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Kids VT Goes to Washington
Posted on April 21st, 2008 by susan
In this all-important election season, Kids VT is taking a trip. We’re going to check out Washington, D.C. We’ll report back on attractions of interest and offer tips on navigating around our nation’s capital as a family. Kids VT Managing Editor, Susan Holson, has arranged for two junior correspondents to blog daily during their April trip. So look for input from 13-year-old Dana and 15-year-old Adam here at www.KidsVT.com as they share their experiences from a kids’-eye point of view from April 21 through April 25!
Filed under: Education, Entertainment, Special Events
Sunday, April 20, 2008:
To start out our adventure in Washington D.C., we took a train from Penn Station in New York City. The train ride was about 3 and a half hours long. It seemed like it took forever, because the train was going slower then usual. Finally we arrived in Washington D.C. We got a taxi from the train station and went to our hotel. That was just the beginning of our adventures in Washington D.C.
Monday, April 21, 2008:
Today was our first real day in Washington D.C. First, we went to the metro station so that we could get to the Smithsonian. At the station we got our metro cards (which took a little while to figure out how to do). Then on our way to the subway platform, we had to put our metro cards through a machine. For about 2 minutes we were just standing there trying to figure out how these cards went through the machine and how the gate (for us to get through) would open. We were watching other people do it, but we could not figure out how the metro cards went through the machine. Eventually we started understanding the concept, and the gate opened for us.
Once we got of the subway we were at the National Mall. We could see the Capital and the Washington Monument. It was really cool! We took pictures of us standing in front of the buildings. We walked towards the National Archives building (which has interesting things in it like the Declaration of Independence) to see if we could go. There was a really long line, and we had tickets for the Holocaust Museum in an hour, so we could not stay. Meanwhile, it was pouring rain! I think my shoes had a puddle in them. I was the only one wearing a raincoat, but we had umbrellas.
We then walked from the National Archives to the Washington Monument, where we could see some of the White House. Later in the week we will see it up close. After that we walked to the Holocaust Museum. We started out learning about a boy who survived the Holocaust. He had to move from his happy life to a concentration camp. Then we went to an exhibit that was about the history of the Holocaust from 1933-1945. It was pretty interesting. Some of the videos and reading the little plaque things got a little bit boring though. At school we are learning about the Holocaust, and this was a good time to visit the museum. I learned more about it in depth and saw pictures that were kind of disturbing. Others were really interesting though.
Tonight we are going on a tour of DC at night. Everything will be lit up and we will see things that we have not seen yet. I am really excited to see the White House, and to walk around at the monuments.
So far our trip to Washington D.C. has been really fun, even though it is just the beginning!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008:
We started off with an early morning by visiting Vermont’s senator, Patrick Leahy. We went to the senate building (located next to the Capitol) and found his offfice. Once we got there, we socialized with other Vermonters and had coffee (for the grown-ups) and donuts. Then each family got to have a picture taken with Senator Leahy. Each Tuesday morning Senator Leahy opens up his office for families. This is a really nice thing that he does and it is fun for all ages!
After that, we went to the National Archives. We waited in a long line that was about 30 minutes. Once we got into the builidng we saw a quick video that was about the museum. After, we went upstairs and saw a gallery of political cartoons. Most of them I did not understand, but that is okay. Then we waited in another line (but this one only took about 10 minutes) so that we could see The Declaration of Indepence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Indepence is really faded, but that is because it is really old. Seeing the actual copy of it was really fascinating. The Bill of Rights was also a little bit faded, but we could still see it. Seeing these documents was really cool because they played a huge role in our history. We also saw other letters and documents that had signatures of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John Adams. The Emancipation Proclomation was also at the museum.
Seeing this museum of archives was really fun and I learned that these documents are actually real and they do exsist. I hope I see many more interesting things like this!
Last night we went on a night tour of Washington. It was a lot of fun. We saw the Washington, Jefferson, WWII, FDR, Korean, Vietnam, and Lincoln Memorials, the Capitol, and White House. It was really cool to experience seeing these places at night when they were all lit up. We stood where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, and it was really cool to look down the Capitol’s steps and see all the way to the Washington Monument. It was a lot of fun.
Thanks for blogging. Where else are you going this week? Is it still raining?
Yesterday we went to the Newseum. It is a brand new museum and is dedicated to news reporting. It was really cool there are 6 floors and there are many exhibits, and you can become your very own news reporter. You can also learn how a TV studio works.
This morning we woke up early to go and get tickets the U.S bureau of printing and engraving. This is where they make paper money. After we got tickets we went the aquarium. They had many exhibits and it was really cool. They had sharks, fish, and alligators. After the aquarium we walked around the White House. It was really exciting to look at it from all angles. Then we went to the old post office building on Pennsylvania Ave. There is a really high tower that you can go up that shows you views of the entire city. It was cool to be able to see all the places we have been to so far.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008:
This afternoon we had a tour of the Capitol building. We started out in Patrick Leahy’s office, and then went off with a tour guide. We took an underground train thing from the senate building to the Capitol. The Capitol was really interesting to see. The ceiling and walls (in the newer part of the building) had designs on them that were really detailed and colorful. My favorite part of the Capitol was seeing the Rotunda. This is the big dome on the top of it. It is SOOOO big! Our tour guide said that the whole Statue of Liberty (with her torch) could fit in it. The designs were also cool on this ceiling. We saw many other things, but that is what stood out to me. Seeing our nations Capitol building was really fun!
When we were walking back from the Capitol I asked my mom who Vermont’s representitave was. She told me it was Peter Welch (which I knew, but I had forgotten), then we looked up and he was right in front of us. My mom called his name and he stopped and shook our hands. He was on his way to a meeting or something, so he did not have time to talk. I can’t believe we saw him right in front of us when we were talking about him.
All day we were looking forward to our Bureau of Engraving and Printing tour. This is the building where they make money. We arrived at our tour at 7:00 pm, the man who worked there said we could go on the earlier tour. We had to rush through the building (and we missed the whole first part of the tour) to catch up with our group. We missed a lot and our tour guide did not fill us in. She read off notecards and we could not understand her. I don’t understand how money is made after this tour, it was a really big dissapointment. I saw the money being made, but I don’t get how it is made… I just saw it. We might go back for a better tour, so that we can have a better guide, but we might not.
So far our trip to Washington has been really fun!
Thursday, April 24, 2008:
Today we spent the whole day at the National Air and Space Museum. It was really cool! Half of the building devoted to air, and half space. I really enjoyed seeing the airplanes and spaceships in the building. There was an interactive room, called “How Things Fly”. This is where we could do certain experiments to learn about how things fly. We also saw the Wright Brothers original airplane, which was really cool.
There was a big IMAX theater, and we watched a movie called “To Fly”. It was pretty good. Since it was 25 years old, it had some older things in it and was missing all of the recent events. During some parts of the movie it was like we were actually flying. We flew over mountains, rocks, and water. The movie was exciting.
Since we were all practically dead from constantly going the last couple of days, we took a break back at the hotel. Later, we went to Georgetown. This is a little neighborhood in Washington D.C. There is shopping, restaurants, and many other things to do. We walked around a little bit and then ate at a restaurant with really good food!
Tomorrow we are leaving Washington, which is dissapointing, but we will be back again!
Friday, April 25, 2008:
On our last day in Washington, we decided to go back to the monuments we saw at night and get a better look during the day. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the World War II Memorial. The Korean War Memorial was really cool because there is a wall with pictures of soldiers engraved in it. We could see the reflection of the statues (that were standing next to the wall) in it. We also saw ourselves in the wall.
After seeing the memorials we went back to our hotel and got our bags. Then we took a taxi to the train station. Our train ride went pretty smoothly at the beginning, but once we got to NYC it slowed down a TON. We moved at the speed of a snail (i’m not kidding) for about 30 minutes. Then we sat in the NYC station for an hour. Finally we started moving, and by the end of our trip we had been on the train a total of 6 hours.
Going to Washington D.C. was really fun!!! Seeing all of the memorials and monuments was cool because we see them in pictures, but now we got to see them in real life! I hope that I get the chance to go back to Washington D.C.!!!
Reading your stories about your trip to DC brought back my own memories of visiting DC back in the 70’s.
Gerald Ford was our president; he had recently pardoned former President Nixon for antics that we would smile on today; Dick Cheney was Chief of Staff, and I was unaware of any of that in 3rd grade.
I remember the long lines at The US Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; I remember seeing the Spirit of St. Louis, hanging in the Smithsonian. I remember looking high up into The Rotunda at The White House. I had no idea they could fit The Statue of Liberty in there; thank goodness there’s a place she can get changed when she needs to! Not convenient, though, as you note.
I can’t decide which is cooler – seeing your own congressman, or actually recognizing him – not many of us would. I look forward to going to Washington DC with my own kids in a few years, under a new administration, and hopefully in more hopeful times. Thank you for sharing your trip – it sounds great – and it gives me many thoughts about how to engage my kids in the history, present, and future of our government.