My eighth grade year was my first trip away from my grandparents who raised me. So it was my first time I was pretty much on my own, but I was still with a school group and chaperon. The trip was to Washington DC. This was also my first major trip to a major city. I had been to the outskirts of major cities before such as: Buffalo, Charlotte, Nashville, Columbus and Richmond. But I had never been into the heart of a big city.
We pulled out of Tennessee at three am that morning heading on the eight hour bus ride to Washington. I remember we stopped a couple of times in Virginia. One time near Roanoke and the other was farther into the Shenandoah Valley closer to I 64.
The closer we got to DC I remember the roads kept getting wider and cris crossing over each other. Especially on the Interstate 95 Beltway near Manassas. 
I remember seeing special lanes just for carpool. I had never seen anything like that before not even on other interstate highways in some of the bigger towns near me.
The first thing we did when we pulled into Washington DC was drive the bus by the Pentagon. They were still remodeling it from where it was damaged on September 11th 2001 in the terrorist attacks. The first major stop on our three day tour of DC was the Arlington National Cemetery. The largest military cemetery in the United States. We got to see the grave-sites of: John F Kennedy, Robert Kennedy,and Jacquline Kennedy Onassis. We also got to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
After the tour of Arlington we took a motorcoach tour of the city. Our tour guide who boarded on our bus with us told us.about many major sections of Washington DC such as Georgetown. We took a bus tour through the area. Then it was time for lunch. We stopped at a little place on the Potomac River in plain view of the Washington Monument.
Later that day consisted of seeing the memorials such as: The Lincoln Memorial,Jefferson Memorial,World War 1 Memorial,World War Two Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial wall with all the names chiseled in stone of the killed or Missing in Action from the war. We then had dinner time then headed to the Kennedy Center for the Preforming Arts to see a play. I cannot remember the title right off hand but it was amazing at intermission to stand out on the balcony and see the lights of the City.
The next day we were set to tour the White House. That was an amazing experience in itself. The first thing we did when we got off the bus was to go to the visitors gate. We all one by one had to check in with the Secret Service guards at the gate. Tell them our full names and everything as we had have to completed background checks weeks prior to entering.
We got into the East Wing of the White House where our tour guide took us around to show us all the different artifacts left over by all the presidents from over the years. We also got to see the East room where many of the major White House concerts are held. Also this is where President Nixon made his resignation speech in 1974.
The next destination that day was to Mount Vernon, Virginia to the estate of the first US President George Washington. We saw the stables and farm where Washington kept his horses and crops. The deathbed where he laid when he passed away was still there. It was awesome to see that stuff was all still intact although everything had been renovated and modernized. But I guess it has to happen to keep the upkeep for historical purposes.
Next we went to the US Capital building where the congress and Senate of the US make the laws. We got to meet our congressman and have a group photo taken with him.
Next spot on the tour was probably the saddest spot. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The tour began by everyone getting a passport card of a certain person who lived in Nazi occupied Europe at the time. As you walk through the museum you follow your characters story and figure out if they lived or died. The museum tour began in an elevator crowded with a group.
The reason they crowded the elevator is to give the people the feeling of how it was inside a Nazi Gas chamber or rail car like the victims were transported to the camps in. The inside of the elevator actually looked like a Nazi gas chamber which is it's intended purpose to simulate the history. The tour started in Hitler's rise to power all the way to the Nuremberg Trials. In the museum there was an exact rail car used to transport victims,victims shoes,camp clothing including the yellow Jew stars,Pink Triangles, and other symbols of ridicule used by the Nazis. That year we had read the "Diary of Anne Frank" so we knew that we were in for a sad lesson in history.
We then went to the mall in Pentagon City and ate dinner and shopped afterwards. Then back to the hotel in Maryland to rest for the final day.
The final day was touring the Smithsonian museums. The first museum we visited was the National Air and Space museum where we saw Charles Lindberghs Spirit of St. Louis and The Wright Brothers plane. That is where I also freaked out on a simulation ride because I got stuck upside down not knowing how-to control the fighter jet.
The next museum was the Natural History museum with all the dinosaur skeletons,animal skeletons, The Hope Diamond and the Egyptian history exhibit.
The final museum of the tour was The Museum of American History. Which included such pop culture icons such as Judy Garland's slippers worn in The Wizard of Oz among other priceless artifacts from American History and pop culture. Then finally it was time to head back on a long trip to Tennessee.
Overall my first impression was it was an amazing place. One of the things I didn't like though was that everything was almost double the price than it was back home. We also got to go to the National Zoo and saw the Pandas. We got to see the dark side of Washington too meaning the homeless areas and the Ghettos. We also drove by the embassies,the news bureaus like CNN, CBS News, NPR, NBC and so on. It was exciting to get to see the city that is shown on television often.
We also got to visit Union Station and eat there as well as shop in the stores there. We also felt the ground shake underneath. But it wasn't an earthquake, it was all the trains pulling in as Washington is the major train hub for all of the Eastern Corridor from Miami to Boston. We also got to see the airplanes landing and taking off from Reagan National Airport. This was my first time in the big city,but.it was awesome and sadly a reality that there was more to life than what happens in my small town.
This is my entry into the #GAGwritingcontest
To all my fellow GAGers in the contest I wish all of you good luck and may the best article win!
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
1Opinion
I felt like I was actually traveling while reading this.
It was very intresting to Read, well done