DC Day 2: Museums, Monuments, and more

By Keda Tan and Owen Messing

Today was a whirlwind of excitement and adventure. The day started at 6:30 a.m. with a wake-up call followed by breakfast, grabbing what we needed for the day, and boarding the bus for our first stop, which was a biking tour of the national monuments and memorials.

We visited many memorials and monuments, including the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and more. We biked for two and a half hours, but it felt like 15 minutes because we were having such a fantastic zipping throughout the city and seeing the sites. For lunch, we went back to the beautiful Sculpture Garden and picnicked around the large fountain at the center of the park. 

Four eighth-graders had a different morning. Exploring the city on “Foote,” they visited The Ford Theater, where President Lincoln was assassinated — there was a bloody pillow on display there! — and the National Archives, where they saw original copies of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

After meeting back up with everyone else, we toured the African American Museum of History and Culture, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and the Spy Museum. We closed out the day with dinner at the Western Market Food Hall followed by an evening visit to the stunning 9/11 Pentagon Memorial before heading back to the hotel for some well deserved downtime and rest. Looking forward to more adventures in our nation’s capital tomorrow!