Mr Eklund

2023 DC Trip Daily Blog

 * Scroll down for the latest posting *

*Please Note: These blogs are mostly written at the end of a very exhausting day and basically unedited so there are some typos and errors. - Mr. E

​

Day One:

2023 KJHS DCTrip - Day One

 

Our story this year starts a couple days before our trip.  As I do every year, I called the bus company on Thursday to confirm that we would have two buses meeting us early on Sunday to begin our journey.  We have a different bus company this year so I wanted to make doubly sure that they knew where and when to find us. As I was ending that first conversation (Yes, you guessed it, there was more than one phone call that day) the nice lady on the phone said, “Okay, we will see you at 1:45pm on Sunday.” I am pretty sure they had it correct in the first place but despite multiple phone calls and emails with the bus and tour company’s I was frankly still a bit nervous as I drove towards Kenilworth this morning.  Sure enough, on my way to school at 1:00am, my phone rings.  It was our bus driver wondering who says he is at school and is wondering why no-one was there.  I was so relieved that we had a bus at all that I wasn’t  a bit concerned that he was 45 minutes early.  I assured him we were on our way and was able to breath again.

 

The ride to SFO was a fun one. We have one excited group on board.  Check in at the airport was a bit slow and a couple of students had trouble paying for their luggage.  One had a prepaid Visa card that didn’t work and another discovered that American Airlines doesn’t accept Apple Pay. We also discovered that not everyone had a seat assignment since it was a very full flight and they always hold the last few seats for the gate agents. No worries, everyone got a seat and we are our way.  

 

It has been an interesting flight thus far. One of our students is suffering from motion sickness and didn’t make it into the little paper bag they have in the seat-back pockets.  I am so impressed with the cabin crew on this flight.  They have been extremely kind and helpful. One of the flight attendants actually gave our student a pair of his own personal sweatpants so the student would not have to travel in soiled jeans!  Tito is definitely getting a nice letter from me (as well as the cash I forced him to take despite his protests) for being so kind and generous. The rest of the flight has been pretty quiet.  The crew had the lights dimmed and window shades have been down the whole way so about all you can hear is some snoring.   

 

You may not be aware but I used to work for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) which was bought by USAir and later American Airlines in SFO, long before becoming a teacher.  It was fun to see one of my former coworkers at the ticket counter this morning. Its been about 30 years since we worked together but it is always great to see an old friend.  I also happen to be sitting next to a couple of American Airline employees traveling on vacation.  We had a great conversation about the airline. He pulled up info about our connection and it appears we are going to be right next to the gate for our next flight.  He also saw a news report about a bridge collapse in Philadelphia.  This will most likely affect us on Thursday and Friday but we will worry about that after we meet up with James and Tony (our bus drivers.)  We are due to land in about an hour.  More later.

 

On the ground in Charlotte. We arrived in Charlotte to discover that airplane was running a little late coming in from Rochester. Once it arrived, turned out there was a mechanical problem (a bathroom wasn’t working), while they were working on that a storm rolled in with lightning so the ramp got shut down. Bottom line: arrived in DC an hour late.  This was plus for the Alaska group because they had time to stop in at the Air Force Memorial. This is a gleaming steel structure with three spires going up and splitting like three jets going straight up and peeling off three directions.  This site also offers a beautiful view of the Pentagon and the city of Washington beyond. 

 

Next both groups meet up at the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial.  A very somber yet beautiful site which features a bench over a reflecting pool for each person that was killed on that horrible day. I was very impressed with how quiet and respectful our students were the entire time they were at this site. It is a very peaceful site where you can sit and reflect. 

 

Time for dinner! What a treat.  It is our first time at the Bee Liner Diner and we will definitely be back. Dinner was a choice of Chicken Parmesan with noodles, Cheeseburger with fries, a hot dog with fries or a salad with or without chicken. Sounds simple but wow! Everything was great. A big piece of chicken over a huge bowl of spaghetti noodles. The burger was a double burger with a homemade bun and waffle fries.  I didn’t see the hot dog but the salad was fantastic with lots of original toppings such as jicama and huge chunks of chicken. There was a scoop vanilla ice cream for dessert but all the adults were ga ga over the cakes.  They didn’t come with our meal but I am pretty sure one of the cakes would have come close to feeding fifty of us.  They were these seven layer high monsters that we are definitely going to try next year. 

 

After dinner we made our way over to the big three memorials.  We started with the Vietnam Memorial.  First we strolled the length of the Wall with its over 58,000 names of those Americans who lost their lives in the war carved onto the wall. The Wall is the major portion of this memorial but there are two more somewhat lesser know parts to this memorial…the statues honoring the nurses and another honoring the soldiers. This was such a dramatic time for our country so it is nice to see that we have taken the time to honor those that served in all aspects of this war. 

 

From here it is up to the Lincoln Memorial. It is hard not to be impressed by this imposing statue of Lincoln sitting overlooking the reflecting pool, looking towards the Washington Monument. Some of his profound words are carved into the walls on either side of this great man.  There is also an engraving on the spot where Dr Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech.  It is pretty powerful to picture how many people were standing in front of him while he gave the speech.  It was wall to wall people all the way back along the reflecting pool which is probably about 1/4 mile long.  

 

Next it is on to the Korean War Memorial.  They have added a whole new section to this site.  They still have the sixteen full size bronze soldiers on patrol, walking through the junipers with strips of black granite which makes it look like they are making their way through the rice patties.   They also have the etchings in the side wall that depict all the peoples involved in this conflict, including a dog.  The new part is at the far end of the memorial where they have a circular angled wall that has all the Americans lost in this conflict craved into it (similar to carvings in the Vietnam Wall but a different shape). 

 

One last stop for the evening, we walk from the Korean Memorial down to the World War II Memorial.  On the way we pass by the brand new Equestrian Center where the National Parks Service keeps their horses.  We didn’t get to go inside but this sure is a nice looking facility.  Th World War II Memorial is pretty new and its location was a bit controversial.  Located in between the Lincoln and the Washington Memorials, it was built below ground level so it doesn’t really interrupt the sight line from the Lincoln.  We can thank Tom Hanks and Senator Bob Dole for getting this monument made and it is quite impressive. It is split in half with the Atlantic fight on one side and the Pacific side on the other. There is symbolism everywhere, from the number of columns to the wreaths on each column to the oak and wheat clusters and even the bronze vines connecting each pillar. Take a few minutes to check out this site on line.  You will be amazed at all the details.  We barely touched the surface.

 

That’s it for today.  We say goodbye to Ella and Jane for the evening and head to our hotel. It is now 11:47pm and wake up call is at 6:00am.  I’m gonna hit the hay. See you tomorrow

​

​

2023 DC Trip Day Two

 

I have to admit, that hotel wake up call at six this morning was a bit jarring.  I probably should have turned off that show about the History of Fast Food Restaurants in America that I had on while writing yesterdays blog a little bit earlier…lie 30 minutes would have mattered.  This is anew hotel for us, a Marriott.  It is quite nice. Breakfast was all the way down on the ground floor (most of us are on the seventh floor). It was your basic scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon `and waffles today along with cereal, fruit and juice. Pretty standard fare but they really did a nice job on the bacon.  Hard to do when you have a huge batch but it was great.  

 

After breakfast we were loaded on the buses, ready to go, well, almost.  Seems one bus was missing four. Turns out they were still in bed.  Arrrrghhhh!   On our way, a bit late but on to our adventures for the day.

 

We had changed plans for today because it was supposed to rain this morning but the forecast has changed so it is back to the original plan - the White House.  Off the bus we meet in front of the Treasury Building and talk a little bit about Albert Gallatin (whose  statue is in front). He was instrumental in making the Louisiana Purchase as well as helped to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812.  One would think that a statue of Alexander Hamilton would be in front but actually his statue is on the back side of the Treasury Building. 

 

From here we head down Pennsylvania Avenue to Lafayette Park.  We listened to a great description of Lafayette from our guides. My students should have known the story since I told it during class but as a refresher, Lafayette was a rich guy in France who had inherited a lot of money. He went to the king of France and asked for money to outfit a warship to help the Americans in their revolution against Great Britain.  As much as the French hated the British you might think the king of France would be eager to help but Ney, Ney! He said NO! Why? Well, two reasons. One, this was early in the conflict and it was not looking good for the colonists at all and nobody wants to back the losing side. And two, self preservation.  If the Americans could overthrow their king, he didn’t want to give the French people any ideas  about overthrowing him.  He was right to think that because after the American Revolution, the same thing DID happen and France and the King Louis of France was overthrown!

 

From here we stroll over to the White House.  We are all pretty familiar with this sight from the news over the years but it still a pretty impressive sight in person. The first thing that struck me is the new fencing. Oh My have they beefed up the fence.  It is made out of wrought iron, which it was before, but now it is about twice as tall and the bars are at least twice as thick.  Way stronger than harder to climb than it was before. Very imposing.  To get a good photo we moved back halfway across the park so the fence doesn’t dominate the photo. Some of us did see them open one of the gates with a huge clang as it banged shut.  Heaven help the person standing in the way if they decide to close that thing on you. 

 

The buses were meeting bus across the park (Lafayette park is directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House) so we have a chance to view the little yellow church across the street.  Many of our presidents have attended services here. In fact, President Lincoln would walk over and pray just about every evening before retiring to the president’s quarters upstairs in the White House (although he probably spent more nights in the War Room by the telegraph machine or at the soldiers hospital with the wounded than he actually spent in his bed in the White House.   The street in front of the little church is now Black Lives Matter Plaza. Ella told a personal story about the night the peaceful protestors were driven out of Lafayette Park by the Secret Service. The mayor of DC at the time was so angry about it that she had a Black Lives Matter mural painted on the street and created Black Lives Matter Plaza the very next day. 

 

Next stop: The Natural History Museum. At this Smithsonian Museum they have all kinds of things from the living world. From the stuffed African Elephant in the lobby to the Hope Diamond as well as thousands of other gems up on the second floor, this site has something for everyone. The Butterfly pavilion was quite popular as were the dinosaur bones.  You could easily spend all day here but its time for lunch. 

 

Today we were eating the the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.  One of the largest office buildings in the world, it is so big they have their own food court.  I gave each student a voucher so they could choose from one of the dozen or so restaurants. The gyros were excellent as were the build your own salads.  Best of all, it was not incredibly crowded like it has been in the past.  A very enjoyable lunch.   

​

After lunch its back across the street to another of the Smithsonian Museums, the American History Museum. This museum has a ton of exhibits about American culture and the history of us.  There are exhibits showing the history of the US Military, Julia Childs Kitchen, Coin Collecting, the Star Spangled Banner, the History Transportation to name just a few.  There are also a couple of new exhibits that were absolutely fantastic.  

 

The first is all about American Entertainment.  I loved this exhibit.  There is so much on display its hard to remember them all but here are some of the highlights.  The original C3PO and R2D2 from Star Wars, Archie and Edith Bunker’s chairs from All in The Family, the signpost from the TV series M*A*S*H, The original Kermit the Frog, Oscar the Grouch and Elmo, Joe Louis’ Boxing Gloves her wore to defeat Max Schmeling for the World Championship in Boxing, Prince’s Funky looking Yellow Guitar, the original Howdy Doody marionette, Selena’s Concert performance outfit, Chris Pratt’s Shield from Captain America, Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers from The Wizard of Oz and the list goes on and on.  This exhibit was FANTASTIC!

 

There was also a cool display about Disneyland including one of the early large fold out maps of the park.  I had this very map when I was a kid and I am pretty sure this is how I learned to read maps.  I used to pour over that map to try and plan out the perfect day at the Magic Kingdom.  There was also an original ticket book.  Funny, its just like the ticket book I have at home, missing the E tickets.  The E tickets were the ones you had to use for the best rides such as the Matterhorn Bobsleds. What a great time this was.

 

Now its time to head up to the Capitol.  We had moved our group photo due to the chance of rain and sure enough, we got drenched as we walked up the hill to the Capitol entrance. Dripping wet we made our way through security. We have a little time before our tour so we are able to tour the little museum in the visitors center as well as check out the plaster cast of Lady Liberty, the copy of the bronze statue which can be seen on top the outside of the Capitol Dome.  Our begins with a new version of the introduction film. This is a great film that introduces you to how our representative form of government works. After the film we are taken on a guided tour of the building.  We start off in the crypt room.. This is where the wanted to bury George and Martha Washington. Unfortunately this room was not completed until 25 years after George’s death and he had already put in his will that he and Martha were to be entombed at his home, Mt Vernon (which we will be visiting tomorrow) so that’s where they remain. Up in the Rotunda we hear about the beautiful paintings including the one that everyone had in their pocket.  It is the signing of the Declaration of Independence which can also be seen on the back of the $2 bill. We hear about many of the statues located throughout the building including a new one one honoring Aviator Amelia Earhart. Unfortunately, we didn’t get into the House of Representatives or the Senate Chambers today but the tour itself was one of the better tours I have been on in this fantastic building. 

 

After touring the Capitol, we exited so we could take a walking tour past the Library of Congress as well as the United States Supreme Court.  The fountains were flowing beautifully at the library and for the first time I can remember there were no protesters sin front of the Supreme Court.  Hopefully your student got some good photos at this spot. After a hike down the hill, can you believe its time to eat again? 

 

Tonight’s dinner was a treat.  Maggiano’s is a fabulous Italian restaurant set up like the perfect venue for a wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. We started with Bruschetta, fresh hot bread and a fabulous salad. The main course was Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce followed by some very tasty lemon wedge cookies. Served family style not only did everything taste wonderful but there was more than enough to fill you up.  Yum!

 

After dinner it is time to head back into DC (dinner was in Virginia) to the almost brand new Eisenhower Memorial.  This is our first visit to this site which is a simple yet beautiful tribute to this great man. It starts with a statue of Ike as a boy on the farm in Kansas.  The boy in the statue is looking towards his future.  His future is depicted as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during Word War II and then on to the Commander in Chief as President of the United States. These two scenes are depicted in life size bronze statues of Ike with soldiers and statesmen alike. There is also a large screen above and behind the memorial that shows an abstract depiction of the Allied Invasion on D-Day at Normandy. This wasn’t really visible until we drove by after dark on the way to the hotel. 

 

From here we went on a walking tour through the grounds of the Native American Museum. This is one of the most beautiful buildings in DC however this museum is a bit, to put it bluntly, boring so we don’t take the time to tour the inside of this building.  The exterior is defined to look like one of those cliff dweller homes carved into a sandstone cliff.  Very cool.  We also checked on the Native ceremonial circle.

 

From here we checked out a very beautiful fountain sculpture created by the same guy who sculpted the Statue of Liberty in New York. This was pretty neat since it was the first public display/use of electricity in Washington DC.  People used to come in the late afternoon to sit and enjoy a lemonade while waiting to watch the lights come on.  Sounds silly but think about how of how different your life would be without electricity and without electric lights. 

 

One last stop, this time at the Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. This is the one where the water is on fire.  Unfortunately, the fires were not burning tonight but you could see the water bubbling where the flames should’ve been. We were gonna walk back to the buses which were parked the Eisenhower Memorial but its been a long day so we have the buses pick us up and call it a day.  Back to the hotel for a quick meeting to go over the day, throw out some prizes, and go over the plan for tomorrow.  Its been a long but great day.  Time to hit the sack.  Talk to you tomorrow.

​

​

2023 DC Trip Day Three

 

The alarm rang at the exact same time this morning as yesterday but it was quite a bit harder to drag myself up this morning than yesterday. I imagine we are going to see some kids dragging themselves in for breakfast this morning. There is another group dining with us (there usually is another junior high group here) but today’s group is a high school group so we shall see how the interaction goes.

​

Today’s first stop is Mount Vernon which was George Washington’s home.  On the way there we will watch a film entitled We Fight to be Free”.  This is the film they show in the visitors center as you enter Mount Vernon.  I bought some copies of it a few years ago so we didn’t have to spend the time at the beginning of the visit and could go straight to the house.  

​

This home was George Washington’s pride and joy.  While not a trained architect, he spent many hours designing the expansion and remodel of the relative small home that he had inherited from his brother.  While today we would probably consider the colors a bit loud and garish, at the time the bright greens and yellows were a sign of wealth and status.  And the living room or parlor I guess it was called is about the brightest green you can imagine.  As we walk through the home you cannot help but notice the artwork scattered throughout.  “The General” (this is what most everyone called George if they didn’t call him Mr President) visited every state while president and purchased landscape paintings so he has a visual record of how the whole country looked at the time.  

​

In addition to the house, the students could tour the grounds including the blacksmith shop, the garden, the dock area, the tomb and stables.  There is quite a lot to see out side then its time to check out the fantastic visitors center.  One of the features of the visitors center is a theater where the film takes you through the Revolutionary War and it even snows when they get to the harsh winter at Valley Forge.  (Speaking of Valley Forge, we are going to try and visit on Thursday on our way into Philly but that bridge collapse on I95 might have an impact on our plans.  We shall see.)  I was excited to find out that they have a brand new movie playing in this theater and it was even better than the one before, which was pretty awesome. I also found out they have a new film when you enter the visitors center.  We watched the “old” film on the bus on the way to Mt Vernon but I didn’t realize it was the “old” film.  On the way out I went to buy the new version of the welcome film but discovered you could not buy it.  In fact they no longer sell any DVD’s at all. Such a bummer.  I have already purchased three copies of the “old” version and have been showing the “old” version to all of my history classes as well as every tour group for years. Oh well, I shall have to do some searching online to see if I can download the new version.  Another thing to see here is a set of the General’s false teeth.  Contrary to popular believe they are not made of wood.  They were, however, very uncomfortable.  By the time George because president he only had one tooth left in his mouth.  Listen to your dentist….take care of your teeth. We went down the hill to the slave quarters and the tomb as well as a whole lot of other sites across the property. 

 

After Mount Vernon it is time for lunch. This has been a problem for years.  There simply isn’t anyplace for lunch for a large group between Mt Vernon and Washington DC. We used to go to Fuddruckers (closed), another Fuddruckers (closed), the Old Country Buffet (terrible and closed) or Roy Rogers (decent fast food but so crowded because every other student bus stops there) but we found a new place to try today.  It is the cafeteria at the Museum of the United States Army.  It’s a win-win.  I new place for lunch and a museum we have never visited before. Well, we thought it would be a win-win and it sort of was but sort of wasn’t.  It is a really cool little museum.  Similar to the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, it traces the history of the Army from the Revolution to today.  The problem was, lunch took WAY longer than we expected. We knew the cafe was small so we tried to space our students out so we didn’t overwhelm them but that didn’t really help.  They just didn’t have the capacity to handle 100 people for lunch in a timely fashion.  Everyone eventually got their food but not everyone had time to check out the whole museum. Since this was technically just a lunch stop I guess you could call it a win but if we are to come back here a again we definitely need to allot more time.  On the bright side, this did spark a conversation with our guides and I have two excellent suggestions for lunch instead which would most likely give us time to go to lunch somewhere else then just come here to go through the museum.  Then again, they did sell MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) in the gift shop.

 

Next it is time for our group photos that we rescheduled from yesterday.  These are taken on the steps of the Grant Memorial which is actually about a 1/4 mile downhill from the Capitol even though it looks like we are on the Capitol steps.  These photos should be ready in about a week or two.  I will send out a message when they are available so you can drop by KJHS to pick yours up.  Please try to stop by to say and get your photo.

 

After the pictures it is time to visit another new site, the National Law Enforcement Museum. This museum was created specifically to support the Fallen Police Officers Memorial which is located right across the street. Here the students could check out what it was like to be in a jail cell or the back seat of a police car. Hopefully they never have to experience either of these in real life.  There was also a police helicopter hanging next to the walkway in the lobby, a police cruiser which allowed you to turn on the various types of lights a police office might use.  There was the costume from the movie RoboCop.  There was even a lunch box from the old Adam 12 TV series.  Lots of cool stuff to see here. 

 

After touring the museum we went across the street to the Memorial where Sarah Kirkbride shard a story about a fallen Oakland police officer named William Grijalva, who is honored on the wall of names in the memorial.  It was a very touching, personal story about her connection with the fallen officer and how it impacted her, her family and really the entire community.  This story really brought this site alive for our students. The memorial features a reflecting pool across the middle with a wall with the names of fallen police officers going up both sides of the pool. We all took some time to reflect on those who have died while trying to protect and serve our community.

 

From here we have another added stop, the The National Portrait Gallery, one of the Smithsonian museums. This stop gave the students to check out the official portraits of all the American Presidents.  I was surprised boy how much the students enjoyed this stop.  You never quite know when it comes to art museums if the students are going to like them or not but they sure enjoyed this stop.  They also wanted to know why we were not invited to the fancy dinner with a band that was being set up on the interior plaza of the building.  Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stick around for the event because it was time to head off for dinner.  

 

Dinner tonight was a new place for us called the Ivy City Smokehouse. It was located in sort of a warehouse district and had an industrial feel about it but had a totally cool vibe.  There was an outdoor dining area on the roof, a bandstand/stage set up in the room we were in as well as multiple wide screen tv’s off the roof as well as at least two bars. The food was great!  There was BBQ’ed Pulled Pork, BBQ’ed Chicken, Homemade Rolls, a fantastic mac & cheese dish as well as brownies for dessert. Yummy!  The owner was genuinely excited when I promised we would be coming back in the years ahead.  This restaurant was definitely a keeper.

 

After dinner, we head back to tour some more monuments.  Last night was the Big Three (Vietnam, Lincoln and Korean) so tonight we are going to check out the little three (MLK, FDR and Jefferson) with George Mason thrown in for good measure.  We start with the newest of these memorials, the tribute to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.  This memorial features a huge sculpture of Dr King which looks like it was carved out of the center cut of this mountain of rock. There are granite walls stretching out to either side of Dr King with portions of some of his speeches carved into the walls.  Our students took turns reading portions of the speeches to the group.  It was quite a moving experience. Next we walk over to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Museum. This one is designed to appear like a series of outdoor rooms, each one based on one of his four terms of office.  As we walk through the memorial we experience what it was like to listen to the radio rather than television, check out life in a bread line, the impact of the great depression on our national identity and then the turmoil and upset of World War II. I am not sure how much they realize it but these students are so lucky. Our two guides told the best versions of the story about this memorial that I have heard in a very long time.  

 

Our next stop is another add on. The guy considered by many to be our forgotten founding father, George Mason.  This memorial is rather whimsical.  It depicts George sitting on a bench with books on his lap and a walking stick by his side.  He was a bit controversial in his day because he really thought slavery was an evil that would lead to our downfall. Of course, he was right but most people dismissed his ideas because they were so intent on keeping this labor force.  Too bad we didn’t listen to him. Had we done so we might have avoided the American Civil War

 

One last stop for tonight and That is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. This one is undergoing extensive renovations but you can climb up the steps to see the 18 foot tall statue of one of our favorite presidents.   And with that I am going to stop right here because I can barely keep my eyes open anymore.  Tomorrow will be another fun packed day starting with visit to Arlington National Cemetery.  Good night.

​

2023 DC Trip Day Four  

What a fantastic Day!  It happens to be June 14th which is Flag Day but it is also the Army’s birthday.  Today the Army turned 248 years old. Because of the Army’s birthday we are in for a very special day, starting with our first stop, Arlington National Cemetery We arrived at Arlington early. In fact, we got there before they opened the gates. This was in part to help Tony out who needed to go get something repaired on the bus. To help with this he dropped us off outside the gate and took off. We had a back up plan with metro cards so we could take the subway just in case he didn’t make it back in time. (He did but we were prepared.) Anyway, once we entered Arlington, we headed straight up the hills so we could start our day with the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldiers. As we approached that part of the cemetery it was very apparent that something different was going on today.  There were soldiers marching up the back steps in four separate groups.  When we walked around and entered the the Tomb area we discovered there was a marching band assembled in the changing area.  It turns out the was a huge ceremony complete with a wreath laying by the Secretary of the Army.  What a treat.  The students got to witness this wonderful ceremony.

 

After that ceremony we stayed around for the changing of the guard.  Unfortunately, it started raining so it wasn’t the usual spectacle.  The guard on duty stayed in the little guard shack until the new guard came over to him.  The superior officer completed a shortened inspection and the two guards just switched places.  Sorry we didn’t get to see a regular changing but I thin it was worth it to see the rest of the show that we actually did witness. Next we crossed the street where I walked the students through the heroics of Audie L Murphy.  I was quite impressed how attentive the groups were while I was telling the story.  I also let them know that we will watch the movie about his life on the drive from Gettysburg to Philadelphia tomorrow. Audie stars as himself in the movie To Hell and Back. If you have never seen it, I urge you to check it out.  The story is pretty inspiring.  

 

Next we checked out the memorials to the astronauts who have lost their lives as well as the tribute to the USS Maine in Havana Harbor which started the Spanish-American War.  Next bus #1 headed to Arlington House while I hustled back to Audie Murphy’s gravesite to share how story with the second group. The were just as attentive as the first group . Hopefully your student got a picture of his tombstone.  It was the rare one that had flowers (there are usually not a lot of flowers on the graves in Arlington.)  From here I made a very bad mistake.  I decided to catch up with group number one.  I took off down the road and when I came to the first fork in the road I knew I was in trouble because if I made the wrong choice it could be a VERY long trek.  Sure enough, I picked the wrong road. Whoops!  When I finally encountered someone and asked if the was the road to Arlington House, his laugh told me all I needed to know.  He did give me directions and let’s just say I walked about twice as far as the students did today at Arlington, and that’s a lot.

 

Anyway, I catch up with group one while some of them are still inside touring Arlington House.  This was quite a treat. We have never been inside Arlington House before. This was Robert E Lee’s home before the Civil War.  During the war they turned i=his yard into a burial ground so he never moved back in after the war.  Inside there were any original artifacts from as well as remakes of the contents of the home. It has recently been completely refurbished. What a nice treat.

 

Behind the house is the original monument to the unknown soldiers.  It honors over 2,000 unknown soldiers who perished during the Civil War. Sad that someone gave their life for their country and we cannot identify who they were.  From here we head down the hill the to Kennedy gravesites.  Along this one hillside are the graves Joseph Kennedy (although I don’t think they ever found his body after being shot down over the Atlantic), Teddy Kennedy, Robert Kennedy as well as the site of the eternal flame for John and Jackie Kennedy.  There is also a new grave site to visit just down the hill from the Kennedy’s in the area reserved for Supreme Court Justices.  Here is where you will find the tombstone of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  Time to head down the hill and board the buses for lunch.  Everything was going great. Tony is back, the bus is fixed, we were loading up when we heard it. One bus was trying to back out of the exit so he could go back into the parking lot (I have no idea why) when he backed into the bus behind him. Not a huge deal except they are blocking the exit.  Eventually James (the driver for bus two) gets Arlington to open the second exit lane but now we are behind schedule.  

 

Our next stop is for lunch but we have a timed entry pass for the Air & Space Museum. The only way we can make it before we miss our window is if we get out lunch to go.  Lunch today is at the Balston Quarter Market.  There are a number of great choices.  Everyone places their orders, gets the food to go and its back on the bus.

 

Fortunately, we make it to the Air & Space Museum with about ten minutes to spare.  They have been remodeling this museum for a looooooong time (4 years I believe). And they have only reopened half of it so far.  At first glance my thoughts were “wait a minute, this is basically the same” but the more I looked the more changes and improvements were apparent. They have added a number of really cool displays, including a Star Wars X-Wing fighter hanging from the ceiling, a glass enclosed Start Trek Enterprise, a moon-rover, and a second Writer Brothers plane (this one is on the the first military planes.)  They have also added some things that didn’t really make a lot of sense.  I guess they were highlighting the speed aspect of “flying” over the land. They have added a section about cars and motorcycles.  There is Evel Kenieval’s Harley Davidson Motorcycle, Mario Andretti’s Indy car, Richard Petty’s number 43 STP Stock Car to name just a few.  Cool but not quite in the Air & Space category. They have also added a whole underground floor with a cafeteria and a huge extension of the main gift shop. Can’t wait to see what they are going to do for the second half of the museum.

 

Next it is time to head over to the African American Museum. This is such a great museum and and they have added a number of really cool items, including the costume for the original Black Panther. There is sooooooooo much to see in this fantastic museum.  This time I toured the history of African Americans in this country.I As I went through the early year (1617-1887) which I teach about in class I learned a few things to add to next years lessons. That was great but I was surprised how triggered I was today by the period of time that I actually was around to see in person.  Starting around 1965 I remembered seeing a lot of the stories and issues presented in the museum live as they were playing out on the television news every night. The protests, the riots, anger and fear, it all came back plain as day. It is experiences like this that I try to incorporate into my classes to make history as real as possible.  Believe it or not, this is going to happen to you the future.  Years from now you are going to look at things that happened in your lifetime and it is going to bring back a flood of memories.  Embrace them, learn from them and let them help you be a better person.

 

Time to eat again.  This time we are going to the Pentagon City Mall which is normally a very busy place.  Since today is Flag Day we are expecting the Twilight Tattoo to be a VERY busy place. Tony mentioned that many, many of his bus driver friends are scheduled to bring a group to the Tattoo tonight.  Since only the early birds get seat in the bleachers we decide to do the same thing we did at lunch, get our food to go!  I was sooooooo impressed. We gave everyone a food voucher with choices of about 15 different restaurants in the food court and gave everyone about 20 minutes to go grab dinner. Believe it or not, everyone was back on time and off to the Twilight Tattoo we go. 

 

I think I mentioned at the meeting that this was my favorite thing on the entire trip.  It really is and I think part of the reason for this is because it is totally different while still the same every time we come.  Today they were going to parachute in (which we have only seen happen once) but it was way to windy so the jump was cancelled.  By the way, I know we were worried about smoky skies before we left home but other than a little bit of hazy sky on our first day there hasn’t been smoke problems at all. As for the show, it had the same basics but the presentation was pretty different.  The three rock and all singers at the start got the kids into the show.  I knew we had a bunch of Swifties at Kenilworth but I was surprised at how almost everyone joins in to sing Love Story. The singers came back multiple times throughout the show (usually the sing at the start and that’s it). Throughout the show they interspersed the singers with the soldiers telling their stories and the drum and fife corp and the Army Drill Team.  We lost count of the number of guns and howitzers shot off tonight. They even buzzed us with a Blackhawk helicopter to end the show. Oh, and the same VIP’s who laid the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington this morning were there to be a part of the show.  Once the show ended we had a chance to meet and great all these wonderful men and women.  Lot’s of photos were taken and Ms. Selna and I even had a chance to go meet the Secretary of the Army.  What a fantastic night.

 

One last stop, as we exit Arlington we stop at the Marine Corp’s Memorial which is a huge bronze statue depicting the men raising the American Flag atop Mt Saribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II

 

Its late and tomorrow is a big day.  We have to pack up and leave DC as we head to Gettysburg in the morning.  See you tomorrow.     

​

2023 DC Trip Day Five

 

Well, today started out with a bit of a glitch. No one got their wake up calls from the hotel. I thought it was just me since my phone appeared slightly off the hook but nope, it was everyone.  Good thing most of our students listened and set their own alarms as well. I did get the hotel to make calls to all the rooms but they were at least 30 minutes late. That being said everything worked out and all of us were at breakfast, with our luggage, ready to board the buses on time.  Today we say farewell to the DC area and head for Gettysburg.

 

We are on the bus and ready go right on time but for the first time this week we hit horrendous traffic.  Frankly, I was surprised how little traffic we have hit in the mornings this week. It is usually much worse but not today. Fortunately we are not stuck in it for too long (accident on the other side of the freeway) before things open up and we actually arrive at Gettysburg early enough to hit the bathrooms without rushing right into the theater. 

 

In Gettysburg, first stop is at the visitors center.  Once we make the bathroom pit stop, its time for a fantastic film that walks you through the entire battle.  This movie is excellent. Unfortunately, they don’t sell copies of it. I would love to have it to show during class. After the film we make our way upstairs to the Cyclorama.  This is a huge diorama that places us in the center of the battle. Using lights, sound and music it feels like the battle is taking place all around us even though nothing is actually moving.  

 

After the cyclorama we head back downstairs to tour the museum or to shop.  This museum is loaded with the remnants of this battle. Tons of weapons, uniforms, and military equipment. I notice the one thing that is lacking, almost no shoes. This makes sense considering probably half the soldiers at this battle didn’t have any shoes to wear.  Another interesting thing, all the clothes are basically the same size.  They did not start selling clothes by size until AFTER the Civil War. Everything was one size fits all unless you could afford to have your clothes customized. So let me get this straight.  If I am a Civil War soldier, my clothes could be three or four sizes too big or too small, I probably don’t have any shoes and I am going to have to charge into battle at a moments notice. Yikes!  That certainly doesn’t sound like a great way to win a war. Unfortunately we don’t have time to visit the museum AND shop so everyone chose to shop instead.

 

This is a wonderful shop. They have a wide variety of quality souvenirs at decent prices as well as some tasty local treats including some fantastic flavors of fudge.  This shop and the one at Mount Vernon are definitely my favorite places to leave some cash on this journey.

 

Next up its time to tour the battlefield. A local licensed battlefield expert boards each bus and takes us on a tour of the entire battlefield. Each guide takes their group to slightly different sites and goes over different aspects of the battle but I noticed today that other than the first stop they each ended up at the same places. so my description may not match your child’s if they were on the other bus but there are many common similarities so you should be able to get the idea of what we did today. 

 

Our guide took us out of the 

 

After our battlefield tour it is time for lunch.  Today we are dining at the Dobbin House.YUM! The Dobbin House was a stop on the Underground Railroad back when slaves were fleeing the South, searching for freedom in the far north or even into Canada.  This is Pennsylvania, which was a free state but we are still close enough to the border that they could still be easily captured and taken back to the South.  The runaways would hide during the day then travel under the cover of darkness. Remember, this is still in the pre-electricty era so it is definitely dark at night with no streetlights. Even the lights in theme are simple oil lamps or candles. It made it easier for the runaways to hide but also harder for them to travel since they can’t really see where they are going. That is the historical part of this stop but unfortunately that part was not open for us to tour today. Not sure why but we couldn’t go in to see it.  

 

But seriously, what we are really here for is a most excellent lunch. The fare is simple but oh so tasty.  There is bar-b-que chicken as well as the fixings to make your self a ham and cheese sandwich. The best part of that sandwich, the homemade bread!  It is soooooooo good. I just love the sandwich bread. It practically melts in your mouth. They also make their own pickles, pies, cakes and brownies with as much as you want of everything. I wonder if they would let me take an entire loaf of this amazing bread home? Oh, and today, the brownies were AMAZING!

 

After lunch we have a bit of a drive ahead of us but on the drive we watch a movie about Audie Murphy. Well, we try to.  Bus #1 had a DVD player issue so we only saw about half the film but Bus #2 made it through the whole movie. The film is called To Hell and Back and is based on Audie’s biography of the same name. This movie chronicles Audie’s life stay from childhood through the end of the war.  The best part of all is that Audie plays himself in the film. After the war Audie had gone to Hollywood  and become a movie star.  Most of his films were Westerns so I believe this was his one and only war movie. I am not sure how much he enjoyed the experience especially when you consider that he suffer from some pretty severe Post Traumatic Stress issues. He had severe nightmares and nigh terrors almost every night Can you imagine reliving such horrible scenes as fighting in a war virtually every night while trying to sleep. Unfortunately, he died fairly young in a plane crash.  While he was alive he had been award every single medal the United Staes that to bestow upon a soldier, including the Congressional Medal of Honor for Valor. Quite an impressive man! If you were on bus #1 and didn’t get to see the end of the movie, I apologize.  Hopefully, you will have a chance to finish it elsewhere someday.

 

We added a special treat today, a stop at Valley Forge.  This is where George Washington and the Continental Army spent winter quarter.  It was a cold, harsh winter but they had the help of Baron Von Steuben to train and discipline the troops.  We arrive in time to tour the little museum in the visitors center as well as do a little shopping in the gift shop. This is also about halfway between Gettysburg and Philadelphia so it is the perfect place for a bathroom stop.  We closed down the visitors center at 5:00pm and took a drive through tour of Washington’s Encampment before getting back on the highway heading towards Philadelphia.

 

Todays drive is more challenging than usual.  There was a bridge collapse on Monday morning on Interstate 95 which is the main freeway through Philadelphia which has closed the entire freeway and will keep it closed for weeks if not months. Luckily James, our driver on bus #2 is fro Philadelphia so he knows all the back roads and secret ways to get through the city so our drive is very interesting. Instead of going on the totally stopped freeway (actually its a toll road….are those called turnpikes?  I’m not sure.) we are going through some very interesting neighborhoods.  It is definitely a little enlightening for some of our students. James issued a number of life lessons that would be of great benefit to the students who take it to heart. It is kinda nice to see so many people sitting out on their front stoops as we drive by and the neighborhoods definitely improved the closer we got to downtown. 

 

We finally arrived at Sonny’s Cheesesteaks. The reaction from the couple sitting at the table next to front door as we carried box after box after box….well, six huge boxes plus a number of cases of water out the front door was fantastic. I think water blew out the gentleman nose when I commented that I was really hungry while carrying out the fifth or sixth box.  We loaded the boxes on the buses and headed to an awesome spot for a picnic…the lawn in front of Independence Hall!  Dinner was fun and the students had some time to burn some steam off out on the grass.  Dinner was those cheesesteak sandwiches we ordered a few weeks ago plus chips and a bottle of water.  Those who ordered their with CheeseWhiz discovered I was telling the truth.  The  sandwiches with CheeseWhiz were a lot more moist and juicy.  The CheeseWhiz flavor doesn’t really come through but the sandwiches without CheeseWiz tasted good but they were a bit dryer.  I did tell everyone they might have a second chance at dinner tomorrow.  Depending what terminal and gate we fly out of you might be able to get a true Philly Cheesesteak. One of the best Philly Cheesesteaks I have ever had was at an airport restaurant on the trip home on the DC trip.  

 

After a quick stop at a grocery store where I picked up ice cream for everyone, we get to our new hotel.  We get our keys, drop our stuff off at our rooms and head downstairs for ice cream and a meeting.  I was saddened when Tony came in to our meeting to point out that students towards the back of bus #1 left such a mess that he was going to come down early in the morning to clean himself.  This is very disappointing, especially since we reminded the students over and over to bring their trash up to the front of the bus. I am going to give Tony an extra tip out of my own pocket but there are a number of you who have not contributed any tip money yet.  I would appreciate it if you can help us out and make a donation.  I don’t want to lose Tony.  He has been driving us for years and he has never complained about students making a mess like this before. He was pretty upset tonight, let’s think how we can make it up to him tomorrow.

 

That’s it for tonight.  See you tomorrow.  

Mike Eklund