Field Trip #2- Valley Forge and Philly

I've never been to a haunted house before-not even for Halloween (although I've always wanted to go). But on Friday night, my Washington Seminar friends and I found ourselves on the edge of Valley Forge, staying in buildings that were old and huge, with legitimate attics, and disturbingly disproportionate paintings of U.S. presidents and first ladies on the walls. In my building there was also a dumbwaiter. When I first saw it, I automatically thought back to a Nancy Drew book I read ages ago, in which Nancy climbs inside a dumbwaiter in attempt to solve one of her mysteries. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to see one in real life. For those who aren't sure what a dumbwaiter is, it's basically a mini-elevator that servants would use to send meals from the kitchen to the dining room inside of mansions. Some people attribute its invention to Thomas Jefferson. In this particular building, the dumbwaiter's purpose was to take luggage up to the second floor, but despite the fact that there was a "baggage only" sign above the opening, my childhood desire to be like Nancy Drew was irresistible. (I actually dressed up like her for Halloween in fifth grade.) So, with the help of my accomplice and friend Jen, I climbed inside and closed the door, and she pushed the button that sent me downstairs. It was pitch black, very exciting and suspenseful, and the best part was when I reached the bottom floor and heard the voices of some of my friends on the other side of the opening. I successfully scared several of them when I opened the door and jumped out! Anyway, we had so much fun pretending that the entire building was haunted. If I hadn't been so tired that night, I probably would have had a hard time falling asleep!

Inside the dumbwaiter

Our purpose for the overnighter at the haunted house was attributed to our two-day trip to Valley Forge and Philadelphia. Valley Forge was awesome, most likely because our tour guide, Murray was awesome. Murray told us so many interesting stories, and took us to the house that George Washington used as his headquarters during the winter of 1777-1778. That night, in the commons building of the place we were staying, my group gathered for a meeting with General Washington himself. I admit, I originally thought that this guest appearance was going to be lame, but the guy who came and spoke to us is the official George Washington historical actor for the United States. He makes appearances all of the country and the world, and has been in a few documentaries. He gave us a very realistic presentation.

On Saturday we went to Philadelphia. I was so happy to visit the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall- the "birthplace of America." Being in the same room where the founders signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was incredible! I seriously felt the chills while we were in the Assembly Room! For lunch, a few of us went to the City Tavern, just a few blocks down from. This is the location where many of the founding fathers first met, and it was a known fact that if you ever wanted to know what was going on in Independence Hall, all you would have to do was spend time in the tavern. The food was also extremely delicious!

Hannah and I in front of the Liberty Bell

In the Assembly Room in Independence Hall
Left to right: Winnie, Chris, Alison, Me

At City Tavern

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were very tired from our adventures in Pennsylvania, but we could not ignore the fact that the cherry blossoms are out. So, around 5:30 about twenty of us ventured outside and walked along the Potomac waterfront to see the sights. I can completely understand why everyone raves about the cherry blossoms in DC, because they are beautiful! You feel like you're in a completely different world, and the views of the monuments surrounded by blossoms are incredible!

Me, Hannah, and the cherry blossoms!

And once again, since I am so incredibly late with updating my blog, it's the middle of the week, and you'll never guess what I got to do last night!!!

I went on a night Capitol tour with a congressman! The crowds were gone, and there were only ten of us walking through the building, which meant I got to see a few places I've never been to before. I particularly loved going onto the Senate floor (I touched John McCain's desk!), and then we went out onto the Speaker of the House's balcony! It was also great to hear the Congressman's version of some of the stories- he knew a lot, and I love the Capitol even more because of last night!

On the Speaker's Balcony
Katie, me, Kathy

Excursion to Hampton

We were standing in a 7/11, surveying our limited options on the the minuscule medical shelf. I looked at my friend Megan and asked, "Do we really want to spend $8.99 on sunscreen?"

You have to understand- the bottle was only a few ounces- but in the end, the economics of the situation got the better of us. You see, when something is in high demand, you can charge outrageous prices for the good or the service (apparently I did retain something from my Econ class). And the $8.99 bottle of sunscreen at 7/11 happened to be worth the price to us that day, because we were at the beach.

That's right- I spent my entire Friday in Hampton, Virginia, relaxing on the sand and playing in the Atlantic with a group of my friends. And it was 78 degrees. Jealous? You may want to hold off. After a four hour bus ride from D.C. to our destination, my group of ten got the vibe that Hampton wasn't exactly tourist material. We arrived after midnight Friday morning and realized that our hotel was at the end of a three-mile walk down an unfamiliar road. But wait-we walk all the time in D.C., so a little midnight jaunt wasn't going to hurt us, right? Well, we didn't get hurt, but about a block away from the bus station, we realized that the sidewalk had ended, and that we were walking through a dark cemetery. (I'm dead serious, no pun intended!)

"Maybe we should cross the street," Nate suggested.

We did. That's when the cop stopped us.

"What are you guys doing out here?" he asked.

I guess we did look kind of strange- nine college-age students carrying bulging backpacks, with a tenth companion in tow with a rolling suitcase (ahem...that would be Chris). After Nate brilliantly explained our situation, what did the cop have to say?

"Well, get moving then. You guys are in a really bad part of town."

Dun, dun, dun...Thus, the trek of fear began. We were just waiting for someone to jump out at us with a gun, but luckily, we were okay. Safety in numbers? Maybe. Or perhaps the cop was just lying to us so we wouldn't hypothetically cause trouble. He did drive past us five more times during the course of our walk, but at the time, I sincerely believed it was for our safety.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, we discovered that it was actually a motel called the Travel Lodge. The key to the girls' room didn't work when we first tried it, and after we had settled down for bed, I'm pretty sure the yelling and swearing we could hear was someone getting arrested outside. Needless to say, I was highly skeptical about the quality of our beach excursion at that point.

But the next morning, we woke up around ten (hurray for sleeping in!) and discovered that it was sunny and warm, and that the people we encountered throughout the day were actually friendly! "Have a blessed day," the man on the bus told us in his southern drawl. And it was a blessed day! We had so much fun at the beach, and Megan and I were even more blessed by our decision to buy that sunscreen. All of our other friends got fried! Case and point: I've never seen anything redder than Nate's face in my life! In comparison, Megan and I are as white as ghosts, though I still determinedly tell myself that I have a little more color in my cheeks than I did before our trip...yeah right!

So Hampton didn't end up being as scary or terrible as I thought it would be- but the area of town that we were in certainly wasn't used to having visitors, so it was a very interesting experience all in all.
  

At the beach!
Left to right: Me, Jen, Megan

Getting burried in sand!
Left to right: Chris, my head



The group (minus the two U of U boys who are taking the pictures)
Left to right: Chris, Jen, me, Alison, Casey, Kameron, Nate, Megan

On the Metro at 2 am- sooooo tired!

Saturday was glorious as well. We had made it back to D.C. around 2:00 am (thank heavens for late Metro schedules on the weekend). Around lunchtime, some of my friends and I went on a picnic near a large duck pond off to the side of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, and then visited the Albert Einstein Memorial nearby. Later on in the day, another group of us walked over to Roosevelt Island (it's really an island in the middle of the Potomac, dedicated in honor of Teddy Roosevelt) before exploring the waterfront along the Georgetown area of town. Then, that night, after a glorious BYU basketball victory over Gonzaga, I very enthusiastically got another group together to go look at the "largest moon in the last twenty years," as CNN had reported earlier in the day. The fact that the moon looked exactly the same as it usually does resulted in an excessive amount of justified teasing that was entirely directed at me. Apparently though, I was kind of right based on an article and some pictures of the moon over D.C. that my friend Rob showed me on Monday. I guess we just went at the wrong time. At any rate, we ended up walking to the Lincoln Memorial and back. On Sunday, I mapped out how far I walked on Saturday, and it was over ten miles! The entire day was well worth the extra exercise.

Picnic at the Mall!
Left to right: John, Kameron, Jen, me, Rob

At the Albert Einstein Memorial (he was huge!)
Left to right: Me, Megan, and Einstein

At the Georgetown waterfront (Roosevelt Island in the background)
Left to right: Rusty, Alison, John, me, Rob

Me and the moon at the Lincoln Memorial

What the moon looked like four hours earlier- we missed it! :(
(Thank you Washington Post for justifying my quest...http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/super-moon-over-washington-dc/2011/03/21/ABZr4V6_blog.html)

Before I go, can I just say the weather has been beautiful out here! The world-famous cherry blossoms are starting to bloom, and the peak will be this weekend. Pictures coming soon!

Field Trip!

I felt so bad for my Washington Seminar friends on Saturday morning. We had to get up early (considering that it was the weekend) in order to board a bus to Gettysburg, Pennslyvannia, and while everyone else was still waking up, I was wide awake and had the song "Stuck Like Glue" in my head. Luckily, our professor brought the movie "Gettysburg" for us to watch. That calmed me down, I stopped singing, and we watched the movie for the duration of the day, every time we were on the bus. I'm so glad we did, because it really helped me understand the events of the battlefield we were touring. While we were in Gettysburg, we went to the museum there, drove around the area with a tour guide, and stopped at the Soldiers National Cemetery where thousands of Union forces are buried. This is also the location where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address back in 1863, four months after the battle. It was extremely sobering to be at Gettysburg, and it gave me a lot of perspective on the extent of the sacrifices both sides made during the Civil War.

Cannon at Gettysburg Battlefield

At the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg
The monument marks the location where Lincoln gave his speech
Left to right- me, Megan, Kameron

After stuffing our faces at a local buffet, our group got back on the bus, and drove down to Harpers Ferry in West Virginia. This was the location where abolitionist John Brown tried to lead a raid on a federal armory in order to gain access to weapons he could use to arm slaves. I didn't really understand what was so cool about Harpers Ferry before we went, but after arriving, I loved it! If anything, I wish we could have had more time to explore the little town that's situated on the banks of the Shenandoah River. People still live in Harpers Ferry today, but it's so small! We visited a church on a hill, found some ruins of a previous church that had burned down, hiked to a beautiful cemetery, and stopped at a place called Jefferson's Rock where Thomas Jefferson visited. Apparently Jefferson said that the view from the rock was "worth a voyage across the Atlantic." It's probably nicer in the summer, but it was cool to overlook the river and see where the Shenandoah met the Potomac. 

In front of the church at Harpers Ferry, WV
Left to right: Alison, me, Megan, Tanner, Wade, Kameron

At Jefferson's Rock

It was such a great day, and it was nice to venture out of DC for a while and see what the countryside looks like. Too bad I ended up being in a terrible mood around half-time of the BYU-SDSU game that night.  At least we beat New Mexico on Friday and watched Jimmer score 52 points in that game! By the way, I filled out my first bracket ever last night, so I'll finally be watching March Madness attentively this year. It's also been extremely interesting to be outside of Utah with Brandon Davies no longer playing for the team. His suspension got so much media attention, and I've lost track of how many people have questioned me about the team and BYU's honor code whenever they ask me where I go to school.

Before the New Mexico game on Friday, my friends and I went to the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars to hear a briefing by Canadian astronaut, Julie Payette.  She flew two mission to the International Space Station, once in 1999 on Space Shuttle Discovery, and again in 2009 on Space Shuttle Endeavor. I loved listening to her talk, and she showed us some very cool footage of the ISS! While I was there, I decided that I either wanted to be an astronaut or watch an episode of Star Trek. The astronaut thing probably wouldn't work out at this point since the government is ending the space shuttle program. :(

Anyway, it was certainly an educational weekend-it's crazy how much you can learn when you're away from school!

Headlines and Highlights

Whenever I walk down Pennsylvania Avenue in the direction of the Capitol, I always pass the Newseum. The name is cheesy, I know (it's a museum about the news), but it actually turned out to be one of my favorite D.C. attractions! I loved the exhibits, and highly recommend this place to visitors. Admission is about $22 per ticket, but somehow my Washington Seminar group got to go in for free, so that fact alone made the experience more enjoyable. Below are a few descriptions of the highlights.

Pulitzer Prize Gallery: You really understand the phrase "it pulls at your heartstrings" when you look at photographs from all over the world depicting some of the best and worst moments in the past century. Here are some examples: http://www.newseum.org/exhibits-and-theaters/permanent-exhibits/pulitzer/videos/pulitzer-prize-photos.html

Hurricane Katrina Exhibit: Lots of pictures and stories from reporters who were on the scene at New Orleans and in Mississippi.

9/11 Gallery: There's huge wall covered by newspapers with headlines about the terrorist attacks, and an intense video that features reporters who were at the scene in New York. Talk about hitting an emotional brick wall! The exhibit also features the mangled broadcasting antennae from one of the towers. :(

Antennae from one of the towers

Berlin Wall: There was a section of the Berlin Wall in the basement, in addition to an exhibit about the Cold War. 

Me in front of the Berlin Wall!

The President's Photographer: Did you know that every president since LBJ has granted a personal photographer "unlimited access" to the daily doings of the White House? Needless to say, there were some very interesting and casual pictures of the presidents. One of my favorites:

LBJ with dog

The Story of News Exhibit: You walk into a dimly-lit room and see a huge collection of newspapers featuring headlines from the very beginning of America until 2008. There were stories about the Boston Tea Party, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the end of prohibition, Pearl Harbor, the 1980 Olympics hockey game between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Oklahoma City bombing, Obama's election, etc... It was a fabulous way to look at history. Here's a famous original:

Although I LOVED the Newseum, the best part of my weekend started at 6 am on Saturday morning. Most of my Barlow friends and I woke up early and got rides to a church in Virginia, where one of the Apostles of our church, Elder David A. Bednar, came and spoke to a huge congregation of young adults in the area. Since we arrived two hours early, I got to sit dead center in the fifth row from the front. It was such an incredible experience to be taught by someone we sustain as a prophet, sear, and revelator for our church in that particular setting. Elder Bednar didn't have a prepared talk, but instead he opened the meeting up for questions. I learned so much and loved every moment I was there!

Other highlights of the weekend:

-I ate a raw oyster for the first time. You have to slurp it from its shell! Quite the experience, and the taste made me think that I was literally eating the "smell" of the ocean. 

-I saw the Adjustment Bureau. I liked it (Matt Damon running for Senate=golden combination), though I probably would have been okay with seeing it after it came out on DVD.

-Seventeen of us went to Fridays on Saturday night to celebrate DJ's birthday (Barlow friend), and I experienced sweet potato fries for the first time. Delicious!

-I found out that my roommate Keisha is engaged! Landon is a very lucky guy! :)

And...since I'm a few days late with updating my blog, here are a few highlights of the first half of this week:

-One of my friends from my internship came over to the BC on Monday night. It was my turn to cook for my dinner group, so he ate with us and then stayed for FHE!

-I got to go sit in the House chamber during a joint session of Congress today. The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, spoke, and you know how Members of Congress always stand up during the State of the Union when they clap? Well, the frequent standing ovations are apparently the norm. I lost track of how many times everyone in the room stood up and sat down. 

Anyway, that's the update. This weekend should be exciting since we're taking a field trip to Gettysburg, PA!