A 6 City Tour Of The Northeast – 8 Days

Upon arrival in Williamsburg, you’ll meet your tour manager and take a three hour guided tour of this colonial city. You’ll have time to see the exhibition buildings, colonial trade shops, and colonial homes. You’ll also have the opportunity to visit the Governor’s Palace and Museums.

You’ll have dinner.

You’ll experience the “Papa Said, Mama Said” program and meet enslaved people who have learned cultural morals and values from the stories of the past as told by their elders. It’s an interactive program that explores the significance of oral African tradition.

You’ll head to your hotel to rest for the evening preparing for the exciting days ahead.

After breakfast, you’ll take a guided tour of Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution that chronicles America’s evolution from colonial status to nationhood through a unique blend of thematic exhibits and outdoor living history.

After lunch, you’ll take a guided tour of Jamestown Settlement, where the story of the people who founded Jamestown and of the Virginia Native Americans they encountered is told through film, gallery exhibits, and living history.

You’ll visit Historic Jamestown, an archaeological site and the actual site of the original colony.

After dinner, you’ll participate in the “Cry Witch” evening program where you are the jury in this candlelit inquiry into the charges of witchcraft brought against Grace Sherwood in 1706. Ask questions of the witnesses, weigh the evidence, and determine the guilt or innocence of “the Virginia Witch.”

After breakfast, you’ll board your bus and depart on your day trip to Charlottesville.

Upon arrival, you’ll enter the world of Thomas Jefferson by exploring the iconic house and scenic grounds of Monticello, his mountaintop plantation and autobiographical masterpiece, designed and redesigned and built and rebuilt for more than forty years. Enjoy a guided house tour and self-guided access to Jefferson’s gardens, the workrooms and storage areas, Mulberry Row—the center of plantation activity in Jefferson’s time—and the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center’s theater and museum galleries.

You’ll depart for the drive back to Washington, DC.
You’ll then have dinner and head back to your hotel for the evening.

After breakfast, you’ll visit Mt. Vernon, the estate and gardens of our first president, George Washington. You will have time to see a film at the visitor center, tour his home and explore the grounds.

After lunch, you’ll visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a place of meaning, of memory, of reflection, of laughter, and of hope with its artifacts and archival documents.

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States and it was first occupied by John Adams in 1800. You’ll have a chance to see the North Front of the White House from Lafayette Park where you can take photos and enjoy the view.

You will learn about the assassination of President Lincoln as you visit Ford’s Theatre and the Petersen House. If available, you will attend a park ranger lecture inside the theatre and see where the President was shot. You will learn the story about John Wilkes Booth and why he shot the President. Then you’ll continue to the Petersen House where President Lincoln was taken and eventually passed away. You may also visit the Museum at Ford’s Theatre and the Center for Education and Leadership adjacent to the Petersen House. Reservations for these sites are required and subject to availability.

After dinner, you’ll visit the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon.

After breakfast, you’ll visit the Supreme Court. If time permits and lectures are available, you may see a 25 minute docent lecture in the courtroom about the judicial branch of our government and the role of the Supreme Court.

You’ll enter one of the most magnificent buildings in Washington as you visit the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill. You’ll have some time to admire the architecture and peek into the main reading room.

You’ll visit the Capitol Building where you will see the visitors center and exhibits about the legislative branch of our government. You’ll then see a short film about the Capitol before taking a guided tour into the rotunda.

After lunch, you will visit the National Archives and see the rotunda where some of our most important documents are stored. You will see an original copy of the U.S. Constitution and an original copy of the Declaration of Independence as well as many other important documents.

You’ll visit Arlington National Cemetery where you will take a tour and see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Changing of the Guard Ceremony, the Challenger Memorial and the Kennedy Gravesites.

You’ll take a DJ/Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River.

Today, you’ll visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This is America’s national institution for the documentation, study and interpretation of Holocaust History and it serves as our country’s memorial to the millions murdered during the Holocaust.

You’ll take a guided tour of the Memorials including visits to the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

After breakfast, you’ll drive to Gettysburg and explore the Gettysburg Visitor Center. The Cyclorama, Film and Museum Experience at the center includes the film narrated by Morgan Freeman, “A New Birth of Freedom” (sponsored by The History Channel); the massive Cyclorama painting, which literally surrounds visitors with a magnificent visual of the fury of Pickett’s Charge, and the Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War, featuring 12 exhibit galleries that contain artifacts and interactive displays.

You’ll take a two hour guided tour of the battlefield. Fought during the first three days of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most crucial battles of the Civil War having occurred at a time when the fate of the nation literally hung in the balance.

After lunch, you’ll see a performance of “A Visit With Mr. Lincoln” where an actor and historian will speak to your group as Mr. Lincoln. You’ll hear a monologue and then have a chance to ask questions.

You’ll hop on your bus and drive to Philadelphia.

You’ll take a horse drawn carriage ride in the Old City and then head out for dinner.

After breakfast, you’ll visit the National Constitution Center where you’ll see a multimedia presentation about the US Constitution and have time to view the exhibits. In Signers’ Hall you’ll see life size bronze statues of all the signers of the Constitution.

You’ll head to the Liberty Bell Pavilion for a visit. In 1915, the bell came home to Philadelphia, where it now silently reminds us of the power of liberty. For more than 200 years people from around the world have felt the bell’s message. No one can see liberty, but people have used the Liberty Bell to represent this important idea.

After lunch, you’ll visit and tour Independence Hall. From 1775 to 1783 (except for the winter of 1777 – 1778 when Philadelphia was occupied by the British Army) this was the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. It was in the Assembly Room of this building that George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. In the same room the design of the American flag was agreed upon in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the U. S. Constitution was drafted in 1787.

After lunch, you’ll take a guided tour of the National Liberty Museum, dedicated to preserving freedom and democracy by fostering good character and understanding for all people through education.

Your adventure comes to a close and you begin the journey home!