Washington D.C. Trip Update - Day 3

Woke up around 7-7:30 and went down to breakfast for eggs, waffles, and sausage. After we finished breakfast we were first for the shuttle. The shuttle came and we were one of the last people to get on. The shuttle, once again, took us to the metro station where we all got off. We rode the metro to the Arlington National Cemetery station and walked to the visitor center. Dad got tickets for the tour mobile that takes people around the cemetery.

Our first stop was the Kennedy graves. We walked up to John Kennedy’s grave and his wife’s, and also Robert F. Kennedy’s grave.

Our second stop was the theater where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies. First, we took a quick look at the Mast of the USS Maine, and then headed behind the theater to see the changing of the guard. We waited about 10 min for the changing and while doing so we watched the guard on duty going back and forth doing amazing things with his gun! Another guard came out and they started doing the changing of the guard stuff. Then another guard came out and they saluted to the tomb and did very precise things. After that they had four elderly gentlemen come and hang the wreath before the tomb.

Our third and final stop was at the Arlington House. We waited a while to go in because we were looking around at the amazing view of D.C., and Carl wanted to film himself for his video.

After the Arlington House we walked downhill and back to the visitor center. Christian, Carl, and I enjoyed pointing out some of the most interesting and odd last names that were engraved on the stones.

We arrived at the visitor center then hopped onto a different Tour Mobile. This one took you around all the different memorials and had comfier seats! They stopped at the Lincoln Memorial first and we got off. When we were looking for a place to eat lunch we noticed a bunch of Flight of Honor people visiting the Vietnam/Korean/Lincoln Memorial area.

As soon as lunch was done we headed off to the Korean Veterans Memorial then to the Lincoln Memorial then the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They were pretty cool. At the Lincoln Memorial we were able to rest and listen to a park ranger speak about Lincoln and the statue of Lincoln. It was very fascinating!

The next stop we were going to on the Tour Mobile was the Jefferson Memorial. This was a quick trip for us. All we did was walk up, take a few pictures then back to the Tour Mobile stop. We waited awhile for it to come.

Next, we wanted to go to the FDR Memorial. This was really pretty with all the trees and small waterfalls and statues. When we were done we waited for 25-30 minutes for the next Tour Mobile to come.

Our next stop was the World War II Memorial. We didn’t spend much time there either. Once we were done we walked awhile to the next metro station, which dad said was only half a mile away. It turned out to be more than that, though!

At the hotel we had pasta with alfredo and shrimp! It was delicious!

By Bethany Colglazier

Day 2 Pictures

Look at all the different mailboxes!

People working on stage for the next upcoming event

Carl in front of the Daily News with

Mad Carl Disease!!

Second floor across view

It's very pretty!

The Library of Congress

Mail Trucks

U.S. Postal Museum

The President's box at Ford's Theater

Washington D.C. Trip Update - Day 2

Woke up around 6:30 AM and headed down for breakfast. The breakfast was pretty much the same except we had biscuits n' gravy as the main course. After breakfast we walked out of the lobby and waited for the shuttle. The shuttle came, picked us up, and drove us to the metro station.

Today we were going to Ford's Theatre, The Petersen House, and the US Postal museum, and Carl's interview.

First, we did Ford's Theatre. When we arrived we were a bit early so we looked inside the gift shop while we waited. When the theatre and museum opened, we quickly grabbed our audio remotes and got started with the tour. The tour was excellent! I loved the museum area with all the facts about that time zone. Once we were all done with the museum part we headed up to the actual theatre. When we entered the room we heard and watched some people working on stage preparing for the next play. We quietly walked over to the room where President Lincoln got shot and peeked inside. We spent a little while there listening to the extra stuff on the audio remote (thing!) and waited on Carl video taping the room.

When we left the building we walked across the street to the Petersen house. We quickly walked through it and then walked back to the Metro Station. We hopped on a train and rode to the station where the U.S. Postal Museum was located. We spent a couple of hours there and then shortly afterward we headed toward Foggy Bottom where Carl was doing his interview. Once we arrived at the building a man who worked there greeted us and let us in his office (by the way this is the man who Carl is interviewing!!). Carl set up his camera and equipment then started his interview.

His interview went quite well. After his interview we went to Starbucks and mom got a pumpkin spice latte.

Capitol South was our next stop. We checked out the Library of Congress. We spent about half an hour there because it was about to close. We enjoyed it very much. As we were going out we had to go through security. Carl had just bought a book on D.C. and the security machine things (the ones that you walk through) didn't approve of that book. The guard had to ask Carl whether or not it was his. She let us through though.

Tonight we had sweet n' sour chicken for dinner at the hotel. It was delicious!! After dinner we pretty much rested up for the day ahead of us, which was walking around all day.

END OF DAY 2

By Bethany

Pictures From Day 1

The top of the Capitol Building

Passing by the Library of Congress

The Spiral Staircase inside the Supreme Court

Carl the camera man

The Supreme Court (front view)

Washington D.C. Trip Update - Day 1

Today dad woke us up at 7 AM. We got up, got dressed and headed down to breakfast. Their main course was eggs and bacon, but there were some other things like yogurt, bagels, donuts, cereal, and oatmeal.
After breakfast we rushed down the elevator to the shuttle van to take us to the metro station. We waited for about 8 min and the van was still not there so we decided to go in our own car. We drove to the metro station and found that were no parking spots except ones that had a parking meter, which we couldn't do cause we didn't have that many quarters and we needed the quarters for laundry. Since we couldn't find any spots we drove back to the hotel and found the van parked in the drive through area to the lobby. The next ride was at 9 AM and we were there at 8:37 AM. We had to wait 23 minutes. So we went up to our room and waited.
Finally, we got into the van and we were off to the metro station. Obviously we were a running a bit later than we intended.
Now we were at the metro station and trying to get 6 7-day ticket passes. This was a pain! We tried getting the passes, but it only allowed two tickets per credit card. So we ended up using three different cards just for 6 tickets. Now we were definitely running later than we intended.
So we are on the metro for about 10-15 minutes until we get off at our station, Capitol South. We hopped off the metro and walked to the Supreme Court building. We just barely made it to the 10:30 lecture on the Supreme Court and the building. I thought it was fascinating! We learned about the friezes up at the top of the wall. It is so nice in there!!! The marble, the pillars...EVERYTHING!!!! The man giving the lecture also talked about who sits where and why.
After the lecture we ate lunch outside the Supreme Court. The weather was cool and breezy and the sky was perfectly blue! We had to eat quickly so we could make it to the Capitol building (right across the street) and be a bit early for the tour. We made it quite early for the tour. To use up some time we checked the Capitol building out and visited the first part of the exhibitions.
When the tour began we watched a 15 minute video on Congress. Then we lined up and got headphones that were connected to our guide's microphone so we could hear her better.
The tour was great. We got to see the Rotunda with many statues inside. It was very cool!
After the tour we had access to the House of Representatives Chamber. That was so exciting!! Carl and mom were probably the most excited, though. We sat there for about an hour and a half not knowing whether there was going to be a session or not. They kept moving things and that made us want to stay longer to find out whether or not they were having a meeting.
They ended up having a meeting after all!! I remember asking mom, "How long is a meeting?" She replied with the basic answer, "it can take a couple hours or a couple minutes". Today it was two minutes!!! That was really enjoyable to watch and it gave us a rest!!
After the meeting finished we headed out and walked toward the tunnel to the Library of Congress. Christian didn't want to go inside the Library of Congress he just wanted to see the tunnel. The tunnel turned out to be a hallway with facts on the wall...that were all the same!!! We reached the end of the tunnel and turned around.
We walked over to the gift shop and looked around. Then we walked back to the Supreme Court and visited the lower level of the building, which included a few exhibits, the spiral staircase, and a gift shop. First, we looked around at the exhibits and the spiral staircase. Then we watched a 24 minute video by C-SPAN about the Supreme Court Justice's and how they make their decisions. We thought it was fascinating.
Now we were headed to the metro station. We took a train to our stop and it took about 20-25 minutes. We got off the train and dad called our hotel so they could notify the driver of their shuttle to pick us up. The shuttle arrived shortly and we hopped on board. Once we arrived at the hotel, we rested for a few minutes in our room then went down to Dinner. Dinner was meatloaf w/ mashpotatoes. It was really delicious. Then we went up to our room and rested.

END OF DAY 1
By Bethany Colglazier

Washington D.C. Trip

Having a great time at the park in Short Pump, Virginia!

Left to Right: Miriam, Jack, Elaine, Carl, Christian

Today we traveled up to Virginia! Along the way we visited our cousins, Jack and Elaine. That was a lot of fun! We stopped at their house and spent about 20-30 min then headed over to the park. This park reminded all of us (the Colglaziers) of Bond Park in North Carolina. It had a lake, a play ground, soccer field, and trails. We had a ton of fun. We arrived and kicked some soccer balls around then ate lunch. By the way it was a gorgeous day!

After lunch Uncle Carl, Dad, Jack, Carl, Christian, Miriam and I played a game of soccer. Jack was a tough player and he's only three!! He'll run up to you and steal the ball or block it with himself!!

Uncle Carl told us that when he's playing a game with his team he doesn't care what goal he goes to! He has the ball he'll score at the closest goal!!!!! :) We all had a really good time visiting each other!!