DC By the Book

Excerpt: “Who wants to meet the president of the United States?” the Secret Service agent asked. / Mike Walsh and his cousin Kate Hopkins raised their hands and jumped up and down. They were standing outside the gates to the White House in Washington, D.C., waiting for a tour.

Excerpt: The Secret Service agent whistled loudly. “Okay, everyone line up,” she said. The tour group gathered against the black iron fence outside the White House. A different Secret Service agent checked bags and asked people their names.

Excerpt: During each Nationals home game, mascots dressed as presidents - such as Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson - raced through the ballpark. The mascots wore old-fashioned clothes and had huge foam heads. They looked really silly, and the fans loved them.

Excerpt: All around them, fans with red Washington Nationals jerseys streamed by. Off in the distance, Mike and Kate could see the skyline of downtown Washington, D.C. Kate thought she even spotted the Capitol building.

Excerpt: The clubhouse was buzzing with activity. It was still a couple of hours before game time. The players were starting to get ready. Workers were bringing in equipment and supplies. An electrician, wearing a yellow safety hat, was standing on a ladder fixing one of the TVs. And a bald man in a dark blue suit and red tie stood in the far corner. He was reading a newspaper.

Excerpt: A little after two o’clock, Mike, Kate, and Mrs. Hopkins were in downtown Washington, D.C. They had taken a short ride on the Metro, the subway in Washington, D.C. Their first top was the National Air and Space Museum, where they saw the Wright brothers’ airplane. They also saw Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis airplane and lots of rockets. They even got to touch a real moon rock!

Excerpt: Behind them was a long reflecting pond that stretched toward the towering pillar of the far-off Washington Monument. It seemed like everywhere they looked, there was another important monument.

Excerpt: “Whoa!” Mike said at the top of the stairs. “He’s huge!” / In front of Mike and Kate was the biggest statue of Abraham Lincoln they had ever seen. He was seated in a tall chair with his arms resting on the sides. / “According the guidebook I read, the statue is nineteen feet tall,” Kate said. Before she and Mike went on trips, Kate often read about where they were going. “And look at his hands.” / Lincoln’s hands hung over the front sides of the marble chair. The fingers in his right hand pointed down, and the fingers in his left hand curled into a fist. “Some people think that Lincoln’s hands are forming an A and an L in sign language, for Abraham Lincoln,” said Kate. “I’m not sure it’s true, but it could be.”