The Final Day (a little late...)

So I wrote this blog at Dulles Airport. There are signs everywhere in the airport saying that the entire airport has free wifi. This is not true. There was zero wifi signal at gate B66. I know this was yesterday morning and we're all home now but here it is anyway...

Final Trip Blog:

Sightseeing-A-Plenty!
So Wednesday was a full day of sightseeing! Traveling via Subway is always fun for me. I don’t have to rely on public transportation during my day to day life, so taking the subway is kinda fun & novel. Of course, just getting 24 people through the turnstiles is sometimes a challenge. Tickets don’t always work and you sometimes have to wait for an attendant to look at your ticket and let you through. On top of that, most of our group isn’t used to the “crowd on – crowd off” dynamic. Let’s just say that getting all 24 people through turnstiles, to the right platform, all on the same car, then a transfer, then up to street level again is a challenge. Fortunately, we’ve got some great kids and once they got the hang of it, we were able to move around easier.

Our first stop of the day was Arlington Cemetery. We saw JFK’s burial site and the eternal flame. I’ve been there before, but for some reason, it’s a pretty moving thing to see. It’s amazing how many people flock to see where someone is buried and that it’s such a “big thing.” From there, we walked up to Robert E. Lee’s original home and encountered a strange, but informative Park Ranger who filled us in on many details. Next we saw the changing of the guard and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I don’t really know what to think, but to just be in awe of these guys that guard the tomb. They spend two years training and then a little over a year guarding. The fact that they guard it 24 hours a day year round no matter what the weather is incredible. One of our students said, after the ceremony was over, “that was really moving, Rob.” I agree.

Our next stop was Freedom Plaza and a quick bite to eat. Next, we went to the home where Abraham Lincoln died. Ford’s Theater is closed until 2009. On that corner we found several souvenir shops (finally!), then headed over to the Spy Museum Store.

My second favorite stop of the day was the National Portrait Gallery. I could have spent all day here. It took almost 45 minutes just to do a quick walk through of the Hall of Presidents, which was amazing. To see all the paintings of the presidents and to read the stories was incredible.

After dinner, we headed to see Vietnam, Lincoln, Korea, and WWII. I don’t know why, but I think the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite. We were in the area until just after dark and the Mall is a whole new place at night. It was amazing to see all the monuments lit up at night.

It was such a great day seeing all of the “major” monuments. (I could, however, go back and spend a week there and not even see all the art I want to.)

Devotions were really good. Jeff & Cindi’s Family Group had us running all over the church finding various clues to a Scripture puzzle. My team won (of course) and all had a great time.

After that, we packed and sort of slept a bit before getting up at 2:30 a.m. to be ready for the bus that was coming to take us to the airport. Taking the bus back was 1,000 times nicer than the public transportation we took on the way there. I’m so pleased that the airport had a Starbucks. (Dulles is a weird airport, but I’ve already talked about the elevator-buses).

I’ll be sleeping on the plane all the way back, so it’ll seem like a short flight (well, maybe)

Adios!
Rob
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