to the glassblowing we had to blow through the closed gate. Actually, James just drove us through the exit because the rangers had not remembered to open the front gate. The other two busses followed and pretty soon we were off the bus and checking our three glassblowing operation . If you have never seen glass blowing it is a pretty neat process to see. Basically there is a blob of glass (which they made from sand) on the end of a long hollow steel pole. They put the glass over the fire until it is payable like taffy then the turn it and blow through the tube and shape and mold the glass into all kinds of items from cups and glasses to pitchers and dishes. Ask your student to describe what they saw. It was actually pretty cool
From the glass blowing its a quick bus ride around the corner to the Jamestown Settlement. Here we break into five groups to take a tour. They have rebuilt the Jamestown Fort, there is a Powhatan Village, a museum and replicas of the three ships (although the smallest of the three ships was not at the dock today) that brought the 104 settlers to Jamestown. The group I joined started with the fort. Our guide was very knowledgeable and very detailed (maybe a bit too detailed…just sayin’) with his descriptions of the men and their surroundings. We started in the church which made sense because these guys were pretty darn religious. They went to church twice a day, partly because life was so uncertain for them that they wanted to make sure they were right with God just in case they did not survive the day. The guide pointed out that most Hollywood movies are a bit off in casting movies about the time period since most of the men at Jamestown were in their teens or early twenties. John Smith was actually of the older guys and he was only 27.
From the church we moved into storeroom. While most of us knew that Jamestown made their money from tobacco I don’t think any of us realized that their second biggest moneymaker was the Sassafrass Root. I know what you are saying…why Sassafrass Root? Well, it is the primary ingredient for making Sarsaparilla which today we know of as Root Beer! It is amazing the cool tidbits we pick up on these trips.
We also saw a demonstration of how they shot their guns. It was a lot more complicated than you might think, especially when you consider they are basically bringing a burning fuse up close to their eyes when they want to fire the weapon. Your student might have experienced how the living quarters were for the average person living in the fort as well as how much nicer the facilities were for the leaders. There was also a blacksmith, farming and a number of other jobs and buildings to check out in the fort.
After the fort we went through the museum. It was nice to go inside to the air-conditioning for a bit. It was very hot and very humid today. The museum has lots of information explaining not just life in Jamestown but also tells the story of how and why the English came here. As well as how and why we happened to import slaves from Africa. There are even partial replicas of housing on a street in London and life on the Susan Constant crossing the Atlantic. This is really a nice little museum.
Back outside we went through the reproduction a Powhatan Village. It was interesting how well built their huts were. They withstood hurricanes even though they look like they are rather flimsy. We tried out some of the games played by the Powhatan children and even gave scraping the fur off a deer hide a try. It’s a lot more difficult than it looks.
From here we made our way down to the docks. They have completely rebuilt all three of the ships (Discovery, Godspeed and Susan Constant) although only two of them were docked there today. The smallest ship was nowhere to be seen. We boarded the Susan Constant, the largest of the three ships, and were pretty shocked to realize that 104 men and boys came across the Atlantic in these three relatively small ships. I can’t even imagine making that journey without getting massively seasick. There were definitely no where near enough bucks for them to sleep in so they had to sleep in shifts. Many didn’t get bunks at all but had to sleep in hammocks. This is definitely not like traveling on a modern cruise ship.
We finished the tour early enough to do a little shopping. They remodeled the gift shop since our last visit. It looks a lot nicer but they didn’t seem to make the check out any more efficient. It was fun to see what items the students were considering purchasing. Sometimes it is just a joy to see them get something that you thought they would be too old for and yet gives them such pleasure. Sometimes it is almost like they are not growing up too fast.
Time for lunch. We went someplace new today. It is basically a conference center and we had a meal like we were attending an awards banquet. Basically it was like a Thanksgiving meal. We had thick slices of 🇹🇷 (Really? I typed in Turkey and it autocorrected to a Turkish flag) with a light gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a succotash vegetable medley followed by a slice of cake. It was served like a sit down banquet with a wait staff dressed like we were at an elegant dinner. It was quite a change of pace, quite a surprise and quite tasty. Nothing like I expected but it was very good.
We are met outside the restaurant by our Williamsburg guides. Once again, every group is going to have a different experience because each guide makes different choices regarding where to go, what to see and what to talk about. Colonial Williamsburg has been rebuilt to be like it was in 1775, right before the American revolution. They have every type of business you might expect from the times such as a cabinet maker’s shop, the brick making facility, a jewelers shop, a wig shop, the courthouse, the jail, a church, and the governor’s palace to name just a few of the possible sites to visit.
The group I hooked up with this time started off with a tour of the Palace. This is where the Virginia Governor lived and worked. Our guide painted a great picture of how tensions were building between the governor and the citizens. More and more the people were turning away from the royal crown and supporting the
Patriots. In less than a year the governor went from hosting an elaborate Ball to escaping out the back door in the middle of the night with his wife and seven children to run away from the Patriots.
We also visited the wig shop. There were three wigmakers creating their wares in the same method as they did in the late 1700’s. We learned you can buy the wigs they are creating but since they are custom built to your head, they are quite expensive..in the $10,000 range. We heard all about not only how the wigs were made but also who wore them and why. Did you know that George Washington never wore a wig? Even though his hair looked like the wigs the others were wearing, that was his real hair.
Some groups checked out the inside of Edmund Randolph’s house. This is the home where we saw “ghosts” at a few years ago. Mr Randolph most likely would have been our first president instead of George Washington. Mr Washington didn’t really want the job but Mr Randolph REALLY wanted the position. Unfortunately Mr Randolph died before he could become president. Groups might have gone into the jewelry maker’s shop to see how silver products such as spoons, rings, cups, bowls and even a coffee pot for are made. Like the wigs, these items can be purchased as well. In fact for both wigs and jewelry you can custom order your purchases to get exactly what you would like. The items are all handmade using the same methods as used in 1775 but be prepared today quite a lot for each item. A plan silver band ring starts at around $65.00 while that coffee pot was priced into the thousands. These are just a few of the shops and sites your student may have visited. Be sure to ask what they saw specifically.
After a hot and humid day, it is time for dinner. Tonight was Mr Russo’s favorite stop….The Golden Corral! This is a buffet restaurant that is a step above most buffets. To be honest, I am truly not a fan of buffets but this one is different, the food is actually good. The array of choices is mind boggling. Due to covid they didn’t have the Cotton Candy machine or the chocolate fountain running but they did have a number of items such as strawberries and marshmallows that had already been dipped in chocolate ready to go. I could go on and on but suffice to say everyone left dinner full and happy.
After dinner it is a bit of a drive the Charlottesville. We check into our new hotel and sure enough, before I even made it up to my room, one room of boys had locked themselves out of their room. That make five groups locking themselves out of their rooms in less than 24 hours. Life lessons again. Everyone dropped off their bags and came down for our first nightly meeting. We talked about our day, asked some trivia questions about our day, tossed out some prizes, went over the details for tomorrow and then sent everyone to bed a little bit early so they could watch the Warriors beat the Celtics. That’s it for today. Check back tomorrow when we go to Monticello, the Marine Corp Museum and head into Washington DC for the first time. Good night.
Oh, and by the way, Hannah (our course leader today) is a 21 year old college student working multiple summer jobs to save money to help pay her way through college. She will be a senior in the Fall working on a degree in musical theater. She GREATLY appreciated the tip we gave her. Thank you for donating to help make that happen!
2022 DC Trip Day Three
Sorry this message is posted late. I could not log on to the internet in my room Tuesday Night
—————-
The day started out without our hotel wake up calls. Most students set back up alarms on their phones but as Mr Bradley and I knocked on everyone’s door it was pretty obvious that not everyone was up and awake. Fortunately we did get everyone up in time to get breakfast, bring down their bags and load up the bus on time. I wish that was the only glitch today but alas, it was not. Nothing was insurmountable but it definitely was a challenging day. Let’s take a look at what we did today.
First stop today is our 9:30 appointment at Monticello - Thomas Jefferson’s house. 🏡 We arrive in the parking lot and I hop off the bus to pick up our tour tickets. Here is where I probably should have noticed a problem but I was still blissfully unaware. We make our way through the visitors center to take the shuttle bus up to the top of the hill where the mansion is located. Each mini-bus holds about 23 people so it takes a while to get us all up to the top of the hill. We basically have two tickets for each bus so I pass them out. Some groups have time to tour the grounds before their tour of the house while others will get to do so afterwards. Still unaware of the impending issue, our groups start to go though the process to start each tour. As we go through the house we see incredible artifacts such as:
- An entire wall of artifacts collected by Lewis & Clark
-
A clock that is so tall they had to cut a hole in the floor to allow the weights to descend all the way to the Saturday marker in the basement.
-
A library of over 2,000 books (this is after he already sold 6,500 books to the Library of Congress to replace the books burned by the British inn the War of 1812.
-
A bust of his buddy John Adams the second president.
-
The short bed where he slept pretty much sitting up because he suffered from Gastric Reflex
-
The room where best friend James Madison and his wife Dolly would stay when the came to visit.
And the list goes on and on but here is where I realize the mistake that was made when setting this up.
Our main appointment was at 9:30 which gave us and hour and a half which was plenty of time but The tour times were at 10:10, 10:20, 10;25, 10;40, 10:50 and 10:55. When I looked at our lunch appointment times we had a problem. The tour takes about an hour to an hour and a half and our lunch appointments were at 11:00, 11:15 and 11:30am. Perfectly fine if all the tours started at our 9:30am overall appointment but obviously not going to work for the tours that start later…which is all of the tours. I called the restaurant and fortunately they were able to make adjustments to get us all in on a staggered schedule….YEAH! Despite our goof, lunch was saved.
Lunch today was at the Historic Michie Tavern. I believe this restaurant was around almost as long as Monticello and the food is fantastic. The fare is authentic southern food. On the menu is black eyed peas, green beans, stewed tomatoes, coleslaw (Oh my was the Cole slaw good!), biscuits, corn bread, and best of all, some of the tastiest fried chicken ever made. The food was great. The service was great. The location was great. Everything about the Michie Tavern was wonderful. I cannot recommend this place highly enough.
Next up is a couple hour drive to the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia. This is a really well done museum that traces the Marine Corp from it’s beginning’s during revolutionary times up to today. There is so much here it is hard to know where top start. I really liked the scale model depiction of the Marines capturing John Brown during the Raid on Harpers Ferry. I also learned something new. I knew that they used Navajo Code Talkers during World War II but I had no idea they were in the Marines! Pretty cool. They definitely helped us to defeat the Japanese. There are a variety of displays on every topic. They had videos, dioramas, actual weapons, full size airplanes, helicopters, jeeps, tanks, howitzers, etc. You name it, if the Marines had it or used it chances are they have it on display. They also have a pretty neat gift shop (which is also available on line) and all the money raised in the shop goes towards improving the museum. Pretty cool.
After the Marine Corp Museum, we head into Washington DC. The first thing that comes into view is the Air Force Memorial, followed quickly by the Pentagon, the Washington Monument and the Capital. Its was kinda fun to describe to my bus everything they were seeing as we drove into DC. We met up with our guides and started our tour of DC.
First stop with Debbie, Jane and Anne is the Dr Martin Luther King Memorial. This is huge statue of Dr King that appears to be cut out of and moved forward out of a mountain of stone. A very impressive statue. Equally impressive are the series of MLK quotes cut into the walls on either side of the statue. It is pretty simple and elegant but at the same time very imposing.
Next we walk over to the World War II Memorial. This is a great memorial and we have Tom Hanks to thank for getting the funds together to get it built. This site is a tribute to the soldiers, the support workers and the people on the home front. There is symbolism everywhere. The 400 Gold Stars on the wall represent the 400,000 American Soldiers killed in the war. There is a pillar representing each state with gold rope connect them representing our connection together and Wreaths of Wheat representing how America was truly feeding the world during the war. I could go on and on but I recommend you do some research on this one yourself. It is pretty awe inspiring. You also need to research “Kilroy was Here” and see if you can find “Kilroy” at the memorial. Pretty darn cool.
Next up its dinner. Tonight we dine with rock stars at the hard Rock Cafe. Here is or next glitch of the day. While the food was fantastic and everyone working in the restaurant was extremely nice and friendly, it took them forever to serve everyone. It was actually an hour before everyone got served. This caused us to have to postpone one of our two remaining stops for the day.
Since we already added the World War II Memorial we have space on another day for the Jefferson Memorial so we finish off our touring today at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. This is a pretty cool memorial. It is set up as a series of outdoor rooms with each one representing a different term and/or era of FDR’s presidency. Scenes include FDR in a wheelchair (adding this was extremely controversial), a series of bronze statues depicting men standing a bread line during the depression, the jumbled stones depicting the turmoil of the war years, a statue of a man listening intently to the fireside chats on the radio, and a whole host of other topics. This is probably my favorite memorial (well, after the Lincoln at night) but it is kinda sad. There were so many lights out as we walked through that it was difficult to see parts of the memorial.
After the FDR, we drop off our guides and head to another new hotel. This on is a Hilton in Maryland. We get tour rooms quickly to drop off our bags, have a short meeting to go over the day and the plans for tomorrow and then, since it already well past bedtime it is time to head to our rooms and get ready for bedroom checks. Here is where I heard something I have never heard on this trip before. One of the girls came up to me and said “there was no sink in her room.” I said “WHAT?” And she repeated, “there was no sink in her room”. As I am trying to figure out if maybe the sink is under some towels or someone may have left a tray or a board in the bathroom she adds, “The sink is out and on the floor.” Seriously? In a Hilton Hotel? Unbelievable! The most impressive part was this student was so matter of fact and all she wanted was some bottles of water to use since they didn’t have a sink….like this is a normal, everyday occurrence. …..Now, I know what you are thinking….well, what happened next but you are just going to have to wait because the answers will not be forthcoming until tomorrow. Good night and thanks for reading.
2022 DC Trip Day Four
Again, I apologize the blog has not been posted in a timely fashion. I have not been able to log my computer onto the internet since we left Chancellorsville on Tuesday morning. I will post the blogs as soon as I am able to access the internet from my computer.
Wednesday
I did not discover that this hotel has a Starbucks in the lobby until we were looking for students who were not on the bus ready to go by departure time. Hopefully tomorrow we will do better at placing our orders earlier. Washington DC is a bit challenging this year. Between construction and street closures for the concert this weekend, traffic was quiet unusual this morning.. Thank goodness the town is far less crowded than it has been in past years. WAY less crowded.
Our first stop this morning is our group photo on the steps of the Garfield statue in front of the Capital. The pictures will take a few weeks to process and they will send them all to me in a great big box. Once I receive the photos, I will arrange a date to hang out in front of Kenilworth for a morning to pass them out. Please try to stop by and get yours if at all possible. Miss Wendy used to take care of getting the photos over to Casa in the Fall but she is no longer at Kenilworth so I am not sure if I am going to get the same help.
After the photo, we walked over to the Capital grounds. Unfortunately, the Capital is essentially closed. There are no tours right now so our guides gave as an auditory tour outside. We were outside the West side of the building. This is the side where the presidential inaugurations have taken place since Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.You will notice in the photo a couple of things. One is the tall black fence. The other is the white covered scaffolding covering much of the outside of the lower part of the building. The white covered scaffolding is part of a standard refurbishment of the building. The right and the left sides of the building have already been redone, it is now the center part of the building is getting its makeover now. The tall black fence is there in response to the attack on the Capital on January 6th. We didn’t go around to the front of the building because a) we were not going inside and b) there were threats of a big protest in front of the Supreme Court. Instead we went across the lower West side of the building to learn about the little brick cooling location complete with natural spring water. Unfortunately, this was being refurbished as well but the guides did a great job describing what the building was for and how it worked. Pretty cool.
Next up we did a little souvenir shopping. We went to a shop I have never been to previously because ALL the other souvenir shops have closed and gone out of business due to Covid. While today was not as hot as yesterday I was still amazed to see students wearing their new sweatshirts today. Definitely too hot for sweatshirts today.
After shopping we walked a couple blocks to check out the White House. Lots of photos were taken and many of our group joined a street performer to dance the Cha Cha Slide. It was great to see everyone having fun. We also noticed that there is a bigger, stronger, taller black fence around the White House. It is about five feet taller with much thicker bars. Just sad.
Next we flip our schedule and head to lunch at Thursdays scheduled site, the Ballston Quarter Market. This was the first time our students experienced the food coupons. Each student got a coupon with about ten restaurants in the Market to choose from and it said what you could get to eat for free at each restaurant . They had some pretty unique places that we do not have at home but I am pretty sure you can guess which place had the most of our students standing in their line. You, you guessed it….Chik-Fil-A. This was a new stop for us and it was quite nice.
After lunch we went over to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. This memorial is located directly across the Tidal Pool from the Dr Martin Luther King Memorial. This memorial has a huge domed building with an 18 foot tall bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson standing in the center. This memorial was being refurbished as well. Yesterday, we drove by the Air & Space Museum which is undergoing a massive remodel. Funny thing is, both the Air & Space and the Jefferson were being refurbished on our last trip all the way back in 2019. I don’t why they don’t just close the place down and power out the repairs on one building at a time instead of grinding it out for many months ask years.
Our next stop is the very cool National Museum of African American History and Culture. This museum is awesome but it is basically impossible to review completely in a day let alone in a couple of hours. Basically the students needed choose between learning the history of the African American experience by going four floors underground and working your way up through history to today. The other choice would to be to check out the culture which is covered in the top three floors of the museum. Either choice made for a fantastic day. Be sure to ask your student which one they picked. You can probably guess what I picked when you learn that Chuck Berry’s Cherry Red Cadillac is featured when you enter the music exhibit on the fourth floor.
Our next stop is a pretty solemn one, the 911 Memorial at the Pentagon. This memorial features 189 metal benches over a small reflecting pool, one for each of the people who were killed the day the terrorists crashed the plane in the Pentagon. The benches are on strips of granite based on the birthdate of the person who passed away. The benches all face the same way as the strips of granite. Each bench is over a small pool of water and they are positioned based on if the victim was on the plane or in the building. The benches for the 59 people on the plane are placed so a visitor will face the sky when reading the victim’s name. The benches for the people in the Pentagon are placed so will read the victims name while looking towards the Pentagon. It is a very quiet, peaceful memorial.
Next it is time to grab dinner. It is another coupon meal, this time at the Pentagon City Mall, which is a regular shopping mall with a large food court. There is a wide variety of choices, including an interesting new one where you can get corn. Yes, I wrote corn. They take a roasted cob of corn, scrap all the kernels off, mix the kernels with a bunch of bunch of different stuff depending on what flavor you want and that’s your meal. I know a few people in our group got this and raved about how good it tasted. I think I might have to try this one next time. We got our meals to go because we want to arrive early at our next stop…the Twilight Tattoo.
The Twilight Tattoo is a history and tribute to the United States Army. We want to get there early to make sure we get seats in the bleachers. Believe me, the bleachers are much more comfortable and you can see the show a lot better than the view from the grass that the late arrivers are stuck with. This is usually my favorite part of the trip and my oh my, this year they went all out. We are here the day they happen to be celebrating the Army’s Birthday…number 247 I believe. Every year the show is different and this year was no exception. The pre-show feature the Army band and three singers who got the kids singing and dancing, starting with one of the songs the students knew from their dance unit in PE this year. Boy, did our kids get into it. The were singing and dancing in the bleachers. When it came time for the introductions, all I heard was Kenilworth before the Army announcer was drowned out by our enthusiastic group. We had by far the biggest response of any of the groups that were introduced. Then they got to the real show. For the first time since I have been coming, we were treated to the aerial arrival of the United States Army Parachute Team known as the Golden Knights. They all jumped from 5,000 feet and landed right in front of us with almost all of them hitting the cross in the center of the arena. The actual show was quite direct this time. Instead of having the drum and fife corp play followed by the Army Drill Team and then tracing through the story of the Army, this time they integrated everything in through the story. They didn’t even start with the National Anthem but played/sang it when their story got to the War of 1812 (which is when the song was actually written.) They rode out on horses when they got to the Civil War, buzzed us with two helicopters when they reached the First Gulf War and even fired off a 21 gun salute WITH HOWITZERS when celebrating the Army’s Birthday. After the show the students were so excited to get a chance to meet the soldiers, get photos with them as well as holding their weapons, pet the horses and the bomb sniffing dog and generally have a great time. It truly felt like a great party that no one wanted to end but it has been a long day with one more stop to go.
Since we went to the Marine Corp Museum yesterday, it is only fitting that we would go to the Marine Corps Memorial tonight. This Memorial is a giant statue depicting that famous photograph of seven marines raising the American flag atop Mount Sirabachi on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II. It is a beautiful Memorial which also has quite a beautiful view of the city. Always a nice way to top off the Twilight Tattoo.
Time to call it a day. We head back to the hotel with a bit of singing. Tonight we started with Journey, threw in a little John Denver, Flo Rida, One Direction, and Carlie Rae Jepson before finishing out with Elton John’s Your Song. I just wish all of you could have had the opportunity to hear Brittany (Law) Hasbany, a former student of mine from about 15 years ago and one of our chaperones this year, sing Your Song! It was so beautiful! I can’t wait to see whatever musical she appears in next!
That is it for today. So sorry for the delays getting things posted. I was finally able to log on at Arlington National Cemetery of all places. I still can’t get into my website. It appears to be blocked here but I think I probably just typed in the wrong password too many times. Hopefully I will get these blogs posted soon.
2022 DC Trip Day Five
Once again, I apologize for the late posting for this newsletter. I have not been able to access the internet in our hotel or on the bus since we left the hotel Charlottesville on Tuesday morning.
This morning we are starting the day at Arlington National Cemetery. There is a threat of rain but according to the morning news, the showers are sporadic and it looks like they might miss us. We had one of our travelers twist an ankle and she decided to not make the hike up the hill so I stayed behind at the visitors center with her today. While I didn’t make it up the hill with the groups, all three of our groups did make the hike. There are two different routes to take for this and today, it appears that Debbie’s group chose the right order to visit the sites. Their group went straight up to the Changing of the Guard and the Tomb of the Unknowns. They were fortunate enough to witness the guard change but they also got very lucky. They got to witness not one, but two, wreath laying ceremonies. The first one was a group of students while the second one was laid by some Vietnam Veterans. These are extremely moving ceremonies in the first place but to see four elderly Vietnam Vets lay the wreath with tears in their eyes, well, let’s just say EVERYONE had tears in their eyes. The other two groups got to see the guard change but unfortunately, they missed the Vets group. Sometimes on this trip it is just the luck of being in the right place at the right time. Everyone has the same basic trip but sometimes the extras just happen.
In addition to the Changing of the Guard and the Tomb of the Unknowns, all three groups visited the Space Shuttle Memorials, the Bobby and Teddy Kennedy gravesites as well as the Jackie and JFK grave with the eternal flame. I am not sure which other sites they visited but I know they passed by the Boxer Joe Louis’ site and they all took a moment to honor the resting place of America’s greatest military hero, Audie L. Murphy. Sorry I didn’t make it up the hill to tell you about this great American but I had planned to teach this at our meeting tonight. (More on that later.)
Next up is a visit to Ford’s Theater. We had a different experience there this time. Instead of the usual ranger talk describing the evening (which is really hit or miss - sometimes it is good and sometimes not so much) we got to see a play. It was a two man play that essentially told the story of the evening through the eyes of an actor and the owner of the theater. It was a great performance but it did make it a little bit harder to follow the story of the event. I planned to add more to the story tonight in our meeting but again, more on that later.
Our next stop is lunch at Union Station. This used to be the busiest spot for lunch with multiple choice and huge crowds. Boy, is this place a shell of its former self. I am glad it is no longer as crowded as it used to be but there is definitely a reason why the place is no longer busy. The downstairs food court used to be packed with restaurant choices and people trying to grab a quick lunch. Covid has hit this place hard. Today, MOST of the restaurants are closed. There are no longer any crowds except at the few remaining restaurants that we have on our coupon. Of course, most of the student’s chose to get in the mile long line for Chik-Fil-A. Can’t say I blame them. The other good choices where Charley’s Cheesesteaks and a Crepes place. I will say that the choices that were left were quite good but the choices definitely were limited.
After lunch we had planned to visit the African American Civil War Museum. I had just heard about this place a little over a week ago. Our guides had never been there and weren’t to sure what to expect. They tried to call this museum to verify they were open and to figure out if they were worth taking the drive to go visit. Our guides called numerous times and no one ever answered the phone. Because of this we decided to not take the risk of a long drive for nothing so we opted to visit Mr Bradley’s favorite place, the Natural History Museum instead.
The Natural History Museum (one of the Smithsonian Museums) features all that cool stuff from nature such as dinosaurs, diamonds and dingo’s. Lot’s of people wanted to check out the Hope diamond and the dinosaurs but it sounds like the biggest attraction for our group was the Insect Zoo Yes, they were alive although the Insect Zoo is sponsored by Orkin. I will let that sink in. The LIVE Insect Zoo has a corporate sponsor that specializes in killing insects. Is it just me? I find that to be extremely creepy…and absolutely hilarious!
Next stop, the Holocaust Museum. We have never done the main part of this museum. We usually do the kid friendly part known as Daniels Story, about a boy who lived through the Holocaust. Daniel’s Story is quite interactive and as a result it is closed due to Covid. So the time, we mask up and go through the main museum. We prepped the students as best we could for what they were going to see in our meeting last night. I was EXTREMELY proud of how our students handled themselves while going through this museum. I shouldn’t have been so worried about them. They actually were better museum guests through the main museum than they usually are in the kid friendly portion. I think we will continue to visit the main part of the museum from now on. That being said, this was a very heavy experience for all of us so please take some time to discuss the events and what they learned when they get home. I promise it will be a beneficial discussion for both of you.
Since we are already in the heavy subject mode, we head over to the Vietnam War Memorials and The Wall. Not many people realize this but the Vietnam Memorial has multiple parts. There is a statue with some soldiers helping each other on the battlefield. There is another that honors the Nurses that served during the war to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. And, finally, the part of the Memorial that everyone know…The Wall. This is a long black Granite Wall that is almost like a very wide V with the tallest part in the center at about ten feet high and the shortest part at each end at about two feet high. Carved into this wall you will find the names of all 58,000+ American soldiers that were killed in this war, listed in chronological order from left to right. Many students notice how emotional people were at this spot. Once again, I was very impressed with how thoughtful and compassionate our students were while visiting these somber places.
Next up, it is time for dinner and OH MY, what a treat this was! Maggianos Restaurant was superb! We we given an upgrade by Worldstrides and boy am I ever glad we were. The Food was Fabulous! The Service was Fabulous! The Decor was Fabulous! Everything about this place was Fabulous. Did I mention it was Fabulous? We dined on fresh hot, soft bread, Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce, Fettuccini Alfredo, Caesar Salad, Fried Mozzarella and for dessert, exquisite little lemon cookies. By far the best meal we enjoyed on this trip. Even though it was bit of a drive and a rather inconvenient location I think we need to add this restaurant to the trip every year. I am not sure what I will have to do to make this happen but this is definitely a keeper. This is the type of place that I would frequent if I lived nearby. A definite WOW! For dinner! YUM! (Can you tell I liked this place a lot?)
After dinner we have two of the big memorials left, the Korean War and the Lincoln. We start with the Korean War. This is a pretty cool memorial. It features 19 (?) full size statues of American troops walking through what is supposed to look like a rice paddy on a patrol. The expression on their faces and the looks in their eyes genuinely reflects how the real soldiers probably felt. Along the back wall, etched in the granite are photographs of some of the men, women and dogs that were involved in the conflict. They are currently adding to the memorial with a large semi-circle near the back left side of the memorial that will feature the names of those killed in this war. This part is pretty close to being completed and I think it will look quite nice once they finish and the plants have grown in a little bit.
Our final stop for the evening is probably the most impressive of all the memorial - The Lincoln! This one features a 19 foot tall seated statue of our greatest president. Carved into the wall are a couple of his more famous speeches, including the Gettysburg Address. There are 36 columns around the building representing the 36 states in our country during his presidency. In short, it is a great tribute to a great man. Quite the site to behold and my favorite view in DC is from the top of the steps at the Lincoln. Standing in front of the great man looking out from the memorial you will see the Washington Monument in the reflecting pool, past the World War II Memorial to the actual Washington Monument and even the a view of the Capital in the background. If this sight doesn’t move you, I don’t know what will.
Time to call it a day so we drop Debbie off at her hotel, crank up the tunes and head back to the hotel. We have a meeting each night to go over the day, have a little fun with some trivia and prizes, give out info that everyone needs to know and to go over the itinerary for the following day. Tonight, there happens to be a southern gospel group using one of the other rooms. It sounds a bit like the thump-thump music at a wedding when we start our meeting. I didn’t realize it but that was just the beginning. The longer our meeting went the louder they got. I just got to the part where I was going to chat about Audie Murphy and Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination when it felt like we were in the middle of a rock concert….so we called it a day. Since I didn’t get a chance to share about these two great American’s please read the sheet I gave you about Audie Murphy. As for President Lincoln’s assassination, I would recommend the book Manhunt by James Swanson or the movie “The Conspirators” which I believe is on Netflix or Amazon Prime right now.
That’s it for today. I gave up trying to log in at the hotel or on the bus so this will get posted on either on the plane or once I get home.
2022 DC Trip Day Six
One last time, I am so sorry I have not been able to post these messages the day they were written. It has been extremely frustrating to not have access to the internet. We have not been able to access the internet on the bus or in the hotel before but never have both locations been inoperable at the same time. Hopefully your student has been keeping you informed.
Let’s take a look at our final day in. Washington DC.
Today started out with a bit of logistics because we had to make sure everyone got themselves and their luggage loaded up on the right bus according to their flights home this afternoon. Who ended up on which flight was purely luck of the draw. Fortunately, our students are very bright so, everyone was on the right bus and ready to go on time.
Our first stop today is Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. We showed the video from the welcome center on the bus. I have purchased multiple copies of this so we can watch it during the drive rather than take away any of our time on the tour. Once at the mansion we were surprised to see how many buses had already arrived but we headed up towards the house to see if we can get in early anyway. I think a lot of groups must have stopped to watch that film since all we had was a couple of small groups ahead of us. While we were waiting, we assembled on the lawn in front of the house for a group photo. (Once I actually have internet again I will post a copy on my website). By the time we are done taking pictures, we are able to jump ahead of our time slot and take the tour of the house.
As you tour through Washington’s home one thing is really striking….how bright the colors are in the paint on the walls. Brightly colored paint was a way for the wealthy to show off their wealth. The Washington’s were definitely into the bright colors, especially in the first room we entered in the house (I think it is a living room but I know they would have dances and big banquets in this room as well.) It is painted a VERY bright green. We weave our way through the house, out onto the back porch, back into the house and, in the entryway, we spot a big key in a case hanging on the wall. This is the key to the Bastille (The French prison where the political prisoners were held.) that was given to Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette as a thank you for helping to inspire the French Revolution. We also went upstairs to see the room that Lafayette stayed in on his visits. We also saw the bed where Washington passed away from an illness very similar to Strep Throat. Today we have medicine to treat this but back then they did not and as a result George died.
After touring the house we head into the education center. This is a wonderful place. There is lots to see and do but the two highlights are the 4-D film and the Interactive Be Washington experience. First is the film. This a new film since the last time I saw it. It does a great job of tracing through the events of the Revolutionary War. I especially like the part where it snows in the theater while Washington’s troops are suffering through then harsh winter. It really brings the story to life.
The brand new part of the Education Center is the Be Washington Interactive Exhibit. This is so cool I am going to start using it during class next year. Basically, it is a simulator that places you in Washington’s shoes to make the decision for him in a number of different scenarios. Sort of like the old Choose Your Own Adventure Stories but here your choices will determine if Washington is successful or faces defeat. You can even access this from home, and it is free. Unfortunately, I am still having internet issues so I can’t be sure but I think the site is bewashington.org or bewashington.com. I would definitely recommend checking this out. Who knows, you might learn something.
Next up, it is time for lunch and I will be honest, the selection is rather slim. We used to go to Fuddruckers, which was great but it closed. We used to go to the Old Country Buffet which I hated but the kids liked. Doesn’t matter, it closed. We used to go to Roy Rogers, a marginal fast food place that is where all the other buses go. A terrible choice and very time-consuming, not to mention, two bathrooms for 6+ buses at a time. A poor choice indeed so we do not go there anymore. I cannot begin to tell you how many hours I have spent researching possible sites for us to have lunch between Mount Vernon and DC only to find absolutely nothing that will or is capable of accommodating our group. So, since we can’t go to a restaurant, we bring the restaurant to us and have Firehouse Subs delivered to the bus. The choices are limited; small sub sandwich (Ham, Turkey or Veggie) with chips, a cookie and a bottle of water. Simple fare but waaaaaaaaay better than any alternative I have found.
After distributing our boxed lunches, it’s time for our buses to split up. The itinerary called for all three buses to head for the American History Museum but the chaperones make the decision to send buses 2 and 3 to the Udvar-Hazy Museum instead. With the amount of road closures, traffic and congestion in the city due to numerous special events, we decided it would be a better use of their time for buses 2 and 3 to head to the Udvar-Hazy extension of the Air and Space Museum out at Dulles Airport. I will describe what is in the Udvar-Hazy in a little later.
Since their flight is a bit later, Bus 1 does go back into town for the American History Museum. We get extremely lucky when a bus pulls out right as we arrive, giving James a prime parking spot right around the corner from the museum. The American History Museum IS the museum most people think about when they are talking about the Smithsonian Museums. This place is the home to Americana and all the stuff you think of when you think of America. Known by the nickname, America’s Attic, this place has everything from the original Kermit the Frog and a Dumbo from the ride as it debuted in Disneyland when it opened in 1955 to The Ball Gowns worn on Inauguration Day for pretty much every first lady. Most people do take the time to check out the Star Bangled Banner which was actually flying over Ft McHenry when Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem that becomes the National Anthem during the War of 1812. Some of the new things to see this time were exhibits on lowrider cars, Mexican Minor League Baseball Teams, Julia Child’s entire kitchen and the Election Process to name just a few.
Our final stop is at the Udvar-Hazy. This a basically giant hanger filled with airplanes. Some of the highlights are a Space Shuttle, an SR-71 Blackbird, a Boeing 707, a Predator Drone, the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.), a P-51 fighter, a Concorde SST, as well as numerous other planes. There are also flight simulator that the kids are welcome to fly and they even have the model of the Mother Ship form the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
We are currently on our flight home. I know that Bus #2 is running late on their Alaska Airlines flight. How late I am not sure. I have no idea if Bus #3 is on time or not but I do know that Bus #1 took off an hour and a half late. I am going to try and post this during the flight but I want to apologize now if these last two posts do not get posted until Saturday.
Thank you so much for joining me, or sending your students with me, on this amazing journey. We saw some pretty cool stuff, made some new friends and shared some great times together. The photos that we took in front of the Capital will be ready in a few weeks. When they arrive I will come hangout in front of Kenilworth for a morning to pass them out along with a present from the Twilight Tattoo. Please plan on stopping by to share some stories and talk about the things you saw and did.I will send out an email via MailChimp with the particulars as soon as the group photos arrive. Thank you so much.
Mr Eklund