On March 11, 2025, Ms. McFarlane’s Archer’s and Journalism students went on a field trip to the National Mall in Washington, DC. We split up into groups of two or more students. I was in a group with Vivien McGinn and Henry Adams. My group’s first stop was the Natural History Museum. After, we went through the exhibits in the Natural History Museum, where Ms. McFarlane was sitting outside the building. This is when we spotted a food truck named Scoops O’ Mania. On each side of the food truck was an all-caps sign that said “acaí bowl” with a photo of what it looked like below it. We hurried over to the truck, where I tried ordering an acaí bowl, but the food truck worker told me they weren’t selling it for the day.
Therefore, I decided to order ice cream like both of my groupmates. As we ate our ice cream, we realized there was a hollow gap in the middle, the waffle bowls broke within 5 minutes of getting them, and the ice cream was very freezer-burnt. Based on my experience, their way of business is to first, make your order, second, give it to you, and lastly, they will tell you the steep price. Later, I talked with 9th-grade journalism reporter Timothy Jones about the food service, and he said, “I went to get a milkshake. They made me the milkshake, but mind you, they did not tell me the price. They charged me 15 dollars for a 16-ounce milkshake.” Hearing his input made me realize that we all had a very similar experience. We feel as though we got scammed.
On a bright note, there were so many other places to get food and astonishing museums to go through. The order of museums that my group explored was as follows: The Natural History Museum, followed by The Hirshhorn Museum, and we ended at The American Indian Museum. In the Natural History Museum, we saw all sorts of taxidermy mounts, merchandise, and live insects. In the Hirshhorn Museum, we saw so many types of visual art. We saw 3D art made out of wood, paintings, and a wall of speakers playing music. Near the end, we entered a room that was painted black, with a person’s thoughts written in white paint on the floor, ceiling, and walls. In The American Indian Museum, we grabbed lunch and went to the gift shop, where we ran out of time and had to meet back up with the group. I would recommend going to the National Mall because there are so many options to go to a free admission museum as well as seeing National landmarks. The National Mall has a lot to offer, but the food scene is hit or miss. If you are planning on going to the National Mall, make sure to pack snacks rather than relying on the food trucks because they can be costly.
