At 6:30 a.m. Monday, June 10, all of the eighth-graders from Watertown Middle School who were going to Washington, D.C, had to be packed and ready with their signed packing list ready to be handed in.

     Right when I was about to pass in the packing list, I realized that I had forgotten it at my house and I had to send my mom home to get it.

     Fortunately, it only took her a few minutes to find it and bring it back to the school. I passed the slip in to Mrs. Morris and sat in the cafeteria with my chaperone as we waited for the rest of my group to show up. Once my entire group showed up, we walked to the bus and packed all our stuff in the compartments and got seated. Soon after, we started our long drive to Washington.

     After three or four hours, we took a break, and then continued driving. We drove for a little while longer and then we stopped in New Jersey for lunch. After about 45 minutes we got back onto the road and drove for four more hours until we reached the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. We split into chaperone groups and explored.

     One of the featured exhibits was the heart exhibit where you could walk through a sculpture of a giant heart. We looked around for about an hour and then we got back onto the bus and drove for another hour and a half until we stopped for dinner at Rockwood Park Carriage House in Wilmington, Del. The dinner included hamburgers, macaroni, salad, and lemonade or iced tea. After dinner, there was an ice cream sundae bar and you could have a lot of extra toppings. 

     After that, we got on the bus one more time before we got to the hotel and fell asleep.

     The next morning, the teachers woke us up at 6:15 a.m. and told us to get breakfast. The hotel had bagels, waffles, muffins, cereal, and other breakfast options.

     When we were finished eating, we went to the Marine Corps Band practice. After that we went to the Arlington National Cemetery and saw the Tomb of The Unknowns and the Eternal Flame. We ate lunch at the Pentagon Mall, where there was a variety of restaurants to choose from. After we ate, we went to the National Air and Space Museum. Afterward, we ate at Fuddruckers and then got to see either “Star Trek” or “The Great Gatsby” and got free popcorn.

     The next morning, we took a walking tour of monuments around Washington. Then we went to the National Zoo and then the Museum of Natural History, which had a lot of different exhibits and artifacts that were very interesting. Afterward, we got the chance to meet Senator Elizabeth Warren and ask her questions.

     We ate at the Union Street Public House in Alexandria, Va., and walked to our Potomac River cruise.

     On Thursday, we toured the Capitol and saw a lot of old paintings and statues and learned a lot about the building’s history. After lunch, we walked around the Holocaust Museum and that night we went to an Orioles-Red Sox game at Camden Yards.

     We went back to our hotel and on Friday we took the long drive home.

–June 13, 2013–