Priceless East Coast Trip

Maggie and me in front of beautiful White House

I had a very wonderful time on my East Coast Trip. I went to Boston and Washington D. C. from April 6 to 11. This trip is one of my best memories. I will introduce my three favorite things.

First, I was impressed with the awesome buildings. They were Mount Vernon, the White House, and the Smithsonian Institute. Mount Vernon was the house of George and Martha Washington. There are twenty-one rooms, and they are very colorful rooms. They looked very nice. The Washington family continued to live there until 1858. At that time, the place was bought by a group of women who called themselves "the Mount Vernon Ladies Association." Since then, they have worked hard to return Mount Vernon to the way it was when Washington family lived there. I love the scenery and the atmosphere. Next, the White House has 132 rooms. Now, the Obama family lives there. It was officially named "The Executive Mansion." I thought the place was smaller than I imagined but I was very happy to see the house. Also, I went to The Smithsonian Institute. The Institute was established in1846 and it was very beautiful. There are 139,000,000 items in the museums. I chose to go to the Air and Space Museum because I didn't have enough time. It was very interesting. I could touch a moon rock! It was very exciting. I am interested in airplane so I love this museum. I want to visit again. I visited many nice and big buildings in Washington D. C. It was a nice experience.

Ami and me at awesome Lincoln Memorial

Second, I visited a few famous memorials and it was very memorable. Memorials and monuments are things that are made to honor someone who has died. They were the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Jefferson Memorial was finished in 1943. Inside, there is a big statue of Thomas Jefferson. He was an architect, a farmer, a lawyer, a musician, and a scientist. He wrote the Declaration of Independence so he was a great person I thought. I was very surprised at the size of the big statue. I want to know more about him. Next, I went to Lincoln Memorial. The statue of Lincoln inside is 5.79 meter high. For example, statues, sculptures, or even buildings can be memorials or monuments. In addition, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Memorial. I saw the picture before, I could stand up in the same place, so I was very happy. Next, I went to the Vie Vietnam Veterans Memorial, too. A veteran is a person who used to be a soldier. The names of more then 58,000 Americans who were killed in Vietnam are written on the memorial. In 1993, a sculpture called "The Women's Memorial" was finished and also placed near the Vietnam Memorial. It was made during the Vietnam War. There were a lot of tourists when I went to these memorials, so I thought they are very valuable. I was glad to visit them.

Beautiful Mount Vernon

Finally, I had a good time at wonderful places. They are Arlington National Cemetery, West Seaton Park, and Amtrak. In Arlington, there are now about 290,000 graves and the graves of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. They were very beautiful. There are up to 24 funerals at Arlington every day. I couldn't see the funerals, so I want to see someday. Next, West Seaton Park is located in a center of the Smithsonian Institute. The Park is very big and there are many people all day and I saw a lot of people selling things from their van such as T-shirts and gifts. That's funny. In addition, the park has a large lawn. It was all in green. Many people were playing and taking a walk. It was fine weather so it made me relax. I love the place. Also, Amtrak was our transportation from Boston to Washington D. C. It began operating the nation's passenger railroads on May 1, 1971. Today, Amtrak has more than 500 stations in 46 states of the U.S., and Amtrak trains are running every minute, 365 days a year. It was my first time to ride a train in America so I was very excited. I could see beautiful seas and nice buildings through the window. The train is very famous in America so I'm glad to ride on it. I had nice experiences in many places.

For these reasons, I had a marvelous time during the trip. It was priceless memories and indescribable.