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What a beautiful, warm day to spend exploring Washington, D.C.  Our first stop was the Washington Monument.    The views were wonderful from the windows at the top.  Everyone enjoyed the elevator ride, especially after hearing that years ago only men over 18 were allowed to ride in the elevator.  The women had to walk to the top.  No one, except Travis and David, thought that was a good idea.

After the monument, we were off to the National Cathedral.  The students had studied so much about this style of architecture last year with Margie and this year with David and Rose, that they were all very excited to see how beautiful and large and majestic it is in person.  Our guide was excellent.  Leaving the Cathedral, Curt drove us down Embassy Row for a quick look at the many different countries represented in such a short distance.  We also drove by Bill and Hillary’s street.  I wonder if they would have minded a visit. 

Lunch was at the Reagan International Trade Center where there is a huge food court.  Everyone was fed and ready for the National Archives.  Since the film National Treasure, the interest in our documents of freedom has increased.  One of the guards, aptly nicknamed the “Professor,” had really interesting stories to share with our students about the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Later, he showed them a less than stellar copy of President Kennedy’s report card from Harvard, with the advice that all things are possible.

The Air and Space Museum is always a favorite.  There are so many activities to do and things to look at. Everyone had something of interest to them.  We felt that the kids could use some physical activity, so I told them we were going to the mall.  You should have seen their eyes light up until I explained that the mall was the grassy area outside the museum.  They still seemed to have fun.

We stopped by the Jefferson Memorial on our way to dinner.  Again, the day was so beautiful everything just shined.  After dinner we climbed on Albert Einstein before laying carnations at the base of the Vietnam War Memorial.  Many of the students were moved by the solemnity of the war memorials.  Curt does such a great job explaining the significance of the artists’ designs and the background of what went into their construction. After our visits to the Lincoln Memorial and Korean War Memorial, we finished with the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, otherwise known as the Nurses Memorial.

Tomorrow is a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call for another full day, so goodnight  to all.