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Washington, DC is one of my most beloved cities, behind only Boston and my birth city of Venice. It is both a large city and a quiet town, filled with spacious parks and monuments and buildings created hundreds of years ago, with new age loveliness on every corner.
This Memorial Day weekend, I had the immense pleasure of having a laugh a second trip there with some of my favorite people in the world (the fifteen classmates that make up my AP US History class) and many, many veterans that we couldn’t thank enough.
I can only speak in superlatives of the Hay-Adams hotel and the staff that works there. Our group of sixteen students and four chaperons arrived there late, late at night, far past our check-in time, and having booked four rooms facing the White House across Lafayette Square, was subject to a very extensive security check. The staff was hilarious, courteous and kind, willing to go above and beyond their job requirements to entertain us long after we had all lost our sense of humor.
To explain why, it’s necessary to rewind back to Friday afternoon, when we departed from Boston International on a flight straight to Baltimore, where we would be picked up from the tarmac by towncars that would deliver us to our hotel in time to get through the aforementioned extreme, but understandable, security, get our rooms fixed up, relax and unwind over dinner, and get to bed early (or so the chaperons planned).
Our flight found reason for delay in Pittsburgh, which is another of my favorite cities, home to fabulous shopping, restaurants, bridges, and my most favorite hockey team, but our teachers were not swayed by its charm. Just very stressed. After two and a half hours or so of waiting, our teachers (quite literally) gave the flight a fuck you, and hired a coach bus for the remainder of the trip. All of this ended up taking hours, as we also had to retrieve our luggage. And you know how airlines are with luggage when it’s on schedule!
A trip that should have taken only a hair over an hour and a half turned into a ten hour affair. I guess I should be happy that I was given an extra nine hours to study for my Latin exam tomorrow, but, in reality, I was too busy playing “telephone” to really worry about declensions. Our version was fun, stupid, and crude, a hybrid that included the new rule that if your name was included in the statement, you had to yell it out. I am still thinking about how embarrassing it will be for me to sit in the front, center seat in history tomorrow, being taught by the same teacher that heard me (loudly) proclaim that, “Sophia wants you (meaning, anyone) to come and sit on her lap and talk about the first thing that pops up!”
But, despite that, we all arrived in one piece, and for that I am thankful. Especially because our French teacher had to tell our bus driver when to slow down. I am just kidding. Mr. Olshevski was very sweet, fixed the sound system on the bus - though no one ended up watching the film - and helped us get our carry on snacks into the very persnickety overhead compartments.
As I said, there were sixteen of us: my roommates, Marcheline (my best friend for eons, lovely and creative), Becca (the most caring individual I know, with the prettiest handwriting and quickest witt), and Erica (who brought a strobe light, and thus made the entire trip for all of us); down the hall was the second room of girls, made up of Tara (who is an absolute scream, and brought the most tasty lemonade mix), Courtney (delightfully sweet, and always smiling), Jacqueline (always prepared, that is, always prepared in pennies), and Marissa (my partner in crime when it came to the Holocaust Museum - the rest of the group left us, but we were happy to read everything).
There were also the two boys rooms: room one being that of Evan (musically talented, sweet, amazing), Kolbie (awe-inspiring energy and love for shutta -shades), Blake (future James Cameron, always up for a laugh), and Andrew (always ready with a compliment and an open arm for holding pretty much anything). Room two (AKA: “The Party Room”) included Jake (Erica’s soulmate, and an amazing “strobe light fight” fighter), Hayden (awkward giraffe, blunt and very sweet), Carson (always ready with the time wasting games… “WA,” anyone?) and Justin (fast runner, faster thinker. hilarious, irreplaceable, I’m proud to know him).
As our luggage were being searched, Fleur, a very, very lovely member of the Hay-Adams staff gave us a quick tour of our rooms. Why was this special? Because we were staying in haunted rooms. Yes, the Hay-Adams haunted rooms. The tour was very informative and fun; although, no one argued an early sleep that night, so we (just) missed the witching hour, when we were told we were most likely to see said ghosts. Still, despite heading to bed earlier than anyone might have been ready, I’m proud to say that our room held out the longest. We checked out the rooftop - as best we could, that is, with the secret service guys there - before our teachers shepherded us back to our rooms. A piece of tape was put on our door to keep us in, and though we entertained the idea for a second or two, we didn’t decide to break it.
Saturday dawned beautifully, and despite our late night, we awoke ready for the day. It was to be a day of museums - art, natural history, Holocaust, and a couple different Smithsonians. We also visited the National Gardens, which were flawless as usual, and the sculptures within were beautiful, as well. But first - breakfast! We dined on the rooftop, and what a view. Lafayette Square is beautiful however you look at it, but there’s something about the early morning that makes everything look more beautiful, more magical. And having a view of the Square, with the White House in the distance and the Washington Monument beyond that was something truly spectacular.
Everything we saw was gorgeous and intriguing, as always. Very, very lovely. My only regret was that we didn’t have very much time to spend at the Air & Space Museum, which had some truly interesting looking stuff that I would have wanted to get a better look at. As it was, Marcheline, Kolbie, Jacquieline, Hayden, Tara, Blake and I spent the better part of our hour and a half there sitting on really uncomfortable benches. Blake and I also broke the rules by taking bottled water out of the food court. We’re so hardcore.
Also, throughout the day, someone came up with this fantastic game - you put your fingers into the “okay” symbol, and hold it below your waist. If anyone looks at it, you get to punch them. It sounds simple, but people were getting really intricate with it - Justin had perhaps the best gimmick when he would act like he was going to trip, and then flash the sign out. And then punch pretty much all of us, and he got us multiple times.
Also played was “Spot the Obama,” where you got ten points for every time you saw President Obama and five for Michelle, in pictures or on T-Shirts. I was winning until we went into our first giftshop inside one of the museums, and Andrew counted all of the shirts, while I had done all individual, different photos. I ended up losing very badly.
We took a giftshop break not too long after the Air & Space, and some very lucky seller of “shutta - shades,” as I was told they’re called (think Kayne’s infamous sunglasses!) made a mint and a half from our group. As for me, I just broke two shot glasses. To my credit, I didn’t burst into tears, as I am wont to do after breaking things, which I do a lot. James, an employee at said gift shop, is one of life’s great people, I am sure. After a speedy clean up, he simultaneously scared me to pieces and put me at ease by telling me that the glasses totaled to $100. They actually totaled to $10, and we had some fun banter about how the $4.99 was actually $500. I went to pay for them, and although the front people flagged me off, saying it was okay, James found me a couple of minutes later and asked me what happened. I told, and he said that, had they made me pay, he was going to let it go. James was very, very sweet, and if more people were like him, I’m sure the world would be a better place. Regardless, that was three gift shops down, that is, giftshops outside of museums, and no CIA shirt.
Following that, we headed back to the Hay-Adams. Dinner was just as fantastic as breakfast had been - the food was tasty and refreshing after a day of museum food, and the service, as always, was flawless.
Afterward, we wandered back to the White House side of Lafayette for our ghost tour. It was exceptional, and our tour leader was simply fantastic. There was nothing fake or cheesy about it, as it was less about scaring us, and more about teaching us the history, showing us what buildings were haunted, and what made them haunted. It was particularly hilarious watching Becca and Erica act out the parts of two men caught up in a love triangle, and then they fake shot each other. One died, the other didn’t. Guess who!
Then it was an early night back at the hotel. We had more time to explore and simply enjoy each others company, which culminated in sitting around Jake’s hotel room in the dark, having “strobe light fights,” which is basically moving around in slow motion fighting to loud techno music, and playing hide-and-go-seek. I hid next to a lamp - not behind it, just next to it - and no one could find me. No one. It was the most amazing thing ever. Also, Carson went to the bedroom with the intention of plugging in his phone so it would charge. He fell asleep on the bed for ten minutes instead. That night was the most fun I have had in a long time, filled with delicious and unhealthy snacks, headaches from the strobe light, and music that I usually hate but didn’t even blink at because I was surrounded by people I couldn’t imagine not knowing.
We succumbed to our room first that night, a fact we regret upon hearing that Justin and company broke out of their room four times - albeit, before the teacher even walked away - and apparently much hilarity ensued. Oh, well. As it turned out, we were just getting started for that night. For hours and hours we chatted about everything and nothing while on a conference call with all of the other rooms and eating disgustingly delicious food. But when our friends bid us adieu, we still wanted to play!
And so, our room ended up leaving at about two in the morning, and although we couldn’t find an employee to retape our door after we went back inside, we remedied the incident by taking the tape off of all of the other doors so that it was unclear who had done what. The following day, the teachers didn’t mention it, apparently happy to assume that we thought we’d simply been sleeping while they took the tape from the doors.
The second day was full of monument and architectural tours, which is one of my boyfriend’s, Evan’s, favorite things in the world. I, myself, am I very excitable person, and Evan is not. He is very calm about everything, and so it was very fun to see him getting very excited about the tour of the Capitol.
That is where we started our day, getting to see Congress and those buildings, and even sat in in a meeting. It was fascinating, and I was surprised to find out that as much time had passed as it did when the meeting broke for lunch. We ate at the very delicious City Zen restaurant, which was full of hilarity and love… and pain, as our “game” from the previous day had continued. It was quite a hike from Capitol Hill and from the National Mall, which we visited afterwards, but it was was brilliant weather and the walk was lovely. You do not get those amazing, tree-lined streets anywhere else, though those in Boston do come close.
We arrived at the Washington Monument in the middle of the afternoon, and spent some time playing a game of soccer with what looked to be a group of University students. It was much fun, and I made some fantastic friends with many, many interesting stories to tell. We also spent a little over an hour with a young man named Quincy, who had attached what looked like a parachute to his snowboard and was practically flying around the space in front of the Washington Monument. The pictures were breathtaking, and I might post some later. He allowed us to take turns as well - mostly because, as us girls would gossip later in our hotel room, he thought Marissa was beautiful - and it was a lot of fun, though even the guys were complaining about their aching arms the next day!
We moseyed down the Mall to the Lincoln - we had set aside Monday, specifically, for the Mall, as Memorial Day is a truly fantastic day, and there were sure to be tons of Veterans, which we were all excited to talk to. Regardless, we would get close to the Vietnam and the Korean Memorials the next day.
As luck would have it, we got to President Lincoln’s memorial in time to watch the sunset behind the Washington Memorial, and as many times as I have seen it in any number of beautiful locations, there was something even more amazing about seeing it while sitting on the steps, dwarfed by a stone Lincoln and surrounded by fifteen classmates that had become family.
Not only had we known each other through the years, and gotten to know each other, but we’d grown even closer in the year we’d spent in AP US, nights spent texting each other as we worried about a test, and those days when we’d walk into the class, totally unprepared, and there would always be someone in a similar perdiciment that you could look at and just know that you weren’t alone.
It was with that sense of camaraderie that we walked back to the Hay-Adams in silence, and allowed our chaperons to lock us in without fuss. But once inside the hotel rooms, ours, specifically, all bets were off. Following showers and nightly skin regimens, we were apparently the last ones awake. And so we spent most of the night calling our classmates through the hotel phones and not getting a response on any of them. We played fun games of truth or dare - mostly truth, though, as we quickly ran out of dares inside of a hotel room - and ate more fantastically unhealthy food. We also watched True Blood reruns and previews of Boardwalk Empire (which is going to be fantastic, I can’t wait!). We called room service, which included a humorous conversation that I have listed below. We finally went to bed at around four, and woke up two hours later.
It had quickly become something of a routine, our daily meetings with rooftop security, and breakfast was fantastic for a third day in a row. Only, this morning’s was tinged with a bit of bitter-sweetness, and again, there was little talking as we took in the view from the rooftop. Unparalleled, unmatched.
The National Mall was just as beautiful, as the day before, but there was a very different feeling about it. There were plenty of amazing Veterans there, all of whom were kind enough to talk with us and share their stories. And what stunning, brilliant stories they were! I’d like to take this chance to extend my deepest, most heartfelt thanks to anyone that has served in any branch of combat. You are the world’s best! And special shout outs to Mr. Henry DuCarme and Mr. Marcus Niccoli, whom were completely lovely, and served with my grandfather in Vietnam, and were more than kind enough to talk with me for at least two hours.
We spent that morning wandering around, re-appreciating the “side” memorials, which are always haunting and beautiful. And then, we somehow ended up sitting on a statue of Albert Einstein, posing for pictures.
All in all, it was a fantastic end to the trip. We walked back to where our cars were to pick us up near the Washington Monument, and while waiting, played yet another game - Wa! I’m still unclear on the premise, but it involved a lot of yelling and flailing your hands around. It was fun, though, when I was able to play. It usually took four “Wa!’s” for me to get out, whatever that meant.
After that, our cars came to take back to the Baltimore airport, and our flight home went off without a hitch, most of us sleeping through the entire thing. I went through my Latin vocabulary, finally. We arrived home earlier this afternoon, and the entire class came to my home, where we fell asleep in the living room, most of us waking up just two hours ago to eat some nutritious breakfast foods (and by that, I mean Raspberry Toaster Strudel) before going back to sleep.
Tomorrow should be a fun day of school.
EVERYONE, AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER: “Wah!”
JACQUI: “$4.70!”
BECCA: “That’s enough for a bottle of water. Or a… yeah, just a bottle of water.”
MARCH: “Or, you could think about going on a simulation ride.”
JACQUI: (laughing) “I could consider it…”
KOLBIE: (after putting tons of tree petals in her hair) “Hey Becs. You have something in your hair.”
OUR GHOST TOUR GUIDE: “He was a good looking guy. And I’m straight.”
MARCH: (on the phone, at around 2:23 AM, with roomservice) “If I wanted a glass of milk, how would I go about doing that?”
SOPHIA: “Remember to ask for someone morally questionable! We need someone that’ll retape our door!”
MARCH: “Okay, thank you!” (hangs up) “They told me to go to Walgreens.”
BECCA: “… I’ve never been to a Walgreens in my life.”
- We were later called back by another night duty employee, who apologized for his colleague, and asked if we were still interested in the milk. We asked for orange juice instead, and it was delivered promptly, free of charge, and was very tasty.
TARA: “Five more minutes guys, just five more minutes!”
JAKE: (standing in the middle of the street) “There are no cars in Washington, DC!”
