Yesterday was an early morning. Our first stop was the capitol building.

When we first came in, we were in a large hall with many statues. I recognized one of the guys in the room and had to go over to see him:

It was Kamehameha! It was good to see him again.

After our Capitol building tour, we went to the Library of Congress. It is stunningly beautiful inside. I was most excited to see the reading room.

There was a display of photos in one of the rooms. This was one of my favorites:

Our next stop was the Bible Museum. I don’t know how it happened, but I didn’t take any pictures.

Next, we went to Arlington National Cemetery. Our group presented a wreath. One of the boys didn’t have dress shoes (sneakers are not allowed), so he borrowed mine. I have famous shoes! They’ve participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier!

We didn’t have time scheduled to walk the Tidal Basin, but the cherry blossoms are just now opening. It was fun to see them again.

For dinner, we went to a very familiar place:

It’s Baltimore! We went Phillips Seafood restaurant in the Inner Harbor. I had crab cakes! Real Maryland crab cakes!

After dinner, we got back into the bus for a long drive to New Jersey. We’re visiting New York today! Woo hoo!

We had a super busy day yesterday. In the morning, we went to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s house.

We had to speed through it, but it was really cool. There is a key to the Bastille prison in the entryway. Such an unexpected artifact…

I was very excited to hear that the bannister was the original one. George Washington would have touched it many times. And I touched it too! I can add it to the list of famous bannisters I have touched, just like Independence Hall.

Next, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We had a little over an hour there, so it was also a whirlwind visit. The kids spent a lot of time in a room full of pop-culture displays. I took pictures of several cool things, but I’ll only share two – droid costumes from “The Return of the Jedi”

And a sweater from Mr. Rodgers

After that, we went to the Manassas battle field, then to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles, which is an air and space museum that I’ve never been to. It has lots of aircraft in it, including the Enola Gay

And the Space Shuttle Discovery. Wow! I was so excited to see the space shuttle!

Next, we had dinner at Bertucci’s, which is another old Baltimore favorite of mine. Their bread and dipping oil is delicious!

We ended the day with an after-dark memorial walk. Our guide was excellent at narrating the experience. It was hard to take pictures though.

I was exhausted when I went to bed, which was once again too late at night. Whew! I’m going to need to sleep for two days straight to catch up on my rest!

Yesterday we went to Jamestown, then to Williamsburg, neither of which I have been to. They were too far a drive from Baltimore I guess…

Jamestown was cool. The place you visit is a re-creation of the actual settlement. It was beautiful to walk around outside. It’s early spring here. Redbuds!

There was a once-per-year event happening, where people came dressed in period clothing to talk about militaries from various times and places. It covered everything… vikings, knights, Revolutionary War, Civil War, both world wars, all the way to the present. You could walk up to their tent/display area and ask them anything. I was most fascinated by the interactions between the re-enactors. They knew each other. And if they didn’t they soon would. It was definitely a society of its own. So cool.

Williamsburg was amazing. Our guide was astounding. She was sooo good! And the people at the displays were not only knowledgeable, they were experts in their fields. I thought the lady in the wig shop was just an actor pretending to make a wig, but then she told us she was actually making a real wig using period techniques, and that the wigs she created were valued at $10,000. Wow!

The buildings were also amazing, of course. We walked a lot. It was tiring, but fun.

For dinner, we stopped at a Silver Diner. Ha! I used to eat at a Silver Diner in Maryland regularly. It was near my school in Catonsville.

Today we go to DC. So exciting!

Yesterday was mostly a travel day for our8th grade DC trip. The flight was a four and a half hour non-stop from LA to BWI. When we arrived, I heard that one of the boys had been throwing up. It was a rough landing, so I sympathized. But then I found out he had been throwing up for the entire flight! Yikes! He looked terrible. I felt so bad for him.

He rested on a bench while we waited at luggage claim, then we got into a bus for another FOUR HOURS to Williamsburg. Ack! I felt REALLY bad for the sick boy. He continued to throw up, but then part way, we got him to sit in the very-very front, and he seemed to feel better. He even slept a little.

We didn’t have much time left in the day when we arrived. We went to old-town Williamsburg for some spooky stories (the story-teller was EXCELLENT), and then we went to hotel for a quick swim and bed.