Summer Camp in Washington, D.C. – June 29 – July 7, 2024

Before I begin with this great adventure, I would like to give a HUGE thank you to everyone that was involved in making this trip happen for the troop, as it took over two years to plan and there were a lot of moving parts to try and pin down both before we left and while we were in D.C. and we appreciate your hard work that allowed us to take so many people on this trip!  Disclaimer: sit back and get comfortable, this post is going to be a long one!  Now onto the fun for this trip, there were 26 of us (yes, 26! Of the 26, 11 were adults and 15 were youth) most days, however, we had a few extra visitors that joined us on our adventures so some days we had up to 30 people, unbelievable, right?   Now, I know you must be thinking how did 26 people get from Florida to D.C., well we took the Auto Train, you didn’t think we would drive, did you?  The best part of the Auto Train besides not having to drive ourselves, was that we pretty much had a whole cart to ourselves (I’m sure the other passengers were thankful since we can be a rowdy bunch) and for many it was a new experience for travelling to another state, so the excitement was contagious.  Sunday, Day 1: we visited the Mount Air Plantation, so that everyone could stretch their legs and run around for a bit before we headed to the Arlington National Cemetery, where we had the honor of watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and we were awed by the vastness of the hallowed grounds that are considered our Nation’s most sacred shrine.  Once we left Arlington, we headed to camp to set up all our gear and our gracious cook for the week (this included all the grocery shopping and his preparing breakfast and dinner), Steve and his emotional support human, Robert, were preparing our dinner, which was no easy feat since there were so many of us, that is for sure.  Monday, Day 2: we took the Metro into D.C. (boy this was an adventure for many of us, however, luckily for us, we had a few Metro riding pros that got us where we needed to be with limited chaos from the newbies) and on our way to the Capitol Building, we got to see history in the making as the Supreme Court ruled on whether or not a former president has immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority, to which the court found the nature of that power requires that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office. At least with respect to the President’s exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute.  As for his remaining official actions, he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity (23-939 Trump v. United States, 2024).  Once we got to the Capitol Building, we took an amazing tour where we saw the Crypt, Rotunda and the National Statuary Hall; we also got the opportunity to sit in the upper floor of the House Chamber (sorry no pictures were allowed to be taken, they even took our phones to make sure that we followed the rules, but it was an amazing thing to experience regardless).  Lastly, we visited the National Museum of the American Indian, where we got to experience the “Indigenous Voices of the Americas” program, which celebrates living Indigenous traditions through contemporary and traditional creative expressions as well as visit the museum’s expansive collection of artifacts, photos and media.  Tuesday, Day 3: Another Metro ride into the city (this was a to and from experience everyday) and for this day, we walked a lot of steps as we visited a lot of places (I cannot remember the exact number of steps for that day, but it was over 20,000).  First stop was the National Museum of American History where we saw many cool things, such as the Star-Spangled Banner Flag, the evolution of American transportation, presidential artifacts and much more.  Our second stop was the National Mall where we ate lunch under the trees and relaxed as much as we could because our day wasn’t nearly over.  Our third stop was the Washington Monument where we took an elevator up 500 feet to an observation deck to look out over the city (there are four windows to look out of to see the entire city and then some).  We then took a leisurely stroll (this is how we got in most of the 20,000 steps) to visit the World War II Memorial (more resting took place here and we all were thankful, some of us even dipped our feet in the pool), then we stopped at the Boy Scout’s Memorial (this one was a must do, I mean we are scouts after all), next on the stroll was to see the White House (unfortunately this was only a walk by, but it was still an impressive sight to see in person),then onto visit the Vietnam Memorial and our last stop was the Lincoln Memorial. But, that’s not all (no, I am not kidding), once we made it back to camp and ate our delicious dinner of tacos (it was Taco Tuesday after all), we then surprised Chef Steve with a taco pinata (filled to the brim with candy) and cupcakes to celebrate his birthday (oh and we got him a few over the hill gifts to help him out since we are a considerate bunch)!  Wednesday, Day 4:  we started our day at the National Museum of Natural History where we got to see many cool exhibits such as fossils, gems and minerals (the Hope diamond is huge!), bones, insects, butterflies and much more.  Our second stop was at the National Archives which is where they keep the permanent records created by the U.S. Congress, U.S. Supreme Court, etc. and we got to see the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  We then meandered through the Sculpture Garden and lastly stopped at the Hirshhorn Musuem to round out our day.  Thursday, Day 5: Mr. Phillips decided to give us a reprieve for the day since we walked so many miles the day before and he let us relax at camp (well, that’s partly true).  While we did get to relax some of the morning/early afternoon and we also celebrated Brayden’s birthday, we just flipped our activities and had a busy late afternoon/evening in the city, but we were excited to see a concert and fireworks so more walking was worth it!  Do you know where we watched the concert and fireworks?  We watched from the lawn of the Capitol Building, let me tell you, the wait was worth it (even after we had to evacuate and spend some time in a parking garage due to inclement weather, I guess D.C. didn’t get our memo that we traveled from Florida, so a little rain and lightning doesn’t faze us and we were perfectly fine staying on the lawn.  On the other hand, Brayden had hundreds of new friends sing him Happy Birthday as we waited, so that made up for the inconvenience).  Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we made it back to the lawn, shockingly near where we were originally seated (there were a ton of people seated from the steps of the Capitol Building down to the lawn, there were even a ton of people outside that couldn’t come in because it was full to capacity) and the concert as well as fireworks started on time.  Friday, Day 6: for this day, we went to the Holocaust Museum, where Mr. Phillip’s brother was able to get us a private tour and we were so grateful that we got this opportunity because you learn way more about the Holocaust then you would have as a normal walk-in guest.  Our next stop was the National Air and Space Museum where we were able to see so many great exhibits on aviation, space artifacts and much more.  We also had time to visit the Korean War Memorial as well as the MLK and the FDR monuments before taking the Metro back to our campground.  Saturday, Day 6: Goodbye D.C. until we meet again, it’s back to Florida we go.  Whew, we were busy and I’m sure you’re wondering if we ever slept, well, my friends, sleep was definitely limited, but we all had a great time overall (even with some minor outbursts (mostly not from the youth 😊), ticks latching on to a few of us, some blisters, someone getting sick and the creative shower taking, especially once the church group showed up near our campsite)  and all of us learned something new throughout the week on our great adventure.  And most importantly, we made new memories and grew stronger as a troop.