We began our final day in Washington DC with rain showers and umbrellas.  The first activity on the schedule was our official group photo at the Capitol.  They told us the rain drops will not be visible, but we think the umbrellas will be.  We headed over to the United States Botanical Garden by the Capitol and saw beautiful exotic orchids, tropical plants and cacti.  Many of our group were stuffed up thanks to the wonderful pollen in the air!  After experiencing a variety of vegetation biomes we hiked up Capitol Hill.  Over the week, many students thought it would be a quick trip up a slight slope, but found out that Capitol Hill is very appropriately named.  We entered the brand new Capitol Visitors Center.  They have a plaster copy of the Freedom statue on top of the Capitol dome so that we could get a sense of how large the statue really is.  The catafalque that was used for Presidents Lincoln, Kennedy and Ford’s funerals, among other historical figures, was on display in the museum.  Once Congressman Visclosky was finished with his committee meeting, he joined us in the visitor’s center.  We took pictures with him, he briefly talked with the students and shook their hands before he needed to head off to his next meeting.  We got in line and headed off for our tour of the Capitol.  The students stated that they were very impressed with the Rotunda.  They told me it was “fantabulous” and “awesomeness” because of the statues and the painting on the ceiling of the dome.  Following the tour, we ate lunch at the visitor’s center and walked to the Library of Congress.  We saw one of the original Gutenberg Bibles, and Thomas Jefferson’s library. His books were the ones that started the Library of Congress.  We headed over to the Supreme Court building to hear the lecture about the building, cases and justices.  The security and guards at the Supreme Court are very strict, and by the time we walked over from the Library of Congress, we were a couple of minutes past the time we needed to be there and we were turned away at the security check point.  So, plan B was to head for souvenir shopping that the students had been waiting to do all week.  Tonight we are taking a dinner cruise down the Potomac, with a chance to dance after dinner and enjoy the river cruise.  The students enjoyed walking around on the outdoor deck and looking at the Alexandria waterfront.  So, our week in Washington DC has come to an end.  It was an exhausting week, but one filled with so many memories.  We experienced wonderful historic sites, met our Congressman, saw two plays, and danced into the night.  Overall, the students had a fun filled and educational week.  We leave in the morning for Dayton, Ohio, and then on to Rensselaer Friday.  See you all when we get back to RCMS!

No one can believe that we only have 2 full days left here in DC.  We started the day today with a tour of the White House.  Our hope is that the students will be able to remember the rooms they visited today the next time they see pictures on the news.  This is a self-guided tour, so you go through the public floors at your own pace.  Today we met a Secret Service agent posted in the Green Room who attended Valparaiso University and played football against Saint Joe.  He told us that tomorrow the Vancouver Olympians will be officially visiting the White House, so check out the news tomorrow.  President Obama was in California today, so there were no sightings of the First Family.

After our White House tour and photo ops of both the North and South Lawns of the White House, we headed to the Saudi Arabian Embassy.  There were two other school groups that are here traveling through the Washington Workshops who joined us for the presentation in their theater.  Two of the boys traveling with us were selected to be dressed in traditional clothing from Saudi Arabia and modeled for the crowd.  We have posted pictures of them so you all can see how they looked in traditional clothing.

After having lunch at Union Station, we headed up to the Embassy of Austria.  The difference between the two countries was apparent from when we walked in.  At the Saudi Arabian Embassy there is the same tight security that most government buildings in Washington DC have.  At the Austrian Embassy we all just walked in the front door and straight to their conference room without having to pass through any security.  After their presentation, they had apple juice and chocolate dessert for the students.  This was a great treat and the students enjoyed a couple of minutes on their balcony in the cool breeze before loading the bus to head to the Naval Museum.

As we headed south to the Naval Museum, we started picking up heavy traffic and were caught in rush hour traffic and early fans arriving for the Nationals/Rockies game (the Nationals ballpark is near the Navy Yard) and we were not going to make it to the museum in time.  Therefore, we had to cancel that visit.

Tonight we will be on a candlelight Ghost and Graveyards Tour of Alexandria, Virginia.  The tour guide is a wonderful story teller and will share lots of spooky stories with the students.

Tomorrow we are off to Capitol Hill.  We start with our group photo at the Capitol, then we go to the Botanical Gardens, Library of Congress, a chance to view the Senate and/or House galleries and our tour of the Capitol.  Then we have a scheduled meeting with Representative Visclosky, whose office scheduled our White House and Capitol tours.  After lunch we are supposed to visit the Supreme Court Building and end our final day in Washington DC with a dinner cruise down the Potomac River.

 Since we’ve had a bit of time tonight on the bus to write a longer blog, we thought we’d add some quotes that we’ve heard the students and other people say over the course of these few days.  We hope you enjoy some of them and get a sense of the students’ thoughts during this trip.

1. While watching “Little Shop of Horrors,” one student stated, “It’s just the gas,” after watching the mad dentist.
2. “It matches the wallpaper,” from “Shear Madness.”
3. Cole and Dakota: “How look, that is our hotel.  No, that’s Bob Evans.”  Overheard on the first night on the road.
4. Eli: “It is amazing,” in reference to the National Cathedral.
5. Abraham Lincoln quote stated at the Newseum, “The things I want to know are in books.”
6. From the guide at the National Cathedral, “Let you mind and eyes be your camera.”
7. From our tour guide, “There were be lots of Kodak moments.”
8. Tonight on the bus, “Are we there yet.”
9. When viewing the Lincoln Memorial, “He is a big guy.”
10. Chase’s favorite quote from Shear Madness: “I feel like Joe Biden, so much to say and no one to listen to me.”

Ready, Set, Go - So many sites and so little time to see them all!

#1 - Washington Monument - Fast ride up and see the White House, Capitol, Arlington and other sites in a new way, clear blue skies made it easy to see far
#2 - Holocaust Memorial Museum - saw the "State of Deception - the Power of Nazi Propaganda" and lit a candle in the Hall of Rembrance
#3 - Bureau of Printing and Engraving - saw millions of dollars printed before our eyes, too bad it couldn't go home with us as a sample
#4 - Newseum - museum about journalism, saw a segment of the Berlin Wall, the antennae that was on the top of the World Trade Center, famous Pulitzer Prize photos, and Elvis' Aloha Hawaii white jumpsuit
#5 - National Archives - saw the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights - surprise at how faded the Declaration is today
#6 - Night Tour of the Monuments to see them lit up in all their nighttime splendor - FDR Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Iwo Jima Marine Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, World War II, Washington and Lincoln Memorials too....

The students are exhausted tonight along with their chaperons, and most have to be asleep as I write this.  They had a great day, and tomorrow is the first professional dress day.

We began our day at Mount Vernon, home of President Washington.  We toured their home and paid our respects at their tomb.  The new museum there is very impressive.
At the American History Museum students viewed the original Star Spangled Banner which flew over Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, along with pop culture items such as Kermit the Frog and Dorothy's red slippers from the Wizard of Oz.  At the Natural History Museum we saw the Hope Diamond, lots of beautiful gems, and a very cool sea life exhibit.
We ended our day at the Kennedy Center and saw "Shear Madness."  This is a very funny murder mystery comedy that kept the students laughing.  One of their favorite moments was when one of the actors came out on stage with a Rensselaer Bombers Football sweatshirt on! 
Tomorrow we're headed to the top of the Washington Monument, a tour of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Printing and Engraving building next door to see them print paper money.  Then its off to the Newseum to see a large segment of the Berlin Wall and artifacts from major news events in history, and our evening ends with a night tour of the monuments and memorials.  Lots to do and lots of walking ahead tomorrow!

Today's busy schedule included visits in the morning to the west end of the National Mall, including the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, and the World War II memorial.  Students enjoyed the Lincoln Memorial the most.  They commented on how amazed they were at the size of the Lincoln statue.  Arriving at the same time as our group at each memorial was a group of Navy plebs and there was a group of Vietnam veterans from West Virginia at the Vietnam Wall and a group of World War II veterans at their memorial that made it an even more moving experience visiting these memorials.
Next we were off to the Air and Space Museum.  The 8th graders had spent nearly 6 weeks studying Mars, the history of space exploration and training to be astronauts in 6th grade and today was the chance to come face to face with many of the space craft and objects they learned about 2 years ago.  They enjoyed the Apollo 11 capsule and we were all surprised to find one of the space monkeys they learned about has been placed on display in his capsule.  Abel the monkey was the surprise highlight of the museum.  After lunch at the museum we headed to Arlington Cemetery.
At Arlington Cemetery we visited President Kennedy's grave along with the two graves of his brothers and then headed for the Memorial Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.  At 4:15 four of our students had the honor of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers following the Changing of the Guard ceremony. 
The final event of the evening included a trip to Ford's Theater, viewing the gun President Lincoln was shot with, and finally seeing "The Little Shop of Horrors," which was a lot of fun.
Tomorrow we're off to Mount Vernon, the American History and Natural History Museums, and to see "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center.

Today we got an early start because we want to make it to Washington DC by lunch.  The drive through Pennsylvania and Maryland was beautiful.  After lunch at the 4H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, we got on our tour bus to head to the National Zoo.  The most highly sought after picture for our group was of the pandas.  We were hoping to see them up close, but discovered that the female panda is not available to see because the veterinarians are suspecting she might be pregnant.  That meant the male panda was visible in the outdoor exhibit only.  Some of our group did manage to see him climb a tree!  After the zoo we went to the National Cathedral.  Many of the students did not expect much of a church, but they were so impressed with the National Cathedral.  The general impression was "WOW!"

Today we hit the road early on our trip to Washington DC.  We stayed in New Stanton, Pennsylvania tonight.