Washington Trip FAQ

Rock n roll y’all! With the Washington Trip just days away, here’s your handy-dandy FAQ guide to the event. Please direct any additional enquiries to both Dr. Leanne Bowler (lbowler@sis.pitt.edu) and SCALA President Jacqui Taylor (jht3@pitt.edu).

If you are NOT on the SIS- and SCALA-sponsored bus, you may NOT go on the Library of Congress tour. Sorry, folks, but even the Library of Congress limits its numbers.

The bus waits for no one! If you were planning on bussing to SIS to catch the Washington Trip bus, please be aware of Pittsburgh Transit Authority’s limited Saturday schedules—you may not be able to take your regular bus into campus. Similarly, make note of the bus’s location when arriving in Washington D.C.—it will pick up from the same spot that it dropped off.

Wear comfortable shoes! I know this seems glaringly obvious, but this is NOT the time for your Minolo Blahniks. You will be on your feet most of the day, and it is a very long day. Be sensible in your footwear—fear not the white “librarian” tennis shoe!

Meals are not included in your $26 fee. You are responsible for feeding yourself while in Washington and both directions on the bus. There will be food kiosks at the Book Fest but if you dare try to bring a hot dog into the Library of Congress, so help us SCALA will disown you! Even if Mo Williems’s pigeon gave said hot dog to you!

Here is the itinerary for the trip:
5:15 am: Bus to arrive at SIS (135 North Bellefield Avenue, Oakland)
5:30 am: Depart SIS
9:30 – 10:00: Arrive in Washington, D.C. (Drop-off point to be determined. Will be near to the Jefferson Building, LC)
10:30 – 12:30: Tour of Library of Congress (Jefferson Building) and briefing about the Congressional Research Service
12:30 – 5:30 pm: Book Festival on the National Mall
7:00 pm: Bus departs Washington, D.C. (Same location as drop-off in the morning)
11:00 pm: Arrive at SIS (135 North Bellefield Avenue, Oakland)


For more information on the Book Fest itself, please see: http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

Please feel free to use the blog here to connect with a ride into/out from campus, make meal reservations with each other, or make alternate travel arrangements for any part of the day.