fandomhigh | These United States [Wednesday, May 7, 2014]

Some people might view taking kids from a school in Maryland to the National Mall on the first day of a class about the United States a giant cop-out.

Josh prefered to think of it as "playing to his strengths."

"Hey guys," he said, adjusting his sunglasses. "Welcome to Washington, DC. This is the capital--with an 'a'--of the United States of America. The Capital--capital C, spelled with an 'o'--is that big domey thing down at the end of this, the National Mall. If you were expecting a shopping center, well, tough. We could easily spend seven weeks just exploring the buildings along this stretch of grass, but that would be super dull, even on Segways."

Which he'd totally provided from them. They were going to cover a lot of ground in the next class period.

"We're going to start here at the Lincoln Memorial," he said, "and do a ride by of everything. I encourage you to come back some time this summer to go into some of the museums: they could take an entire day by themselves and I just want to give you a flavor of the city."

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After Segway-ing halfway down the Mall, Josh stopped the class in front of the Washington Monument.

"Go ahead and make your penis jokes now," Josh said. "God knows that everyone else has. This monument was started in 1833 through a privately funded committee that then solicited aid from states, aid that eventually took the form of granite blocks for the interior, engraved with appropriately respectful inscriptions. When Pope Pius IX contributed a block from a Roman temple, it was stolen by the radical, anti-Catholic 'Know-Nothings' of the American Party, proving that even back then there were assholes." He pointed to the change in marble color about 150 feet up. "Construction stopped during the Civil War and by the time they got back to building, the quarry they'd been using was out of rock. Don't let any of the locals lie to you about that being the high water mark of a flood. You've got twenty minutes to go up to the top or explore the World War II Memorial (http://www.nps.gov/nwwm/index.htm) across the street."

Will made it to the top in about five minutes. Amazing was his speed and stamina could do. Once there, he was going to spend the rest of the period just hanging out and enjoying the view.

Kathy remembered him from Professor Alenko's class last semester, so didn't think he'd mind if she joined him in a dash that got them both to the top faster than most normal humans could go.

"This is fabulous!" she said, looking out and grinning.

"Yeah, this is pretty much one of the best views I've ever had," he agreed, taking out his phone to snap a few pictures. "Can't say I'd hate to wake up to something like this each morning."

"It would be a struggle, but I'd somehow get used to it," Kathy agreed with a grin. "And the tourists here can't be any worse than the ones flocking to see the Hollywood sign back home."

"Can you actually even get close to that sign on foot?" Will wondered since he'd never been. "Seems pretty inaccessible."

Yeul did not even try to go up to the top after watching two of her classmates dart up it very, very quickly indeed.

Instead, she crossed the street and spent her time walking through the war memorial, quietly contemplative of the pain that wars wrought.

"Race you to the top," Vider said to Soren.

"You're on," Soren said with a grin. "On three?"

"Three!" Vider exclaimed, and took off, because come on, she'd been raised Lokiskin.

These United States [Wednesday, May 7, 2014]

Washington Monument

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