Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception #WashingtonDC2019

My daughter's class had their field trip in Washington DC May 3-5, 2019.  We left the day after we got back from Charleston WV for the  championship of the WV History Bowl .  The last week of April and first week of May was a tiring  time for us physically (physically and mentally for my daughter).  I went together with other parents as chaperones.  It was exhausting but fun and educational.  It was my daughter and I's  first time  visiting Washington DC so we were excited.

We left Weirton by bus at 6 a.m. and was suppose to arrive around 11:45 in DC but  the driver missed one exit and we had to deal with some heavy traffic so our scheduled tours got  delayed.  We arrived at the Basilica  of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception  past noon so we missed to attend the 12:10 mass that we were suppose to attend.  

The front exterior of the shrine is beautiful.

Our tour  lasted for an hour.  There is so much to see and learn inside the church.

I wish that the tour guide that was assigned  to us  was a little lively so we could understand  what he was explaining but he was old and the voice was very low.  It was  putting me to sleep almost.

Anyway, these are just some of the  photos I took inside the  Basilica.

The Basilica of the Shrine is designated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a National Sanctuary of Prayer and Pilgrimage.  This great Basilica is our nation’s preeminent Marian shrine, dedicated to the patroness of the United States, the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception.

I can tell the kids were feeling it to have their photos taken as the sun was shining  in their faces but we managed to take some.

It would have been nice if we could have  catch the noon mass, it would have been a memorable experience  aside from the tour.  

On the positive side of  us missing the  exit was that  it might have  protected us from some sort of accident because  there was an accident where we suppose to  exit so it was a blessing in disguise.  God works in mysterious ways so I  always look at the bright side of things.  Anyway, if you are in Washington DC and looking for some things to do, try to see the Basilica Shrine, it's beautiful!