In celebration of May being National Bike Month, we thought you might enjoy this article on the history of bikes.

                                                         

   Pentagon                               

A group of Fairplay, Maryland, Homeschoolers recently toured the Pentagon with a group of homeschoolers
from various areas such as Delaware, Virginia, Eastern Shore of Maryland, and other places.
Nathaniel Sorrells, 16, and his mother represented the Western Maryland area homeschoolers in the tour.
During the tour, Nathaniel asked why the building was built? The guide answered,
" to house all the officals of all branches of the military and defense units of the U.S."
He learned that inside the Pentagon building, there is what is called center court.  This is the largest area in the U.S. designated as a no hat, no salute area for all military personnel. It is approximately 5 acres. Also discussed was the reason for the shape. The tour guide said that the area that the builders had to work with was shaped like a pentagon, so they just followed the shape of the land.
Nathaniel and the group also saw the area of the Pentagon where the hi-jacked American Airlines Flight  77 crashed into. There is now a private memorial inside the Pentagon in that area as well as a public memorial outside the Pentagon where all can visit. The group got to enter the private memorial and sign a rememberance/encouragement book if they choose to. All the names from the flight and those that were killed in the Pentagon are listed on the walls there.The military inside the Pentagon were all given the medal of honor and a special medal was specifically made for the people on the hi-jacked airplane that is the civilan equivilent to the medal of honor.
There are many displays inside the Pentagon that Nathaniel found interesting about the history of our country.
Most of what is inside are secured areas and the group was not allowed to enter these area. No photography was allowed to be taken inside the pentagon except for the area where the
podium stands.

     After the Pentagon tour, they took the metro to the Pentagon City mall to eat. Then took the metro to
Chinatown to see the different culture there. The most interesting thing here was the writing on the store fronts done in Chinese and the entrance arch over the street here. Then it was off to the National Zoo. We saw many things that we haven't seen before and the Pandas were awesome.
The metro was an experience in itself and a wonderful transportation tool. It also is a great learning tool as well.
     Sorrells said that the trip was very informative, educational, amid fun. "I saw many things
that I don't see everyday and many I won't see again." The Pentagon was cool and the zoo was fun.