Way West in Arcade NY

Our time with the Masons has been so great. We have been welcomed with the Red Caboose, a soccer game, a hike on a waterfall and homemade pizza. 

Street Law Summer Inst Day 5

We were all a bit anxious today as we walked to the Court.  We heard 5 decisions, while not the big ones on Same Sex Marriage they were very interesting and controversial.  No pictures because cameras are not allowed.  After court we debriefed as a group then took a break before returning to SCOTUS for a social reception with dignitaries from the historical society and special host Chief Justice Roberts.  He's extremely knowledgable and supportive of  the program.  I've gained respect for all the justices through this program.  

Afterwards a bunch of us went out to The Dubliner for the Bruins game, some pints and pub fare.  

I will truly miss the group as some of America's best teachers with amazing stories and rich experiences adding to the week.  I 

Street Law SCOTUS Day 4

Today we had a late start so we made plans to meet up withCousin Jennifer and her beautiful family.  Had hoped to get into Arlington National Cemetery to be with here for a visit to Uncle Steve's grave.  Couldn't manage the directions however so met up with them at Bandelero's.  great margaritas and Mexican tapas.  Had to cut out early for "session".  

Back with Street Law we did a jig saw on a few interesting cases, a couple I was familiar with.  Then we had guests to speak and respond to questions about The role of interest groups.  Very insightful.

Richard Katskee and Robin Conrad were very charismatic.  He had experience with Separation of Church and state issues while she represented the Chamber of Commerce.  Street Law has done a fantastic job representing varied interests and its amazing how congruent stories from these Dynamic Outside Resource People are. We had pizza for dinner as a group.  I will be fasting when we get back to Maine.  

We also had Lyle Denniston stop by to talk about the [changing] coverage of the press.  He was an absolute treasure that we could have listened to all night.  With 55 years covering the court, he knew everything to know.  He contributes to SCOTUSblog including many articles I have used in class.  

DC Day 5

OK... I did it. We had room service. My legs needed it. 

We're off to the Botanical Gardens. We found bananas, limes, avocados, cinnamon and more. 

The gardens have a children's garden area. We stayed here for almost 30 minutes!  

Now we feast!  We ate from the Great Plains today. The boys had ....chicken tenders....and I had a buffalo chili taco. Yum!  And very filling. We were all quite happy with our lunch-time view

DC Day 4

Driving in a new place is always tricky. When you do it in a big city everything happens at twice the speed. We began the day at the Lincoln Memorial

went to lunch at Bandeleros (absolutely fantastic) with family from VA then the boys and I headed to the zoo

And ended the day with pizza and ice cream at Union Station

Street Law SCOTUS Inst. Day 3

Today we looked at the 14th Amendment as it relates to both Voting Rights and Same Sex Marriage cases.  We had outside experts from the Solicitor Generals office come to explain their arguments.  Case decision is expected in late June, but we are all hoping for the release during our session.  We'll see.

Afterwards, we had other outside experts come to prepare us for Moot court.  I didn't know the difference between moot court and mock trial.  I was hoping to be an attorney in the simulation but settled for Chief Justice.  

Great activity that I will definitely incorporate into class.  

This evening we went back to Natural History Museum and then dinner at Ravi Kabob, my favorite Pakistani Restaurant

Ciara had beef curry, I had chicken.  Both were amazing.  The aromas had energy in the room are addictive enough.  

DC Day three

We slept on this morning and decided on a lazy pace as we made our way to Union Station for breakfast and a double decker bus ride. 

We saw a lot of sights and monuments...

We got off the bus near the Museum of American History and took a dip. It's HOT here. 

We saw the American flag that inspired our National Anthem, cannons, first lady dresses, and Kermit the Frog. 

Now back to the Natural History Museum to see bugs, tarantulas being fed, and more butterflies, of course. 

A bus ride back to the corner where our hotel is for a quick rest before we head back out for another IMax movie. This one about dinosaurs. 

Always more to do at the Natural History Museum