Field Trip to the State Capital
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (128831)
Gainesville, Florida
February 26, 2016 7:44am CST
I had to drop my son off early this morning at school, because he has a field trip today to our state's capital, Tallahassee. He is in the Cambridge program at his middle school (an advanced academic program), and all the Cambridge students are getting to go on the field trip (about 100 students).
The nice thing about this field trip is that when the students visit the state capitol building, they will get to see our government at work, as the Florida legislature is currently in session. The students will get to enter the Senate chambers today while a session is in progress, and see exactly how our government functions.
I'm hoping that the students will get to meet a few of our elected officials, including the Governor, but I know that is probably a long shot. But just in case, I gave my son the names of our local elected officials and told him to keep an eye out for them.
This will be his second trip to the state capitol, but he doesn't remember the first trip very much since he was so young. He tells me he can only remember seeing a very tall building (our state capitol, at 22 stories high).
I can't wait to pick him up later tonight and here how his field trip went!
9 people like this
10 responses
@LadyDuck (502208)
• Italy
26 Feb 16
@moffittjc It's true that there are not many tall buildings in Florida. I liked Tallahassee very much.
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
@LadyDuck Our tallest building here in Gainesville right now is 10 stories. We had a developer propose to build a 26-story building here a few years ago, but it was declined by the planning and zoning commission. I'm glad, it would have stuck out like a sore thumb! With the exception of a few 10-story buildings, most of our buildings here are about 4 stories tall.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
It is a beautiful city! I wouldn't mind living there. There's not a lot of places in Florida that I will say that about, but Tallahassee is one of them.
My son has already been texting me lots of pictures from around the capitol. They even let the kids go up to the top of the capitol building where the observation level is (22nd floor). That's the tallest building he's ever been in, so he's really excited about it!
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60812)
• Perth, Australia
12 Apr 16
That would be a fun trip. Did your son have a good time? 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Apr 16
He says he had a good time! He got to go up to the top of the capitol building, which at 22 stories tall, is the highest building he's ever been in! I told him he will really be excited when we go to New York City and many of the buildings are 100 stories tall...now that's some tall buildings!
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
26 Feb 16
@moffittjc It would have been easier if you had gone with him.
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
@Asylum I had the day off from work, so I should have gone with him! The only bad part is that they are not going to return until about 8:00pm tonight, but I promised my daughter I would take her to a gymnastics meet tonight at 6:00pm.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
He's not even back from the trip yet and he's been texting me non-stop about it all morning!
1 person likes this
@Blondie2222 (28610)
• United States
27 Feb 16
Well I hope they all have a great time and do get to meet some of the governor's that would be cool
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Feb 16
Unfortunately they didn't see the Governor at all.
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
26 Feb 16
It's lovely that he's so enthusiastic. Hope he's had a magical day.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Feb 16
My son told me that they got to see them in action for about five minutes, and then they took a recess for lunch. He said there was nothing crazy going on when they saw the representatives. He said they were voting on something and then they left for lunch.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
I always remember going on lots of field trips, but we never went on a trip to the state capital. I grew up in south Florida, and Tallahassee is in northwest Florida, it would have been about a 7-hour drive to get to. Much to long of a distance for a field trip.
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
He's already been sending me a lot of photos he's taken, and so I imagine he'll have a lot more by the time he gets back. He's really excited about this trip!
@Dena91 (17029)
• United States
26 Feb 16
I hope that your son and the other kids have a good day on their field trip. I loved going on ours when I was a kid. Have a blessed day
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
He's been texting me all morning about how much fun he's having so far!
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
26 Feb 16
I didn't like the state capitol which I thought was a bland office building. The real symbol which was used on newscasts to represent the capitol was the old state capitol building which is a museum in front of the office building. The government wanted to tear down the historic old building bu the people said. The view from the top of the office building is grand.
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
The kids all got to visit the old capitol building (now a museum), and the new capitol building. My son is currently on the top floor observation level texting me all the pictures he has been taking of the views around the city. It's his first time in a tall building, so he's pretty excited!
