Last fall, my friend Carol and I decided that a Trafalgar escorted tour was the way to explore the historic sights of the east coast.  We were right!  It was a fantastic experience.   We learned so much about the early days of our country.

We flew into Washington, DC on Saturday.   The tour was to begin on Sunday, so we had a few hours to tour Washington on our own.  We booked a twilight tour, which was actually 4 hours long and took us to many sights:  Washington Monument, Capitol Building, Iwo Jima Monument, the new World War II monument, and many, many more.  It was really beautiful to see them lighted.  On Sunday we visited many of the same monuments, and many more, but saw them literally in a different light, since on Sunday we visited during the day.   

We also spent part of the day at the Smithsonian American History Museum.  This is my favorite Smithsonian Museum since it includes modern American culture, as well as early American history exhibits.  Among the exhibits are Dorothy’s Ruby Shoes from the Wizard of Oz, Archie Bunker’s chair from All in the Family, the First Ladies inaugural gowns (my favorite). 

On Monday we continued our tour by traveling to Mount Vernon, the home of our first president.  It is a beautiful home, overlooking the Potomac River.  From there we traveled to Yorktown, where British General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, to end the Revolutionary War.   Over the Yorktown battlefield there are markers that indicate where different Army divisions fought in the Revolutionary War AND the Civil War. 

In my next blog, I will tell you about our “deer” experience in the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Sandi