My Washington Trip

Last summer I got the amazing opportunity to go to Washington D.C. and New York city. A downside of the trip was that none of my family came with me. I would have loved to share the experience with them, but it was a great experience regardless of that. My trip was an incredible experience because I flew on a plane for the first time, I visited several memorials, and spent time at The Statue of Liberty.

My first plane ride wasn’t what I expected it to be. I had been told by my sister, who I now realize is afraid of flying, that it was terrifying. She went on a plane years before me and ever since she has called them “Flying Tin Deathtraps”. However, unlike my sisters, my first encounter flying through the skies was an extraordinary one.

It was very important to me because my great grandpa Pete died in world war two and I was very pleased to see the amount of people who were there and know that his sacrifice was not forgotten. A few of the other memorials we went to were the Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. The Korean War Veterans Memorial was very eerie because there are 19 statues that each stare in a different direction so that wherever you stand there is at least one that is always at least one looking at you. There is also a wall that has images of soldiers and other war related things. When we went there was a bunch of Korean War veterans visiting the memorial. A few of them were telling war stories to a group of people. I think having them there made the whole experience seem so much realer. The Vietnam Memorial has over 58,307 names etched into the wall.These are names of military personnel who were wounded, and ultimately died because of their wounds, in Vietnam between 1957 and 1975. There was quite a bit of people tracing over name on the wall and leaving little tokens of remembrance under names. The FDR Memorial was mas my favorite memorial because I really liked the quotes etched into the the walls and the various statues, some that have designs protruding outward and braille writing for people who can't see. I think that it's awesome and very considerate of them to include

From there we took another ferry to Ellis island, and then another ferry to get to New York City. If i’m being honest, i enjoyed the ferry rides more than both islands combined. I’ve lived in Oklahoma almost all my life so I haven't had very many chances to be on such a large expanse of open water and especially not one with waves as big as the New York Bay has.It was very fun to stand at the front of the boat and watch the waves and feel the mist, from them breaking against the hull of the boat, on my face. After a short ride the Statue of Liberty came into view. I had heard that she was shorter than a lot of people had expected, but she wasn’t - at least not in my mind. She stood tall and proud, holding her torch up to light the way. She was a very inspiring sight and she pulled a sense of patriotism from me that had been huddled away amongst all the controversy surrounding immigration today. America is a place that some people yearn to go, and lucky enough to be born here. I didn't have to fight to get here like so many people have had to. America is a melting pot of so many different cultures and ethnicities and yet some people are trying to shut them