Today we went to many historical places and memorials.  Our first stop was the Korean War memorial where there were nineteen soldiers on a little field in the shape of a triangle.  Each soldier had a different face.  Originally there was supposed to be 38 soldiers but the makers of it ran out of money so they put a reflective wall so it can look like there are 38 soldiers.  Beside the memorial thee was a wall that said, "Freedom is not free."  

Nearby there was the Lincoln Memorial where there was a large statue of Abe Lincoln sitting in a chair.  Above his head were the words, "In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union and the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."  Right across we can see the Washington Monument where many people took pictures of it.  Also outside there was a large sprinkler and many people ran through it to cool off.

Within the Vietnam Memorial there was a statue of three men facing the names of all the fallen people. There were many names upon two walls that met at a corner.  There were lists that people could check for locations of family upon the monument or to see if any people with their last name died in Vietnam.  No one with my last name died but six or so died who had my mother's maiden name.  One of the girls in the group found a soldier whose name was Brian F. Wallace who was her grandfather's best friend and he saved his fellow troops by throwing himself on a grenade that was thrown into a foxhole.  

- Aurora

       Today our group split up to visit the many different museums.  Our group started off at the Museum of Natural History.  We were the only group there. Throughout the museum we learned everything from the evolution of humans to the defense mechanism of bugs.  A few of our girls even had the chance to hold hissing cockroaches and lubber grasshoppers.  Moving on through the museum we learned about different skeletal features on animals.  We went to the  Archives next where we sat in line for the longest 45 minutes of our lives just to view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  When we got back outside we found a beautiful  fountain to soak our feet in since we were all very hot.  After that we went to our hotel rooms, exhausted, to get ready for the dinner theater.  We talked about all the fun that we've had and all the fun we plan to have on  remainder of this trip.

-Mikayla

A quick post from Officer Tom Stanton ... Blue bus had a driveway scrape that required an officer to swap paperwork with the operators of both vehicles ...  and now off to the Dinner Theater for a great show. Letting you know in case Facebook world creates something different!!!

Lincoln

Korean War Memorial

Freedom Is Not Free