Just a quick review of the best week I’ve had in a long time (D.C. and NYC in 6 days).

Hello all,

I just wanted to pop in really quick so I didn’t forget to report on our trip to Washington D.C. and New York City last week. As you may know, I spend the majority of my days teaching 7th graders science at a STEAM middle school here in good ole Simi Valley. Last week was the annual 8th trip to D.C. and New York, and since my 8th grade daughter was going on the trip this year, my wife and I decided to chaperone; and I’m glad we did.

The program leader at our school organized sixty-five 8th grade students and 17 adults (including himself) while putting this trip together. After a 4:45 a.m. arrival time at the school, we bussed to the airport, and then boarded a flight to D.C.  From then on, it was off to the races. From that Monday evening when we arrived, to Thursday morning when we boarded a bus to NYC, the entire group was on the go. Early morning wake ups, breakfast done before 8 a.m., and then on the bus for the best tour of D.C. ever. I never dreamed that I would get to see our nation’s capital in such an up close fashion.  We bussed and walked (and walked, and walked, and walked…you get the idea) to so many historical and beautiful sites; the Pentagon Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Spy Museum, the Holocaust Museum, the Museum of African-American History, and really, almost too many more to name (believe me, there were so many more). I managed to take hundreds (literally) of pictures of the D.C. area so I had reference points and actual photos of sites that will appear in the third installment of “The Harmony Project Series” (Oh no, I couldn’t resist doing some book research while we were there. Big thanks to my wife for helping me with all of that). Also, while in D.C., we were treated to a hilarious play, Shear Madness, at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center. If you’re ever in D.C. and want to see a great performance with lots of humor, I recommend it.

Thursday morning we hopped on a bus to New York City where we continued our tour of the different sites; the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, the Metropolitan Museum of Art just to name a few. While in NYC, we were treated to two more plays; The Play that Goes Wrong (very funny, well acted and executed), and Wicked (which was epic, mind-blowing, fantastic…and the voices, and the cast…amazing). When in NYC, I recommend taking the time to check out both of these performances. You will not be disappointed. And on a personal note, the icing on the cake for me during the New York portion of our trip was that I had an opportunity to sneak off for a few hours and reunite with two of my best friends. Some of you may not know that I lived in Brooklyn for six years before moving to California, so New York is like a second home to me (Springfield, MA being my first), so being back in NY and seeing my friends just made the entire trip extra special.

Saturday afternoon we boarded flights, and by 11:30 p.m. PDT, the family and I were back in our own beds in California. Such a great trip. Honestly, this blog post comes nowhere near doing the trip any type of justice, but I did want to share. If any of you ever get a chance to take a trip like this, despite all of the walking and the constant get up and go, it was definitely an experience of a lifetime…so worth it.

That’s all for now.  Until next time. Stay tuned.

-Daniels