It was either in the 5th or 6th grade (hey, it was a long time ago!) and we got to go to the Stephen’s Meat “factory” in San Jose, California. I loved watching the giant machine that shoots the “meat” into the hot dog “tube” of skin and then cuts them to just the right size. Technology at its finest.
BTW, they explained to us where the “meat” that went into their hot dogs came from and for 6 months I couldn’t eat one… but then, thankfully, I got over it.
In the 7th grade we went to the local water treatment facility. We were listening to the guide talk about the large pools of water all around us, about 10 or 12 where the water made one of its stops through treatment. It was at that moment I discovered I was a little uneasy around water, especially 15 deep pools of partially treated water. Some alarm sounded, a loud mechanical bell, and I literally jumped up in the air. Right in the middle of the entire class. I guess I thought I was going to be sucked down one of the pipes where the water and dirt and the mud would clog my throat and block my ability to breathe and then I would asphyxiate. And then I would be dead at 12, without ever having known a woman.
At least, that’s how I remember it.
And I guess that’s not really the best one, but I don’t hardly remember any of the others.
Did you have to walk through the Giant Heart? That thing scared the bejeebers out of me as a kid.
I think my first-ever field trip was in first grade and we went to the Port Of Los Angeles. I don’t remember anything specific, but I certainly had a good time.
In the same vein as Marley23, I went on two group trips to Europe, Italy and Spain respectively, but they weren’t field trips strictly speaking. They lasted about eight days over the Easter holiday week, and, considering the limited time, were very well organized and allowed us to see a great deal without being rushed.
In my senior year of high school, in my physical anthropology class, we had a number of interesting diversions. The trip to the San Diego Zoo was a highlight, as was the lecture presented at CalTech by the discoverer of “Lucy”. That was far and away my favorite high school class; everyone there was truly interested in the subject and, in retrospect, it had the look and feel of an introductory college course rather than a high school class.
Hoover Dam 5th grade . It was freaky to see the water seeping in the tunnels under the dam.
I had my best field trip with my economics course in 12th grade. It was a visit to the German central bank, the Bundesbank in Frankfurt - in pre-euro times when it was still in full power.
The nice thing was that a member of the board had been a student at our school. After the “tourist” tour of an exhibition in the lobby, we got a more private tour of some famous rooms, especially the meeting room of the board that we had seen on TV so many times.
After that we met the board member, Edgar Meister in a meeting room for a discussion. The reactions of the other central bank employees told us that this was fairly unusual. What they didn’t expect was that our teacher had raised a group of little Keynesians. He had a nice debate with us, but it was fun to watch how the underlings got nervous. 
Many aspects of the trip made us teenagers feel so special and close to power. Our other field trips lacked the catering, the guards with submachine guns and the meeting rooms in upscale sixties design.
Since I live in New England, we never got to travel far for a field trip. In Massachusetts alone there are enough historical/educational places to fill up K-12. Actually, I never even left the state for a field trip.
My favorite though I don’t think even qualifies as a “field trip”. After all, it wasn’t something my whole class did. I won an essay contest for JROTC students. One of my classmates and I got to travel to Boston for a 4 day, 3 night conference with students from 10-15 other JROTC units from all over New England. I got to meet kids from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Only one student there was not a JROTC student. We stayed at the YMCA on the Charleston Navy Yard (home of the USS Constitution and other military ships). Navy guys lived in that YMCA. Cute Navy guys.
Our first day there (a Sunday) we had an ecuminical service aboard the Constitution. We had reville every morning - also on the Constitution. They fired the cannons for us. We had a tour of all the ships which were at that time residing in the yard. Unfortunately, I can’t remember any of their names. We also explored the Naval museum at the Navy Yard. During our stay - when we left the Navy Yard, we followed the Freedom Trail. We stopped at the State House, the first all black church, Paul Revere’s house, Fanuel Hall (massively boring), etc. At every stop, we were given lectures by local experts. We also visited the Coast Guard. They gave us a tour of a Cutter, and a lecture on Astronauts and space. They also fed us. Coast Guard food is without a doubt, better than Navy food.
We also took a boat tour of Boston Harbor. We also had a bunch of lectures at the Navy Yard. At the end of it all, we had a small military ball. We all got to wear our uniforms and medals. The only downer of the whole trip was when one 12th grade, 4th year AFJROTC stated that there was no way a second year student could have earned the Air Force Association medal. Thanks for the insult - putz. Not only was it a great history lesson, it got me out of school for 3 days. I think I learned more about American History in those 4 days than I did during all my years in school.
Dammit, didn’t mean to submit that yet…
One other trip (trips actually) was the first full week of 5th grade. I had won a lottery to attend a new magnet school. Right before school started, there was a fire. Since they couldn’t give us the whole week off, they organized a full week of education entertainment. Our first day was a field day held on the grounds of the YMCA which was next to our school (the same one that let us use their gym and pool - as our school was lacking in both). It was an opportunity for the pre-school through 6th grade students to meet each other and get comfortable. For the 4 days after that, we went to the New England Aquarium, The Boston Science Center, The New England Science Museum, Higgins Armory (a medieval museum in Worcester), The Worcester Art Museum, Old Sturbridge Villiage, and the Boston Children’s Museum. By the time the school was repired a week later, we were friends with our classmates, happy with our teachers, and exhausted. We were all too willing to sit in class all day for traditional lessons.
That would have to be the bronze foundry at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in Princeton NJ, (yes I had to look up the name) around 4th grade. We got to see how they make bronze statues, many of which are/were scattered around town. Then, once we got back to school, they sent us a case of the wax they use to sculpt with. We sent our sculptures to them, and they sent them back to us in bronze. My sculptures sucked, but I’ve still got them.
I wonder if they still send middle schoolers on trips to the Philip Morris plant in Concord, NC. It was very clean. We all came back home smelling like fresh tobacco. I liked the reject bin full of extra-long cigarettes caused by dull cutting blades.
Absolutely! I loved it. “I’m a red blood cell, wheee!”
I could have done without the smell of urine though.
Looks like I’m the first one here that grew up near Chicago. It seems to be a law that all school kids must be taken to the Musem of Science and Industry at least once a year.
Not many museums plunge you 600 feet into the earth, into a fortuitously-located coal seam and mock-up of a coal mine.
Not too many museums have a full-size 727 airplane, a German submarine, or 200-foot long trains either.
No complaints from me!
I just have to ask–by LA, do you mean Los Angeles or Louisiana? 
I just wondered, because I came in here to post that my best field trip was the time I was in sixth grade and went to the King Tut exhibit in Louisiana. I thought I had an original entry–can’t believe someone actually beat me to it! 
Apparently, we are all the same age, because my coolest field trip was seeing the King Tut exhibit in NYC when I was in sixth grade. We are talking about the first King Tut exhibit, right? When it was a really huge deal?
For me it was a bigger deal than the usual field trip, because there were a limited number of spots. The teacher decided to be fair and do a lottery to determine who would go. I was one of the last names drawn, so I had to sit there and watch all of the losers who only wanted a day off school have their names drawn, the whole time becoming more and more certain that I, who would actually appreciate the exhibit, would rot in a mostly empty classroom that day.
My mother told me afterward that my teacher told her she was rooting for my name to be drawn the whole time, as she figured I would be the only one in the class who would really get something out of the trip. She was right. I thought it was some of the most amazing stuff I’ve ever seen, whereas most of the class responded with a resounding, “meh.”
To this day I have a thing for alabaster.
Bah! I meant to quote this:
That would be Los Angeles, circa 1977 (I could be off on the date).
It was when it first came out in CA., but I’m thinking it premiered in NY ?
I think you’ve got it right. I started in sixth grade the year my sister was born–that was 1977 (a week after Elvis died!).
Had I been your teacher, the drawing would have been “fixed” in your favor. Our club has a model car show every year; prizes are awarded by popular vote – but we get to use our own judgement when resolving ties. At that point, a lot of intangibles come into play.
That would be ninth grade.
All of the ninth graders got to go to a local community college. There were maybe eight “classes” we could attend, and we had to sign up for four. Each was an hour long, with maybe 20 minutes in between each one. This was in the Spring, and the weather was absolutely primal.
After the first class it became apparent that no one was taking attendance. For the remainder of the day, we all skipped. We spent the rest of the day enjoying two types of grass.
And that’ll make me second. The Museum of Science and Industry is a fantastic place, as well as the Field Museum of Natural History.
My vote for the best field trip ever is going to be senior year of HS we were sent to Medieval Times during our unit about English Lit. Nevermind that Medieval Times is the silliest goddamn thing ever concieved, and as about as historically acurate as a Disney movie. The trip itself was really stupid, the food is horrid, but I bought a sword when they weren’t looking and made it back to school with it before having to surrender it until my parents would come pick it up. Still have that sword too.
sniff
Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll go eat worms…