Sea Glass Kids: My (awesome) college trip overview! [Joshua Burke]

Staying and learning at Hillsdale was an awesome experience! I learned SO many new things that I had never heard or learned about before. On the topic of the lectures, we started at the colonial area and ended around the cold war. All of the lectures were very interesting and informative, but my favorite lectures were about the Progressive Era, Slavery, and the Civil War.

Beautiful Hillsdale College!

On my birthday (for those of you who don't know it is 7/20), we took off to Gettysburg and left Hillsdale, Michigan! I spent most of the day on the bus going through Ohio and Pennsylvania. On what I saw, Ohio and most of Pennsylvania is just farm after farm, and then the occasional rest stop with a city built around it. Not having been to this part of the country before, I couldn't stop staring out the bus window.

We arrived at Gettysburg in the mid-afternoon and it is amazing! Some of buildings that were there during the battle are still standing and you can even see bullet holes in the sides of some buildings from the battle. At Gettysburg, we took a battle-field tour and went to where Pickett led his famous charge, Cemetery Ridge, and Little Round Top!! It was quite awe-inspiring to be where a huge moment in history took place. It was also really neat to march along where Pickett’s charge happened. I can’t believe the change occurred, because the charge was completely exposed. With Union artillery pieces on Cemetery Ridge to your left and on Little Round Top to your right, no wonder the Confederate infantry were decimated. Besides from going on the now quiet battle field, I also went to the Gettysburg's graveyard where tons of Union soldiers (and even WW2) soldiers were buried and where Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address!

At Gettysburg!!!

Where Pickett's charge happened.

The graveyard.

Little Round Top (below me is where Confederate troops charged and tried to take the ridge from the Union)

Another cool thing that I did in Gettysburg was a ghost tour... at night. Gettysburg is haunted because of all of the dead confederate and union soldiers that died here. The ghost tour was very interesting (and a bit spooky). The guide was very interesting, and a good story teller! We went to various famous buildings around town, and at each house, hotel, or store, our guide would tell us a ghost story about the building and the ghost(s) that were seen there from time to time. I unfortunately did not see any ghosts, so I was a bit disappointed. But the tour was still excellent and spooky!

After Gettysburg, we headed off to Philadelphia, or Phili, for half a day to see Independence hall, the Liberty Bell, and Benjamin Franklin’s grave. I have to say, being where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was signed was… epic! Everything was restored to what it would have looked like when they signed the Constitution. A cool fact that I learned is that in the Independence Hall, the delegates from the North sat at the Northern part of the room, and the Southern delegates sat at the South part of the room! It's like today in the House of Representatives and the Senate, where Republicans sit on one side and the Democrats on the other! The only difference is that back then it was a South/North divide and now it is a political party divide, and modern representatives don't meet in the Independence Hall (even though that would be cool if they did).

Independence Hall

This picture was taken while waiting in line to get into Independence Hall

Where famous documents were signed!!!

The Liberty Bell!!!

The Liberty Bell has its own building now by Independence Hall. The line was HUGE, like Disney Land huge, to get in, and we didn’t have time to wait in the line. Luckily the Liberty Bell is right next to this window, so I was able to take a picture of it through the window. While in Philadelphia, I also tried the Phili cheese steak, which is awesome! If any of you readers haven't tasted one yet, I would definitely recommend getting one! Especially if it is made by Bobby Flay!

The next and final stop for the trip was D.C.! We stayed at the Washington Court Hotel, which was close to the Capital, the Washington Monument, and Union Station, so it made our stay in D.C. super convenient. I also had more lectures to do while at D.C.. Hillsdale College has this building called the Kirby Center, which is super close to the Capitol. We had one professor fly out to D.C. to lecture us students mainly about more U.S. history, which is always fascinating for me. The Kirby Center in itself is really neat!

My view from the Washington Court Hotel (if you went to the top floor).

D.C. from above (I took this on my flight out of D.C.)

I saw TONS of things in D.C. like the Capitol, the National Archives, The Supreme Court building (and the actual court room inside, which was really, really cool!), The House of Representatives room, the Pentagon, WW2, Korean, and Vietnam war memorials, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson building, the White House, and the Air and Space Museum! We also took a couple bus trips out of D.C. to Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Arlington National Cemetery! It was all really neat! Unfortunately, I did not spend nearly as much time as I wanted to at most of those places, so I would love to go back with my family and re-see all of those sites again!

Mount Vernon (unfortunately it was undergoing some restoration while we were there.)

George Washington and his wife's tombs!

Liam and I in front of Mount Vernon!

BEAUtiful Monticello! (the architecture is amazing!)

The Supreme Court!

Where the politicians sit around and spend our money.

An iconic place.

A big thank you to all at Hillsdale College, my room mate Liam, my friends that I made on this trip, and the professors for making the Roots and History of American Liberty Course an experience that I will NEVER forget! Also, a huge thank you to my parents! Without them, I would never have gone on this awesome trip! :D

Thank you readers for reading!! And I know that some of you want more information on places like Monticello, so that is why I will work on another blog on places in Virginia! Also, if I have time I will also make a blog on places in D.C.

Cheers!

Joshua Burke