ASMS DC/NY 2022 8th grade trip

Thurs 4/7 day 4
- grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s, Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts 🍩
- Took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and then ellis island
- Lunch
- Walked to the 911 plaza
- 9/11 memorial museum
- BBQ dinner
- Aladdin play
- 17.2k steps, 7.1 mi

Day 3:

A few activities and travel to New York.

We visited Arlington National Cemetery, it was a bit rainy. We saw JFK’s gravesite, changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier and learned a few facts about the history of Arlington and the headstonesZ

Grabbed a quick lunch at the Pentagon mall food court.

Traveled to New York.

Stopped to grab a bite to eat at a train station.

Visited the Hudson Yard, where we went to the top of a skyscraper, TheEdge. It had a section with a glass floor, for those afraid of heights it’s a bit scary.

Checked into our hotel, Innside by Melia.

Light day on our feet, approx. 16,000 steps and 6.5 miles.

Day 2:
Rain did not stop us.

Started the day with a drive by of the Marine Corps War Memorial. The memorial depicts a flag being raised at Imo Jima. https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/learn/historyculture/usmcwarmemorial.htm

Walking tour in the morning took us by:
- Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial
https://www.nps.gov/ddem/index.htm

- Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II
https://www.nps.gov/places/japanese-american-memorial-to-patriotism-during-world-war-ii.htm

- Capitol Building - statue on the top of the building is named Freedom. Freedom is the largest statue at 19’, no other statues can be taller than freedom. Freedom faces the East, the sun never sets on freedom.
- Library of congress
- Supreme Court

We had lunch at Washington Union Station railroad terminal food court. https://www.unionstationdc.com/History-of-Union-Station/

After lunch we walked to see the White House and saw Black Lives Matter plaza where Black Lives Matter is painted on the street.

We took our bus to Mt. Vernon, got a break in the rain and learned a little about George Washington and his estate.

Had dinner at a French restaurant chain, La Madeleine.

We finished the day in the rain with a walking night tour of memorials:

- World War II Memorial
https://www.nps.gov/wwii/index.htm

- Vietnam Memorial
https://www.nps.gov/vive/index.htm/index.htm

- Korean Memorial
https://www.nps.gov/kowa/index.htm

- Lincoln Memorial, the pulpit of America
https://www.nps.gov/linc/index.htm/index.htm

About 22,000 steps, 9 miles

Adding a few videos

We were operating in little sleep but that didn’t stop us from making the most of our first day.

Our first stop was the Tidal Basin. We missed seeing the majority of tue cherry trees in bloom but saw a few. We saw the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

“Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope”

Next up was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. FDR served FOUR terms as president. The list FDRs accomplishments is quite long, the New Deal, national parks, civilian conservation corp, just to name a few. We also learned that he was never photographed in his wheelchair, in 2001 they added a bronze sculpture of FDR in his wheel chair.

We headed over to see the Thomas Jefferson memorial.

We took about an hour to grab lunch at L’Enfant plaza - Charles Pierre l’enfant, friend of geo Washington.

After lunch we walked through the Smithsonian American history.

We got to spend some time at ARTECHOUSE. This was a really cool exhibit, some people got a cat nap in 😂

Quick stop stop at the Future exhibit.

Dinner at. GRK Fresh Greek Penn Quarter

Last stop of the day was a Ghost tour in Alexandria
We learned where phrases, good things comes with strings attached, big wigs, best foot forward originated (or maybe it just makes a good story)
- Made it to the hotel around 9:30

We made it to DC! We are headed to the tidal basin this morning to see monuments and cherry blossoms.