Contributed photo
AT THE CAPITAL — Hodgdon High School students who journeyed to Washington D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration as part of a class field trip Jan. 19-22 include, from left, Jordan Wilson, Chris Wallace, Chris Hudson, Valerie Estabrook, Lacey McQuarrie, Ethan Bartlett, Mckensie Palmer, and teacher Brian Fitzpatrick.
Editor’s Note: The following article is a first-hand account of the trip Hodgdon High School students took to Washington D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration Jan. 19-22. Students participating in the trip included: Jordan Wilson, Chris Wallace, Chris Hudson, Valerie Estabrook, Lacey McQuarrie, Ethan Bartlett, Mckensie Palmer and teacher Brian Fitzpatrick.
By Lacey McQuarrie
Hodgdon High School Student
WASHINGTON D.C. — Waking up at 3 a.m. Saturday morning (Jan. 19) was just the beginning of our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Washington, D.C.
We woke up bright and early to catch our 5:30 a.m. flight from Bangor. Once our plane landed at 7:30 a.m., our class was full of excitement and anticipation for the weekend ahead of us. Our first day in D.C. was our sight-seeing day.
We went to Senator Susan Collins’ office, an office where you can feel the love she holds for Maine. We were able to have a small tour of her office while we were there graciously accepting our Inauguration tickets. We ate lunch at Union Station before starting our four-hour tour of the city.
Our tour consisted of visiting the memorials of Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Vietnam War, Air Force, Arlington Cemetery, and the White House. While we were seeing the White House for the first time, we came upon a U.S. aid to Israel protest. There were probably 300 protestors shouting in the streets. In the midst of the mob, our class was separated. Some were in the front of the protest with Mrs. Fitzpatrick and the rest of us were in the back of the protest with Mr. Fitzpatrick. We had to force our way through the protestors and find our way back together before continuing our tour.
Once we made it back to our tour guide, we went to Georgetown and saw the Vice President’s house and Embassy Row. We finished our night off by eating at Five Guys Burgers, a place that we saw President Obama eating at in a video we watched in class. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Pentagon City for an hour to shop. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
Contributed photo
HAWKS GO TO WASHINGTON — Visiting the Lincoln Memorial during their trip to Washington D.C. to see the Presidential Inauguration Jan. 19-22 are, front row from left, Lacey McQuarrie, Valerie Estabrook and Mckensie Palmer; and back, Jordan Wilson, Chris Hudson, Chris Wallace and Ethan Bartlett.
Sunday was our more relaxing day. We started the day around 9 a.m. as we made our way to the National Zoo for the first half of our day. We saw gorillas, zebras, and an assortment of animals. After spending a few hours at the Zoo, we made our way back to the Smithsonian. Once there, we split into groups and went to the museums that we were interested in. This included the American History museum, Natural History, Native American, and Air and Space museums.
After a short ride on the rickshaw for a few of us, we noticed that CNN was broadcasting a live show. We went off of our schedule and luckily enough we made it onto live television as CNN was having their show. After leaving the CNN setup, we made our way back to Buffalo Wild Wings hoping to watch the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Ravens. We couldn’t get a seat so we decided to go back to our hotel and order pizza. We watched the rest of the game in our hotel room. Once again, it was another late night.
Monday was Inauguration Day! We waited in long lines and crowds of people to get to our Green Gate. We squeezed our way through hundreds of people trying to get a good spot to stand. We waited for hours for the ceremony to start. We met many nice people and had some entertainment while we waited. There was a man protesting in a tree behind us, and his fight with the cops and the crowd made some of the time go by faster.
The atmosphere when we finally saw President Obama was unforgettable. Being within a couple hundred yards to the President of the United States is an unmatchable feeling. The energy of the crowd was so intense and we were so lucky to be able to stand on Capitol lawn.
As President Obama was delivering his speech, there were numerous cheers from the crowd and we couldn’t help but think how great it was. We had been standing several hours for this exact moment and no amount of pain in our legs would diminish the excitement we had. Seeing the likes of Bill Russell, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Eva Longoria and James Taylor was just an awesome bonus.
Our class was in awe of how many people there were. The metro had problems so we had to stand again for more hours. There were so many people that we all had to stand in a line and hold onto each other to make sure we didn’t get lost. After finally making it back to our hotel, some of us took naps before dinner. After eating, we made our way to Pentagon City to shop. Knowing Monday was our last night in D.C. we wanted it to last forever.
Tuesday was a sad day for us. We had to fly back to cold and snowy northern Maine. As we were waiting for our plane, we noticed that we were going to be flying home with Governor Baldacci. To meet and get a picture with Governor Baldacci just finished off our trip the right way.
Our trip to D.C. was unforgettable. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us. The experience of the inauguration is something that we will never forget and we will always cherish the memories. Though it is sad to be back to, “the real world,” we’re happy to come home with amazing memories, new friendships, and a newfound love for our nation’s capital.
We would like to thank everyone for their donations and their help to make this trip possible. Without them we would have never had this experience. We also want to have a special thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick. You truly made this trip spectacular for us and for that we are eternally grateful.
