Day 9 - Tuesday 4 January

Another awesome day - it is so hard to believe that we have only been away for 9 days!
We headed off at 8.30am all dressed up - full Nudgee uniforms for the boys, including both Ipswich and Brisbane Grammar representatives and our two Clayfield College girls and suits and formal wear for the adults, ready for our White House Tour. After a visit to the Visitors Center we crossed Pennsylvania Avenue and went through the security checkpoint to then go through another security checkpoint to enter the East Wing of the White House itself. It was fantastic to be able to wander through the building, talk to the Secret Service officers in each room and ask questions about what we were seeing, the purpose of the rooms and where things were. The President's bedroom was directly above us at one stage and at another time one of the officers teased Karen and Lynne about an invitation to go up the stairs, only to hear that he would lose her job it if did happen. The souvenir store outside was fabulous, then we gathered as a group on the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue for a fantastic set of photos - a full group and many individual and small group pictures - all with the White House as the backdrop.
Next stop for the bus was the Capital Building, where we all got off and had a fabulous photo taken on the steps. We enjoyed looking at where Martin Luther King made his famous 'I have a dream' speech, and where President Obama was inaugurated - completely blown away at the space that was filled with people when this occurred. Back on the bus we travelled past the many Smithsonian Museums to the Washington Monument which we looked up to in awe. We all then strolled up The Mall toward the Lincoln Memorial, visiting the National World War II Memorial along the way. The boys were in awe at the marvel and size of Abraham Lincoln within that incredible memorial building.
By 3.30pm we headed for Sidwell Friends School for our Freshman game and we were welcomed to their new $40 million gym which included a football field and running track on the top floor, two basketball courts, a wrestling gym and dance studio inside!! Wow!! Sidwell Friends is the school to which President Obama sends his daughters, and the school Chelsea Clinton attended.
It was a fantastic game, incredibly competitive and our boys played with great passion. Unfortunately it appeared to us that the referee was certainly helping the home team, and many of the calls seemed to go their way every time - even the Sidwell parents agreed with us. Final score for the game was 39 - 42, an incredible effort with our two best players fouled early in the fourth corner.
Our bus trip back to the hotel was through very heavy traffic - it took nearly an hour to get onto the freeway heading back toward Virginia. However, we stopped off at a local restaurant for dinner - a chance for us to all have something not 'fast food' and sit down using real cutlery and crockery. The whole group were thrilled with the meal and the atmosphere - satisfying to have a chance to be grown up!
Back to the hotel before 9pm, and with a later start for the morning, it was one of the most amazing days on tour so far.