East Coast College Tour + More

On March 10th, I boarded a plane to DC and began a 10-day East Coast trip. I went to go to the National League of Cities Conference with my youth council, and then my mom met me in DC and we traveled all over the east coast to do a college tour. I did and saw so many amazing things! Here’s a day-by-day account of my trip: I made sure to mention my favorite places and things I did!

Day 1 – Travel

My trip started on March 10th, and I flew with my youth council to San Francisco, then DC. On the flight, I did a little bit of homework, then watched the 2013 version of The Great Gatsby. I loved it! (And I wrote my last post about the book.) We got into DC late, and ate at a cute diner called Open City before heading to bed.

Day 2 – History

This day was amazing! My whole youth council rented bikes and saw all the monuments in DC. On bikes, we could get places faster, see more, save our feet from exhaustion. I would definitely recommend that you rent bikes if you want to sightsee in the DC area. One interesting thing that happened was I got interviewed by a Middle Eastern tv network about my views on Israeli-US relations! That night, we ate dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant called Sorriso Bistro. I had tilapia with capers and oh my goodness, it was heavenly. It was some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had. So if you’re in DC and are feelin’ Italian, eat there.

Day 3 – Learn

The National League of Cities Conference started on day 3! I attended all types of workshops, which were great experiences.  I learned a lot of useful info about advocacy, community involvement, and other youth councils throughout the nation. That night, my council had an amazing discussion about our takeaways from the conference that solidified everything for me. I even had the idea to start a club at my school because of this conference, so woo hoo!

Day 4 – Experience

We finished up the NLC conference on Day 4. I heard some great speakers, including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Senator Cory Booker, and Mayor de Blasio of New York City. After the conference, my council took the metro to Georgetown to explore. We ate at Georgetown Cupcake, saw the Watergate Hotel, and walked through Georgetown University.

Day 5 – Connect

I loved this day! In the morning, my council metroed to Capitol Hill and took a tour of the Capitol building. We also had meetings with Representative Raúl Labrador and Senator Jim Risch. I got to tell them about the organ donation legislation that the council is working on, which was amazing! My mom went on the tour and to the meetings with us, because she had flown in the night before. It was so good to see here again! After the Capitol tour and meetings were finished, my mom and I ran to take a train to Baltimore. When we got there, we toured Johns Hopkins University and had a delicious dinner at the Baltimore Museum of Art, with some family who lives there. It was great to see them and catch up.

Day 6 – Explore

My mom and I caught an early train back to DC and toured Georgetown University. After the tour and info session, we walked around the Georgetown area. We ate at some great places, including our favorite cupcake and coffee shop called Baked & Wired. Most of our time was spent trying to find somewhere to get out of the cold, since we didn’t bring our coats. (I know, we’re from Idaho, we should know better.) I loved exploring the area and spending time with my mom. That night, we took a train to Princeton, NJ.

Day 7 – Timeless

We toured Princeton on this day, and it was gorgeous. The architecture of the area was beautiful, and I loved how it was a small college town with access to a big city, NY. Princeton itself was so historic and the town attached to it was also amazing. After enjoying the town, we took another train to New York.

Day 8 – Culture

This day was full of all the fun New York has to offer. First, my mom and I went to a great Chinese restaurant. It was very authentic and reminded me of my trip to China last summer. I had a cold, so the tea there really hit the spot. Then we stopped by NYU, before heading to do some shopping. After shopping came my favorite part of the day. We walked through Central Park to eat at the Tavern on the Green, and split some amazing appetizers. And more tea for me, of course. 🙂 Next, we walked to the Lincoln Center Theater and saw My Fair Lady on Broadway! It had an amazing cast, and I have always loved the My Fair Lady movie. I love plays, especially musicals, so that was one of the highlights of my trip.

Day 9 – Drive

We drove from New York City to Ithaca, where Cornell is located. We stopped at a pho place, which was amazing for my cold, and then we got some ice cream at another stop. It was a great drive and we got to see the New York countryside. After we checked into our hotel, we had dinner in downtown Ithaca.

Day 10 – Discover

Our Cornell tour was on day 10, so we drove from our hotel to the Cornell campus. The tour was great! It seems like Cornell has a focus on sports and health. It is the youngest ivy league, so it was interesting to see the difference between Cornell and older ivies like Princeton. The campus was gorgeous! After a tour and an info session, my mom and I headed back to downtown Ithaca where we had lunch at an amazing vegan place called Nikki Greene. Then we went back to Cornell and I sat in on a class about technology, ethics, and economics. We ate again after the class at Collegetown Bagels. I had a sandwich called the Tour de France, and I highly recommend it! It had pear, brie, turkey, bacon, and honey mustard. Yummmm! After eating we drove to New York and stayed at a hotel by the JFK airport.

Day 11 – Fly

We woke up super early in the morning and took a shuttle to the airport, then got on a plane to Seattle. I did a lot of homework on this flight, so I was pretty proud of myself. Usually, I just plan to do homework and end up sleeping or watching movies the whole time. 🙂 So that was good. I also watched the movie Citizen Kane, which is a classic and has amazing cinematography. From Seattle, we flew to Boise, where my dad met us at the airport. And we were home.

Now I Know Things

Wow, I am so thankful that I got to go on this trip. It showed me so many things about myself and what I want in a college. I now know that I’m not a New York kind of girl. And I know I want to be in a small town with access to a bigger city. I loved touring the colleges and seeing all the beautiful architecture and history!

I also know that, for the moment, I’m going to stay on track to go into international relations. I get so excited when I’m in DC and around all the embassies and political areas. I feel like there are opportunities around every corner. Going on this trip solidified my interest in government.

And best of all, I got to spend time with my mom! She’s the best and pretty good to travel with. 🙂 We usually want to do the same things, like eat good food and see good things (aka Broadway).

This was overall a great experience and helped me in so many ways. If you’re looking at colleges now, I would definitely recommend a college tour.

Ciao! Have fun on your adventures.