July 26th, 2010 - Day 3

Breakfast this morning was very similar to yesterday except this time we were located in a different and slightly larger room than before. The hotel was exceptional in almost everyway and according to the tour company we were very lucky to stay in such a nice hotel since most other contingents did get as good a privilege.

Leaving the hotel our first stop was Ford’s Theater. This portion of our tour was a ticketed item in which we needed to show up at a certain time. Our showing was the first of the day at 9 A.M. The first part of our tour featured a run-through of the museum located underneath the actual theatre. Featured were several mementos from the historic day when our 16^th President of the United States was assassinated. Items such as the gun that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot President Lincoln were showcased along with tons of information and artifacts from the time. After we finished glancing at the items on display we ventured upstairs to sit in the actual theater were the gun shot occurred. Sitting through a narrative that explained the events that happened that fateful night. After the presentation concluded we gathered back on the bus to depart to capital hill.

At capital hill several sites were taken in from a far, since we were unable to go inside any of the buildings due to time constraints in our schedule. We were able to stop and take plenty of pictures and listen to the explanations from our tour guided about the history and neat facts of each place. Our first picture stop was the US Capital Building, in which we had the forethought to bring our troop flag to use in our picture in front of the building. Our guide was able to provide a lot of information on the building and after what I would imagine several hundred photos that were taken amongst the boys we ventured over to the library of congress.

Much like most of our tour of Washington DC it was a brief stop to take pictures and hear a little history behind the building. Moving on past the library of congress we stop for another picture on the steps of the Supreme Court. We were actually pretty lucky to do this because they had been running people and scouts away from the steps before our arrival. Luckily we were able to convince the security guards to let us take a troop photo.

Lunch followed shortly after at Union Station, in which boys were issued tickets for a meal of their choice at one of the restaurants inside. This was a very important meal for the boys for it was their last chance to have a meal prepared for them until after the jamboree. Giving everyone about an hour at union station, many had and took the opportunity to buy souvenirs and gifts for those back home or for themselves.

While counting the boys for our last bus loading many were counting down the minutes to our jamboree arrival. Our bus trip lasted a little over an hour and a half as we headed south to Fort A.P. Hill. Arriving after 3 P.M. our troop began quickly to unload the gear truck and set up our home/campsite for the next 10 days. Set up was very disorganized and inefficient which was blatantly apparent by the amount of time it took to set up. Supper is supposed to be served around 7 P.M., however tonight it was served around 9:15 P.M. because our delay in the construction of camp. Due to our late meal clean up ran late and lights out soon followed.