T+7 days: Saturday - Wrapping it Up (Well, Really Sunday)

As you may have guessed, this is my last blog post. *sigh* We went to the airport yesterday and flew home to Indianapolis, where Kirkpatrick Express Taxi Service was waiting to pick us up. Now we're home and all that. Some things before I sign off, though.


No pictures for this post (we didn't have any good ones). Also, my two picks in the Bee (for those who didn't watch the finals) finished 2nd and tied for 3rd, and I never actually set foot on Hoosier soil yesterday (only pavement). That's pretty much all my extra information.


If I make it to the Bee next year, this will (probably) be my blog then too. I doubt I will post much till then - well, spelling season in general. I will update you on my progress in the 2012 Bee, from classroom to the Nationals. Wish me luck, thank you everyone, and goodbye!

T+6 days: Friday

Whoa. Busy day - and we're not even done! Today was originally supposed to be our pre-arranged, tour-guided tour of D.C., but because they were first off going to tour the Capitol, which we had already done, we left them to go out on our own. Before we left them, we did take these photos in front of the Capitol, however.

A statue of Ulysses S. Grant - the second-largest horse statue in the world

The Capitol

The first place "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung

 Then, at the Museum of Crime and Punishment, we got locked in a pillory...

Me in a pillory

Elli in a pillory

 ...and then, 800 years later, got put in the Cochise County Jail.

Me in jail

Elli in jail

Then, in another exhibit, we learned about the CSI process - here's the crime scene.

The crime scene

Then, we went to the National Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery to eat and explore a bit.

The ballroom/rotunda where Lincoln had his inaugural ball

An interpretive art piece

 Then, we went to the Capitol and met Representative Mike Pence.

Elli, me, and Representative Pence (and a rare sighting of Dad in a picture)

Rep. Pence and me

Then, on the way back to the hotel, we saw this sign.

Taxation Without Representation Street

I'm about to go off to the Awards Banquet, so there will be more pictures and information...well...in the next paragraph.

- About 5 hours later -

As promised, in the next paragraph, here is Awards Banquet information. So we, after arriving back at the hotel, got changed really quickly and headed to the banquet. Here are some photos and comments.

Elli and me in our banquet garb

 The spellers sit at separate tables than the parents and family.

Me at my table at the Banquet

Elli and Dad at their table

 After an opening speech, the presentation of colors by the United States Joint Armed Forces Color Guard, and the national anthem by the United States Marine Band Brass Quintet, we ate and then Ken Jennings, famous Jeopardy! player, gave the keynote speech.

Ken Jennings speaking

 Then the finalists were honored and given their prizes.

The 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion, Sukanya Roy and her trophy

One last photo of the Spelling Bee stage

The Spelling Bee after-party

At the after-party, cookies and punch were served and I got (drumroll, please) a signed copy of Ken Jennings' Trivia Almanac!

So now it's late on Friday night, our last full day in our nation's capital. I'll set foot on Hoosier soil tomorrow. That's about all. Catch you on the flip side!

T+5 days: Thursday

Today, after some storms rolled in last night, the temperature cooled off. (Hallelujah!) We visited a lot of places today and took a lot of pictures (312), but first, some minor items.


Both of my picks to win the 2011 Bee are still in the competition as of 5:50pm Thursday. I also realized today that I actually did better this year than last year, due to other spellers' performances. Last year I got 49th, and this year, in a wacky decision in accordance with rule 4, I got 42nd. Also, here is a link to the Herald Bulletin story (on me) that came out yesterday.

First thing today, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and went on a tour. Here are some a lot of photos.

Row upon row of gravesites - it's like this all over the 300-some acres

The Arlington House (Robert E. Lee's old plantation, FYI)

The eternal flame by the Kennedys' graves

JFK's grave

Thurgood Marshall - first African-American Supreme Court justice

 Me being the space buff that I am, I had to get these pictures.

Colombia memorial

Challenger memorial

The mast of the USS Maine - learn more about the ship here

A guard on patrol at the Tomb of the Unknowns

The Changing of the Guard

Korean War deaths

After that, we went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. No pictures allowed, but here's this.

Elli outside the museum

Then, on our way to the National Archives, we stopped in at the Museum of Natural History.

Us by the elephant in the rotunda

No pictures in the Archives either, so here's us by the entrance.

Us by the entrance

That's pretty much it for today. (I will, however, spare you from the rapidly-growing-tedious au revoir!) Goodbye until tomorrow! Catch you on the flip side! (FYI, that's a term astronauts use when they are orbiting the moon and have to travel to the dark side, where they can't communicate with Houston.)