Twality DC Trip

06/26/2025

Day #8
Last day in DC! Here is a brief recap:

Miles Walked: 5

Places Visited:
- Iwo Jima Memorial
- 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
- Smithsonian Museum of American History
- Last minute shopping at the mall White House
- White House picture
- National Cathedral
- Airport!

Where we ate:
- Breakfast: made to order omelets, eggs, sausage, and pancakes at the hotel
- Lunch: Mall food court
- Dinner: Quick dinner at the airport

Cool Moments:
* While visiting the Iwo Jima memorial, we got to witness the Green Berets doing some sort of exercise
* Got to see Dorthy’s ruby slippers and C3P0 at the museum of American history
* Drove past embassy row
* Got to see a moon rock collected from the Apollo mission embedded in a window at the National Cathedral

Today’s Kudos:
I am so impressed with how much students have grown on this trip— your children will return to you responsible, respectful, and well traveled. It was a joy to explore the east coast with them this year

Tonight: Our flight is Alaska Air 009, departing at 5:43 eastern time and landing at 8:50 pacific. We will meet you at baggage claim. Please remember, you must check your child out with me before you take them!!

Reminder: Your children will be very tired when they get home! They might not be super talkative until tomorrow night. It has been so sweet watching them carefully pick out souvenirs for you all! We are super excited to be coming home.

06/26/2025

Bus Karaoke!

06/26/2025

Day #7
US Capital and Holocaust Museum. Here is a brief recap:

Miles Walked: 6.5

Places Visited:
- US Capital
- Library of Congress
- Walked past Supreme Court
- National Archives
- US Holocaust
- Souvenir shop
- Ford’s theater (where Lincoln was assassinated)
- Fallen police officer memorial
- Jefferson Memorial
- FDR Memorial

Where we ate:
- Breakfast: made to order omelets, eggs, sausage, and pancakes at the hotel
- Lunch: students had the choice of eating at fast food restaurants, burger joints, or cafes
- Dinner: Ben’s Chilli Bowl

Cool Moments:
- Got to see the inside of the rotunda
- Saw the Declaration of Independence, the bill of rights, and the constitution!
- Shopped at a cute little souvenir store

Today’s Kudos:
- Hanna B, Rowan, Wesley, and Adaline, for staying on the bus and cleaning up a mess that wasn’t theirs
- Anna and Ian, for always being so cheery on this trip
- Maecy, for always being on top of it
- Rayce, for doing such a great job advocating for himself
- Tesa, for being so polite and respectful to the everyone she meets
- Toshi, for being friendly to so many folks on this trip and making others feel comfortable
- Sam, for being flexible and going with the flow
- Ava, for cleaning up after others at Ben’s Chilli bowl
- Makayla, Brenden, and Madee G for being so calm, cool and collected while traveling

I wish I could give a kudos to each kid everyday. All students have been doing a fantastic job traveling with us ❤️

Tomorrow: We are heading home!

06/25/2025

So proud of our students!

06/25/2025

Day #6
Washington DC. Here is a brief recap:

Miles Walked: 7

Places Visited:
- [ ] Arlington National Cemetery and tomb of the unknown soldier
- [ ] African American Museum of History and Culture
- [ ] WW2 Memorial
- [ ] Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
- [ ] Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, and MLK memorials

Where we ate:
- Breakfast: Pastries, eggs, bacon and potatoes at the hotel
- Lunch: Food court at a local mall
- Dinner: Tupelo Honey 😋

Cool Moments:
- Watching our students participate in the laying of the wreath ceremony
- Participated in a scavenger hunt in the Museum of Natural History (Tyler, Grayson, Liam N, Wesley, and Jacob won)

Today’s Kudos:
- Bowen, for making sure we were respectful during the tomb of the unknown soldier
- Sawyer, Brenden, Ava, and Indie for representing Twality so well
- Gavin, for making sure a student did not step off into traffic and having a positive attitude even when his feet are hurting
- Adaline, for finding both her bag and another students phone
- Malia and Molly for considerately allowing others to pass our group
- Kaden, for always being so smiley and getting along with everyone
- Neveah, who has been on top of always getting water and taking care of herself

Tomorrow: US Capitol and Holocaust Museum

06/24/2025

Day #5
Amish Country and Gettysburg! Here is a brief recap:

Miles Walked: 3

Places Visited:
- Shopped at a couple Amish stores
- Took a tour through the Amish countryside
- Ate a phenomenal traditional Amish lunch in an Amish home
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Where we ate:
- Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, cereal and toast at the hotel
- Lunch: Amish food: pickled beets and veggies, homemade bread, jam, and peanut butter spread, buttered noodles, peas, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, ham meatballs, and pot roast, and homemade chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream
- Dinner: Dobbin House tavern, a stop on the Underground Railroad

Cool Moments:
- We saw puppies, goats, and horses at the Riehl’s home in Amish Country
- Tried the BEST pretzels at Eli’s country store
- Ate a phenomenal meal for lunch— many students said it was the best food they had eaten in a long time
- We got to swim!

Today’s Kudos:
- Hanna B, for always following directions and going with the flow
- Brian, for finding a phone and bringing it to a chaperone
- Liam E, for bringing his waterbottle and making sure to drink lots of water
- Kamila, for being the only student to ask how the waitress was doing tonight
- Hannah E, for being kind and courteous to another travel group
- Jacob, being a good friend and always making sure his roommates all have someone nearby
- Madee G, for packing so well and always following directions

Tomorrow: Washington DC!

06/23/2025

7th inning stretch!

06/23/2025

Day #4
Philadelphia! Here is a brief recap:

Miles Walked: 9

Places Visited:
- Independence Hall
- Saw the original court, senate, and house of the United States
- Saw original copies of the articles of confederation and the declaration
- Went to the National constitution center to see statues of the founding fathers, a show about the creation and continuation of our nation, and the women’s suffrage -or- civil war exhibit
- Shopping and eating at Reading terminal
- Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin’s home and grave, Betsy Ross’s home, and Elfreths Alley
- Visited the Rocky Statue
- Watched a Philly’s game
Where we ate:
- Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, cereal and toast at the hotel
- Lunch: Reading Terminal
- Dinner: hotdogs or pizza at the baseball game

Cool Moments:
- We got to run up the rocky steps. Wesley lost a shoe
- Comparing our heights with the founding fathers
- We got on the jumbo tron at the baseball game!
- Kaden got 37 fist bumps after saying “Go Phillies”
Today’s Kudos:
- Everley, Carys, and Zoe for being so considerate and aware of our their surroundings and always making sure to leave a gap for others
- Adaline, for handling a tricky situation with so much class and maturity
- Wesley, for staying behind twice to make sure we all got in the building
- Clara, for being so considerate and letting other people pass our group to use the elevator
- Teagan and Ava, for being positive even when it’s hot, we are tired, and have walked 6miles

Tomorrow: Amish Country and Gettysburg

06/22/2025

Had a tech issue, so had to improvise on sound… stick through the end to see Wesley triumph by coming back for his shoe

06/22/2025

06/22/2025

Day #3
New York and Six Flags! Here is a brief recap:

Miles Walked: 10

Places Visited:
- Drove past St. Patrick’s cathedral, the plaza hotel, and trinity church, where Hamilton is buried
- Walked through Central Park, and saw the John Lennon memorial and the Bethesda Fountain to see the turtles
- Went up to the One World Trade Center and visited the 9/11 memorial
- Shopped at Chelsea Market
- Spent time at Six Flags!

Where we ate:
- Breakfast: We went to a cute little deli near our hotel called the Majestic Diner
- Lunch: students chose a restaurant to eat at in Chelsea market—many chose to eat New York Pizza!
- Dinner: Six Flags

Cool Moments:
- Students researched people from the 9/11 memorial and placed a flag on their name
- We saw a tree that survived the attacks, and is still thriving today (dubbed the survivor tree)
- Braved fears (rollercoasters/elevators/heights) and came out stronger

Today’s Kudos:
- Liam N : for sticking with the group, and being kind and friendly with hotel workers
- Ian’s room for stacking plates
- Teagan: making sure everyone is with us and being a leader, and following direction
- Willow, for looking out for other students and making sure everyone is comfortable and safe
- Sawyer, for holding the door and being so helpful to everyone
- Brian, for effectively using the buddy system
- Daphne, for facing her fears like a champ!
- Bri, for saving the turtles by picking up litter from the pond
- Grayson, Liam N, Wesley, and Jacob, for being phenomenal with loading luggage. Grayson lost a shoe and still kept working!
- Mr. Doughtys students, for sticking together and making sure everyone is present
- Max for being helpful and keeping everyone on target

Tomorrow: Philadelphia and Baseball Game