Science Olympiad in DC: Day 2

Alarm clocks roused us from our comfy beds this morning, but once our feet hit the ground we kept moving all day long. The Embassy Suites hotel in which we are staying puts on a fabulous breakfast buffet that is included in the cost of our hotel. Everyone enjoyed everything from omelets and French toast to cereal, sausage and bagels. After breakfast, we took a few minutes to gather our backpacks, fill our water bottles and spray on the sunscreen. (The weather was a bit chilly in the morning, but warmed up to the 70s through the course of the day.)

Our first destination of the day was a visit to Ford’s Theatre. Since we arrived forty-five minutes prior to our reservation, we had time to visit a few souvenir shops. Students enjoyed picking up a couple of mementos for family and friends. One of the most popular souvenirs consisted of students inserting 51₵ into a machine, choosing what they wanted to imprint and then turning the handle so that the penny was flattened and imprinted with their choice of design.

Upon entering Ford’s Theatre we navigated our way through a museum in the basement which chronicled the events leading up to President Lincoln’s assassination as well as important aspects of his life. 

Above: The gun that John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.

Below: Our students gathered around a statue of Honest Abe.

Then we got to go and take a seat inside Ford’s Theatre where we were treated to an actor impersonating Boston Corbett, who shot John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. During the performance we learned that Ford’s Theatre was a Baptist Church up until 1833 at which point the Ford family bought it and proceeded to rent it out for five years as a music hall. As a result of a fire that pretty much gutted the theatre, the Ford family invested $75,000 to completely renovate the theatre. After providing the aforementioned background information, the actor proceeded to lay out the events that happened within the theatre that led to Lincoln’s assassination.

The Presidential box is set up exactly as it was on the day that Lincoln was assassinated. According to our tour guide, there are three original pieces within the box with the rest being replicas (the historical accuracy of the placement and type of items is known due to photographs and historical documents). The three original items are a picture of George Washington which hangs in front of the Presidential box, the king chair where Mary Lincoln sat, and the couch where Major Henry Rathbone sat.

Since Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House after he was shot, no visit could be complete without stopping over there.

By the time we wrapped up our visit to Ford’s Theatre and the Petersen House, our stomachs were beginning to rumble. We headed over to Potbelly Sandwich Shop where we enjoyed sandwiches, chips and sodas for lunch.  

Our next stop was the National Portrait Gallery. Below are some pictures of some of our favorite pieces:

As we were touring the National Portrait Gallery and checking out the artwork I took note of two things. First, students were having a ball snapping pictures of their favorite pieces of artwork. Second, students’ anticipation was high for our visit to the Secret Service museum as I was asked numerous times if it was time for us to go there yet.

A family friend is in the Secret Service and was able to take us into the Secret Service museum which has on display a variety of items that catalogue the history of the Secret Service. My friend showed us a video that detailed the history of the Secret Service as well as some of the training that one has to do to become an agent. We learned that the Secret Service began as an agency working to end counterfeiting in 1865. One of the last things that Lincoln did on the day he was assassinated was approve the Secret Service as an agency within the Treasury Department to work against counterfeiting. It was not until 1901 that the Secret Service began to protect Presidents, their immediate families, visiting dignitaries and other distinguished people. 

 

Next up on our itinerary was the Natural History Museum where we saw a plethora of things from gems to insects.

One of our final destinations today was the Air and Space Museum where we learned about everything from airplanes to space travel. 

 

How many of you have ever seen the television show Top Chef? If so, then you may be jealous of us and the dinner we enjoyed tonight. We ate at Good Stuff Eatery which was founded by Spike Mendelshon While there we gorged ourselves on burgers, sea salt fries and shakes. We all had some serious “food babies” going on by the time we left the restaurant! 

 

As we were riding the elevator from the hotel lobby to the fifth floor where our rooms are located, Ms. Dunlap took note of the sign in the elevator that said there is a 3,500 pound weight limit. She jokingly said, “Do you think with all of the delicious burgers, fries and shakes we just ate that we will be ok?” Suddenly the elevator jerked, and Marcelino exclaimed, “Oh, no! We’re stuck!!” This provided us with a good belly laugh before students called parents.

After calls home, we met briefly as a group to review our schedule for tomorrow, watch a video about the Capital to give us a bit of background before our visit there tomorrow, and received our sporty red t-shirts that we will be wearing during our DC adventures tomorrow. Then students showered, got ready for bed and journaled, before curling up to dream about tomorrow’s DC adventures.

Today we walked over eight miles, saw some fabulous sights (including some like the Secret Service museum that not everyone can enter), rode and transferred metros like experts, gorged ourselves on some delicious DC food and made memories to last a lifetime. We cannot wait to see what tomorrow will bring when we venture into DC for the third day in a row.