Friday: We're Coming Home!

After a fun & fact-filled five days on the East Coast, BCS are on their way home!
Here they are at Baltimore-Washington International Airport with their intrepid Global Explorers tour leader Kristin.
Safe travels & keep exploring!

Friday: The US Capitol

The students may have been headed home today, but there was still time for some sightseeing today.
Departure from Charlottesville came early this morning, at 7:30am, but this allowed enough time to be sure to make it into the heart of Washington DC despite the notorious traffic - reputedly the second worst in the nation - in time to visit the US Capitol.
After a short introductory movie tours are conducted by red-jacketed tour guides.  The tours include a mixture of history & political procedures & ceremony, & of course pointing out the most famous parts of the huge capitol building such as the Rotunda...

...with its huge waiting illustrating the history of the Americas & statues of great Americans...

...& the so-called crypt, down underneath the Rotunda.

There was time for a great group photo on the stops of the Capitol, where so many politicians are interviewed on TV, then the group departed to the airport to be sure to make it through the Memorial Day weekend traffic on time.

Thursday: Thomas Jefferson's Charlottesville & Monticello

After driving south from DC on Wednesday, the group awoke today in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Thomas Jefferson was just one of three Presidents that called Charlottesville home (the others being Madison & Monroe), but his achievements as an architect as much as anything else mean the city is forever associated with him.

The group's first visit today, a refreshingly short drive from the hotel, was the University of Virginia.  

Jefferson considered founding this prestigious state school one of his greatest accomplishments & he designed many of the original buildings himself.

The group took a tour of the university, including visiting some of Jefferson's constructions.

After time for lunch & college bookstore shopping it was time for the afternoon sightseeing, a guided educational program at Jefferson's home, Monticello.  Here visitors get to learn a little more about Jefferson the man.  They also see some of his ingenious inventions & collections of artifacts brought back for him by Lewis & Clark!

In a Jeffersonian spirit of adventure & enquiry, dinner tonight was Indian cuisine, increasingly popular in parts of Virginia.  Most of the students were adventurous & tried a variety of tastes.  But in case it wasn't to all tastes the evening ended with always-popular donuts!

Wednesday: Mount Vernon, DC, & South to Charlottesville

Today was a FULL day - with visits to destinations in northern Virginia & in the heart of Washington DC, & then a drive south to Thomas Jefferson's home town, Charlottesville, VA.  

The group made an early start, reboarding the bus & saying hello again to driver Valerie.

First stop was George Washington's home Mount Vernon.  

Once a large country estate, despite the nearby urban sprawl Mount Vernon still shows how the first president lived as a 'gentleman farmer'.  After touring the mansion & seeing the surrounding estate it was on to the next visit, Washington's National Cathedral.

Being a licensed DC guide our Global Explorers tour leader Kristin was able to expertly guide the group around this beautiful building.  Next she used her expertise to fit in a stop at the White House & then lunch at a string of Washington's increasingly popular food trucks.  Lunch like the locals!

Tuesday PM: Chinatown

At the end of a very full day of sightseeing in Washington DC, the group ended with a visit to the city's Chinatown & dinner in one of its many Chinese restaurants.
Then it was directly back to the hotel on the metrorail, ready to recharge the batteries for another full day tomorrow...

Tuesday: Washington In Depth

Today the group get to explore the nation's capital city the way Washingtonians do - on foot & by riding the metrorail.
After breakfast they departed the hotel for a short walk to Eisenhower metro station, from where the metrorail train takes you right into the heart of the city, traveling both over & under ground.
First stop this morning was Ford's Theatre, the site of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination.  The group enjoyed an excellent talk in the theatre itself by a National Parks ranger, then crossed the street for a walk-through visit to the Peterson House - a boarding house in Lincoln's time, it was here that the President was taken, unconscious, & where he died.  The house also contains an excellent museum telling the story of the manhunt & funeral ceremonies that followed Lincoln's death.
There was time for souvenir shopping & lunch, before the afternoon was spent visiting the Smithsonian Museums, the National Archives (home to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, & the Bill of Rights), the Navy Memorial, & the Holocaust Museum.

Monday PM: Washington DC By Night

After visiting Arlington Cemetery the group stopped for dinner at Pentagon City Mall with its great food court.
To end their first day of traveling the group took an evening guided tour of the National Mall, stopping to see a variety of the monuments to great Americans - Presidents, leaders, statesmen, & ordinary soldiers - that are beautifully illuminated at night.  Their tour leader Kristin is also a Washington Dc licensed guide so they had the benefit of a knowledgeable guide to introduce them to these iconic sights.
Later they rode the tour bus to their Washington DC-area hotel, located across the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia.