2012 Westville Blackhawks Washington DC Trip: 2012

Our Itinerary 2012

Here is our itinerary. It's not exact as we had to change some things around so the kids could get as much out of the trip as possible. But this may help them to remember all of the things we did and saw!

WESTVILLE SCHOOL 207 E. Valparaiso St., Westville WASHINGTON, D.C. - 2012

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24

5:15 p.m. Load Coach; 5:30 departure (This is Central Time)
Set watch to Eastern Time

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25

7:00 Breakfast – Magills 8:15 FDR and Martin Luther King Memorials 9:45 World War II Memorial 10:30 National Archives 12:00 Lunch – Pentagon City 1:15 Holocaust Museum – Daniel’ s Story 2:40 Arrive Capitol; 3:20 Appointment – 40 –5:45 Dinner at Old Country Buffet - 9650 Main St., Fairfax, VA(Fair City Mall) 7:00 Check into Comfort Inn University Center - 11180 Main St.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26

6:45 amBreakfast at the hotel; Depart 7:30 a.m. Arrive Ford’s Theatre – 9:00 Museum and Ranger Talk;Group picture Air and Space Eat lunch at Museum – Depart by 12:45 Arrive Washington Cathedral; 1:30 Appointment Newseum Appointment; 3:00 appointment Dinner – Pentagon City Night Tour – Jefferson, Lincoln, Air Force, Iwo Jima, White House pics

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27

7:15 a.m. Breakfast at the hotel; load buses; depart 8:30 a.m. Arrive Arlington Cemetery – Changing of the Guard; 11:15 Wreath Ceremony Subway to Pentagon CityLunch; 1:00 departure Mount Vernon; 2:00 and 2:05 Mansion Times Depart by 3:45 Vietnam and Korean War Memorials – Arrive Kennedy Center “Shear Madness” at the Kennedy Center Dinner at Fuddruckers – 4141C Duke St. –

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28

8:30-9:00 a.m. Arrive Westville School

A few more pictures!

Martin Luther King Memorial

FDR Memorial

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Rusty: just chillin'!

The Capital Building

Washington Cathedral

Iwo Jima

The night tour...

Lincoln Memorial

The White House

Arlington Cemetery

The orange shoes...

The Last Day...

We checked out of the hotel and headed for Arlington Cemetery. We saw John F. Kennedy's grave site and the eternal flame. Our students were very respectful here at the cemetery and our wreath layers did a fine job. Ask your child to tell you about the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For more information about Arlington Cemetery, go to http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/
I recorded the changing of the guard ceremony but didn't get all of it. I didn't want to give up my spot form recording our kids' Wreath Ceremony. :-)

Here is a video from the Wreath Ceremony: (Only those with this link will be able to view this video. It is listed as unlisted.) http://youtu.be/HX5wWCBuO8o

From Arlington we took the subway to Pentagon City Mall (our favorite place to eat and shop!). I always get a little stressed on the subway, but we all made it! Yay!

We next went to Mt. Vernon. We didn't have enough time to see everything here. You can get a taste of what we saw from this link: http://www.mountvernon.org/

We then went to the Vietnam War and Korean War memorials. To me, the most graphic and best depiction of what our soldiers went through is at the Korean War Memorial. Apparently the thing for bridal parties to do in Washington DC is getting their pictures taken at the Lincoln Memorial. I bet we saw 5 or 6 couples here!

Next we traveled to the Kennedy Center to see "Shear Madness". We all laughed so hard our faces hurt! What a great ending to our fantastic trip. This link will take you to website where you get a little taste of the humor.
http://www.shearmadness.com/recent-updates.html

Last, we ate at Fuddruckers and headed home. I have to say that I was so very proud to be part of this group. I love being able to see how the kids have grown and changed from elementary students to middle school students. They made all of us very proud to say that we were from Westville Middle School. We got nothing but praise from the hotel staff, bus driver, and our tour guide. I hope they made wonderful memories and will go back to Washington DC sometime and remember this trip!