Trippin' with NJHS

Day 4 - Our last day ended with a tour of Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. We got to tour his mansion, grounds and burial site. After lunch we toured the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum before checking in at the airport. We are so thankful for safe travels, lots of laughs and a ton of memories.

Day 3 - We walked 6 miles and almost 14,000 steps today. Our day began at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception which is the largest Catholic Church in North America and one of the ten largest in the world. We then went on a tour of the US Capitol. After lunch we toured the Smithsonian American History Museum and the Holocaust Museum. We ended the evening on a ghost and graveyard tour in Old Alexandria.

DC 2022 Day 2 - We walked 7.3 miles and 18,507 steps. We started with Arlington National Cemetery where we saw the JFK Memorial, Challenger and Columbia Memorial, and the home of Robert E Lee. We observed the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. One of our students got to participate in the changing of the wreath. After lunch we had a photo stop outside of the White House. We toured the National Archives where we saw the original Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and Constitution. We then went to the Spy Museum where we were assigned a spy name, occupation and code word and then had to complete our own “mission”. We loved figuring out the clues! We ate dinner at the iconic Ben’s Chili Bowl which is one of the only original diners from the ‘60s. After dinner we visited the Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial and Vietnam Memorial. Another busy but fun filled day.

Day 1 began at 4:15 this morning with a 7 am flight to DC. We walked 12,000 steps today and 4.8 miles. After landing we ate lunch at the Pentagon City Mall food court. We then went to the Jefferson Memorial, MLK Memorial and FDR Memorial. We toured the newest Smithsonian African American Musuem. Before dinner we saw the World War II Memorial and the Iwo Jima Memorial after dinner.

Day 4...10,000 steps today. This morning we went to the Top of the Rock. This is the rooftop of Rockefeller Center which had amazing views of the city. We took a subway to China Town for some souvenir shopping. Lunch was an Italian dinner in Little Italy. On weekends the streets in Little Italy close and the restaurants bring out their tables. This is the home of Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese, who were friends. We also saw the home of John Gotti. We took a subway back to the hotel to then board a bus to the airport. We have walked a total of 54,000 steps and 44 miles in 4 days. This has been a great trip. The kids all said they would come back to New York someday. Their favorites included Radio City Music Hall and the Broadway shows. This was a great group to travel with and we had a lot of fun.