Day 2 (6/19/23)

💥 DAY 2💥

Joke of the Day: If you cut put the entire DMV on scale, what would it weigh? A Washing-TON

After a 6:30am wake-up call, the group headed down to the lobby to meet up with their chaperones. Then, we walked a couple blocks over from the hotel for breakfast. Iowa Youth Tour has a ritual of going to Crystal City Sports Pub for breakfast which included: eggs, cereal, sausage, fruit, bacon, french toast, and a variety of juices. The pub is 3 stories, Iowa was on the 2nd story, while Oklahoma was on the 3rd. Students enjoyed the most important meal of the day. 

After filling up our bellies, we headed to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial for our first group photo. Next, we headed to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Air & Space Museum) for a couple hours. We received an hour tour guide with veterans themselves, then had time to explore on our own. One of the highlights was seeing the Enola Gay, the plane known for dropping the Hiroshima Bomb. It was amazing listening to all the history and seeing the transformation of space shuttles and planes. The kids stocked up on souvenirs at the gift shop, which everyone was excited about. 

The children found names of people from their hometown who died in Vietnam and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

For lunch, we went to the most iconic place of all time in DC, Ben's Chili Bowl. Known for their background in segregation and many celebrities going there, we received a private room with our own menu and a slideshow about the history of Ben's. Each table received an appetizer of fries with nacho cheese and chili. Each student got to pick out a list of 8 items of what they wanted for lunch. For dessert, they had a choice of a chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry milkshake. It was absolutely delicious and we will be back again next year.

The next few stops included many monuments, such as Albert Einstein, Roosevelt (FDR), Martin Luther King Jr., and Dwight D. Eisenhower. We also received a tour of Ford's Theatre, which was interesting to listen about Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Every student received a snack bag, which kids took advantage of today. We are giving access to water bottles at every place we stop, which is beneficial with DC's heat.

Amy Gold was our tour guide for most of the monuments and she is a hoot! We learned all about the history of monuments, buildings we passed, and heard a lot of funny/crazy stories. Youth Tour is always blessed to have her as a tour guide. 

Supper Time!! Our group finished the night at Hill Country BBQ. They served mac n cheese, brisket sandwiches, coleslaw, lemonade, chocolate chip cookies, and cornbread. After getting our bellies filled, we headed to the hotel for games and the snack cooperative to start their business. At the beginning of the tour, we had students sign up for a membership of the snack CO-OP ($1) and a punch card for $5. The delegates assigned a board of directors with positions in the CO-OP. Students can go into the CO-OP and purchase snacks and beverages with their punch cards. This is helpful for students to see what it is like in a real cooperative and in business.

It is getting so fun to see all the kids branch out and become more outgoing. Friendships are brewing and everyone is getting to know each other better. The Youth Tour 2023 Family is starting to form.

10pm was room check and everyone was ready to hit the hay. 

Goodnight DC!