This past week I was in Washington D.C. with August’s 8th grade class. It was extremely fun, wet, exhausting, and well worth it. It is not my intent to give a complete rundown of our itinerary and impressions of each location we visited. However, there are a few things I did want to highlight.
Firstly, it was August’s birthday. Actually, while away it was also Xavier’s birthday, so we missed that one, but travelling while it is your birthday can be a bit of a drag so I wanted to make sure it was something August would remember for a very long time – including his final gift. We celebrated his birthday as a family the day before the trip, well, perhaps more accurately the day we left as the flight left at 10:30 in the evening, including a couple of presents, cake, etc.
Arriving in Washington D.C. early in the morning we had the opportunity to change into some clean clothes for the day. This is where his final present comes in. CNN 10 is an online program that gives people a quick look at the news and stories that are of interest. August’s class watches it and the host/anchor, Carl Azuz, has become a little bit of a cult figure with August and his friends. Azuz’s enthusiasm and puns are celebrated quite robustly.
Finding out CNN sells a Carl Azuz shirt made the birthday decision easy.
August was half asleep because he had not slept on the flight. He wasn’t sure what to think of a present given to him literally while he is on the way to the restroom to change. Then he realized what it was that he was given and his eyes opened wide.
Excited? Absolutely.
Nearly at a loss for words.
Mind you, nearly. He showed that shirt off to his friends as excitedly as possible and their enthusiasm matched his. August ran off to change into his new shirt (and a clean pair of underwear) and wore it proudly the rest of the day.
That first day included a trip to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home. I won’t regale you with the whole visit there, but want to recount this.
August’s school arranged to have a wreath laid at George Washington’s tomb. If you have been to Mount Vernon you know that Washington’s tomb is gated, and there is a chained off area cordoning the general public away from the entrance. You can still see into the tomb, mind you, but you don’t necessarily get right up to it.
Well, at least it seemed that way while we were there with a plethora of tour groups.
A few people from August’s class get picked to participate in the wreath laying ceremony, including August. This meant actually laying the wreath inside Washington’s tomb.
The gate was opened, the wreath lain, and everybody in the class got to come up to the tomb with the gates open to look in and take a picture. So, yes, August got to go into George Washington’s tomb.
I hung back helping to control the flow of kids going up to the tomb. At the end of the line the attendant said the wreath would need to be taken out and placed next to the tomb. It was myself and the history teacher at the end of the line, so we went in and got the wreath.
We both looked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking.
We are inside George Washington’s tomb!
I wouldn’t say the rest of the day was uneventful, but it certainly didn’t quite match the uniqueness of being able to step inside the tomb of our nation’s first President. Indeed, something August will remember for some time.