Washington DC - Day 4/5

Good morning from DC. It is amazing that all the anticipation for this trip, that started almost a year ago, is reaching its last few days. However, let me tell you what we all did yesterday.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013
It was nice to wake without the worry about packing things up and checking out. Getting up and going to breakfast seemed a little more relaxed. Which was nice, because today's dress code was a little more dressy. No shorts, no sweat pants or jeans with holes. It was recommended that the boys wear a nice pants, a button shirt and tie if they would like. And for the girls, a dress or skirt. However, comfortable shoes and a jacket and/or a sweatshirt were still a must (for it was chilly and we had a lot of walking to do today).

The idea was to dress to be in the right mood - to respect the places we would be visiting today. First up on the list of places to visit was the Arlington Cemetery.

Upon boarding the bus, our tour guide Jeff, gave us a history of Arlington...something that you had to go back to George Washington. George married a rich widow named Martha, who already had two kids. In 1781, George Washington succumbs to the whining of Jackie about being apart of the war. George makes him apart of the army, but not to show favoritism, requires him to bunk in the tents. Here Jackie gets sick and dies of small pox. Jackie had 2 kids - Nellie and Washie. When Jackie died, George and Martha adopt them and raise them as their own...these are the only kids that George and Martha had in a sense.

On December 14, 1799, George Washington develops a bad cough and ends up dying. Washie was devastated  In George's will, he is awarded the land of Arlington where he builds a yellow house on top of the hill.

The yellow house that Washie built...it over looks the now Arlington Cemetary

Washie has a daughter - Mary - who later marries Robert E Lee. They live at the house for a while. Lincoln asks Robert E Lee to command the Union army, but due to his birth place being in Virginia, Lee declines. Thus, he and Mary leave the house. And because they couldn't pay their property taxes of $97 in person, something that you had to do back then, the government took it over and the house & land was turned into a cemetery.  To make sure that Mary and Robert never returned to their home, they began to bury Civil War soldiers near the houe and in their rose gardens.

There are over 300,000 graves at Arlington - soldiers, dignitaries, Presidents, etc. The first site that we walked to was the burial ground/resting place/memorial of JFK.

The eternal flame at the JFK gravesite

The next place we walked to was the Tomb of the Unknown soldier for the changing of the guards

The guard walking his 21 steps one direction...pauses for 21 seconds...turns & pauses 21 seconds...finally is ready to walk back 21 steps. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Each guard does a 30 minute shift during the day during certain season. In the evening, the shift is 2 hours.

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The changing of the guards has a lot of ritual and is done in respect of all our soldiers who have fought in war and died. Many we cannot identify and they become our Unknown. One WWI unknown soldier has been placed here and he represent all the hundreds-thousands whom are unknown.

After the ceremony, we moved to the amphitheater, where Jeff (our tour guide) talked to us more about the changing of the guards and all the shining of shoes and polishing of buttons each guard has to do. We also learned more about Arlington Cemetery...and just enjoyed a little time off our feet :)

 Back on tour of some of the graves, we were told about 2 Civil War soldiers, both unknown, were found in a famous ship that had sunk. These soldiers were just laid to rest a few weeks ago...see the place where the grass is still a little brown?

Also in Arlington are a couple of memorials that are somewhat near and dear to my heart...the two that memorialize the 2 space shuttles that exploded:

After leaving Arlington, we stopped at the famous Iwo Jima statue...

It was nice to get a photo with my son :)

Here is the group at the foot of the Iwo Jima

With all the walking we did in Arlington and the stop over at Iwo Jima, it was time to get energized. Today's lunch was in the Ronald Reagan mall food court. This was probably one of the better food courts - great selection and lot of healthier options than in the last couple we have been in.

After lunch, it was time to head to the White House for a photo op. No not with Obama, just along the fence...

However, there was a little complication to getting our photo taken. You see, there happened to be a very important dignitary in town and he was in the process of getting into his transportation to meet with the President. The prime minister of Singapore was getting ready to leave the Blair House to meet with Obama, so the secret service and police were in the process of securing the area

 Never the less, we patience paid off and we were able to get our shot...

The group in front of the White House

 Next up was the Holocaust Museum. This is a difficult museum to get through. Many of the kids did get a little emotional as they walked from floor to floor, learning all about the rise of Hitler, the concentration camps and so on. When you first walk into the museum, you are given a Passport - a little pamphlet that identifies one woman or one man who was part of the Holocaust. On the first floor, before you enter the elevators that takes you up to the beginning of the exhibits, you read about the person. Their name, where they were born and when and a little snippet of their life. Upon passing of each floor you turn the page of the Passport and when you reach the bottom floor - the end of the exhibit - you find out whether that person lived or died.

The front of the Holocaust Museum

After leaving the museum, we headed to dinner....which took us quite a long time due to traffic. Tonight's meal was at Buca di Beppos. Lots of food! We were stuffed! Spaghetti with marinara sauce, Fettichini Alfredo, Chicken Parm, salad, all the Italian bread you could eat and a HUGE chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

Now, energized once again it was time to see a few more memorials around Washington DC. We started out at the MLK Memorial. One of the new ones...in fact it just opened last spring.

After the MLK Monument, we walked over to the World War II Memorial. This memorial is really beautiful...if visited on the right conditions. Unfortunately, all of the reflector pools and the fountain in the middle were drained, so you lost some of the effects of the monument. But it is still a wonderful tribute to those who fought in this war.

Next up was the FDR Monument, which is a very large one. It spans almost a football field as it encompassed all 4 of his terms. The monument is made up of four different rooms, each covering what was happening during that term of his presidency. FDR really didn't want a big memorial, for he actually requested something simple, small and plain...a basic stone with his name engraved...which would be no bigger than the size of his desk. While his wish was granted - for there is a stone the size of his desk in DC - there seemed to be a need to really honor him with something that would show his character and work for generations to come. So this memorial was designed and opened May 1997.

The area had metal statues of people waiting in a soup line. There was enough space in between each of  the statues for the girls of our group to stand.

Throughout the monument, famous FDR quotes were engraved in the stone.

Last, but not least, we visited the Jefferson Memorial...

A view of the Jefferson Memorial taken from across the MLK memorial before the sun went down.

Well, this ended our day...it was time to head back to the hotel - early enough for all the kids to enjoy the opportunity to swim in the pool if they wanted to or hang out in their friends' rooms until "lights out".

Until next time...remember,

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch ofter

Lisa

Washington DC - Day 3/4

Good morning from Washington DC. Today I type this post as I lazily lay in my bed. Since we will spend the last part of our trip in DC, we do not have to move out of the hotel today like we have been doing the first of the trip; therefore I can veg in bed a little longer :)

So, here is what we did and learned yesterday...

Monday, April 1, 2013
Our day started off like the last...a wake up call at 6:30am, breakfast at 7:30am and departure from the hotel at 8:30am. Today we were leaving Gettysburg and heading to Baltimore, MD. With travel time to be approximately 2 hours, the movie of the morning was: Remembering the Titans.

We arrived at our first stop - Fort McHenry - a little earlier than expected and was able to catch the first showing of a movie about the Battle of Baltimore (which was part of the War of 1812) and the birth of our national anthem: The Star Spangled Banner. After the movie and a little walk through the museum, we headed out to the fort.

It was a nice walk out to the fort - sunshine, blue sky...with just a little breeze. Once inside the fort we participated in the flag ceremony...

After forming two lines, we started pulling out a replica of the Fort McHenry Flag. A flag that was 42x30 feet - had 15 stars and 15 stripes. The kids held onto each side of the flag and unrolled a "stripe" of it as the Park Ranger talked about the battle again and the fort - he would ask a question and we would give an answer and then unroll a stripe

We heard about the battle again...how the town of Baltimore was worried that they would be destroyed...that the ships on the water were afraid that the fort would fall...but "by the dawns early light" our flag...the McHenry Flag...was still standing. We Won! When Francis Scott Key say the flag and feelings started to flow into his head about the awesome moments, he jotted down some notes and a little later the national anthem was born.

After the flag ceremony, we all got an opportunity to walk around the entire fort...

Next it was time to board the bus and take a little driving tour around Baltimore. One of the major stopping grounds was Federal Hill which over looked Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Here is the group, listening to our guide Jeff on top of the hill

A photo of Baltimore's Inner Harbor

A photo of the 3 female chaperones (left to right: Bambi, Terri and ME)

Afterwards we did a little more driving around, taking in the row houses of Baltimore which included the a drive by Edgar Allen Poe's house. Then it was off to the inner harbor for lunch. There was a lot to choose from - the other two chaperones and I headed to Noodles & Company (a favorite place for lunch and/or dinner when I go on hockey trips with my boys). After a perfect bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup, it was time to head to the USS Constellation for the "Powder MonkeyProgram".

What is the "Powder Monkey Program" you ask...well, first you get a couple of navy "drill sergeants" and then you take 40 eighth graders. The kids are told to get single file with their toes lined up on a line and shoulders touching.

Then you divide up the kids into 2 lines - single file and have them march inside the USS Constellation.

And then you march down to the Gun Deck to get ready to shoot your gun...

First you line up on either side of the gun

Then two people come forward, toward the opening. They are incharge of sponging the inside of the gun and  pushing down the powder and the shell.

Here is the "drill sergeant" barking the orders: "Sponge", "Powder", etc

Here is Matthew and his classmate in action, carrying out the orders

The kids really had fun doing this drill. As I mentioned, they were broken up into two groups. During the exercise of getting the gun ready to fire and firing it (they really didn't fire it, only made the sound effects - "BOOM") the two groups competed against each other to see who could go through the whole process the fastest. By the way...the "Powder Monkey" was one of the soldiers who was in charge for bringing the gun powder bag and the heavy shell to the opening of the gun.

After the "Powder Monkey" Presentation, our sailor gave us a tour of the ship as well as some history.

Captain's Quarters

Hammocks - where the sailors slept

Once the tour of the USS Constellation was complete, we left Baltimore and headed to our final destination of the trip...to Washington DC! We arrived in DC right around the drive home traffic, nevertheless we were still 10-15 minutes early for our dinner reservations at Phillips Flagship...this great restaurant with the largest buffet I have ever seen. It has a seafood buffet...a salad buffet...a soup buffet...a carving station with roast beef and rotisserie chicken...pizza buffet...and of course a dessert buffet.

And then we were off running again...to the MONUMENTS...

 First up was the Vietnam War Memorial...

 Next, the Lincoln Monuments...

Photo taken from atop the Lincoln Monument

 After the Lincoln, a decision was made to head on to the hotel. The wind was really blowing and many of the kids' teeth were chattering. So off to the hotel to check in and unpack and go to bed!

Well, until next time...remember,

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa