Our day started out with a 5am wakeup call, we had a couple of minutes to get ready to leave for the day. Dr. Head drove us to the Metro Station, which saved us waiting for a bus. The Metro can be really crazy if you arrive at the wrong time, but at 6am we managed to miss the crowds. We arrived at the White House around 7am to find there was a long line of people waiting to see the first floor of the most famous house in America. We had to go through many stages of security before we were allowed in to the Presidents home. There were many different rooms on the first floor, we saw the dining room which was huge, the table alone seats 30 people. The furniture was beautiful and old, the walls were covered with large portraits of past Presidents and important people. We also saw the library which was not as big as I expected, we also saw a tea, red, green, and blue room. My favorite room was the red room, and every room had fresh roses on the tables. As we were leaving the White House we walked by some stairs, Daniel asked one of the guards" so there are more rooms up there". The guard said in a very serious voice" The second and third floor is the private residence of the President". After leaving the White House we had to walk through a park to find Mr. Hindman and then he made us walk all the way back to take a picture of our class in front of the White House, which did not turn out so well because the day before the big Easter Egg hunt had taken place and the lawn was full of heavy equipment and people who were cleaning the place up. After we ate, we went to the Library of Congress. Here we were able to look at Thomas Jefferson's library, he had books about gardening, chemestry, and many books about the law. We also saw the Gutenberg Bible which was written around 1400, it was lost for at least 100 years at one time. We saw documents that Christopher Columbus had written, we also saw a collection of Civil War tintype photographs that showed unknown soldiers, some of them as young as 15 years old. The Library of Congress was so beautiful, the ceilings were covered with amazing paintings. We went through an underground tunnel from the Library of Congress to the Capital building. Once we got there we had a few minutes to rest before we stated a tour that was led by Senator Murkouskis staff. The Capital had many statues, every State was able to put two statues of people who they wanted to represent their State in the Capital. The Statue of a King from Hawaii was so heavy that it had to be moved to the bottom floor of the Capital because it was so heavy that it could not be easily moved. The Capital had two Supreme Court rooms, the older room was only used from 1810 - 1860, it was a really small room. The Capital also had a chandlier that had 21,000 crystals in it and it weighed over 2,000 pounds. We were told that George Washington had a room built for him under the Capital floor. This room has a chair and desk that belonged to George Washington in it. President Washington was supposed to be buried in the room but his wife didn't want him buried there so now all the room has is the chair and desk of President George Washington.
In the evening we went to the Nationals and Mets baseball game. At the game we had a lot of food and drink options, and we took advantage of that. The game was a lot of fun, we got to listen to a lot of great music and we got to watch the Presidents race, or at least people wearing big masks of President Washington and President Lincoln running around the field and throwing shirts up in the audience. Just a little over 16,000 people were at the game, which the Nationals lost :( We got home really late and some how lost Daniel and his parents in the Subway on our way back to our room. Pictures will be added after I charge my camera!
ACSA Visits Washington DC
Comments
Sarah Mostoller
Apr 27, 2011
Thats cool that you got to go to the White House! It must have been fun to go to the Nationals and Mets game. Its also cool that you guys got to see stuff that belonged to presidents in the 1800s!!
Kevynn Cox
Apr 28, 2011
Haha! Typical Daniel. That sounds like a really fun day. The White House seems really cool. I can't wait to go there next year and see everything that you guys get to see. I really liked how you talked about everything you saw and used alot of details.
Charlie Weyauvanna
Apr 28, 2011
Why didn't George Washington's wife not want him to be buried in his room?
Caitlyn Sherman
Apr 28, 2011
Hahahahaha Daniel! He should have asked the guard for his gun?? If he had one.... And did you guys see the Oval Office or what ever it is called. The Red room must have been awesome since you liked it. ha ha.
I miss you Lacy :D
Lisa Leeper
Apr 28, 2011
Wow! You gave a lot of info and specific details. I love it! Since I'm not there, I want to know all about it. I like the facts about the fresh roses, heavy Hawaiian stature, 21,000 crystals, George Washington's room, and the food options at the game :) Sounds like you guys are having fun and getting worn out!
Jordyn Baker
Apr 28, 2011
Sounds like a great day!! I can't wait to see all the things you guys are talking about! Yeah, typical Daniel... Hope you have a blast for the remainder of the trip. Loved the details of the White House. Did the lawn stink from the Easter Egg Hunt?? We miss you guys, enjoy your trip! <3