Friday - The Grand Finale

Some pics from Friday in DC!

It's always beautiful when the USM crew goes to Arlington, and the weather on our final day didn't break the streak!  We toured the most hallowed ground in our country, seeing the burial sites of President Kennedy and President Taft, checking out Robert E. Lee's house, and spending some time learning about the rich history of our largest national cemetery. The highlight of visit (and the entire trip, in the mind of a certain history teacher) was the wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Our representatives, chosen by their classmates, left a small but thoughtful tribute to the tomb and the men and women that serve our country.  It's a big reason why we go to DC, and why we learn about our history.

We had a little bus glitch after Arlington, but no worries - everything worked out fine. The kids toured the Newseum in the afternoon, and many felt it was one of their favorite spots on the trip.  We parted ways, as the Baltimore flight went to fight traffic to get to BWI and the DC flight relaxed at the National Museum of American History.  

Thursday Part 2 - The Miss Christin

Here's the pics from the boat!

 Once again the Miss Christin hosted the USM historical tourists for a raucous dinner and dancing cruise on the beautiful Potomac. The weather certainly cooperated this evening, and the kids had a great time with the combination of a taco bar, interesting dance moves, and music that the chaperones didn't recognize. Thankfully, Shazam helped us out. All in all, a great final evening on our tour, and an excellent method to celebrate the birth of the one and only Mike Schwieters.

Thursday Part 1 - Gettysburg

Thursday pictures are here!

We headed north for the turning point of the Civil War today as we experienced Gettysburg National Military Park.  The movie "A New Birth of Freedom" and visit to the awesome Cyclorama set the stage as we hit some of the major locations on the battlefield, including the Railroad Cut on Day 1, Little Round top from Day 2, and the Confederate High Water Mark on Day 3. Our young historians also made a pilgrimage to the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, site of their favorite 272 word speech.

And yes, it was very cold. Now off to the boat.

Wednesday - More Fun in the Captiol

Check out some more DC photos from Wednesday!

It was another fantastic (and tiring) day for the Wildcat tourists in Washington D.C. today as we hit more of the great sights of the capitol city. We began with a nice morning stroll to the Air Force Memorial and Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, a bonus for staying out in the Pentagon area.

 The kids loved our trek to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum, including another special tour from Mr. Mike Nelson.

   

 Our visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum was very powerful, and the students did a great job experiencing the museum due to their background from Mrs. Reimer in 7th grade. The museum helps answer some tough questions about this darkest part of human history ... and opens up the door for many more. We also stopped at the National Archives to see the Charters of Freedom - can't miss those when you go to DC.

After a delicious dinner at Pizzeria Uno, we took the traditional picture at the White House. Who knew that it was super crowded in the early evening? 

 Our night ended with a tour of the major memorials on the National Mall. We were joined by many USM alumni who were reliving their DC trip from years ago - an awesome addition to our tour!

Tuesday - A great start for the young historical travelers!

Want a lot of Tuesday pictures?  Check them out here!

We packed a ton of historical love into our 14 hours today, all led by the intrepid bus driving tandem of Ty and Joe.  A hearty breakfast at Harriet's helped us fuel up for a visit to Ford's Theater and a drop in at the Library of Congress - two incredible buildings!  We spent some time in the beautiful DC sunshine with BOTH of our Wisconsin Senators.  How about that?!?!

We followed up with a great tour of the Capitol, checking out the Rotunda and Statuary Hall.  From there, a late lunch at Reagan International Trade Center set us up for the rest of the day.  We visited the Washington Monument and saw the city from the highest point (500 feet high!), and then toured the MLK, FDR, and Jefferson Memorials.  It all brought that boring history class to life!!  

The night ended with a ball game (well, most of a ball game) at Nationals Park.  All in all, it was pretty much flawless for Day 2, and the kids are doing great.  Another big day tomorrow!

Monday - The Wildcats Have Landed

All 105 of us made it safe and sound to the nation's capital today and are all snoozing peacefully (hopefully), getting ready for a big day of touring tomorrow.  We have a full slate - a little Lincoln, a little Congress, a little museum, a little MLK FDR TJ, a little baseball ... and a whole lot of fun.   We will report from the road tomorrow on the audiocast, and try to load up pictures before bed! you can check out some Monday pictures here - more to come tomorrow!

It's almost go time!

Crazy but true - it's only a few short days until we depart for our historypalooza in DC!  Our plan is to update this site daily with a brief overview of what we have done, but more importantly to provide photos, audio, and video of our young historical tourists as they take the nation's capital by storm.  Students will hopefully have a hand in sharing some of their pictures as well.  The updates usually happen late at night, so hopefully you all can see what the kids are doing over your morning cup of coffee.  Please check back each day for updates!