The DC Trip

This post is an edited version of my article for the July 2015 Cotton Chronicle with more pictures added in.  Happy Reading! ~ DJ Rollie D

            Cherry School History Teacher Zach Swart has led three groups of students to Washington DC over the last six years.  He operates the trip under one assumption, and that is that the students on the trip will never come back to the nation’s capital ever again.  It’s a crammed trip, and sometimes, anything can happen, as we found out this last week when all of our planning and fundraising paid off.

                An early claim by Mr. Swart was that we would be walking a lot on this trip, and that good shoes that were broken in would be a must in order to make it through without getting blisters and sores.  He wasn’t kidding when he said this.  We walked a total of 17 miles on Monday, coincidentally one of the hottest days on record for the city and the worst day heat and humidity wise that Swart had ever seen.  We toughed it out though, and in one day saw Ford’s Theater, all of the city’s historical monuments except for the WWI and the MLK, and visited the National Archives, which is where the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are located. It was a very long and hot day, but the memories and pictures were worth it.

 

During the week I got some pictures with my homies.  This picture was with my friends Makenzy, Rayanna, Shaina, and DJ.  It was taken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and as you can see, I grew an antenna that night (It's really just the Washington Monument) 

Kim is one of my best friends.  Loved this pic she took of us on the plane for Snapchat on the plane on Sunday.  Her caption is awesome, and I plan on never losing pics like these.   You're a great friend Kim! 

                Day 2 saw us taking a slower approach to things, going out to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate from when he was a general.  After that we caught a bus, got stuck in traffic for about an hour, and then went and saw the United States Marine Corps. parade, which featured music, silent rifle drills, and a tribute to all the officers who have fallen in combat over the years.  After the parade we saw the Iwo Jima Memorial and several of us had pictures taken with officers.  It was a fun day, even though many of us were hurting from the day before.

The Iwo Jima Memorial

                On Wednesday we visited the Holocaust Museum, which took us through World War II from start to finish, showing us many gruesome displays of how the Jewish people were treated by the Nazi Party.  There was also an exhibit about a child named Daniel, who was a small Jewish child who was kidnapped and enslaved in a death camp before dying.  It was quite the solemn reminder of what happened during the twelve years Adolf Hitler was in power across the Atlantic. 

On Wednesday afternoon we got to take out some bikes and tour the monuments.  When we stopped at the bottom of Captiol Hill we got some photographers to take a picture of us.  From left to right are my friends Ben, Jacob G., Cody, DJ, Paul, Issac (or Pablo), and Jacob S. It was an awesome afternoon! 

                In the afternoon on Wednesday we visited the Smithsonian Museum for American History.  There were lots of different things to explore there, including a section about our country’s National Anthem, complete with a large silver flag hanging outside the space.

The whole crew at the MN Gettysburg Memorial! 

                Thursday saw us heading to Gettysburg, Virginia, to visit the Gettysburg Battlefield.  After checking out the Museum and watching a film we headed out on the road for an audio tour, stopping at several places, including the memorial for the Minnesota soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice, which is where we took the picture you see above.  We were all petered out at the end of the day, but not too petered out to stop at Buffalo Wild Wings and enjoy sports and delicious chicken!

   The picture I got in front of the White House, right before I jumped the fence lol!              

On Friday we started out at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, where we got to check out all the exhibits regarding our trips to the moon and to other places, as well as the history of the airplane.  We were also privileged to see the United States Air Force Band Max Impact preform a concert in the museum’s lobby, which was very cool.  Check them out on You Tube, it will be worth it!

After that it was off to the Capitol Building, where we got to take the basic tour of the building and check out the room where the House of Representatives meets each year.  We also got to see a video on the history of the Capitol.  That night we went on another tour of some of the monuments and went up into the Washington Monument, which has its windows 500 feet above the ground.  It was truly worth the trip up!

The WWII Memorial.  Minnesota has it's own pillar here! 

From the top of the Washington Monument looking towards the Lincoln and the WWII Memorials.  On the right you see a pond that I didn't even know existed until that night. 

Lastly, on Saturday, we went to Arlington National Cemetery, where we saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Changing of the Guard.  We also saw the Memorial Gravesite there for former President John F. Kennedy and his family.  After that we checked out the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, which is where you will find dinosaur skeletons and wax figures of animals.  It also includes a section on diamonds and other rocks, and in there was a shoutout to us here on the Range for the taconite and iron ore we still produce today! 

Saturday evening saw us attending the Washington Nationals game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where we almost witnessed history with pitcher Max Scherzer throwing almost a no-hitter, but then hitting a batter with a pitch late in the game.  The Nationals still triumphed 6-0 though, and after a walk back to the condos in the pouring rain, we ended our trip by cleaning things up and eating our last meals together.

The welcome sign at the Washington Nationals' Park

Sunday wasn’t all too sad as we took off from Ronald Reagan International Airport.  Many of us actually plan to return someday, but when it’s colder outside so that we’re not burning up.

Many thanks to Zach Swart for planning this trip and being an awesome group leader, as well as to Angie Koski and Lynette Zupetz for meal prep work throughout the week.  The chaperones also get a lot of applause for just going with whatever the plan was throughout the week and splitting up when needed to take kids to separate places.

A good time was had by all, and I bet the next group of kids just can’t wait until it’s their turn to fly out and see the wonderful place that is Washington DC.