7-Night Washington DC, Williamsburg, Charlottesville & Philadelphia- U.S. History Adventure

After breakfast, you’ll board your bus and depart the hotel for the day.

You’ll take a guided tour of the Yorktown Battlefield, the site of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1781, General George Washington, with allied American and French forces, besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis’s British army. On October 19, Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the war and ensuring independence.

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

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

After dinner at a local restaurant, you’ll participate in an evening program at Colonial Williamsburg. Programs include Colonial Dance, Revolutionary Points of View, Papa Said, Mama Said, Cry Witch!, In Defense of Our Liberty and To Hang a Pirate. Programs are subject to change due to schedule.

You will return to your hotel on the bus.

After breakfast, you’ll check out of your hotel and board your bus for the day.

You’ll have lunch at the historic Michie Tavern, located just below Jefferson’s Monticello. Michie Tavern has been accommodating travelers with food, drink and lodging more than 200 years ago. Today, visitors experience the Tavern’s past through an historical journey which recreates 18th-century tavern life. The rustic restaurant setting renders a lunch dining experience rich in southern culture and hospitality.

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 scheduled 35-minute 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 begin your drive to Washington DC where you’ll have dinner.

You’ll arrive at your hotel in the DC area and check in.

After breakfast, you’ll board your bus and depart the hotel for the day.

You will visit 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. Over the next few years, Mt Vernon will be undergoing a preservation project to safeguard the Mansion’s original building fabric and ensure its structural integrity for generations to come. An enclosed work area will be fenced to the north of the Mansion for the duration of the project. As work progresses through the house, many rooms will be taken off display for extended periods, and the path of tours through the Mansion will change depending on the work that is underway.

After lunch, you’ll visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture which captures and shares the unvarnished truth of African American history and culture. Explore connections between stories, art, and artifacts from the past and present to illuminate the contributions, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped our nation.

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

After dinner, you will take a guided tour of the Memorials including visits to the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

You will return to your hotel on the bus.

After breakfast, you’ll board your bus and depart the hotel for the day.

You will visit the Supreme Court. If time permits and lectures are available, you may see a 25 minute docent lecture in the court room about the judicial branch of our government and the role of the Supreme Court.

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

You will visit the The United States Capitol, a monument, a working office building, and one of the most recognizable symbols of representative democracy in the world. Your tour will begin with a short introductory film and include stops at the Rotunda and National Statuary Hall.

After lunch, you will 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. Reservations will be requested for your visit. If they are not confirmed you may either wait on line for tickets on morning of your visit or you may see the Daniel’s Story exhibit which does not require reservations or tickets.

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 will 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 will take a guided tour of the Memorials including visits to the World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

You will return to your hotel on the bus.

After breakfast, you’ll check out of your hotel room and board your bus for the day.

You’ll arrive at 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.

You’ll enjoy the lunch buffet at the Historic Dobbin House Tavern, Gettysburg’s oldest, most historic home.

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

You will have free time for souvenir shopping in Gettysburg.

You’ll begin your drive to Philadelphia.

After dinner, you’ll arrive at your hotel in the Philadelphia area and check in.

After breakfast, you’ll check out of your hotel room and board your bus for the day.

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.

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.

You’ll head to the airport for your return trip home.