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/
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