Day 1
| dc_2013_day_1.mp4 |
Day 2
| dc_2013_day_2.mp4 |
Day 3
| dc_2013_day_3.mp4 |
Day 4
| dc_2013_day_4.mp4 |
Day 5
| dc_2013_day_5.mp4 |
Blog
We'll try to blog from here every night about what we see and do that day. Looks forward to a great trip!
I’m tooo tired to edit for grammar or spelling, so here is what you get.
DC day 4 ( written by CJ)
Hey girl hey! This is CJ comin in hot with the news from day 4 of the Hillwood DC Tour.Our day started off with a nice breakfast composed of hotel-made eggs, muffins, and bacon. We headed off from the hotel with all of our things without a hitch at 8:30...well all except one tiny glitch. On our way to our first sight of the day Coach Ketcham got an urgent call from a student...who was wondering where to locate his bus at the hotel. Matias Mason had been left behind due to an attendance error. Once we all got to Mt. Vernon (the former home of G. Wash) Mr. Shelton went back to the hotel to retrieve our missing tourist. All the rest of us began our tour of Mt. Vernon which included entering the mansion of the first president. Later we sat down and ate lunch as Matias and Mr. Shelton rejoined us. After we were all through with our hellos we went to visit the original rock that was placed as a boundary line of the DC border. The rock was very...still. However it was an interesting sight to see as our last few minutes in DC came to an end! After that we were of to see the wizard in the wonderful land of Baltimore. We visited Fort McHenry...the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner. That was a fun ride. At first everything was going smooth...clear skies, nothing going wrong, and every tourist was snapping their cameras. Until we were allowed to free roam. At first we were all supposed to meet at 4:30 after we looked around the fort for a little. That's when the rain started. The rain was gaining speed by the second. After helping fold the flag that flew over the fort my friend Chad McMurdo and I were walking along the border of the fort when the rain started. We ran along with a few others to make it out somewhat dry (that didn't happen). After trying to find our way out of the fort labyrinth Chad and I made it to the welcome center, then there was another issue. Another student of ours, Kevin Christensen was helping his friend Avery get out of the rain with a normal piggy-back ride and things turned bad. Kevin readjusted too much causing his face to have one-on-one time with the ground while Avery fell. Kevin got a badly scraped face and was taken to the hospital once the tour buses got back. Kevin had been out first casualty at the fort. Later I realized that we had had the full experience of being in the fort. We had some tough conditions, a few casualties, and a little blood. However before the buses arrived another problem arose. As I shopped in the gift shop I saw flashes of light followed by a confusing sound. Sound like lightning? Well it wasn't. The fire alarm had somehow magically been set off and everyone was to evacuate the premises. As we all stood in the downpour we finally all made it onto the buses. We automatically went to the hospital as Coach Ketcham and Coach Stitt stayed with Kevin to make sure he was all taken care of. The rest of us went to lunch in a Baltimore plaza and headed off to the Orioles game. Ketcham tried some chants with us at the beginning but, sadly, they didn't work very well, but we got better at them later on. Closer to the end of the game we were chanting pros. "Goodbye Jonesy" was our last chant before we left the stadium and Baltimore. (After a small game of duck, duck, goose that I got to play). The gang and I were off to Philadelphia. I sat next to Jake Bartosik and Ian McIver and let Jake listen to some of the Biebs...he knew most of the words. The next thing we did was well...this blog update. Looking back it was a pretty eventful day. We had some ups and downs but we all made it out alive. I guess that's it folks. We'll see you all tomorrow. This is CJ reporting live from the bus...CJ out.
DC Day 3
Day 3, while long, and hot, may have been our best day. We woke up and hit the Capitol for our big group photo. After that, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and walked around for about 2 hours. We saw the changing of the guard, tons of famous graves, and important people. In Ketcham's class, our guide Tim had set up a class research activity of famous and sometimes forgotten people of Arlington and they researched someone before we got here. The kids did a great job telling us about their person and really took pride in it. It was hot as hades in Arlington, and we quickly down and to the Air and Space for lunch. They explored the air and space and ate in either the food court or food trucks nearby.
After Air and space, we headed to Ford’s Theatre for a ranger talk about the assassination. This park ranger was new and pretty funny. His sense of humor reminded me of Hillwood’s own Coach Nelson.
After a gift shop or 2, they kids board back on and we headed for some group pictures in front of the White House. We took those, had some fun and then headed to dinner at buca di beppo. Hillwood Alumin Ellen Crawford joined us for dinner. It was great to see her. They treated us very well, and Mr. Shelton bought the group cheesecake dessert for packing and posting photos of #HMSDC13. We then played Kickball on the Mall, and the kids had a fantastic time. It was great to see them playing.
We then headed down to historic Georgetown, grabbed cupcakes, saw the Iwo Jima Monument, and the Lincoln at night before we headed back about 11:00. Also, a last minute highlight, the kids ask Tim when he would shave his magically eyebrows.
Call your kid for more details on stuff today. Of course, they are too cool to tell you anything besides “I dunno” and “stuff.” I feel like everyone is having fun.
Special shout out to our chaperones. They are fantastic and extra love to Nurse Rabatin. She is the bomb. Throw up, bloody nose, headaches, and thing I don’t need to know, she takes care of. Thanks Rabs!
Here is a bonus video today: http://animoto.com/play/r7HDSkJCOixpej4a35s3DA
DC Day 2
It’s almost 3 and I think it will post now.
We started the day at 7:30 and had breakfast at the hotel.
We then loaded up on the bus, and headed to the Capitol. We went in the “secret underground tunnel that everyone know about.” And went to the visitor center. After that, the kids got to see where Statuary hall, and where John Q. Adams old desk was and how he could hear around the room from tha spot. We gave the kids some time to go and explore.
After that we went to the Library of Congress. The LOC is the research library of the United States Congress, the national library of the US, and is also the oldest federal institution in the US. I learned today that it is located in four buildings in Washington, D.C. The LOC was started for Congress in 1800, and was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 1800’s. After much of the original collection had been destroyed during the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold over 6,000 books for money to the US government.
After the LOC, We walked to the Eastern Market and surrounding areas for lunch. The Eastern Market is a public market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The main part is housed in a 19th-century brick building. Some of the kids branched out and tried new things, other had Subway.
After that, we headed to the National Achieves. We call it “the Archives” and it is located north of the National Mall. It opened as its original headquarters in 1935, thanks to FDR. It holds the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We got to see these in the rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.
We then headed Smithsonian Natural and American history. Natural has animal bones, fish, butterfly’s, rocks, the Hope diamond and all that jazz. The American History has the Star Spangled Banner, Kermit the Frog, Archie Bunkers Chair, President stuff and so much more.
After that, we headed to the House of Blues for dinner. People were pretty excited about their meal.
After dinner, the half that hadn’t rode the Metro yet took the metro and the other half took the bus to Congressional Cemetery. It looks like it was a fun trip for everyone and they enjoyed it. A great first metro experience.
Congressional Cemetery was a blast. The kids got to go into a crypt, see where many famous people were buried. Like Vice President and D.O.I. signer Elbridge Gerry, of Gerrymandering fame, J. Edgar Hoover, former director of the CIA, and John Philip Sousa, of Sousa fame. We also learned about William Wirt former Attorney General, and his stolen head from his tomb and the odd safe return in the 2000’s. Tim told us some great ghost stories and we headed back to the hotel.
Good day today. Ketcham out.
DC Day 1 -
Ketcham:
Well, 3:13 came early this morning. Brittany and I got up bright and early and were at Albertsons to meet with KGIII (Ms. Glenn) to ride to the airport.
We arrived at 4:20AM to a pretty big crowd. American Airlines ticket lady was very nice and helpful, and our kids got through security pretty quickly.
Once through, Starbucks and food was a plenty and the kids were really behaved. We got boarded with only minor issues.
Looks like rain today in D.C. so the itinerary will be changed a little to make everything work. No biggie, we got it covered.
Mr.Shelton called and told me that Flight 2 was doing awesome and everyone made it through security. Coach Stitt said the kids were great.
Plane notes:
Now a word from Madison - I'm very bored on this flight!!!!!
Now, maybe a little bit more from Monica... Monica, what are you most excited about seeing? How are you feeling today?
Tired , but I'm excited about going to the Washington monument .
Wow, these kids won't quit talking will they?
Jake, what are you most looking forward to doing and seeing in DC?
I am looking forward to going to the war memorials.
We also have Shane Harris and Morgan Johnsick making their first flights ever today. We'll start with Shane. How is your first flight going? Is it was you expected? Biggest surprise so far?
Shane: it was pretty cool the highest place I've ever been is upstairs so this was cool.
Morgan:It was nerve racking at first but once you’re in the air it's a lot smoother and calm. So far so good(:
Sarah, how has your morning been?
Pretty cool, this is the second time I've been in an airplane that I remember, so I'm remembering the drill. The only thing that I'm not looking forward to is the rain. Lots of rain. Lots of bad,bad rain. Yay airplanes!
We also grabbed Victoria and her mom Nancy on this trip. Victoria went to Timberview and claims to be friends with Schmo. Victoria, what are you most excited about for this trip?
I'm most excited for seeing all the cool and fun places in DC and to meet some new people.
Emma, tell me about your seat mix up this morning on the plane. Who is to blame?
I think I just got confused lol. Me and a few other people got confused also so I'm not the only one :p
CJ please tell me about you and about your trip for the blog.
Hi I'm Camille, or CJ, or Squigy... I'm doing great...got a window seat ballahh!! As for the trip...so far so good. Just a bunch of sitting! I cannot wait to get to DC and see all the cool sights. I'm so glad that I get to come and be a kid for one more week. Thanks mom and CK. :)
Tell us about you, thoughts on the trip, what you want to see?
My name is Alexei I love seeing things that played a major part in our lives so seeing the things we will see this week will be amazing and great to learn what role they played in our lives.
Plane 1 lands:
Our guide Tim met us at the gate. He had told us our buses due to schedule and weather, we about 2 hours behind. So, Tim and I went and grabbed 50 Metro cards, loaded up the kids on the metro and took off. Sure, one parent, 5 kids, and Tim missed the metro the first try, they quickly caught up.
Flight 1 went to Pentagon City and ate some lunch and looked around. The hard part was since we didn't have a bus, we didn't have a spot to put our luggage. We found a quiet spot in the mall on the 4th floor and I watched about 100 pieces or luggage and we sent the kids to the American History Smithsonian. They had a good time, and while this was going on, it started to rain. As it rained and most of Flight 1 was with Mrs. Harris and Ms. Glenn; Tim, Mrs. Fannon, and myself moved all the luggage to the bus. (Easier than it sounded.)
During this time, Flight 2 landed, and had a similar bus issue. Luckily, their guide, Clift, (With a T) was there. They ate at the airport, and basically cleaned out the 3 choices they had. Once their bus got there, they headed to the National Cathedral and Flight 1 met them there.
The National Cathedral is beyond words. The first stone was laid by Teddy Roosevelt and the last was by George H.W. Bush. It is technically a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. It is a "neogothic" design. (I think). We were told it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in the United States, and the highest as well as the fourth-tallest structure in Washington, D.C. Also, it is not a church and is a cathedral because it is the seat of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. To give you an idea how big it is... you could lay the Washington Monument down inside of it. This West Wing Clip shows it perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DprfUzLAjuc (Some tough language)
The weather: We seemed to time it perfect. When it was sunny, of course, we were on the bus, and when we stepped outside, it poured. To give the kids credit, they had a great time, and were great sports. I’m very proud of them today.
On our way around and here and there, we checked out Embassy row, Embassy Row is the informal name for a area of a city in which embassies are concentrated. Washington, D.C.'s Embassy Row lies along Massachusetts Avenue, and the vast majority of embassies are found between Scott Circle and Wisconsin Avenue. Tim told us that these were considered Washington's premier residential address in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Massachusetts Avenue became known for its numerous mansions housing the city's social and political elites. Part of the area was known as "Millionaires' Row".
Saw the White House, Washington Monument, DuPont Circle, and the mall from the bus.
We got out of the bus and check out the Jefferson Memorial, MLK, the Korean War, Lincoln, and Vietnam memorials. It poured down rain at all of these, but was fun.
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third President of the United States. He faces the white house across the Tidal basin. Tall, beautiful monument.
Of course, the Lincoln is my favorite, and it was beautiful. We'll go back by for a night visit without rain.
After memorials, we checked out Union Station and grabbed dinner in the food court.
We headed finally to our hotel and made a crazy stop at CVS so the kids could “stock up”. We figure almost $2,000 was spent by 100 8th graders in 25 minutes. Uggh.
At the hotel, and after a few minor kinks, everyone was in their room and our security guards are ready to go outside in the hallways.
Just a quick note on our guides: Tim and Clift are fantastic and work together to make sure our kids have a great time. When the buses were late, they made the changes to made it work. They both are full of information and putting the kids first. Thankful to have them both.
Ketcham smells and needs to shower. Ketcham out.
A Quick Guest Blog from Viviane and Elizabeth
*THE FIRST STUDENT BLOG BY THE ONE AND ONLY VIVIANE NGUYEN.*
Hey everyone, so I'm Viviane:) And I was in the second plane!!:) I got up at around 4 this morning for the 6:30 flight. We arrived super early and no one was there. Mama A RAB came second and we went to get the tickets. I was so excited to get on the plane! We arrived here at Dulles airport and we waited for the bus to come. 45 minutes of being stuck in a corner of the airport where there was no food so we were hungry. Well we got on the bus to do a little sight-seeing before going to the National Cathedral, which was dark and a little scary.. Plus the gift shop had a square of fudge for $8!
Afterwards, we met up with the first plane who all thought they were cooler than us XD.
They took us to the monuments where it rained for a little at first and we kinda ran around and looked at some different monuments like Thomas Jefferson, MLK, and many more. It was a VERY long walk where we basically circled around and started to starve from hunger and heat. DC has very bipolar weather. Sunny, then rainy.
We had about 3 monuments left when it REALLY STARTED TO RAIN CATS AND DOGS. People were screaming, and we all got drenched. But it
was quite alright. We learned some cool things!. We left very soon and were excited to go to dinner at the Union station where we could get anything we wanted with vouchers. It still rained after dinner, but Our tour guide Clift announced that we were going to CVS! People spent $70, $80,$90!
We started to make our way to our Hotel, we were all exhausted from the walk, running in the rain. But I had an awesome first day, and I will never forget it!! Thank you to all the teachers and chaperones who helped make our first day so great!
It's 11:36 now And Ketcham probably wants his iPad back!!! XD I hope you all enjoyed your first DC blog post!:) LOVE, VIVIANE<3
This is now Elizabeth Halley, one on the first flight. We were at the airport at 4:30 in the morning, Central Time. Our flight took 2 and a half hours and when we got to D.C., we went to the mall. After that we went to the Smithsonian where there was some interesting things. When we left it was raining for the first time that day. Well it's late and I gave to get up early, bye!
#hmsdc13
I’m tooo tired to edit for grammar or spelling, so here is what you get.
DC day 4 ( written by CJ)
Hey girl hey! This is CJ comin in hot with the news from day 4 of the Hillwood DC Tour.Our day started off with a nice breakfast composed of hotel-made eggs, muffins, and bacon. We headed off from the hotel with all of our things without a hitch at 8:30...well all except one tiny glitch. On our way to our first sight of the day Coach Ketcham got an urgent call from a student...who was wondering where to locate his bus at the hotel. Matias Mason had been left behind due to an attendance error. Once we all got to Mt. Vernon (the former home of G. Wash) Mr. Shelton went back to the hotel to retrieve our missing tourist. All the rest of us began our tour of Mt. Vernon which included entering the mansion of the first president. Later we sat down and ate lunch as Matias and Mr. Shelton rejoined us. After we were all through with our hellos we went to visit the original rock that was placed as a boundary line of the DC border. The rock was very...still. However it was an interesting sight to see as our last few minutes in DC came to an end! After that we were of to see the wizard in the wonderful land of Baltimore. We visited Fort McHenry...the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner. That was a fun ride. At first everything was going smooth...clear skies, nothing going wrong, and every tourist was snapping their cameras. Until we were allowed to free roam. At first we were all supposed to meet at 4:30 after we looked around the fort for a little. That's when the rain started. The rain was gaining speed by the second. After helping fold the flag that flew over the fort my friend Chad McMurdo and I were walking along the border of the fort when the rain started. We ran along with a few others to make it out somewhat dry (that didn't happen). After trying to find our way out of the fort labyrinth Chad and I made it to the welcome center, then there was another issue. Another student of ours, Kevin Christensen was helping his friend Avery get out of the rain with a normal piggy-back ride and things turned bad. Kevin readjusted too much causing his face to have one-on-one time with the ground while Avery fell. Kevin got a badly scraped face and was taken to the hospital once the tour buses got back. Kevin had been out first casualty at the fort. Later I realized that we had had the full experience of being in the fort. We had some tough conditions, a few casualties, and a little blood. However before the buses arrived another problem arose. As I shopped in the gift shop I saw flashes of light followed by a confusing sound. Sound like lightning? Well it wasn't. The fire alarm had somehow magically been set off and everyone was to evacuate the premises. As we all stood in the downpour we finally all made it onto the buses. We automatically went to the hospital as Coach Ketcham and Coach Stitt stayed with Kevin to make sure he was all taken care of. The rest of us went to lunch in a Baltimore plaza and headed off to the Orioles game. Ketcham tried some chants with us at the beginning but, sadly, they didn't work very well, but we got better at them later on. Closer to the end of the game we were chanting pros. "Goodbye Jonesy" was our last chant before we left the stadium and Baltimore. (After a small game of duck, duck, goose that I got to play). The gang and I were off to Philadelphia. I sat next to Jake Bartosik and Ian McIver and let Jake listen to some of the Biebs...he knew most of the words. The next thing we did was well...this blog update. Looking back it was a pretty eventful day. We had some ups and downs but we all made it out alive. I guess that's it folks. We'll see you all tomorrow. This is CJ reporting live from the bus...CJ out.
DC Day 3
Day 3, while long, and hot, may have been our best day. We woke up and hit the Capitol for our big group photo. After that, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and walked around for about 2 hours. We saw the changing of the guard, tons of famous graves, and important people. In Ketcham's class, our guide Tim had set up a class research activity of famous and sometimes forgotten people of Arlington and they researched someone before we got here. The kids did a great job telling us about their person and really took pride in it. It was hot as hades in Arlington, and we quickly down and to the Air and Space for lunch. They explored the air and space and ate in either the food court or food trucks nearby.
After Air and space, we headed to Ford’s Theatre for a ranger talk about the assassination. This park ranger was new and pretty funny. His sense of humor reminded me of Hillwood’s own Coach Nelson.
After a gift shop or 2, they kids board back on and we headed for some group pictures in front of the White House. We took those, had some fun and then headed to dinner at buca di beppo. Hillwood Alumin Ellen Crawford joined us for dinner. It was great to see her. They treated us very well, and Mr. Shelton bought the group cheesecake dessert for packing and posting photos of #HMSDC13. We then played Kickball on the Mall, and the kids had a fantastic time. It was great to see them playing.
We then headed down to historic Georgetown, grabbed cupcakes, saw the Iwo Jima Monument, and the Lincoln at night before we headed back about 11:00. Also, a last minute highlight, the kids ask Tim when he would shave his magically eyebrows.
Call your kid for more details on stuff today. Of course, they are too cool to tell you anything besides “I dunno” and “stuff.” I feel like everyone is having fun.
Special shout out to our chaperones. They are fantastic and extra love to Nurse Rabatin. She is the bomb. Throw up, bloody nose, headaches, and thing I don’t need to know, she takes care of. Thanks Rabs!
Here is a bonus video today: http://animoto.com/play/r7HDSkJCOixpej4a35s3DA
DC Day 2
It’s almost 3 and I think it will post now.
We started the day at 7:30 and had breakfast at the hotel.
We then loaded up on the bus, and headed to the Capitol. We went in the “secret underground tunnel that everyone know about.” And went to the visitor center. After that, the kids got to see where Statuary hall, and where John Q. Adams old desk was and how he could hear around the room from tha spot. We gave the kids some time to go and explore.
After that we went to the Library of Congress. The LOC is the research library of the United States Congress, the national library of the US, and is also the oldest federal institution in the US. I learned today that it is located in four buildings in Washington, D.C. The LOC was started for Congress in 1800, and was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 1800’s. After much of the original collection had been destroyed during the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold over 6,000 books for money to the US government.
After the LOC, We walked to the Eastern Market and surrounding areas for lunch. The Eastern Market is a public market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The main part is housed in a 19th-century brick building. Some of the kids branched out and tried new things, other had Subway.
After that, we headed to the National Achieves. We call it “the Archives” and it is located north of the National Mall. It opened as its original headquarters in 1935, thanks to FDR. It holds the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We got to see these in the rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.
We then headed Smithsonian Natural and American history. Natural has animal bones, fish, butterfly’s, rocks, the Hope diamond and all that jazz. The American History has the Star Spangled Banner, Kermit the Frog, Archie Bunkers Chair, President stuff and so much more.
After that, we headed to the House of Blues for dinner. People were pretty excited about their meal.
After dinner, the half that hadn’t rode the Metro yet took the metro and the other half took the bus to Congressional Cemetery. It looks like it was a fun trip for everyone and they enjoyed it. A great first metro experience.
Congressional Cemetery was a blast. The kids got to go into a crypt, see where many famous people were buried. Like Vice President and D.O.I. signer Elbridge Gerry, of Gerrymandering fame, J. Edgar Hoover, former director of the CIA, and John Philip Sousa, of Sousa fame. We also learned about William Wirt former Attorney General, and his stolen head from his tomb and the odd safe return in the 2000’s. Tim told us some great ghost stories and we headed back to the hotel.
Good day today. Ketcham out.
DC Day 1 -
Ketcham:
Well, 3:13 came early this morning. Brittany and I got up bright and early and were at Albertsons to meet with KGIII (Ms. Glenn) to ride to the airport.
We arrived at 4:20AM to a pretty big crowd. American Airlines ticket lady was very nice and helpful, and our kids got through security pretty quickly.
Once through, Starbucks and food was a plenty and the kids were really behaved. We got boarded with only minor issues.
Looks like rain today in D.C. so the itinerary will be changed a little to make everything work. No biggie, we got it covered.
Mr.Shelton called and told me that Flight 2 was doing awesome and everyone made it through security. Coach Stitt said the kids were great.
Plane notes:
Now a word from Madison - I'm very bored on this flight!!!!!
Now, maybe a little bit more from Monica... Monica, what are you most excited about seeing? How are you feeling today?
Tired , but I'm excited about going to the Washington monument .
Wow, these kids won't quit talking will they?
Jake, what are you most looking forward to doing and seeing in DC?
I am looking forward to going to the war memorials.
We also have Shane Harris and Morgan Johnsick making their first flights ever today. We'll start with Shane. How is your first flight going? Is it was you expected? Biggest surprise so far?
Shane: it was pretty cool the highest place I've ever been is upstairs so this was cool.
Morgan:It was nerve racking at first but once you’re in the air it's a lot smoother and calm. So far so good(:
Sarah, how has your morning been?
Pretty cool, this is the second time I've been in an airplane that I remember, so I'm remembering the drill. The only thing that I'm not looking forward to is the rain. Lots of rain. Lots of bad,bad rain. Yay airplanes!
We also grabbed Victoria and her mom Nancy on this trip. Victoria went to Timberview and claims to be friends with Schmo. Victoria, what are you most excited about for this trip?
I'm most excited for seeing all the cool and fun places in DC and to meet some new people.
Emma, tell me about your seat mix up this morning on the plane. Who is to blame?
I think I just got confused lol. Me and a few other people got confused also so I'm not the only one :p
CJ please tell me about you and about your trip for the blog.
Hi I'm Camille, or CJ, or Squigy... I'm doing great...got a window seat ballahh!! As for the trip...so far so good. Just a bunch of sitting! I cannot wait to get to DC and see all the cool sights. I'm so glad that I get to come and be a kid for one more week. Thanks mom and CK. :)
Tell us about you, thoughts on the trip, what you want to see?
My name is Alexei I love seeing things that played a major part in our lives so seeing the things we will see this week will be amazing and great to learn what role they played in our lives.
Plane 1 lands:
Our guide Tim met us at the gate. He had told us our buses due to schedule and weather, we about 2 hours behind. So, Tim and I went and grabbed 50 Metro cards, loaded up the kids on the metro and took off. Sure, one parent, 5 kids, and Tim missed the metro the first try, they quickly caught up.
Flight 1 went to Pentagon City and ate some lunch and looked around. The hard part was since we didn't have a bus, we didn't have a spot to put our luggage. We found a quiet spot in the mall on the 4th floor and I watched about 100 pieces or luggage and we sent the kids to the American History Smithsonian. They had a good time, and while this was going on, it started to rain. As it rained and most of Flight 1 was with Mrs. Harris and Ms. Glenn; Tim, Mrs. Fannon, and myself moved all the luggage to the bus. (Easier than it sounded.)
During this time, Flight 2 landed, and had a similar bus issue. Luckily, their guide, Clift, (With a T) was there. They ate at the airport, and basically cleaned out the 3 choices they had. Once their bus got there, they headed to the National Cathedral and Flight 1 met them there.
The National Cathedral is beyond words. The first stone was laid by Teddy Roosevelt and the last was by George H.W. Bush. It is technically a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. It is a "neogothic" design. (I think). We were told it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in the United States, and the highest as well as the fourth-tallest structure in Washington, D.C. Also, it is not a church and is a cathedral because it is the seat of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. To give you an idea how big it is... you could lay the Washington Monument down inside of it. This West Wing Clip shows it perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DprfUzLAjuc (Some tough language)
The weather: We seemed to time it perfect. When it was sunny, of course, we were on the bus, and when we stepped outside, it poured. To give the kids credit, they had a great time, and were great sports. I’m very proud of them today.
On our way around and here and there, we checked out Embassy row, Embassy Row is the informal name for a area of a city in which embassies are concentrated. Washington, D.C.'s Embassy Row lies along Massachusetts Avenue, and the vast majority of embassies are found between Scott Circle and Wisconsin Avenue. Tim told us that these were considered Washington's premier residential address in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Massachusetts Avenue became known for its numerous mansions housing the city's social and political elites. Part of the area was known as "Millionaires' Row".
Saw the White House, Washington Monument, DuPont Circle, and the mall from the bus.
We got out of the bus and check out the Jefferson Memorial, MLK, the Korean War, Lincoln, and Vietnam memorials. It poured down rain at all of these, but was fun.
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third President of the United States. He faces the white house across the Tidal basin. Tall, beautiful monument.
Of course, the Lincoln is my favorite, and it was beautiful. We'll go back by for a night visit without rain.
After memorials, we checked out Union Station and grabbed dinner in the food court.
We headed finally to our hotel and made a crazy stop at CVS so the kids could “stock up”. We figure almost $2,000 was spent by 100 8th graders in 25 minutes. Uggh.
At the hotel, and after a few minor kinks, everyone was in their room and our security guards are ready to go outside in the hallways.
Just a quick note on our guides: Tim and Clift are fantastic and work together to make sure our kids have a great time. When the buses were late, they made the changes to made it work. They both are full of information and putting the kids first. Thankful to have them both.
Ketcham smells and needs to shower. Ketcham out.
A Quick Guest Blog from Viviane and Elizabeth
*THE FIRST STUDENT BLOG BY THE ONE AND ONLY VIVIANE NGUYEN.*
Hey everyone, so I'm Viviane:) And I was in the second plane!!:) I got up at around 4 this morning for the 6:30 flight. We arrived super early and no one was there. Mama A RAB came second and we went to get the tickets. I was so excited to get on the plane! We arrived here at Dulles airport and we waited for the bus to come. 45 minutes of being stuck in a corner of the airport where there was no food so we were hungry. Well we got on the bus to do a little sight-seeing before going to the National Cathedral, which was dark and a little scary.. Plus the gift shop had a square of fudge for $8!
Afterwards, we met up with the first plane who all thought they were cooler than us XD.
They took us to the monuments where it rained for a little at first and we kinda ran around and looked at some different monuments like Thomas Jefferson, MLK, and many more. It was a VERY long walk where we basically circled around and started to starve from hunger and heat. DC has very bipolar weather. Sunny, then rainy.
We had about 3 monuments left when it REALLY STARTED TO RAIN CATS AND DOGS. People were screaming, and we all got drenched. But it
was quite alright. We learned some cool things!. We left very soon and were excited to go to dinner at the Union station where we could get anything we wanted with vouchers. It still rained after dinner, but Our tour guide Clift announced that we were going to CVS! People spent $70, $80,$90!
We started to make our way to our Hotel, we were all exhausted from the walk, running in the rain. But I had an awesome first day, and I will never forget it!! Thank you to all the teachers and chaperones who helped make our first day so great!
It's 11:36 now And Ketcham probably wants his iPad back!!! XD I hope you all enjoyed your first DC blog post!:) LOVE, VIVIANE<3
This is now Elizabeth Halley, one on the first flight. We were at the airport at 4:30 in the morning, Central Time. Our flight took 2 and a half hours and when we got to D.C., we went to the mall. After that we went to the Smithsonian where there was some interesting things. When we left it was raining for the first time that day. Well it's late and I gave to get up early, bye!
#hmsdc13
Washington D.C. Trip 2013
Destination:Washington D.C. and Philadelphia
Tour Dates: June 10-14, 2013
Helpful Hints Form
Meeting PowerPoint
Order we are wearing Shirts
Itinerary
Flights - (Times Subject to Change) (As of 4:53 PM on Sunday 6/9/13 - Current Gates Flight 1 - C33, Flight 2 - C 36)
Flight 1: 50 Seats (ABRAHAM -KETCHAM)
You must Arrive at Airport at 4:30 AM
JUNE 10, 2013
To: AA 2070 DFW DCA 0640A 1025A
JUNE 14, 2013
From: AA 1527 PHL DFW 430P 715P
Flight 2: 50 Seats (KEY-WILLIS)
You must arrive at airport at 6:30 AM
JUNE 10, 2013
To: AA 1468 DFW IAD 0850A 1240P
JUNE 14, 2013
From: AA 403 PHL DFW 625P 920P
Hotels -
June 10,11,12 - Fairfield Inn & Suites, 2305 New York Ave., Washington D.C. Site
June 13th - Hilton Garden Inn, 530 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington, PA Site
Have Questions?
Contact: Brian Ketcham
[email protected]
Tour Dates: June 10-14, 2013
Helpful Hints Form
Meeting PowerPoint
Order we are wearing Shirts
Itinerary
Flights - (Times Subject to Change) (As of 4:53 PM on Sunday 6/9/13 - Current Gates Flight 1 - C33, Flight 2 - C 36)
Flight 1: 50 Seats (ABRAHAM -KETCHAM)
You must Arrive at Airport at 4:30 AM
JUNE 10, 2013
To: AA 2070 DFW DCA 0640A 1025A
JUNE 14, 2013
From: AA 1527 PHL DFW 430P 715P
Flight 2: 50 Seats (KEY-WILLIS)
You must arrive at airport at 6:30 AM
JUNE 10, 2013
To: AA 1468 DFW IAD 0850A 1240P
JUNE 14, 2013
From: AA 403 PHL DFW 625P 920P
Hotels -
June 10,11,12 - Fairfield Inn & Suites, 2305 New York Ave., Washington D.C. Site
June 13th - Hilton Garden Inn, 530 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington, PA Site
Have Questions?
Contact: Brian Ketcham
[email protected]
Blog
Sunday: So far, so good.
Shirt Designs
Letter to President
