The Old Capitol – Richmond, Virginia
This is Maggie telling you all about our visit to the Old Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. We got a tour around the Capitol and learned many interesting facts about it. We saw the original parts of the Capitol which Thomas Jefferson designed himself and the new extension that was recently added in 2007. We had the opportunity to sit in the chairs that many people in history once sat in. Our tour guide filled our minds with a lot of brand new information about the history of the Old Capitol and our country. One thing that we learned was that eight of the U.S. Presidents came from Virginia. Speaking of Presidents, we visited President Hall in the Old Capitol where there was an outstanding statue of George Washington that was incredibly accurate and detailed. We saw many amazing paintings and statues of important people in the history of our superb country. The Old Capitol was a magnificent experience for all of us and we are all having a great time on the Virginia Trip so far :)
Pamplin Park
In most peoples opinion Pamplin Park was the best place we have been to so far on the trip. When we first got there we were treated to a delicious southern styled barbeque. Next we went outside to an old plantation that was used during a battle by a confederate general as headquarters. We went inside the different houses on the plantation and learned about slave life, we also went inside the ‘Big House” and how the master and his family lived. We then were able to see one example of a civil war earthwork. We had amazing guide, who was different, but musically gifted and passionate about his work. Then the entire eighth grade got to do an amazing short version of a drill on using muskets (we used fake ones) and walking through a battle. We were lastly; treaed to a nice gift shop with many fun and fascinating things.
Michael and Asa