The troop travelled down to Washington, D.C. for five days during April vacation for a learning adventure that will be remembered for a lifetime. Thirteen scouts and five adult leaders awoke very early on Tuesday morning to board a 6:25am train out of Westwood. Eight hours of naps, smartphones and weak WiFi later, we were in Washington! On Tuesday we visited the following sites:
Wednesday was our big museum and memorial day. After a great breakfast at the hotel we went to the excellent National Museum of Natural History where we saw the Hope diamond, exhibits on evolution, nature photography and gems. We could have easily spent more hours there. We then put in some more walking miles to visit the:
Thursday was our most formal day with scouts turning out in full Class A uniform. Another early start had us arriving at Arlington National Cemetery over the Potomac River in Virginia mid-morning. While most of the troop toured the cemetery, two of our scouts brought the wreath up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and found out the details of when and where for the ceremony. At the appointed time, four of our senior scouts (Cam, Ethan, Matt and Nick) were trained by a member of the guard on the wreath-laying ceremony. At exactly 12:15, our honor guard of 4 scouts made us proud by performing the wreath laying ceremony to the sound of "Taps" being played by a military bugler while the rest of the troop and over a hundred visitors watched in the heat of the day. After the wreath-laying we shed our Class A uniforms and headed over to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Scouts were able to see historic planes, rockets and spacecraft. We were also able to fly in a virtual dog fight that had scouts paired up as a pilot or gunner flying literally upside-down in a simulator. We were able to get off our feet (and nap for some) for a few minutes and enjoy an IMAX film called "Journey to Space 3D". To cap off our long day, we took a Metro ride and a walk in the rain for an 8:00 dinner at "Buca di Beppo" near Dupont Circle. Plenty of great Italian food served family-style. A quick Metro ride and a few minutes of walking back the the hotel ended our great day shortly after 11pm. Friday was another early start in Class A uniforms to make a 9:00am appointment with staffers at Congressman Moulton's office. After dumping all liquids and shedding our backpacks we descended into the basement of the Longworth House of Representatives and through the underground tunnels into the Capitol building. We received a fantastic tour of the Capitol including being able to sit in the balcony of the House Chamber. After lunch at the Capitol, the scouts decided to add a bonus site to our tour so we walked over to the Supreme Court building. This rounded out our visit to all 3 branches of our Federal Government. However, we weren't done with our day on Friday. After telling the scouts about the "surprise" event, we boarded a train to Camden Yards in Baltimore and watched the Red Sox play the Orioles on a perfect spring evening. Although we weren't happy with the final score, the game was great to watch. A limo van and an SUV met us outside the park and dropped us back at our hotel around midnight. Saturday morning we could finally sleep in. After breakfast and packing up our gear, the troop walked to the Holocaust Museum for a noon admission. It's hard to put into words what the exhibit there depicted, but it was very educational, moving and horrifying. I would definitely like to go back and spend more time there in the future. A quick walk past the growing March for Science got us back to Union Station for the long ride back home. We didn't get back to Memorial until after midnight, ending 5 long, fun and inspiring days. Over 45 miles of walking, natural education covering millions of years and United States history covering hundreds of years filled our days. Sprinkled in were teachable moments about map reading, genocide, time management, homelessness, teamwork, integrity, mental illness and citizenship. As always, the scouts impressed us all with their resilience, curiosity, intelligence and maturity. Definitely take a look at all the pictures in our photo gallery. A special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Woodilla for providing amazing adult leadership on this trip. Also, a huge thank you to Mrs. Maguire for months of work organizing the itinerary and keeping us under budget. Thanks to O'Malley's Floral Expressions of Burlington for the beautiful wreath and to the parents that drove the group to and from the train station.
1 Comment
|