Big Sale!!

It was the last school store of the year and everything was on sale!! The response was overwhelming (including a huge bag of pennies) but the Narwhals came through and handled it with the same professionalism they have all year. 

Washington DC

The Narwhals each took a portion of our trip to write about and we have included photos so you can learn about our four days in Washington DC.

The transit from point A to point B happened a lot. There was the metro, about 5 times a day we took it. There were two plane trips, one to D.C, and one back from D.C. To me it seemed rather fun, but this was my first time on a plane, and on a metro. We also took a hotel shuttle to and from dinner places on occasion. But still, the trips were quite crowded, and had very little space.

At SeaTac

The plane flight to D.C took 8¹/₂ hours in technicality. It really only took five and a half hours, but the time difference added three hours to that. The flight went relatively without a hitch, though there were patches of turbulence here and there. Most of us played games on the flight, electronic or not. Sawyer and I played on 3DSes in multiplayer and single-player. Maddie and Maxine played Phase ten, a card game.

Arriving in DC

The shuttle to the hotel was packed with the people from our group, and one person still had to sit on the floor. It took 15-20 minutes to get to the hotel from the airport, and then we went to our rooms.

The next morning, and most of the time the rest of the week, we took the metro to get to our destination, and this being my first time; I thought it was really cool. I soon figured out that the side with blue lights was the side on which the door opened. I soon figured out the metro system, and knew which side to go on, and which line (blue, yellow, red, green, silver, and orange) to go on. Most of the time we rode on the blue line, but occasionally we took the yellow line, and once or twice, we took the red line.

Trying to figure out how to buy metro cards

You probably wouldn’t understand all this stuff about the metro unless you rode on them, and still wouldn’t really understand unless you looked for it, because, while seeming simple enough, is super complicated. You have to figure out which platform, which train, and then figure out whether it’s your train or not. Then, when you get there you have to figure out which side to stand or sit by, or you might miss your stop.

Riding the Metro

We took the shuttle to three of four dinners, all of which were fancy restaurants. The shuttle was slightly less crowded, because usually three or four people were just meeting us at the restaurant. We also walked about seven to ten miles a day, sometimes more, but never less. There was a lot of walking, to say the least.

Eventually the trip was over except for the flight back, which technically took 2 hours, but in reality took 5 hours. We did most of the same things, except for a few different things here and there. Overall, the transit may have been the least fun, but it was still entertaining.

On the first day in Washington D.C, we all left our hotel to the metro. The metro would take us to the National Mall. Once there, we would walk to our first stop, the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial was very large, with a statue of Abraham Lincoln inside. The statue is very large, with his quotes on the sides. Above the quotes there are murals.

Next we would walk to the Korean War Memorial, where we looked at these larger-than-life soldiers, in the search formation used in Korea. The soldiers’ expressions were very sad and the Memorial had a sad effect.

After that we went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr. was the man who led the Civil Rights Act in the 60s. He was connected to a very large rock pushed out from a mountain. In the rock it said, “From the mountain of despair, a stone of hope”.

Then we were on our way to the Vietnam Memorial. There was a statue of three soldiers in the jungle. Across from that there was a wall with the names of the fallen soldiers.

As we passed the Women’s Vietnam Memorial, all of us saw the WWII memorial. The WWII [World War Two] Memorial had two large fountains in the middle, and also had the names of all the states, [except the states that were not around before 1948]. The fountain was loud and was not as sad as the WWII memorial.

Afterwards, we split up and went to two Smithsonian museums, the Air and Space Museum, and the Natural History Museum. The Air and Space had many airplanes and space items. It showed the history of travel through the sky, and had old relics of items that flew through the heavens. The Natural History Museum had the things that are not synthetic and showed their history. Both museums were very cool, every one of us liked the museums, too.

On Wednesday we had to get up at 5:30 am to go to the White House. We were all very tired. There was a lot of security at the White House, all you could bring was a wallet and a phone (but you couldn’t take pictures). You couldn’t even bring a purse. We saw some of the main rooms on the ground floor, like the blue room, the green room, the yellow room, the ballroom, and the dining room (it can seat 140 people!). 

All dressed up for the White House

After that we went to the zoo. We saw a lot of animals like pandas, lions, tigers, seals, otters, and a lot of other ones too. 

It was hot, the pandas were asleep inside

Then we went to Arlington Cemetery. There were a lot of graves. Some of them were more elaborate than others. We also saw graves of famous people like John F. Kennedy. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it was really cool. The tomb guard military badge is one of the hardest badges to get, second only to Astronaut. Anyway, that was a pretty fun day.

 John F. Kennedy's grave

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Day Three

The start of the day was the same as before. We got up and met down in the lobby for breakfast. Then we went to the metro and we walked over to the Capital on the street.

 First we had to go through a lot of security similar to the White House, except that we had to take out our phones and wallets twice. When we finally were inside we saw a video about the start of the national government to now. It talked about how we could someday join this great government and help change the nation. After we walked out of the theater we joined one of the lines waiting for tour groups. Before the tour started we were given headsets to listen to the guide over the noise in the room. We started our tour in a room where there were statues of the people from the first thirteen colonies.  Then we moved into the Rotunda, a room with the huge dome for the ceiling. It was being worked on so we didn’t get to see the full beauty of it, but on the ceiling was a painting called the Apotheosis of Washington. It depicts George Washington on his way to heaven to become a god. Angels surround him and on the boarders of the painting are the twelve main Greek gods. In a ring around the room 58 ft. above the ground was a frieze called the Frieze of American History. It contains 19 scenes of history. Then we moved into the hall of statues, two from each state. There were many statues including Rosa Parks and the newest, Barry Goldwater. After the tour ended, we got to take a picture with our guide! 

Rosa Parks

Then we went to the House of Representatives, but sadly, they were not in session.  But then we went to the Senate and they were in session and we heard Mitch McConnell giving a speech about the NSA! After that, we left to go get lunch.  

After we left the lunch area, we headed to the Supreme Court. There we split up to read and explore it. Afterwards most of us went to the Library of Congress to explore. After a long day we went back to the hotel to rest.

Supreme Court building

Library of Congress

Washington D.C day 4, Pentagon.

On the last day in Washington D.C, the Narwhals had a scheduled tour at the Pentagon starting at 11:30, which was quite a relief compared to the White House, where we had to be there at 6:30. We took the subway to Pentagon Station, then proceeded to our destination to begin the tour.

When we arrived at the Pentagon, we had a slight problem on our hands; Daniel’s father, Steve, was added to the trip after we sent in reservations to the Pentagon, so he would not be able to go with his son on the tour. Though at the time Ms. Head got sick, and was not able to tour the massive structure either. The officer at the entrance operating the machinery and metal detectors noticed this, and decided to let Steve take her place.

Once we were inside, we were directed to seats in a waiting area (I noticed that the seats were the same as the ones they use in airport waiting areas.) then, after a few minutes of waiting, we were ushered inside of a room that looked like a small movie theatre. Then two uniformed officers entered the room. They explained briefly about the medals they earned in the air force and army. When they were finished, one officer, a lieutenant, left the room. The other officer then proceeded to show us an important military tactic: stalling.

After a long period of using this tactic, the tour was finally ready to begin. He fist led us along a long corridor overlooking the food court. “Here at the Pentagon we select the healthiest foods around,” he says as we pass a café, “Such as Burger King and McDonald’s.”

As we continued along the 17.5 miles of hallway in the pentagon (we didn’t walk all 17 miles, but we walked around 2 miles on the tour.) we went into a subterranean tunnel with shops everywhere, much like the other hallways, if there weren’t offices lining the halls, there were shops. The officer claimed they had it all there at the Pentagon, including a farmers market and a pool. These were proven as we walked by both rooms.

I was personally amazed by the sheer size of the building, being able to support 30,000 workers and employees. There was a courtyard in the middle if anyone needed some fresh air, and I counted about seven optometrists and four florists on the path we took through the development. We walked past many memorials and small boards containing facts and diagrams about how military technology has evolved in America and dioramas about 911 and the plane that crashed into the building, flight 77 to Los Angeles.

Logan gives a speech at the Pentagon

9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon

After the tour, everyone split up into groups consisting of a kid and their parent. We then headed in different places including the American History Museum, the Spy Museum, the National Gallery. After mealtime was done, we ended our day at the hotel with much-needed rest.

Dorothy's ruby slippers

Count Von Count

In the evening, everybody would get together at a restraunt and eat. On Tuesday night, we went to Ted’s Montana Grill. Wednesday we went to Legal Seafood. On Thursday night, we went to the Crystal City Sports Bar. Then on Friday night, everybody went out on their own. I went to an Italian restraunt.  The parents sat at one table and the kids at another table.

 I think that dinner and after dinner were the most fun part of the day. Dinner was fun because we got to sit down, be silly and eat. After dinner, we would go to the hotel and play Humans vs. Zombies! Humans vs. Zombies is a game where the goal is to either turn everyone into a zombie or be the last human standing.

Rules for Humans vs. Zombies: Human rules: Humans must have a head band on their wrist. You must have a balled up clean sock. Your sock is your defense. You throw your sock at zombies to stun them. If a zombie tags you, you are dead for one minute. Then you are a zombie and you wear your headband on your head. Zombie rules: If you are hit with a sock, you are stunned for one minute. When stunned you may not interact with anything at all. For expanded rules go to: http://www.humansvszombies.org/

Hanging out at the hotel