Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

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This morning after an early breakfast we visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the national shrine for the Patroness of the United States. We started the morning with daily Mass in the church crypt. Lydia Eberling and Catherine Nilsen were invited to bring up the gifts. The Monsignor personally came to speak with us after the Mass and welcomed us to the Basilica. Here we saw beautiful mosaics and inspirational images of Mary by other cultures including African, Chinese, Vietnamese, Irish, and many more. The mosaic work was exquisite. Ally Sjoberg thought that this was the best part of the day saying: "I liked the Basilica because on the inside the art was inspiring and cool. I liked the depictions of the people."

Washington Monument

Day in DC

What a day we had today!! After we finished the Capitol we Next walked to the Washington Monument, that's one impressive obelisk! Jacob Barri said "I liked going to the top of the Washington Monument because it was pretty at the top and you could see the whole city." 

Megan Geiger also liked Washington Monument saying "the view was beautiful and I liked learning the history of it like how the top was taken off because it was the biggest piece of aluminum."

We then walked over to the World War II memorial where we saw a wall of gold stars where each star represents 100 American soldiers who lost their lives.

After the monuments and lunch we headed off to Ford's Theater where Lincoln was assassinated and to the Peterson House across the street where he died the next morning. They had a special exhibit on display that included Lincoln's hat and the gun with which he was shot! Amazing history all in one location!

We then had an opportunity to visit three of the Smithsonians, the Museum of American History, the Natural History Museum, and the Air and Space Museum. Allyse Brummer said "I liked the Smithsonians because the gems were cool like the Hope diamond. There were really pretty colored gems that you wouldn't normally see."

Brianne Riley said "the giant squid was really interesting because it was bigger than I expected. Originally it was larger before it dried out. It would be amazing to see it alive in the ocean."

After our day of sightseeing, we boarded the Spirit cruise boat for our trip down the Potomac. Once on board we had dinner and a dance party! This was the highlight of our day for many students. Garrett Louie said his favorite was the dance boat "because we got to hang out with other schools and make new friends." Connor Drasler had similar words saying "my favorite was the dance party because we got to meet new people and see how people our age from other states are like."

Mason Lapena loved the dance too but lost his voice signing too loudly!! " I had lots of fun" he managed to croak out through his lost voice.

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U.S. Capitol and the visitors center today...Happy Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day! This morning we went to the Capitol building and had an amazing tour. Each state donates 2 statues of important figures. We got to see our California statues of Ronald Reagan and Junipero Serra in bronze.

Dinner at King Arms Tavern then a Candlelight Story Tour

We had a wonderful morning today. Weather was clear and perfect. We started off with a beautiful Mass at St Bedes. The pastor met us before Mass and explained to us the history and architecture of their beautiful church! For Jeremy Thellman this was the highlight of the day "I liked the Mass today because it was different from our Mass with the organ music. It was cool that our class brought the gifts down." Students Mason Lapena, Nick Coppola, Kashia Hormuth, Elena VanEenanam, and Tommy Prince represented the school and graciously carried the gifts.

After Mass, we headed to the historic Jamestown Settlement. This area is an historic recreation of the first colony in North America. This site is divided into 3 main areas: the ships, the fort, and the Powhatan Indian Village. We explored all three and interacted with museum re-enactors who all dress and act in period costumes. Ahna Salazar-Hudgins liked the ships the best, although she admitted she would have never made the voyage across the Atlantic!

After the historic Jamestown Settlement, we headed to Colonial Williamsburg. Here we went to the capital building and re-enacted the voices of discontent amongst the Virginia colonists. We had a fabulous tour of this historically restored area. We learned how to make wigs, ran through a hedge maze, and even got dirty learning how to make clay bricks. Joseph Deshaies liked this the best saying, "I liked when we went to the where they build the bricks in colonial Williamsburg. We got to step in the mud to see the process for making clay that was used to make the bricks for the houses.

We toured the jail, the Governor's palace and so much more. 

Luke Stanford said: I liked getting to go inside the House of Burgesses in the old capital building and getting to see how colonial people ran Virginia.

After our fantastic day touring we headed to the Kings Arms Tavern where we met a fiddler who entertained us with Scottish tunes as we ate our tavern meal. I bet you think our day ended their...but it didn't! After dinner we went on a spine-shivering Ghost tour of Colonial Williamsburg. We saw the most haunted building in the U.S., the Randolph House. Nick Coppola commented "I liked the ghost tour of Williamsburg the best because it was fun to hear a different perspective on history." After our ghost tours we loaded back into the buses and enjoyed a relaxing three hour bus ride into DC!

The group enjoyed Jamestown this morning.

Sunday Mass at St. Bede