Tour Time!

I got back Sunday from a tour of Washington, D.C., and NYC with a group of students from LA. We had a really nice tour, but very interesting. We had to send a kid home in the middle of the tour for attempting to shoplift in Walmart! There were a few other mishaps, but everyone had a great time. It was a flexible group, so all is well.

I was surprised at how light the crowds were in DC and NYC. At Arlington National Cemetery, I could get some decent shots of the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The soldier marching marches 21 steps, waits 21 seconds and then does it again. This is in honor of the 21-gun salute.


The Changing of the Guard includes inspecting the gun and the guard's uniform.





In NYC you may have heard about the city closing down parts of Broadway to make it more pedestrian friendly. Now they have lawn chairs in the middle of the streets to lounge about.

Here's me and some of my closest friends ... By the way, the weather was crazy! We about had heat strokes in D.C. and then it was cool in New York. That's spring for you!


I couldn't make it home the same day my tour ended, so I spent an extra night in NYC. I then had a lengthy layover in DC, so I went to take a closer look at some of the museums.

The magnolia trees were in bloom in DC as well, and I think they're absolutely gorgeous.

Happy Travels!

April Tour

I failed to blog about my tour in April that was with my most favorite school group. I had the same school last year, and these girls were fantastic. They did there home country of England proud. Our tour started in NYC, then DC, where the cherry blossoms were in bloom and gorgeous and ended with a drive up to NYC and a stop in Philly.

The teachers and me acting like fools in front of the White House. Obama is waving from the top floor, second window from the right.

I really liked this photo. I took it from the Lee Mansion, which is in the Arlington National Cemetery. You can see the Washington Monument and the Capitol in the distance.

Month in Review

I can't believe it's been a month since my last entry. Hopefully this massive entry will get you up-to-speed.

In April I finished up working with EF Smithsonian, and I had a great group of kids. It was a three bus move of English as a second language students touring Philadelphia and New York City. It was fantastic weather, so we really lucked out.

Philadelphia National Constitution Center

Irish Memorial near Penn's Landing in Philadelphia

Philadelphia's Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continuously used residential area in the nation.

Central Park

Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park

Beginning May 12 I'll be working for GrandLuxe Rail. I just returned from a training session from Albuquerque to Napa Valley. I'm really excited about the season. My first tour starts in Jackson, Wyoming, with tours around Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We'll then meet up with the luxury train and make our way through national parks, including the Grand Canyon, ending in Albuquerque.

Here's the wonderful Tour Leader faces that will greet the guests in Wyoming - Tasha, Ernest and Me.

GrandLuxe Rail Car

Inside the dome car

Guest Cabin

View of the California sunset on board the train

British Invasion

I'm back from my EF Smithsonian Tour, and it went smashingly! I had 24 British 17-year-olds and three teachers from a private girls school. It was so much fun! The girls really enjoyed the cities, and they were so very respectful. They knew a lot about American history already, and they were piecing it all together during the trip. They're a special group that I won't soon forget. I failed to take many pictures, and my one group photo didn't take ... Enjoy the photos I did manage to snap.

P.S. You'll be delighted to know that I was able to finally use my Civil War rap that I've been carrying around in my head since 5th grade as part of my tour. Now all I have to do is tour somewhere in Montana so I can use my Colonel Custer rap ...

"Top of the Rock" - I went to the top of Rockefeller Center the day I came in since I didn't have to pick up the girls until the following day. Pictures include Central Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Empire State Building.

Chrysler Building from Grand Central Station

Macy's Annual Flower Show - The displays were amazing! The entire outfit is plant life.

George Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate. If you haven't been to Mt. Vernon in a while, you should make a point of going. They have a great new museum which answers any and every question you may have about the time period and Washington's hand in the development of America.

Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

U.S. Capitol

Back from Broadway

I have to say this was a very interesting few days in NYC. I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to shadow a student tour before doing it on my own because I would have otherwise been a nervous wreck. The tour also helped me gain my since of direction in the city once more. I'll do a quick overview for you.

Day one
1:15 p.m. arrive at airport

1:40 found the tour director I was shadowing

2:00 Begin to panic because the coach wasn't at the airport to pick up the kids

2:30 Wait at International Departures for the coach (just like the driver said)

3:00 Tour director starts to panic because there's still no bus to be found and the driver says he's there

3:05 Annie (my other shadow partner) runs to the top of the enormous hill to find the bus)

3:10 Kids arrive from Wales and are ready to tour - still no bus

3:15 Annie calls and says the bus is waiting at DOMESTIC arrivals - we begin trek up the hill

Phew!

After we get everyone loaded, we head into the city to hit the Empire State Building. Annie and I were in charge of going up to the top and gathering up the kids. It took forever to get them out of the photo stop. Then we treked to the Manhattan Mall for a bite at the food court. When writing this, it all seems very easy, but at the time it was high stress walking around with 36 kids and three group leaders in rush hour traffic.

9 p.m. Arrive at Rochelle Park, NJ, Ramada

Day Two
9:30 a.m. Arrive in NYC for a business tour of Macy's at Harold Square

11:35 Begin drive up to Rockefeller Center area for lunch at 30 Rock's concourse

12:40 meeting time to start walking tour/Rockefeller Ctr tour

12:50 arrival time of group for start of walking tour/Rockefeller Ctr tour

1:00 Annie and I lead half the group on a 5th Ave walking tour while the other half goes on the Rockefeller Ctr tour. We stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trump Tower, FAO Shwarz, Gap and at a street performance. (One of the street performers wanted to take me home, but I always get hit on by the weirdo street performers, so it's nothing new ... Maybe I look like a hardy gal who would do well living on the streets? Who knows!)

2:40 Arrive back at Rockefeller Ctr to begin the Rock tour

3:00 Send our group off on the Rock tour

3-4:00 Walk around the area. Spend a lot of time watching ice skaters and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art store.

4:15 Kids arrive back from tour and we lead them to Broadway and 51st for dinner

4:30 Run into other group at souvenir stand. Tour Director gets us an earlier dinner reservation and we head to Mars 2112

4:45 Enter Mars for dinner. It's like we stepped back into 1984 and I'm on the set of alien fraggle rock. Weird, but the kids don't mind.

6:30 Kids want to change before the theater so the bus stops in front of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The boys change on the bus in the middle of Times Square and Annie and I lead the girls in and out of the hotel restrooms trying not to draw attention to ourselves.

7-7:30 Have the kids run around Virgin Records and Foot Locker

7:30 Trek to Phantom of the Opera

8:00 The tour director gave me his ticket since he said he's practically an understudy for the show. The show was okay. (Quit gasping!) The staging was fantastic, but the show consists of the same tune over and over with different words inserted to fit that moment.

11:00 Arrive back at the Ramada

Day Three

9:30 arrive in the city for a four-hour guided tour

10:15 Guide arrives with no apology. We begin the tour, and I could've given more information than she did. That helped boost my confidence about guiding people through the city. She's been doing it for seven years, and I know more, or at least I can articulate more of it to the kids.

12:00 Annie and I leave the tour in search of a subway so she can make her way to visit family in Connecticut and I to JFK to fly home.

I'm proud of myself since I was told to take a certain subway line, and asked a few questions, finding out that the line had signal problems. I took another line, figured out how to get there and made it to JFK without a hitch.

My flight did take off about 45 minutes late for it's flight to Atlanta. When in Atlanta I had to book it to another terminal and I barely made it there in time, but I got a seat and made it home safely.

With all the fun of these few days, I think I can successfully lead a tour of New York. Now the trick is to get an experienced bus driver during my tour so he/she can get me around the city without me giving directions. I'm also going to have to do a lot of research on D.C. and at least get the map of its main attractions down in my head. I have faith that I'll do just fine.

P.S. I thought my camera broke during tour, so I don't have any photos. The other shadower took a picture of me and one of the soldiers at FAO, so I'll post that once I receive it. I got my camera to work once I was home.

Next ... New York

I'm off to New York Thursday for my Smithsonian Student Travel ride along. It's a fast three-day trip. I'm eager to see how these tours work, but also a bit anxious about the prospect of me leading people around NYC and DC in a month. Being the procrastinator that I am, I'll begin to gather my questions tonight for the tour guide I'm shadowing. I really enjoy touring, but I do tend to worry myself prior to the tour. I guess I work better under self-induced stress ...

On the Road Again

I just love Willie Nelson, don't you? Even if you don't, it's time for me to get back in the travel groove. Saturday I'm leaving for sunny San Diego. There I'm attending the ITMI Symposium and plan to interview and network with tour operators.

To top it off, I get to catch up with many of my tour director friends. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone from my graduating class and those from my Alaska tour. Oh, and San Diego will be a nice change from the 20 degree weather that feels like 5 degrees. I'm ready for the warmth.

As for an update on the job hunt, I had an interview with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. This is an amazing luxury rail company that I hope to work for this summer as a tour leader. I should know more about the opportunity later this month, the first of February.

In addition, I have my Smithsonian tour ride along scheduled for the first part of Feb. I'll be in New York City ... it's not San Diego in the winter time, but it's just as exciting.

Bon Voyage!