First off, I want to start this blog by saying that I can't believe it has been a month since I traveled to DC for the National and State Teacher of the Year Recognition Week. Where has the time gone? I also think if I am going to be totally honest I have been putting this blog to the side because the week was amazing and I know I can't do it justice just by blogging about it. With that said here goes Day 1!
Joseph and I left Boone early Sunday morning to start the long drive to Washington DC. We were so excited but I was also a little nervous. For some reason in the back of my mind I was afraid that something was going to go wrong and that I wasn't really going to be able to meet the President...now I know that we actually were close to not being able to meet the President because of a Twitter hoax... but that is another story.
When we first arrived at the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City, Joseph and I had no idea what to do. We have never really experienced curb side check in and valet parking except at the Umstead for the NC TOY recognition day. Joseph was driving and pulled up to the front. People who worked there came over to help and because I was a little stressed and confused I did what I should not have done and told Joseph I was going to check in and left him with the car and all of our stuff. (We have now decided if its fight or flight... I choose the second option. haha) Joseph being the wonderful husband that he is took care of the car and met me inside. Once we checked in I was so excited to see so many STOY friends! It felt like a reunion! Although we had only spent 1 week together in Arizona prior to this trip, we have all stayed in touch through facebook. So it felt like old friends! Once we all introduced our spouses to everyone the Target bus pulled up to take us to the Newseum. Joseph and I had still not made it to our room so we headed upstairs and told the group we would meet them over there by taking the taxi.
We went upstairs and the room was so nice! It was so exciting to know we would be staying at the Ritz Carlton for a week! We quickly unpacked our things (including a goody bag from Target with a TOY Target T-shirt) and called a taxi to head over to the Newseum. The Newseum was so neat! We had never been there before and it was so exciting to have this opportunity! I would recommend it to anyone visiting DC. http://www.newseum.org/
After we had time to look around the Newseum the STOYs and their guests headed up to the 8th floor for a reception and dinner. It was so amazing! All of the STOYs had on our Target shirts. They had a reception set out and then we were able to eat outside. The view was amazing! You could see the Capitol Building right there! It was a beautiful view! It did end up being a little bit windy and cold, but we insisted on staying outside to take it all in.
After dinner we loaded up in the Target Buses that said "Teachers of the Year" on the side of the bus. We then took a twilight tour of the monuments and memorials. It was amazing how the monuments looked different at twilight then they did during the day. (Joseph and I had taken a quick trip to DC in the fall with friends to visit.) We had so much fun! The Target people handed out glow sticks for us to wear so we could tell who was with our group as we were walking around. The tour was amazing! Thank you Target!
Pictures will be below!
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