Smith-Cotton goes to Washington: Day 1

We arrived in Washington D.C. at 1 p.m. and began our fun.

Mrs. (Robin) Blackburn a.k.a my mom, Bri (Brianna Williams), and I went to the Mall.

The first thing we saw was the Washington monument. It is so tall!

Jimmy, our bus driver, is very informative. He told us where the Pentagon is and where they filmed parts of “National Treasure,” the movie.

Looking from the monument you can see to the Lincoln Memorial. I was so excited because I wanted to read the Gettysburg address that is posted on the wall in the memorial. We toured for a while then met up with the other members of our group. Then we all went to all the Smithsonian museums.

I loved seeing the hat that President Lincoln was wearing when he was shot at the National Museum of American History. My mom went absolutely crazy over George Washington‘s uniform. We also really enjoyed the dresses of the first ladies.

For photos of the students' first day, check out the Scrapbook.

I also loved seeing all the planes at the National Air and Space Museum.

We all enjoyed the National Museum of Natural History with the big mammoth. I also was really happy when I saw an okapi because I did a science project on that animal in sixth grade.

Overall, we really had a lot of fun at the Mall. We went to Phillips Seafood to eat, even though I don’t like seafood, but it was cool.

All and all the first day was awesome. I really bonded with Bailey (Yeater), Bri, and Jonathan (Lake). Bri was so funny —  she wanted to talk to Sacajawea since the new Smith-Cotton (High School) is on Sacajawea Road. Bailey loved standing with the Wright brothers.

It was great even though my mom didn’t see Oprah.

I’ll keep ya posted. — Lorin Blackburn

For full coverage of the inaguration, facts about the event, national coverage and the students' experience, visit our special Inauguration '09 section.