Day 1 Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg!

And we're off! The 7th Kualapu'u School East Coast Trip is on! We met at the airport this morning for three Makani Kai flights. A 10:20, 10:40 and a 12:10. We weren't scheduled to leave Honolulu till 3:15 and it seemed like we would have a long layover. By the time all the flights got to Honolulu and everybody and our luggage got shuttled over to the United Terminal, we only had about 45 minutes before we were to board our flight straight to Newark, New Jersey. You know, only 4,948 miles away.....just a nine hour flight......overnight...... landing in Newark at 6:00 am, midnight Hawai'i time.....

But none of that mattered, everybody had a fine flight. Lots of movies were watched and there might even have been some sleep snuck in there. 

 When we landed in Newark you could see the skyline of New York City in the distance. 

We then took another quick 30 minuted flight down to Washington, D.C. got our bags, met with our guide, Aaron, and off to breakfast we went. We went to a place called Primo's that served us family style eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and potatoes. Everybody scarfed down a full meal. 

Now, even though we were in Virginia, we had to hop on our bus and drive down to Jamestown. Jamestown is located 159 miles from D.C. That allowed for some much needed sleep for many of our passengers. Many = all. It was a nice drive and we got to Jamestown safely and off on the tour we were!

We arrived at Jamestown and immediately started exploring! Jamestown was the first English settlement that was successful in America. Previous settlements didn't survive, but Jamestown did. We learned about the three main groups that were in Jamestown. The native Powhatan tribe that was originally there. The English settlers that sailed over. And the third group, the slaves that came to Jamestown in 1619. These were the original slaves in the United States. After going through a museum that highlighted all three, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, we got to do a lot of interactive lessons. 

One of the things overheard in the museum was that some of the students didn't know that Pocahontas was a real person that was in Jamestown. She ended up marrying an Englishman, John Rolfe. 

Akima showing off different arrowheads.

Oh boy, it didn't take long......Masina with the FIRST squirrel sighting of the 2019 trip!

 Learning about the different arrows the Powhatan tribe would use and what they were used for. Some for squirrel, some for deer and bear.

The Powhatan made canoes by burning out the middle. We also learned that up to 40 could fit in this canoe! Must've been some slim people.

 Making rope the Powhatan way.

 Replica ships that sailed to Jamestown.

 Learning how to load and fire a Matchlock Musket.

The settlers came thinking they were going to find gold. The did not, they found no gold. What they did find was that tobacco grew real well in the Virginia soil. This made many very rich. It also persuaded more English to come to Virginia to grow tobacco. The gold they found came in the form of tobacco. Here is tobacco hanging dry in a storeroom. 

Inside the Governor's Mansion. It was well determined by many that Santa had plenty of room to come down these chimneys and gigantic fireplaces that most of our students easily fit in. Adults too....

 Here we have Governor Kaizen at the head of the table!

 Just a pretty flower. Was soft and smelt good too.

 Walking into church in the Jamestown settlement.

 Learning how to take off the fur of the deer so they could use the skin to make clothes.

 Learning how the English built their homes. As Kumu Ka'ala said, "Just like lauhala."

We then headed off to dinner. We ate an Italian place called Doraldo's. We feasted on a good salad and then were fed some yummy garlic bread rolls, chicken, and pasta. Everybody went back for seconds and some even thirds. 

Hey Chaelia, the middle of the table isn't Pepsi brown yet.......

But your shirt was pasta red.......

After dinner we went over to Colonial Williamsburg. We will be back tomorrow to fully take the town in. But we were just going tonight for a witch trial.........

While Aaron our guide was getting the tickets, we found a nice green with a cool building in the background. After the obligatory group photo, the kids ran around, played tag, and went squirrel hunting.

 What's that? The place screwed up and had us down for tomorrow night when we won't be there? There was a pirate trial but unfortunately it wasn't until 9:30 and that was just too late for us. 

But...

Know what's about as good as a witch trial? 

Ice Cream.

We then strolled the second oldest university in the United States, William and Mary. They had just had graduation and we saw a few caps and gowns.

We also learned some interesting facts about this bridge at William and Mary. It is called the Crim Dell Bridge.

The following are the legends of the bridge......

It is rumored that if two lovers cross the bridge together and kiss at the crest of it, they will be together forever. If that couple separates at any point thereafter, however, the lady must throw her ex-lover off of the bridge and into the water to break the curse of being forever single.

Another similar urban legend is that if someone crosses Crim Dell alone, he/she will always be alone.

Yes, I just copied and pasted the above from Wikipedia.......

Such a shocker that many students claimed they were crossing it alone. My guess is that idea changes in the next couple of years......

And just like that our first day is complete! Everybody did a great job dealing with the long travel and lack of sleep. Most should get a solid eight to nine hours of sleep. Tomorrow we will be exploring Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown, the site of the surrender of the British in the Revolutionary War. Then up to Washington, D. C. for some evening monument tours.

Again, you can save any of these pictures for yourselves by right clicking on them and saving as.

Thanks again for sending your children on this trip. We've learned a lot today and there's so much more to experience!

Good Night!

Final Day in DC! Fords, Museums, Mt. Vernon & Ghosts!

Our final day of the 2017 East Coast Trip started at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Ford's Theater is the site of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Lincoln came to the theater on April 14, 1865 to watch the play, "Our American Cousin." While watching the play he was shot by the actor John Wilkes Booth. After being shot, Lincoln was taken across the street to the Peterson House. He lived through the night only to die the next morning. 

 Lincoln was sitting in the box behind the kids. Booth shot him, the jumped over the side for his escape.

This is the Peterson House where they took Lincoln. He eventually passes away in the back room

All of these books are written about Abraham Lincoln. The books are four stories tall!

 We then walked just down the street to the Smithsonian Natural History museum. Dinosaurs, animals, and diamonds are here.

The Hope Diamond

Yuck

After the Natural History it was time to drive our to Mt. Vernon, Virginia. Mt. Vernon was the home to the first President, George Washington. He lived on a giant plantation that we had the opportunity to walk all over.

The Washington's

 Backside of George's house

Amazing views of the Potomac

 This little area is called the ha-ha wall. It was used instead of fences to keep animals where they were supposed to be. That way you had an uninterrupted view.  

 George and Martha Washington are buried in those graves!

Graffiti from Civil War soldiers at Washington's Tomb.

We then got to see the end of a wreath laying ceremony. This took place at the Slave Memorial. 

 On the Potomac Shore

 Front of the Main House

 George Washington's actual fake teeth!

It's been another hot day here and after doing all the walking at Mt. Vernon, it was time to rehydrate. We weren't going to be the school that has people fainting due to dehydration.

Our final dinner was like our first! At Pizzeria Uno. It is a good pizza and nobody complained. Along with pizza they give salad and two types of pasta to go with your meal. 

We then headed to our final event of the trip. The Ghost Tour. Before we could do our ghost tour we had to say goodbye to our phenomenal tour guide, Kathy. Kathy did such an amazing job with the kids and the kids really latched on to her. Her knowledge and hands on approach with everything made it so easy for the kids to know what they were doing and where they were. So thank you so much Kathy for the amazing few days in DC!

 Here also is a picture with Kathy and our bus driver, Jamal. Jamal is the best bus driver in the DC area. He's a man that does not need GPS. He knows where he's going and he knows how to get there faster than the others. Thank you so much Jamal for the terrific service!

 The Ghost Tour was a blast. We heard four different stories about ghosts, cats, and stories in a graveyard.

 Some nervous faces!

A ghost has been seen by this entrance sign numerous times.....

 The best part of the Ghost Tour was the final story that took place in a church graveyard. It was a story involving ghosts but what made it was the thunder and lightning in the background. It added a different level of intensity that was awesome. 

Before we dropped Kathy off she was quizzing the kids on the different things she had gone over with them the last few days. They did a good job of remembering! They were told to just yell out their answers. 

 

And that's a wrap! The 2017 East Coast Trip has come to its touring conclusion. We still have a day of travel to get back home to Molokai but I think we can handle. We leave our hotel here in DC at 4:30 AM, 10:30 PM Hawaii time. We are due to land on Molokai at 6:57 PM. That being 21 1/2 hours of travel to get home. I'm thinking we'll use that time on the plane to catch up on some much needed sleep!

Some fun facts according to my phone. 

Miles Walked: 59.6 for a 7.45 average miles walked per day

Steps Taken: 159,344 for an average of 19,918 steps per day

Floors Climbed: 143 for an average of 17.87 per day. 

Squirrel Chasers: I have no doubt you took more steps as you were running around Boston Public Garden trying find them!

I can't thank you parents, family members, and friends that all helped get these kids here on this trip. It was an amazing one and one we did things we'd never done before. The kids did an amazing job of being on the go at a moments notice. Were super respectful. Didn't need reminders to say thank you or your welcome. Held open doors for people, smiled, laughed, danced hula for our guides. Just an amazing group of kids and an awesome group of parents that came along as well. 

So thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting your children and sending them on this trip. Can't wait to see you on Molokai in just a little bit!!!!!