At 7:30 am on Saturday, May 5th thirty-two Delbarton 8th graders boarded the bus transporting them on their 8th grade trip. Enjoy these photos from chaperone/photographer Bryan Stoll and check out these great shots from Rick Cimino.
First order of business, bagels and juice to elevate their blood sugar for the adventure to come. Note that no caffeinated beverages were served. At precisely 12:00 noon they arrived at Washington DC’s Union Station for lunch and to begin a walking tour of D.C. including museum stops. Dinner the first night was at Old Glory BBQ ("Great Bar-B-Que ain't just cooked... It's nurtured, it's felt") followed by a night time tour of the monuments which Stoll captured in his pictures. At 9:00 pm they boarded the bus for a quick trip to Fredericksburg, VA and a check-in at the Fairfield Hotel.
The next morning, after an outstanding breakfast at the hotel which possibly featured Fruit Loops because mom won't buy them, the boys attended Mass, and then travelled to the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg. Later they bussed it to Busch Gardens where they spent the rest of the later afternoon and evening having a blast on such Euroccentric rides as der Autobahn, Alpengeist and Le Scoot. At 8 PM it was goodbye to BG and hello Woodlands Hotel in Colonial Williamsburg where, according to the schedule, activities included ping pong and mini golf. We certainly hope no other hotel guests were in the mood for ping pong on Sunday night.
On Monday, May 7th (yes, by the miracle of modern science, the very day on which this account was written) boys breakfasted in their hotel where Cheese Danish is always a popular option. Mom also is not a fan of Danishes. Official Williamsburg tour guides boarded the bus to take the boys on a guided tour of the restored historic site. At 1 PM the trip was to include a tour of Georgetown University but plans changed (Too much traffic? Too much fun at Busch Gardens? Too many Notre Dame fans on the bus?) and the group was headed for an Orioles game at Camden Yards. Dinner tonight is at the baseball park – where a hotdog never tasted so good nor cost as much – then it’s off to the Holiday Inn in Greenbelt, MD.
Breaking news: Moments ago we learned that the Georgetown tour is usually scheduled for tonight, but the stay in Williamsburg made a date at Camden Yards unfeasible on Sunday night. So…the score is Orioles 1 – Georgetown 0. The group did go to Georgetown on Saturday, but didn’t have time for the official campus tour. Stoll says, “The Washington Nationals screwed up the trip because they wouldn’t sell tickets to the game on Saturday against Philly to people outside the DC area. It was a "take back the stadium" night. I guess a ton of Philly fans usually show up.” Two observations: isn’t it un-American to enforce a geographic baseball ticket sales policy? And in five years collegiate analytics will likely confirm how many fewer Delbarton graduates attend Georgetown because they didn’t get the guided tour on their 8th grade trip. Fist pump, ND.
Tomorrow morning our fearless 8th grade trekkers once again breakfast at their hotel – gentlemen, bran muffins are good for the digestion, particularly on long bus trips -- then take off for Arlington, VA to tour Arlington National Cemetery where many of our nation’s heroes are interred.
They’ll hop – or more likely stagger -- back onto the bus one last time and after lunch at a rest stop they’ll travel back to Delbarton where their families, who have missed them like crazy, will pick them up between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. Given the traffic on Route 95 we admire the courage of trip organizers to make such a bold promise.
Delbarton School has been subdued (read: peaceful) without our Class of 2016-ers. We look forward to their return!