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Vida and Ed, the best tour manager and driver
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Today our Grand Southern tour was beginning and we got to meet everyone at breakfast. We were
a diverse lot from all over the world - Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Germany, The Netherlands
and Great Britain. There was 47 of us doing this part of the tour to Orlando and I couldn't wait to
get started.
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Our tour managers name was Vida and our drivers name was Ed. What can I say about Vida and Ed?
They were great. They helped make our trip so much fun and enjoyable (I expect the cash now guys).
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Our first stop was Philadelphia where we saw the Liberty Bell. Then, of course we had to visit the
Rocky statue so we could run up the stairs doing our Rocky impersonations (sorry that was just me getting
carried away).
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Iwo Jima, Arlington Cemetry
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Our last morning in Washington was spent at Arlington Cemetry. After a half hour walk we arrived at
John F Kennedys gravesite and also saw his brother, Robert Kennedys gravesite. Next stop was the tomb
of the unknown soldier where we watched the changing of the guard. This tomb contains an unknown soldier
from World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and it is guarded 24 hours a day,
every day, rain hail or shine. It is considered a great honour to guard this chamber. On Memorial Day,
an American flag is placed on every grave and there are approximately 250000 people buried there.
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We also saw the Iwo Jima monument which is a tribute to the US marines during World War 2. The
statue shows US marines planting the US flag after a vital win in the Pacific in World War 2.
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The Rocky Statue in Philadelphia
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The next few days were spent visiting the many sights in Washington and getting to know our fellow
travellers.
If you like history then Washington is the place for you. On our first night we did a tour of Washingtons
famous landmarks. These included - the Washington Monument & reflecting pool (as seen in Forrest Gump),
Capital Hill, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, The Whitehouse, Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam
War Memorial.
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Our days were filled revisiting these monuments and also visiting the many smithsonians which are part
of Washington. The saddest was the Holocaust museum which took us back to the Hitler regime. My favourites
were the National Air & Space Museum which was showing a Star Wars exhibit at the time, and where we
also got to touch a piece of the moon, and the American Museum of natural history. This contained
various species of animals, birds and insects plus the Hope diamond was being exhibited.
If Smithsonians
aren't your cup of tea then there is also plenty of good shopping available at nearby Georgetown or Pentagon
City.
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The entrance to the American Museum of Natural History
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Everyone at Kates Irish pub
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Washington was a good start to our tour and the best part was we had 3 nights to get some serious bonding
sessions in, mostly at Kates Irish pub. I was lucky enough to be celebrating my birthday on our last
night in Washington and had a great night. Thankyou to all my new friends who celebrated with
me!
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We also had a great dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Washington watching Pat Rafter win the US Open tennis
title for the second time. What more could you ask for!!!!
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