The weather was very cooperative today, although it got pretty cold by late afternoon. In fact, we noticed that it was actually warmer here than in Montgomery this morning!
Our day began with an incredible tour of the Pentagon. After passing through some pretty heavy security, we entered a briefing room where several young service men gave us instructions for our tour. After receiving our security badges (which required us to have an escort at all times) we began a fascinating tour of the building that houses our nation's Department of Defense.
It was interesting to have a tour conducted in a working building. And what a large building it was! It is really very hard to describe the sheer enormity of the Pentagon, but the fact that you could set the US Capitol Building down inside this structure and still have room left over might give you at least some idea of the size.
After seeing examples of our military history, we were led to the most sobering part of the tour - the September 11 Memorial. The area of the Pentagon that was damaged on September 11, 2001 has been turned into a chapel and moving memorial to the people who lost their lives there that fateful day. Our students were silent as they entered the room, and a representative of each of the smaller groups we were broken into signed the guest book for Trinity Presbyterian School. We were also given the opportunity to pick up small Gideon Bibles made especially for the Pentagon.
After taking some time in the Pentagon gift shop, we boarded our buses and made the 25 minute drive to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. We lunched in a cafe on the grounds, then entered the estate to tour a tremendous amount of walking paths, out buildings, a wharf, the grave of President Washington, and the beautiful mansion itself. There were actors in 18th century clothing answering questions and interacting with our students, and the mansion tour guides were outstanding. We also toured the George Washington Museum and Educational Center where several original artifacts are housed - including the President's famous false teeth! There were also multiple movie theaters, one of which was four dimensional and included real falling snow when depicting Washington crossing the Delaware River on December 24, 1776.
After Mt. Vernon, we drove over to the Jefferson memorial and then to the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial. While at the Jefferson memorial, we saw Marine One, President Obama's helicopter, fly over. Following this, we had dinner at the spectacular Pentagon City Mall before returning to the hotel for devotions and lights-out.
All in all, another fantastic day. You should be proud of your kids -- they're great!
Thanks for sharing the wonderful experience these students are having via this blog. For the parents, the distance between Alabama and Washington D.C. seems a little closer when they get this kind of information almost in real time.
ReplyDeleteFor those of us who are interested great educational programs and experiences, lets other professionals see and appreciate what your school has to offer.