Welcome to Washington!

As the below song says, "Welcome to Washington!" After a good breakfast at the hotel we hopped on our bus and headed into Washington, D.C. Jamal, our bus driver, entertained us with his knowledge and also dropped some songs.

We are starting our day off at the United States Capitol. This is home to our legislative branch. Many times today the three branches of government were talked about and we also saw all three. Before we went into the Capitol, we learned a little more about it from the location of where Presidents are inaugurated. 

Swearing the oath of office of the Presidency

We entered the Capitol to take our tour. Each state has two statues at the capitol We have King Kamehameha I and Saint Damien. King Kamehameha is prominently located inside the visitor center. Now usually we hear a bunch of stories of why we can't see the Saint Damien bust. Usually the guide says Damien is somewhere where usually the public doesn't go so they can't lead us to him but they do anyways because they "hook us up". This time they didn't even bring it up. No hook ups today! Congress was in session and you could tell. Lot's of suits walking around looking official so there were parts of the building we weren't allowed to go to.

So we took our guided tour though what we could. We went to the rotunda and looked at the statues and paintings.

We then walked in underground to the other side of the street to the Library of Congress. It is the largest library in the world. If we wanted, you have to be at least 16, can sign up for a library card and read there. You can't actually check anything out and take it home but you have access to everything there.

After the Library of Congress we went next door and saw the Supreme Court of the United States. It is a beautiful, marble building. Most major buildings here seem to be marble.

 Kahaku and Kamau are protesting the dab. Haters gonna hate.

After lunch we drove by the National Archives to see if the lines were long or short. We lucked out, there were no lines. We pulled over and went into the National Archives. The don't allow photography of any kind inside so you get the outside! 

Inside the National Archives are the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. They Declaration is fairly faded and you can't make out much of it that was written. But still, John Hancock's signature it plain as day when you see it. 

 We then saw what I think is the largest door I've even seen in my life. We tried knocking but nobody answered.....

We then headed to the Zoo! The National Zoo is one of four zoos in the United States that has panda bears. We had a great time seeing the pandas in various stages. Eating, chilling, and playing with a ball. It is a big zoo with lots of different types of animals. We also saw elephants, and lions and tigers. The reptile room was neat as it had lots of different types of snakes and alligators.

It was then time to go and see the White House. Usually we go to the other side of the White House. Usually that isn't a problem. It was all blocked off today due to the King of Turkey being at the White House. There were lots of Secret Service, black SUV's, and road blocks for the King. 

We went to other side of the White House. It is a great view. On this side is where the Presidential Helicopter, Marine One, would land if it was flying and dropping off the President. Below are pictures of all the kids with the White House in the background. 

It was then time for dinner before we ended the day with monuments. We had a nice buffet of meatballs, spaghetti, chicken, and everybody's favorite, broccoli!!! Only three kids chose broccoli with their dinner!

There were a couple other school groups in the restaurant as well. We were lucky and got the top floor with ourselves. As the students wrapped up their meals we started getting serenaded as you can see below.....

We finished our evening with memorials. We started with the Vietnam Wall. Kathy, our guide, gave us slips of paper with the names of a Hawaiian who's name would be on the wall. It was our job to go and find these Hawaiians that were killed in Vietnam. It is broken up into panels and rows. The names on the wall are all people who died in the Vietnam War. The names are chronological. The names start in the middle, the beginning of the war, and heads east. When the wall runs out the names start back over at the far west side of the monument and combine with the other names in the middle.

 Sun Setting on Washington Monument and Capitol with the Reflecting Pool in front. 

After visiting the Vietnam Wall it was time to visit the Korean War Memorial. The Korean War often seems to be forgotten being between World War II and Vietnam. There are no names here but faces on the wall. There are also soldiers walking on patrol.

Now time for what is probably the most iconic memorial in all of Washington, the Lincoln Memorial. We got to see where Martin Luther King JR. gave his famous "I Have a Dream Speech." We went inside and saw Lincoln watching over us.

Time Lapse Courtesy of Jason Aiana

We end the night in friendship. Sadly for Molokai last year, the Smiths, John, Amanda, Jameson, Harper, and Ivy, after many years of living and teaching and going to school on Molokai moved to Maryland. On a positive, Maryland borders Washington, D.C. and they were able to come up and visit with us during the monument portion of today! It was fantastic. The visit was short but they are hoping to come to Molokai this summer. Look for them on the west end later this summer!

 This picture is summing up our trip.