The Capitol -- aka Security Day!

Today began with a tour of the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. Before entering the Supreme Court the students were required to head through a security check. While in the Supreme Court the student's were able to see the room where the Chief Justice along with the eight other Supreme Court Justices meet. We learned that once a week all of the judges meet together for a completely private meeting. During this meeting the newest Court Justice is required to serve the coffee -- even if he has been there for 15 years, if he is the newest member, that is his job! I am wondering if this is something like being a 7th grader for 15 years ... scary.

Before entering the Library of Congress the students were once again required to walk through a metal detector. Here we were able to view the many different drafts of the Declaration of Independence. Books from Thomas Jefferson's private library were also on display.

From here we walked over to the capitol, where yet another security checkpoint awaited us. Rachel was forced to hand over her granola bar immediately -- for the safety of the nation! Miss Hill, however, breezed through with a sandwich in her bag -- I am pretty sure she is now wanted in 9 different states.

While in the Capitol Building the students ate lunch and then headed over to the orientation room ... where we waited in a very long line. In order to pass time, a few of us played games... "I am going on a trip and I am going to bring an apple, a book, a carp a ...."

After orientation we did a walk through of the Capitol - we even saw the President!!! Oh wait, no, we didn't. We did, however, see a lot of statues of former Presidents and more importantly we were able to witness the mysterious acoustics of the old senate chambers. Our tour guide stood us in the middle of the room and then walked to the completely opposite side. She then began to speak in a quiet voice - and we (on the opposite side of a very loud, very busy room) could hear her perfectly! (Quite honestly, we could hear her better than we had before). Very cool.

Next, we headed to the White House. Although we were not able to tour the White House we did stand in front of the gate and take 15 million pictures ...

The last big stop of the day was Arlington National Cemetery. Here we saw John F. Kennedy's grave, and the tomb of the unknown soldier -- along with the changing of the guards. The students silently watched as the soldier took 21 steps in front of the tomb.

While in the cemetery, Katelyn asked if she could look for her great grandfather's grave. This has been a Brown-Franklin family search for three years. Every Brown-Franklin child has done a search for their great grandfather on the PCS East Coast trip. This marked the third and final year that Mr. Bailey would have the opportunity to search for this family member. The tram pulled over to the side to allow Mr. Bailey, Katelyn and Rachel to dash off and scan the area. After several minutes of waiting the tram finally began to pull away -- knowing that Mr. Bailey would follow us to the bottom when his mission was complete. However, as the tram rumbles down the hill a student at the back of the tram yells, "Is that Mr. Bailey ... running??!!" Our heads whip back in time to see Katelyn and Rachel gracefully dashing across the lawn, with Mr. Bailey huffing behind them! The student's proceeded to shout in unison, in true 8th grade fashion, "Run Mr. Bailey, RUN!" As the three entered the tram they gleeful announced they had found Katelyn's great grandfather and the tram erupted with cheers!

We ended our night with a trip to the mall (for dinner) and sunset photos in front of the Marine Corps Memorial (also known Iwo Jima).

The students are exhausted after a long day, and as I sit writing this blog I am sure that they are all fast asleep -- well, maybe not fast asleep...