New York City (Wednesday afternoon)

Upon arriving in NYC, our driver gave us a quick tour of the downtown area. Our special event for the evening was going up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

This is NYC from the observation deck.

This is the very tippy-top of the Empire State Building.

New plaque in the lobby of the building.
Two of our boys with a "helper" from the FAO Schwartz store.
My personal favorite.

Philadelphia, PA

Wednesday we checked out of our motel room and headed for New York City. We made a stop in Philadelphia for a visit to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Also in the neighborhood is a visitor's bureau that provides a great deal of historical information. Docents portraying the part of people from the past were there to interact with us, describing various aspects of their lives.

Independence Hall. The Declaration of Independence was signed in this building.
The Liberty Bell.
A living history docent portraying a run away slave.
A living history docent portraying a local business man at the time of Ben Franklin.

Arlington Cemetary

In the afternoon we visited Arlington National Cemetery. The grounds are magnificent. There is a continued reminder to show honor and respect for those who have given their lives in service to their country. It was a very warm day with the temperature in the 80's and the humidity also in the 80's.

After Arlington we headed to Alexandria, VA for our dinner and a guided tour of the legends of Alexandria. Mother Nature had other plans for us. As we were driving, we were hit by the brunt of a major thunder/lightening storm. It rained heavily for several hours. Instead of a walking tour, we did it by bus.

The changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetery.
The grounds originally belonged to General Robert E. Lee. During the Civil War, the Union Army took control of his home. They began to bury the dead Union soldiers in his front yard.

The Eternal Flame at the grave of President John F. Kennedy.
The grounds at Arlington.

Mt. Vernon

Tuesday we awakened to the sound of rain. It looked stormy, but later cleared up. After an hour's drive, we arrived at Mt. Vernon. As much as possible, the grounds look much the same as they did when President Washington lived there.

Our first view of Mt. Vernon.

A model of the house.
Stained glass representations of scenes from President Washington's life.
Map over view of the grounds.

Several Memorials

We visited the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Viet Nam War Memorial, the WW II Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial before we returned to our hotel.

White House

As we were visiting the White House, there were people near us who wanted to get the Presidents attention. You can hear them in the background

A Very Full Day (Monday)

Next on our agenda was a stop at the White House.

After the national archives we toured the Air/Space Museum. We saw displays of the history of flight from the Wright Brothers to space travel.

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After that we were off to the National Museum of American History. There is a wide variety of Americana from Jerry Seinfeld's "puffy shirt" to the original flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner" during the war of 1812.

After a short night's sleep, we were up and on the bus at 8:30. We began our day at the National Archives. In this building we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta. Because we were early, our wait was very short. Once inside the rotunda, we noticed that the lighting was dim. This was done to protect the documents from further deterioration.

We Have Arrived (Sunday)

We made it safely to Washington DC. We were slightly delayed leaving Sacramento. Pleasant flight from California to Texas. For some this was the first time on a plane and some were seasoned travelers. Everybody did well!!

These pictures show us waiting at the Sacramento airport.

Because of the delay at Sacramento, that put us into Dallas with little time to spare. We made our connecting flight and 2 1/2 hours later we landed at Dulles International Airport. Our tour director, Kathie, met us at the airport and promptly escorted us to our bus. After a 45 minute drive, we arrived at our hotel. Didn't take long to get keys and kids settled into their rooms.

Let the Games Begin

The students from Tierra Buena School are on their way to Washington DC and then New York.

We will be seeing some wonderful sights. To help you see where we are, here is a link to a flight tracking website. You will know when we land and when we take off. If you have messages for the students, please feel free to leave comments. They will be passed along.

http://www.flightstats.com/go/Home/home.do