Last week, my son's fourth grade class visited Albany for their year end field trip. I went along as chaperone. It was a long day, which started at about 7am ... and didn't end until after 5pm. But the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. We started our day at the Capital Museum which was filled with history of the State of New York. Oddly enough, most of the kids spent the majority of their time in the gift shop! The line to purchase souvenirs was completely wrapped around the perimeter of the store as multiple fourth grade students from at least 7 different classes waited patiently for the girls behind the ONE cash register to ring them up. After we escaped the gift shop, it was a whirlwind to see everything the museum had to offer in a quick 45 minutes.
The kids also enjoyed a ride on an antique carousel ... very cool! Can't say I remember the last time my 10 year old rode one! Somehow it was cool though, because everyone else was doing it. I'm sure it will be awhile before I see that again.
We stopped to eat lunch and then it was off to the Capital building for a tour of our local government at work. The building is so impressive. I had no idea how gorgeous and ornate it was. Below is an image of the ceiling in the reception area, where one would enter to see the governor.
We sat in on assembly voting sessions, walked into the press room where our current governor and governors of the past have made speeches, including Teddy Roosevelt himself. Impressive.
After a brief meeting with Senator Stephen Saland, his photographer had our class pose with him on one of the ornate staircases outside his offices. Here's the photo from his website:
We finished the day with a trip up to the observation deck. What a pretty view of the Albany area from up here!
And then it was back on the bus for the loooooong bus ride home. It's times like these, an ipod and earbuds are heaven sent inventions! ;)
