Heritage Tour-Sebasticook/Somerset Valley
March 31-April 6, 2008

Day 1 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

March 31, 2008

We arrived at the Alfond Youth Center at 5:00 am to find the bus and a few kids waiting patiently for me to arrive and open the doors. By 5:15 am just about everyone had arrived so we loaded the bus with food and water and put all the suitcases under the bus. We said our good byes and at 6:00 am we were headed south to Kennebunk. We arrived and left Kennebunk with Bob our bus driver on time and after 1 more pit stop, we stopped to have lunch in Sturbridge, Mass. before heading to New York City. We had a bus tour thru Harlem and other parts of New York before we headed to Maryland and the Hotel. We stopped for a small rest in the middle of the afternoon and then we had supper at 5:30 pm in Maryland. It rained off and on throughout the day, but the temperature was around 55 degrees. We arrived at the Hotel right on schedule and everyone was in their rooms at about 8:00 pm and after a short social period everyone was ready for bed at around 9:30 pm. We had a tired bunch of people as it was a long bus ride. On Tuesday, we will be DC and Ford's Theater, some of the Smithsonians, the Holocaust, and the Memorials at night. Hope every one back home had a great day. We certainly did. The kids and team leaders have been super.

Day 2 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

April 1, 2008

The baseball gods were good today as the Red Sox didn't play and the Yankees got rained out.

We woke up on Tuesday morning in Maryland with a cloudy sky and rain showers. The weather also was calling for thunder and lightening for the afternoon. We couldn't do Ford's Theater as it is closed for the time being but we did manage to view the Peterson House where President Lincoln actually died on Tax Day. We all went to the National Archives building and spent most of our allotted time before we met at the Washington Monument to get ready to go to the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a very moving place for everyone because of the content in the building. In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Natural History, had supper at the Old Post Office Pavilion, and we visited the Memorials in the evening. We got back to the Hotel in time for a short social before bed time as we have a busy day on Wednesday. The weather was good in DC and I hope your weather was good back in Maine.

Day 3 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

April 2, 2008

The baseball gods helped the Red Sox beat the A's by a score of 2 to 1 while the Yankees were beat the Blue Jays by a score of 3 to 2.

The weather in DC was absolutely beautiful. It was around 70 degrees with the wind blowing. It was cool but sunny. We were at Arlington in the am and everyone was very impressed with the "Changing of the Guard." We had a chance to see JFK's grave site along with Bobby Kennedy's grave site. We came back into DC to do the Air & Space Museum, Native American Indian Museum, and the Botanical Gardens. We left DC at 4:00 pm to visit the Jefferson Memorial and FDR's memorial before we went to Hanover, Maryland and Medieval Times. We cheered for the Yellow Knight but he got eliminated early so we cheered for the Black and White Knight. The kids had a great time and their night was even better after the show when they had a chance to talk to their Yellow Knight and have their picture taken with him. We arrived at the Hotel at 10:30 pm and the kids and adults were in bed shortly. On Thursday, we will be in Gettysburg in the am and the Amish Country in the afternoon. Tomorrow will be a great day as long as the weather holds up. Hope everyone in Maine had a great day.

Day 4 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

April 3, 2008

We had a very educational day today as we started out in Gettysburg and had Jim Clouse as our guide and as usual, he was terrific. His route today was totally different as we actually went to the Peach Orchard and the Wheat Field. He was very informative and held the attention of every one for two hours. We ended up at Little Round Top and then we went into the Cemetery where Morgan Breznyak recited the Gettysburg Address on the same spot where Mr. Lincoln gave his famous speech nearly 150 years ago. We then went on to the Amish Country and had another guided tour thru the Amish Country where again we were treated to an outstanding guide in Sandi Clark. We had a great day today and the weather was terrific. Warm and sunny all day long. We had our Amish style supper at The Leola Family Restaurant before we headed to the King of Prussia and the Sleep Inn. We were totally checked in by 7:45 pm and some of the kids went for a swim while some of the others stayed in their room to rest. Every one is tired and they need their rest. On Friday, we go to Philly in the am and then we head to New Jersey to have supper at the Home Town Buffet. Hope everyone back in Maine had a great day.

Day 5 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

April 4, 2008

We stayed in King of Prussia, Penn. last night and it rained hard all night. The weather forecast was for rain today in Philly. We lucked out as it was cool and overcast but no rain at all. Our first stop was at the Franklin Institute where some of us ran up the stairs where Rocky trained for his movie. We had a photo shoot with Rocky and then we landed in Philly to start our day. We all went thru Independence Hall together and then some of the groups went on a Buggy Ride while the rest of us went to see the Liberty Bell. We had our Philly Steak sandwich at the Bourse and in the pm we went to Ben Franklin's underground museum, the Betsy Ross House, the Quaker Meeting House, Ben Franklin's grave site, and the Visitors Center. We left Philly at 3:30 pm to go to Edison, New Jersey and the Home Town Buffet where we had supper. We arrived at the Hotel at around 7:30 pm and the kids had a chance to swim and a little social time. By 9:00 pm they were in bed to get ready for Saturday as we invade the "Big Apple". We will have a busy day tomorrow. Hope everyone back home had a great day. Our day with the 2008 American Heritage Tour was terrific.

Day 6 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

April 5, 2007

We got an early start today as we wanted to get to New York City and see the sights. We started at the Lower East Side with our walking tour of China Town and Little Italy. After a stop at Star bucks (Our females did’t operate very well with out coffee) we went to the Empire State Building. It took us about 90 minutes to go up and down as it was very crowded. Everyone went outside once they got up to the 86th floor and it was windy and cool. After the Empire State Building we went to Battery Park and we were only able to go to Liberty Island as the Ferry made its last run at 3:15 pm. The kids enjoyed the Ferry ride and they were able to get some good pictures of the Statue of Liberty. Everyone had a chance to dicker with the venders and to watch some of the entertainment in Battery Park. We walked up to ground zero to get a look where the Twin Towers once stood and to see the destruction that was caused by 9/11. We arrived back at the Hotel at 7:00 pm and the kids had a social hour and a swim before we had our pizza party. Some of the kids made signs for the Today Show for Sunday morning. Hope everyone had a great day in Maine. We will see you all on Sunday night.

Day 7 (Click HERE to view pictures!)

April 6, 2008

What a terrific morning. We woke up was at 5:00 am as we wanted to load the bus at 6:15 am and have breakfast at 6:30 am and leave for New York City by 7:00 am. We left right on schedule and after a stop to get the women their coffee, we headed into the Big Apple. We arrive at 8:00 am and it was cold and windy as we waited for the show. After they came out the first time some of our people wanted to leave until the camera scanned the crowd and everyone (and I mean everyone) got really excited because they were on TV. I hope some one back home tapped the Show so that we can see it again. Again, we were ready to leave when they came out again and we stopped in our tracks and actually talked to them. Cody had his mask signed and he was happy. We spent the next hour or so visiting the NBC Experience store, St. Patrick’s Church, and then we made our way up 5th Avenue toward F. A. O. Swartz Toy Store. It is a terrific toy store and the variety of toys was good. We left the City at Noon and headed to Bristol, Conn. where we had a Chinese lunch. After getting well fed we headed toward Maine. We got to Falmouth at around 7:00 pm and after changing drivers we headed for Waterville and the Alfond Youth Center. We arrived in Waterville at about 8:30 pm and by 8:45 pm everyone had left for home.

A special thanks to all of the Red Coats for a fantastic week. We had a great group of kids and I hope that they had as good a week as I did. This trip would not have been a success with out the Yellow Jackets. They were a fun group but they also kept a good eye on everyone. Bob (Our driver for the week) did an outstanding job and with out his driving skills we would not have made all of our reservations on time.

Thank you to everyone.