Washington DC - Last Day

Well, as I write this last entry I am home. Hard to believe that this wonderful trip is all over. But before we get a little sappy, here is the entry for the last day.

Thursday, April 4, 2013
For today's morning routine - 6:30 wake up call, 7:30 breakfast - we added a room check to it in order to make sure that no one left any of their belongings behind. Once everyone was "checked out" we headed down to the bus, loaded our luggage and headed out. But it wasn't quite time to go to the airport, for we still had a little more sight-seeing to do!

First up on the itinerary is the Newseum. This museum celebrates our freedom described in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Inside this museum, we saw exhibits regarding the 9-11 events - JFK - FBI - the Berlin Wall - and so on! This is definitely one museum that you could spend a full day, if not more, to really read and take in all the information. But, unfortunately, our time was limited and it was time to move on.

Next up - the Smithsonians...first the American History Museum where we enjoyed a delicious meal in the cafeteria before looking at as many exhibits as time would allow.

 From the History Museum, we moved on to the Natural History Museum. Here we saw:

The Hope Diamond

Stuffed Animals - Mammal, Ocean Life, Primates and so on

And of course, what would a Natural History Museum be with out the Dinosaur exhibit?

The Natural History Museum, like the Newseum and the American History Museum, is another place you really need to take a whole day to explore...as long as you have patience for the crowd! Ugh, it was busy and crowded!

From here, we headed to the Smithsonian Castle...

Here is an exhibit that was near and dear to my family's heart...

With our time in DC growing short, we had one more place to visit before heading home...the National Art & Space Museum...but this one is not on The National Mall. It is located near Dullies Airport. It is a very large building that looks like an airplane hanger and holds some amazing airplanes & helicopters.

One that caught your eye as soon as you walked in was the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird. The long sleek black body of this plane and the fact that it can fly from one end of the country to the other in 1hr and 4 minutes...it is incredible. 

However, the ultimate favorite was the Discovery Space Shuttle!!!!!

 Now this was a sight to behold!

Well, as timing would have it, the clock struck 5:30pm and the announcement came over the loud speaker: "The museum is closing, please exit". And with that, so was our trip to DC, for now it was time to do one last head count, to load up the bus one last time and head out to the airport.

What a wonderful trip! We visited lots of awesome places, learned a lot about the beginnings of our country, ate some great food and made some wonderful memories. I am grateful that there are these opportunities which the school organizes. And there are some people I would like to publicly thank (not in any particular order):

1. Joe "the bus driver" - thank you for your great care in getting us were we need to be safely and timely! 
2. Jeff "the tour guide" - your history knowledge is overwhelming; we enjoyed all your stories and learned a lot from you. You are a true history geek!
3. My co-chaperones - Paul, Terri, Bambi and "Big D" - it was a pleasure getting to know you all and working with you this week.
4. Mr. Chapman - wow! Your passion for history and your passion to be with all the kids is wonderful. I am so glad that you continue to make this trip happen!

Well, that is all there is to tell of this trip. We are in the process of recovering - getting back on west coast time.

Thank you for your interest in my trip with the 8th graders to Washington DC.

Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa