Worldstride course leaders rendez-voused with us at The Newseum, the new Washington museum of news and the First Amendment. The museum, if you haven't seen it yet, is truly a
n astounding sight, both intellectually and architecturally. It is six stories of glass inside and outside the building, including a six-story glass elevator (a la Charlie and the Glass Elevator). Students were treated to a 4-D movie (ask your child about what made it "4-D"), including a segment about New York reporter Nellie Blye. After the 4-D movie, students had a great photo-op on the top balcony, adjacent to the Canadian Embassy, with the US Capitol Building in the background. Some memorable sections included the original newspapers dating back to the early 1600s (including one reporting on the Salem Witch Trials!), a 9-11 history and piece of the World Trade Center, a piece of the Berlin Wall, a sports and the news room, and Pulitzer-Prize Winning photos.For lunch, we headed to the Reagan International Trade Center for lunch, requiring the first of several x-ray/metal detector protocols for the day. We were all given the option of several food options in the food court, ranging from Subway to wraps, and Sbarro to Chinese food. Most students left Reagan full and ready to go for our next mission: trekking around the western
part of the Washington Mall. Depending on the bus group, students saw a combination of the World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, and The U.S. Holocaust Museum.Students entered the Holocaust Museum by taking the elevator up to the fourth floor, and then working their way down through a chronologically ordered series of rooms, consisting of pictorial, written and graphical panels outlining the genocide(s) before, during and after World War II in Europe. Students did pick up a "passport" of a historical figure who was killed during the Holocaust as a small token of remembrance of the museum; afterwards, most students walked through "Daniel's Story," a child's experience of the Holocaust.
Students spent between an hour and an hour and a half in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum just east along the National Mall from the Holocaust Museum. Inside, many students worked on a scavenger hunt, viewed airplanes and spaceships, and even rode in a flight simulator! Other highlights include a great exhibit on planets, Kitty Hawk and freeze-dried astronaut ice cream (packaged and sold specially for the Smithsonian, of course!).
This evening we all at Phillips Seafood Restaurant, which was not exclusively seafood-based, but had some heavy seafood influences, certainly. The buffet dinner options included breaded shrimp, cajun-grilled shrimp, baked cod, vegetables, rice, fruit, salad, bread, pulled pork, and dessert! The restaurant is located immediately on the Anacostia River in Southeast (but
downtown) Washington, and provided a beautiful view of the marina and the river.After dinner, it was off to Fort Lesley J. McNair, near Southeastern University, for the Twilight Tattoo. The Twilight Tattoo is an hour-plus choreographed visual, musical and oral history of the United States and the U.S. military. Students learned about different infantries and wars in which our national military has been involved.
The evening ended with a visit to three adjacent memorials: the Korean War memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam memorial, which were explored at late dusk/early evening. The 30 minute drive back to the hotel in the northwestern suburbs of Maryland was relaxing for all, disappointing for some (when it was learned en route that Kris Allen, not Adam Lambert, won American Idol) and a good chance to check in with parents. Signing off at 12:59am - wakeup call for students is at 6:00am tomorrow. Our first stop: Mount Vernon, Virginia.
