Well, the big day finally arrived! We got up early Monday morning so that we would have time to see a few more memorials before the parade. The first thing we went to was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s memorial- Seven and a half ACRES of marble, statues and waterfalls! It was beautiful and covered with his most famous quotes and histories of his greatest deeds. We then walked down the sidewalk to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was simply gigantic. From there we had a clear view of both the White House and the Washington Monument. After that, everyone went to the hotel to rest up for the parade. We got in our places to practice about an hour before the parade began and then we marched toward Constitution Avenue. It was really amazing to hear our drums echoing off the National Archives building and looking over at the National Mall next to us as we performed. I will never forget that experience. The rain held off, amazingly, until the exact moment we finished performing, then it began to sprinkle! We went to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to eat and to hear a fantastic concert from the Yale School of Music. The concert included everything from a classical guitarist to an amazing piano player to a string quartet. It was scary good. After the concert was over, we finally got to see the Iwo Jima Memorial statue. I had personally been looking forward to that one, and it was without a doubt everything we had been hoping to see. Everyone was super tired that night, and we slept very well.
