What a
beautiful day! The temperature was in the mid-eighties and
beautiful. It has been so warm here that the trees have
gone from green to brown. We have only seen a little color.
Today
started out perfectly. We did not have an appointment at
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but we were first in
line and were able to go in as soon as they opened. This is
always a favorite location for the kids – all of that money
just a window away. Those of us who work for a living as
teachers didn’t even recognize what it was. Oh, well.
We easily
made our 10:00am appointment at the Washington Monument.
The views are incredible. The kids did not realize how
small the White House is, so they had picked out one of the
Smithsonians as the White House. They were so astonished to
discover how small it is.
The
National Cathedral, on the other hand, was larger than they
thought. As we entered, a monk from Tibet was chanting
while making a sand mandala for world peace. His voice was
magnificent as are the acoustics in the cathedral.
We drove
Embassy Row while Curt pointed out most of the embassies.
He gave some very interesting facts about some of them. For
example, did you know that the night before Japan bombed
Pearl Harbor they were burning documents in their driveway
all night long.
After lunch
at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, we walked
right in to the National Archives to see the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. One
of the guards had a good time with the kids. She asked them
to tell her the first three words of the Constitution, which
they could do.
Everyone
had a good time at the Museum of National History. World
Strides had provided a student journal which had a scavenger
hunt in it for this museum. The kids found the answers in
record time.
The
Jefferson Memorial is beautiful, especially late in the day
with the sun, low in the sky, reflecting off the Tidal
Basin. Several of the students worked hard to hold up the
Washington Monument.
Samantha
Giles’ cousin ate dinner with us. It was fun meeting him.
He lives a block away from the restaurant and was delighted
to get a free meal (and to see his cuz).
After
dinner was an emotional night. First it was the fun of
climbing all over the statue of Einstein. Then it was the
sadness of seeing so many names on the Vietnam War Memorial
Wall and the faces of all the soldiers representing those
who died in Korea during the Korean War.
We had a
fantastic day and our students were wonderful. Tomorrow
we’re off to Mount Vernon with no rain in sight. We’ll be
on the Hill Thursday afternoon and in Alexandria for a ghost
tour tomorrow night.
Until then,
Kathy for
David, JoAnn and Travis on Wednesday, October 17 around 10pm
pacific
