Washington, D.C. Trip – Day 2 – Thursday
Today was a beautiful, and busy day for us DC. The weather was up to the lower 70s and the trees and flowers are blooming all around town.
This morning started early, as we were down on Capitol Hill by 8:30 in order to meet and talk to Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. She was able to talk to us about her recent work in the House of Representatives and also answer questions from some of the students. Then after some group pictures we headed off to the Smithsonian Museums to explore and have lunch. Due to time constraints, students were only able to visit the Air & Space Museum, The National Gallery of Art, and the Natural History Museum (Friday we will have 4+ more hours to go to these again and the other museums as well).
After lunch, we headed off to the US Soldier’s and Airmen’s Home for our performances. The Concert Choir, Show Choir, and Concert Band all performed for about an hour and a quarter to a very appreciative crowd of residents. After the performance, the USSAH provided juice and cookies and we were able to meet and talk to many of the residents. The students really enjoyed talk to and hearing some of their amazing stories. They were very appreciative of our time and gave us many compliments about how well the kids performed.
Because the weather was so nice today, and will be about 25 degrees colder and rainy tomorrow, we decided to change the itinerary slightly and then proceed to the C&O Canal and Great Falls. With all the snow melt and recent rains in the Mid-Atlantic, this was very dramatic. At Great Falls, the Potomac River drops a couple hundred feet and narrows through a rocky ravine. On a personal note, in all the years that I lived in DC, I had never seen the water so high or so rough. The students really enjoyed the natural beauty and the dichotomy of being less than 15 miles from the Capitol. (you’ll see in some of the pictures how ranging the water and rapids were!).
Finally we ended our day having dinner at Union Station.
Please enjoy some of the pictures below!
Mr. Petersen
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