Ok, from March 27 to April 3, 2001, I went on a class trip to Washington DC. This page is devoted to my experiences, day by day, and many of the pictures that I took. So let's get started. (Note: the pictures will probably take a long time to load. There are about 60 pictures total. If some don't load, just reload the page)
Well, I had to get up REAL early to catch the bus (we had to be there at the school by 6:30 so we could leave at 7), so I decided to get up at 5:45, since I knew it would take me a while to get up. So around 6, I finally roll out of bed, get dressed and ready, pack a few things that I couldn't pack the night before, like my toothbrush and deordorant, and get in the car to go to school. My mom had to drive me because our other car was in the shop. So then I get to the school, get to the buses, shove my bag into the bin below the bus, and get on. I find a nice seat somewhere near the back and pull out my cd player and a book, 1984. I read for about the first hour (it's a two hour drive from where I live to the Twin Cities), and try to sleep for the second hour. So we arrive at the airport at about 9:30, where everyone gets their tickets. We check in and find out our flight doesn't leave until 1, and we have to be at the terminal at 12:30, so we have two and a half hours of freedom. After Kelly and I got something to eat (I was a little bit hungry. I didn't eat breakfast), we found an arcade. Unfortunately, the games cost a buck a piece, but I did play this really cool Star Wars arcade game. I spent about $11 dollars before it was time to go to our gate. But we managed to get there a few minutes early, so we played some Magic: The Gathering. So we boarded the plane, I found my seat, and we were off. To Chicago. Our plane went to Chicago, then we had to get on another plane to DC. Which SUCKS. So then we land in Chicago, find our gate, and find out we have like 20 minutes til we board, so I figure "I should go find something to eat or something." So I did. But everything was so expensive. Curses. Well, I found a nice bag of Sunchips for about a dollar. So after a bit of waiting, we finally board our flight for DC. Nothing really happened on the flight, I just read a little bit more. At about 5:15 ET, our flight FINALLY landed in DC. Once we got our bags and bought a metro ticket, and waited for the metro. I had never really been on anything close to a subway to that point, unless you count the monorails at Walt Disney World. So it finally arrives, and we board with all our luggage (I think all 79 of us managed to pile on to one train). Luckily, we were one stop away from the airport (for those familiar with the DC metro system, our hotel was at Crystal City). So then we wander through the Crystal City mall (all underground), took at wrong turn and ended up going up a huge hill with all our luggage just to find out it was the wrong hotel, and then finally reach the hotel and got to our rooms. We're there for all of about 4 seconds til we have to get back to the metro and go to Pentagon City (just one stop away again) to eat. We got some free lunch tickets but I can't remember what I had. We didn't have to go back to the hotel until 9, so we wandered around and I bought an Oasis DVD I had kinda been looking for. Just about when we were going to go back, we found someone was missing. So a couple people and I went looking for them but we couldn't find them. So like 5 minutes after Mr. Mills (the guy in charge of the trip) calls back to the hotel, they come down the escalator and I run over and told Mr. Mills we found them. So about 9:10 we finally head back to the hotel, where I just went to my room, watches TV for a while, and went to bed.
The first (of many) pictures: this one is of one of the girls that I went with on the trip.
Well, we got up at about 7, got dressed and stuff, and went down and had breakfast. At this point, we had to split up. One group would head for the Library of Congress, while the other group went to the Supreme Court. So we got our Metro passes and got off at Capital South. We walked to the Library of Congress, where one half of the group got instructions while the other half took pictures (guess which group I was in).
Here's a picture of the US Capital from the steps of the Library of Congress.
And here's a picture of part of the group I was with
So after we took some pictures, we walked to the Supreme Court, which wasn't very far away.
And here's a picture of the Supreme Court
There were tons of people there, most of them protesting some rulings and stuff. So after waiting for about 15 minutes (I wandered off to the group that was protesting marijuana use. I tried to get their packet of information they were handing out, but they were too busy talking to other people).
This is a picture of one of the protesting groups
Another random picture of the people I was with
So we went in the visitor's entrance on the side and waited. And waited. And then we waited some more. By this time, it was 11:30 and we were hungry. So we decided to go to Union Station and eat, since our tour was at 12:45 (more on this later). So we walked downed to Union Station.
A picture of Union Station
Kelly and I found a pizza place, but they totally screwed up our order. Kelly ordered a root beer float but got a root beer, while I ordered a Sprite and got an iced tea. Don't ask me how you get iced tea from Sprite. And it was the unsweetened kind of iced tea, which is GROSS. But the pizza was pretty good at least. We got back to our meeting spot at 12:30 and walked back to the Supreme Court. We got there at about 12:45, so we thought we were right on time. But no, it turns out our tour was supposed to be at 12:30, so no tour for us. Well, at least I got to see the court room. So now it's a little after 1. Time to go over to the Capital and get our tour.
Here's a closer view of the Capital
And another picture of part of our group on the steps
So we walk over there and sit on the steps. At this point, we notice a protester at the top of the steps. And he was protesting the funniest thing ever: he was anti-circumcision! It was really funny. He all this info on the dangers of circumcision and how we 'loose all the feeling' and 'sex wasn't as good' and stuff. And we just happened to have our German exchange student on the trip too =) So after that, we wait around til 2, and we start wondering where the other group is. We call up there (Mr. Mills knows one of the interns, so he can get us in easily) and we find out THE OTHER GROUP HAS ALREADY GONE THROUGH. So we line up on the Senate side of the building, and find out that there's some big vote going on, so we can't get in that side. So we walk over to the House side and easily get in. We get to see the House chamber and we saw a few more things.
A view of the dome in the capital
But it was about 3:30 now and we had to get to the Metro. We get to the Metro and Metro over to Foggy Bottom. We then walk over to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where we get to see the play "Shear Madness."
A view of the river by the Kennedy Center
The play was GREAT. It was a murder mystery, and the audience had to help solve the crime. It was really cool. And the person who's guilty depends on the audience vote, so it could change every night. After the play, we ate dinner at a cafe there. After dinner, we Metroed back to the hotel. Earlier that morning, I noticed the hotel had a computer, so when we got back, I decided to go into chat. Kiki happened to be in there, and she told me to call her, so I did (after checking my e-mail and stuff) and we talked for about 45 minutes. After talking to Kiki, I went back to our floor for an uneventfully evening.
Oh boy, by looking at this title, you know I had fun this day =) Well, we had to be up and ready by 7:30 to get on the buses (and we didn't eat breakfast at the hotel: we had to eat on the bus). So we all piled onto two buses and we headed for Gettsyburg. I slept most of the way there. Once we got there at about 9:30, we went into this big map room, which was pretty cool. It detailed all the events that happened during the three day battle. After that, we were free to explore for an hour. I wandered through the museum and out into the light rain. From there, I walked over to the graveyard, where I saw the place where Lincoln gave his Gettsyburg Address.
A statue in the graveyard where Lincoln gave his Gettsyburg Address
After grabbing a few pictures, it was time to go on a tour of the battlefield. It was kinda nifty. But the problem was the rain. It was still coming down, and at each stop, people were getting wetter and wetter (we DID have umbrellas, but still). By the end of the day, virtually no one wanted to get off the bus.
One of the many memorials we saw: can't remember what it's for at the moment...
Another memorial at Gettsyburg. This one is from the state of Virginia
We saw various sites and the numberous memorials.
A view from one of the major part of the battlefield.
We must have gotten back to the Visitor's Center by 12:30-1. So after a quick stop to get something to eat, we headed for Antietam. I think I slept on there way there too. Well, we got to Antietam, and after a brief bit of history on the battle, we were off again. Once again, we drove around the battlefield on our buses, but the rain was really coming down hard now, so people didn't want to get off the bus.
A picture of the Minnesota and the Virginia memorials.
A picture of a bridge where numberous soldier died and where the river ran red with blood for three days
After a couple random stops, we were going to go back to the hotel. I fell asleep (again), and I awoke at about 6:30. I asked where we were, and they said 'Lost in DC.' We had no idea where we were. Everyone just wanted to get off the bus. But at about 7:15 we finally found our hotel. People were quite hungry, so we went to Pentagon City to get some food. After a bit of eating and shopping (I bought John Henry, a They Might Be Giants cd), we headed back to the hotel. I called Kiki up again, and this time we talked for about an hour. After that, I went up to our floor and did other random stuff.
Well, after a nice long day of travel the day before, guess what we're doing? Taking a cruise to Mount Vernon, the place where George Washington lived. So after breakfast, we pile onto the Metro and go to the Waterfront. Our cruise left at about 9 for the hour long journey. I wanted to sleep, but couldn't, so I played some cards with some girls. At about 10, 10:30, we arrive at the shores of Mount Vernon, which really isn't that big of a mountain, just a big, steep hill. We were told that we had to be back at the docks at 1, so we had plenty of time to explore and stuff. After making our way up the hills and looking at the animals (ooooo, sheep! and PIGS! Oooooooo!), we decide to get in line to see the actual house. Let me tell you, that line was longer then it looked. It took about an hour to get to the front, which wasn't that bad, since I had my cd player along. The house was pretty nice, a lot better then the White House (more on that later).
A picture of the house where George Washington lived
So after that, we wandered around a little bit, took a picture of some horses (just for Leen).
A picture of some horses for Leen =)
By that time it was time to head back to the boat. But, of course, Shawn, the stupid kid that always gets lost, GETS LOST! So we have to wait for about 20 minutes for him to show up finally, and then we're off again. I play some more cards on the ways back. Once we all get back, we head to the L'Enfant Plaza and walked down the Mall, basically the road where the Smithsonian is at.
A picture of the Washington Monument from the Mall...
...and a picture of the Capital
At this point, we're allowed to split up again, but we have to be back at the Smithsonian Metro stop at 5:30. So Kelly and I head over to the Air and Space Museum, which was COOL, cause I love space and science and I've wanted to go there my whole life.
A picture of the Spirit of St. Louis
So after that, we try to go over to the National Archives and see the Bill of Rights and stuff, but the line was too long and we didn't have time to wait. So we decide to head to Ford's Theater, but that was closed. Curses. All that walking for nothing. So it was getting kinda late at this point so we head back to the Metro stop, where everyone else basically was. So after everyone got there, we walked to this place called Scholl's Cafeteria, which was basically an ala carte thing where you just grab whatever you want to eat. That meal was pretty good. But after that, we had to head back to the hotel again, for yet another uneventful evening.
A picture of Kara
And a picture of Kelly
Well, after yet another morning of breakfast at the hotel, we departed for our tour of the White House. We were running kind of late, and we hoped that we could make it there in time for our tour, but nope. We were just a few minutes late. So we had to wait in line until 10 (our tour was supposed to be at 9:45) until they let everyone else in.
A picture of some girls in front of the White House
And a picture of Mr. Mills, the guy in charge
So we got the basic tour, which was VERY BORING. It just consisted of a few random color room and some other random stuff. I basically though it was really dumb, and I was disappointed, cause I was really looking forward to seeing the White House. So after taking some group photos in front of the White House, we were once against set free on the city of Washington DC.
A picture of some of the girls in the back of the White House
And me being weird, taking pictures of people taking pictures of us =)
But we decide as a group to go to Arlington National Cemetery via the Tourmobile, a set of buses that travel around DC showing you all the major sites and stuff (well, that and we all had free ticket for the day helped). So we all traveled (via Metro) to Arlington.
A picture of just a few of the gravesites at Arlington
We initially walked, but soon found the Tourmobile would be must faster and easier on our feet. We did manage to walk up to JFK's gravesite.
A picture of the Kennedy gravesite
After that, we Tourmobiled up and around the cemetery, and got off at the first stop, which just happened to be the place of the infamous Changing of the Guard.
A picture of a soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns
And a picture of the Changing Of The Guard
So we watched that, took a few pictures, then walked over to Robert E Lee's house, which was nifty.
A picture of the Challenger memorial
At this point, we decided to go get something to eat, so Kelly and I Metroed over to Union Station (hey, I gotta find where this up escalator is someday). We shared a pizza (I think we shared a total of 4 pizzas that week. I claim I eat like a football player). After that, we decided now was a good time to head to the National Archives. So we get in line, wait for an hour, and finally get in. And was it worth it. It was really cool seeing all these famous documents in one place. After that, we headed for Ford's Theater, and this time it was open. So we got inside, heard the history, and headed out again. I wanted to see if the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument was working, but it wasn't. So we headed over to Old Post Office and wait for our group. Everyone was there by 6, but we had to wait until 7. So we waited. And waited. And got bored. But eventually 7 came around and we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe. The meal was alright, but we had a restricted menu (we had four choices).
A picture of some of the girls I ate with
After dinner, we returned to the hotel. I had to call Kiki to see what she was going to wear on Monday so I could tell who she was, and she also kept me updated on the results of the RinkAwards. After that, a return to floor number four for a nice relaxing evening.
Yay! Another exciting morning of eating breakfast at the hotel. Well, the group decided they wanted to go to the National Archives first, but Kelly and I saw those the day before, so we decided to skip that and get off at a different stop. I wanted to see if the elevator for the Washington Monument was working, but it was still broken. So at this point, we decide to get on the Tourmobile (there had been some parade the previous day so they extended our passes another day) and toured Washington DC. We got on at the Washington DC stop, went up one side of the Mall that had part of the Smithsonian, past the US Capital and Union Station, saw the Supreme Court and Library of Congress again, went down the other side of the Mall, past the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, and finally got off at the Lincoln Memorial stop. This took about 80 minutes. So first we went to the Korean War memorial, which was pretty nifty.
A picture of part of the Korean War memorial
After that, we went up to the Lincoln Memorial and took a couple pictures.
A picture from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial...
...and a picture looking out from the Lincoln Memorial
And finally, we walked over and looked at the Vietnam Memorial.
A statue near the Vietnam Memorial
I didn't really take too good of look at it because I already saw a copy of it when it came to my town a few years ago. So at this point, instead of doing the smart thing and taking the Tourmoblie back to the main part of Washington, we walked back. It must have been at least a good mile that we could have easily skipped, but oh well. But at this point, it was nearing 1 and we were getting hungry, so we took the Tourmobile over to the Air and Space Museum for some lunch. That meal was a complete waste. We spent 13 bucks a piece on something that wasn't very good. I wasn't very happy. But now it was 1:30 and we needed to head over to the Holocaust Museum to meet with the rest of the group, so we went there and waited for everyone else. Once everyone got there, we headed in. It's kinda hard to describe what you see, but it's terrible to see that something like this could happen to people and that happened only 50 years ago. If you ever go to DC, definently go here. After we got through there, we were free until we were supposed to meet back at the Old Post Office at 7. So I took the Metro back to Pentagon City and bought a book and came back. After waiting forever, we finally headed over to ESPN Sportzone for supper. That meal was terrible. I ordered chicken strips, except they were still cold! It was terrible. That was probably the worst meal I ate the whole time there. Then they gave us these free cards so we could play games downstairs, so we did that for a while. After that, it was time to head back to the hotel for even more fun. Or maybe not.
A random picture taken at the hotel...
...and another random one
Well, finally, the big day is here. I finally get to meet flyingcats and Kiki in person. But first a few things. Ate breakfast, yada yada. But we get to leave TWO hours before the other group. So they get to sleep in a bit and we don't, which SUCKS. But anyways, we're going to the Library of Congress, another place I've really been looking forward to going. And it was really cool. I really loved the place. So after the tour, we had two choices: do whatever we want until 7 that night or head over to the Supreme Court and get a tour with the other group. So me, being lazy and all, decided to go back to the hotel for a while and prepare for our meeting. Kiki and I had agreed to meet by the up escalator in the food court of Union Station, and I was there at about 11:30. I didn't know how long Kiki would be, so I decided to read and listen to music. I figured Kiki would find me first and probably pounce on me from behind, but I was wrong. She calmly sat across from me at the table I was sitting at. At first, I was like 'Who is this girl?' but then I realized who it was.
A picture of Kiki
So after a short greeting, I decide to give her my gift, two of my senior pictures and a little glass rose thingy. She loved it and thought it fit me perfectly. So we talked about stuff, observed we were taking up a table and three chairs during probably what was the busiest time of day, and waited for flyingcats. And waited. And waited some more. It was 12:30, and she still wasn't there. Kiki went looking for her a couple times, but we still couldn't find her. At about 1:15, I told Kiki to go get something to eat and I would wait there, and about 10 seconds after she left, Kiki returned with flyingcats!
A picture of flyingcats
So we greeted each other, I gave flyingcats her gift (same thing I gave Kiki), we took some pictures, and then we got some stuff to eat.
A picture of flyingcats and her friends
And a picture of Kiki and flyingcats
As we ate, flyingcats and Kiki kept giggling, and I didn't know why. I thought it was something I was doing. After we ate, we took some more pictures and some movies with flyingcat's digital camera.
A picture of all three of us (from flyingcats)
A picture of our feet (so we're a little weird =) ) (from flyingcats)
A picture of Kiki holding a copy of a bumper sticker she owns (from flyingcats)
And the same picture from a different angle
After all that, it was nearing 2 and flyingcats had to get going (unfortunately). So after saying our goodbyes, flyingcats left.
A picture of flyingcats leaving
But Kiki and I followed her to her bus before we finally said goodbye. But now I found out that Kiki also had to go now. So we both walked down to the Metro and waited on a bench for our trains. Once our trains showed up, we said our unfortunate goodbyes and we got on our trains and left. So I slowly headed back to the hotel, stopping at the Crystal City Underground to do some shopping, and made it back to the hotel around 3:30. I went on the computer a bit and then went up to our floor to relax until 7. At 7, we all headed to the Crystal City Underground for dinner and a party. After some group pictures, we got on the dance floor.
A picture of our chaperones
And a picture of the students on the trip (sorry, it gets kinda hard to see the top people)
I had a good time that night. After that, back to the hotel for the final night before we left.
Two more random pictures...
...I took to use up my film
Well, after a long night with little sleep, we had to get up and leave the hotel at 7:30. After some quick breakfast and packing, we headed to the lobby and got on some buses for the airport. Once we got to the airport, I think most people fell asleep at the terminal, since we weren't supposed to leave until 10. So once the plane arrives, we wake up and board the plane. Except that for some reason, the air masks drop down for some reason, so they have to delay the flight. Then they find some screws loose on one of the engines, so they have to delay the flight even longer. About an hour after we were supposed to take off, we finally leave. Thankfully, most of the other flights at Chicago were late, so we were able to get to our connection easy. So around 2 CT, we arrive at the airport in the Cities, pick up our bags, and head to the buses. I believe I slept most of the way home except for when we stopped for food about halfways home. Around five our bus pulls into the parking lot at the school and I get off the bus and head home. And that's the end of my trip!
