Our 1st stop colonial Williamsburg:
Arya and I were bad so we got put in the stocks.
I got in extra trouble so I got branded. In colonial time, if someone was found guilty of a crime, they may have the option to hung (not so good) or to get branded on their palm. If those chose the brand, it was a mark that meant if they were ever in trouble again, they would be hung without question. I picked the brand.
When I finished we got to stomp in the clay to help make bricks. To soften the material for bricks, brick makers would stomp on the clay.
When we were there we also went to Busch Gardens, European themed amusement park. Here you see me about to go on Alpinegeist with a loud man next to us.
After Williamsburg, we went to Charlottesville and saw Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house. As you can see, I was very excited. Do you recognize the house from the nickel in your pocket?
Our next stop was Washington DC:
We had a nice two-story apartment we stayed in for the two weeks we were there.
I asked our congresswoman (Anna Eshoo) for a tour of the capital building and she said "yes"! The inside of the rotunda is under construction right now so we were only able to see a bit of ceiling because half of it was covered by a big sheet that looked like a donut.
I also got us a tour for Engraving and Printing where paper money is made. Arya won the lottery and got $1 million in $10 bills!
I was really excited because I was also able to get us a tour of the White House! We went inside and saw interesting historic rooms like the red, blue, and green rooms (sorry, we couldn't take pictures inside).
We went to the National Cathedral. On the outside there are many gargoyles and some of them are very strange; there's even one of Darth Vader! We brought along our binoculars so we could see the gargoyles outside and check out the stained glass windows inside.
At the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, I held tobacco caterpillar along with some other bugs that I didn't get pictures of.
Also at the museum, we went to the butterfly garden and this one decided to land on my mom's hair! Another landed on my dad's shirt (Dad's note: it was nice of Ashley to choose the picture of Stacey though as she is far more interesting to look at than I am).
One day we decided to go to the National Zoo. Arya was particularly excited because they have pandas there!
The Washington Monument was very, very tall. When you stood underneath it and looked up, it looked like the wall went on forever. We went up to the top of the tower and saw a beautiful view of national mall.
That same day we also saw the Lincoln Memorial, which you may recognize from the penny!
After DC, we moved on to Philadelphia:
We went to Independence Hall where the liberty bell used to ring and where continental congress signed the Declaration of Independence.
We saw the famous LOVE statue. Arya insisted I give her a piggy back in the picture. (Dad's note: City of Sisterly Love?)
At the liberty bell museum, we got to be right next the famous bell. I was surprised that the bell wasn't more protected. It wasn't in a case and only had two guards.
New York City here we come!
We had less than 24 hours to see all of New York City! Fortunately we've been there before so we just did a lot of things in and around Times Square like Toys R Us (3 stories tall!), M&M store (also 3 stories), and the American Girl Doll store (guess what...3 stories!). Mom and Dad surprised us by taking us to see Aladdin on Broadway! It just happened that a few weeks before I had started listening to the music from the movie for fun, what a coincidence that they took us to this show! The genie was really good. He had just won a Tony award for playing that part.
Last stop, Boston:
One of my favorite places on the whole trip was a museum/interactive recreation of the Boston Tea Party. Each of us were given names of real participants of the party and even got to throw tea overboard!
We walked the Freedom Trail, which is a path that goes through downtown Boston allowing you to see many historical places on the way. The last stop on the trail is the USS Constitution, a war ship that sailed in the War of 1812. All the canons were named funny and weird names, but unfortunately I can't remember any of them right now. :-)
Well, that was our trip! I learned a lot and had a great time and from there it was off to Italy!
3 comments:
Great blog Ashley. Loved reading about your trip to Washington D.C., I was just about the same age the first time I visited the same places.
Great 5th grade report. Grandma says you should get an "A".
What an absolutely wonderful blog; your writing is filled with humor and wit. Plus you threw in so many interesting tidbits and facts about history and the places you visited. And WOW, you were in a LOT of places—very educating and entertaining! I am eager to see your next blog!
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