Boarding our flight to LAX

Hi everyone we are just about to board our flight home. Everything looks on time and we'll see you soon!

Amish Country

On our way to Philadelphia we stopped in Lancaster, PA. It was fun. We shopped in Kettle Kitchen and samples lots of goodies ranging from jams to cheese to beef jerky. There was a little outdoor public piano where many of our students sat and played. We were so proud of Jack Allender who demonstrated quite the talent for the piano and wowed us with his playing.

Next we ate at a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant. We had a wonderful homestyle family meal before driving into Philadelphia. Can you believe that tomorrow is our last day?! See you soon with more stories to share!

Lourdes Grotto and Gettysburg

This morning we departed from our hotel in DC and drove to the campus of Mount St Mary where we visited the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. This shrine is one of the oldest American replicas of the shrine in Lourdes, France. 

The beautiful natural grounds contain Stations of the Cross and mosaics depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary as well as statues and shrines dedicated to many of our saints. At the shrine student council lead us in a decade of the Rosary. We were also able to touch an actual stone from Lourdes.

Our next stop was the historical battlefield at Gettysburg. Here a battlefield tour guide walked us through each day of the battle. We were able to climb an observation tower to get a birds-eye view of the whole battle field. The tour guide asked us why not every soldier was given the latest technology of a lever action rifle. Carlos Germann answered correctly that "they were too expensive to give to everyone." His correct answer earned him a replica of a Civil War bullet!

We reenacted Pickett's failed charge against the Union and we climbed on boulders at the battlefield position of Little Round Top.

Mount Vernon and Our Last Day in DC

From Arlington we headed to Mount Vernon, home of our first president, George Washington. We toured the house and saw the bed in which he died. The breathtaking grounds also featured an interactive education center that was filled with amazing exhibits on Washington and the Revolutionary War. We got to see Washington's teeth, which were actually made from hippopotamus ivory and human teeth!!

Tommy Prince said "I liked going to Mount Vernon because I got to learn more about Washington and his life and how he lived back then. The property was big and he was very wealthy. I didn't think the land would be that large, but the house seemed small. The tour guide told us that most houses from the time would have fit into his dining room which was surprising." 

Before dinner we stopped at another memorial, the beautifully simplistic Pentagon Memorial honoring those who died at the Pentagon on 9/11. We were all impressed with the design and thoughtfullness that went into this memorial. Lauren Soto especially enjoyed this memorial saying "I liked the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial because I liked the water under each memorial bench. It was different from all the other memorials."

After some yummy Mexican food we walked through the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial before heading pack to our hotel to pack up. Sophie Isales said "I liked the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial the most today because I liked all of the quotes. I felt like I really understood the quotes and what he was trying to say."

We are saying goodbye to DC tomorrow morning as we head toward Gettysburg. 

Arlington

This morning was amazing! With another day of gorgeous weather we drove onto the grounds of Arlington National Cemetary. We were awed by the size of the grounds and the seemingly endless rows of white grave markers.

We were very moved by the presence of an Honor Flight, a group of wheelchair bound veterans who had an opportunity to tour the monuments; many of them served in World War II. They had come to pay respects at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Our students proudly shook their hands and thanked them for their service. Catherine Nilsen said "I walked up to them and shook their hands and thanked them. Some of the men got teary eyed because they felt appreciative that young people respected their service."

We were also able to visit the Arlington House. Jack Allendar said "I was surprised to find that General Lee's house was there since he was a confederate and it was in Union territory. I didn't know that there were guards there all day every day at the Tomb of the Unknown."

Andy Saad said "Arlington Cemetary was my favorite today. It was really moving; it put a different perspective on how I thought of war because I saw how many people lost their lives trying to protect our country."

Before leaving Arlington Cemetery we stopped at the Marine Corps Memorial known as Iwo Jima. 

Monuments Round 1

After dinner we visited three of the most famous memorials in DC: the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

At the Vietnam War Memorial we placed red carnations and American flags along the Wall wherever the students felt moved.

The Lincoln Memorial was also moving and impressive. Luke Stafford said "my favorite thing was the Lincoln Memorial. I liked the huge statue of Lincoln because it helped me to see all the amazing things he did for us and the country."

The last memorial of the evening was the Korean War Memorial. The girls on the trip were divided as to their favorite of the three. Half the girls felt the Vietnam was most moving because of the sheer number of names; it was overwhelming. The other half felt that the Korean War Memorial was the most moving because of the stunning visual of the men. They really got a sense of what the men might have felt based on their facial expressions.

After this moving evening of memorials in the twilight we loading into the motor coach for a much needed and deserved good night's sleep.

White House Drive-by

The stop at the White House was Skylar Barnes' favorite thing, "the White House was my favorite because I always see it in pictures and it was cool to see the real thing and the President could have been in there while we were there."