Close-Up Week

(This week, I'm featuring some random close-up photos)

making a rubbing from the Vietnam Wall
Washington D.C.
mid-1990s
Dick Q. organized a Close-Up trip for his senior Social Studies students every year. The students raised money (selling concessions, hosting meals at games, and working for people in the community) all year long to pay for the trip. One year, Dick asked me to go with the group as the female sponsor, and I readily accepted.

It was my first trip to D.C., so I was as excited as the students. Dick had made the trip many years and knew all the places to visit and all the history behind them. I learned a great deal about our nation's capitol. The group toured the Pentagon, the White House, the Capitol building, the National Cathedral, the National Zoo, Arlington Cemetery, and many museums and monuments. We also toured the Kennedy Center and attended two plays - both musicals.

We walked everywhere to keep costs down and sometimes rode the Metro. Personally, I think Dick also wanted to wear the students out so they wouldn't feel the need to be rowdy at night.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me, and I enjoyed it immensely. I'd love to go back someday and see the new structures - Martin Luther King, Jr., World War II, and Roosevelt memorials.

Comments

  1. What a great trip those students - and chaperones - had. I've been to DC many times and still have things on my list to see. Last time I was there I visited the Holocaust Museum, the Roosevelt Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. All were "new" sites since my previous trip. And all were amazing. The Korean War Memorial was one of those "goose bump" moments, as we visited near dusk and the soldiers looked so real.

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  2. We don't seem to take advantage of being close to DC. I would add the new Native American museum to your list and the Newseum. My daughter and son and their families go there frequently. If you come you have to let me know and we'll try to get up there to meet in person! The DAR museum is interesting and often has wonderful special exhibits.

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  3. I have had the opportunity to go there and it is indeed amazing.

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  4. What a wonderful trip for the students...and chaperones!

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  5. Sounds like a wonderful 'field trip'....

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  6. What a great trip!! D.C. is a magical place and the Smithsonian is like living in history. I was 4 years-old the first time I went there and I remember my dad holding me up to see the Spirit of St. Louis in the entrance. I would really love to do rubbings at the Vietnam Wall.

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  7. I remember standing at that wall looking for names of community members I knew had died in the war. We found them all.

    Our son lives in the DC area now and once we are settled, I look forward to getting up there and visiting some of those monuments and museums again. I definitely want to tour the Holocaust Museum.

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  8. You would be a fun chaperone Nancy! We haven't been to DC in years and years. Al was just there. Visiting friends. I want to go back. ......

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  9. Such a wonderful trip and I would think it would be fun to see through the students eyes too. With our daughter living in Annapolis the past few years, we've had the opportunity to go to many of the places you mentioned, but there are so many more that I would like to see. Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  10. What a wonderful trip for you. We have never been there and probably will never venture that far from home now:)

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