8th grade trip to Washington D.C.

I was lucky enough to by-pass the lottery of chaperones and be selected to accompany Curtis on his 4-day 8th grade field trip to Washington D.C.  We saw lots of museums, memorials and monuments.

 "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope"  --MLK Jr Memorial

 FDR memorial has four courtyards (one for each term) with fountains, gardens and statues

The Jefferson memorial is my favorite.  

We went to a one-act play describing the Lincoln assassination at Ford's theater.

 The capitol building (it's much bigger in person)

 The 2nd night we went on a cruise (dinner and dance) on the Potomac.  We spent most of our time on the deck watching the sun set.

The Newsuem has some great exhibits about newsworthy events in the last century.  Curtis is fascinated with the presidents who have been assassinated.  The top two floors of this museum had blown up photos of JFK and his family.

 We walked along the gate of the White House.  We didn't see Obama there, but Curtis spotted him in a gift shop (albeit 2D).

I was glad Curtis got to see all these things in Washington D.C. so he would know they are not just characters from the movie "Night at the Museum."

 Reflecting pool in front of Lincoln.  The Washington Monument has been closed for renovation since an earthquake two years ago.

Curtis' bus group (one-third of the 120 kids from his school on the trip).

Our last stop was to tour this ship (USS Barry) and the museum at the U.S. Naval Yard.

We also visited the American History Museum (has one of the three remaining sun stones from the Nauvoo temple and a cool U.S. coin collection), Natural History Museum, Aerospace Museum, Arlington Cemetery, and ALL the War Memorials.


Curtis did great on this trip--he had a great attitude and enough energy for all the walking around.  He shared a hotel room with 3 other boys.  I think the highlight for him was the yummy all-you-can eat buffet meals and of course soda.