While students were in class on April 5th, 90 chorus students packed onto buses and headed to Washington D.C. The trip up was supposed to be 13 hours. However, with all the stops they took, it was about 21 hours. They got to the hotel in Herndon, Virginia at about 4 am. But with so many students, it took forever to get to their rooms. Everyone got to their rooms by 5:30 am.

The second day was quite interesting. The chorus went to Freedom High School. After the first day, no one thought that it could get worse. While the PHUHS After School Specials were performing, there was a tornado warning. They had to go to the back of the auditorium, but not everyone could fit, so some went into a hallway. After about 30 minutes, they could finally get up.

After that, luckily, they got to have some fun. They ate pizza and ice cream, played get-to-know-you games, and even had a dance party. While walking into the school, some noticed a DJ was set up. They didn’t know that it was the students’ last day before spring break. After school was let out, they had a dance party. They had a dance battle and made some friends. After the dance battle, they went to a mall. Instead of splitting up, almost all 90 students stuck together and sang throughout the mall.

On the third day, they went into D.C. They went and took a tour through the Holocaust Museum and sang in the Hall of Remembrance. There were many tears, and not only from the people who were watching them sing. After the Holocaust Museum, students had to stick with a chaperone, but they got to choose which Smithsonian Museum they wanted to go to. Most chose the Air and Space Museum or the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. It was about 38 degrees outside. The students were so cold that they made a warming/hugging circle.

On the same day after visiting the museums, the buses got loaded and headed back to the hotel where they got ready for a dance. Everyone rushed to get ready. All the girls wore dresses, but regretted wearing them once they got outside. The only truly smart one was a senior named Marissa. She wore a onesie over her dress. Luckily, the guys were sweet and offered the girls their jackets.When they got to the dance, they realized that they didn’t have to dress so fancy. There were people in sweatpants. Most of the girls were wearing heels and they didn’t know they had to walk two blocks. Once they got onto the dance floor, all the heels came off. Although it was short, everyone had fun.

On the fourth and final day, the students first went into D.C. They visited the White House. Then they stopped by a souvenir shop before heading off to the Kings Dominion amusement park in Richmond, Virginia. The ride to the park was supposed to be two hours, but with traffic it was about four hours. Even though they didn’t have as much time, they still had a ton of fun. A freshman named Bailey Mienik won this giant monkey that everyone was trying to get under because it was cold. After they left, they headed to a new hotel.

This hotel is one no one ever wants to go to. The girls are on a different floor than the guys for obvious reasons. The guys were finding weird things and stains all over their beds. The students looked up the reviews for this hotel and they were awful. One said: do yourself a favor and STAY ELSEWHERE.  Some girls got chased down the hallway by guys they did not know.

Luckily they left at 6 in the morning. They all had to be at the bus at 5:30 am. The bus ride back was interesting and shorter.  Someone used the bathroom on the bus and people kept on opening it up and the smell went throughout the bus. They had a big senior named Chris Kurtz sit in front of the door so no one could open it.

“Ain’t no party like a chorus party, because a chorus party lasts 13 hours,” Mr. Havard, the chorus teacher, said, even though on the way back it took 19 hours.

They didn’t pull up to the school until 12:30ish am. Some were sick or too tired to go to school the next day. The trip was fun while it lasted, but then they had to come back to reality. Chorus trip 2017 is a trip to remember.