History & Politics visit to America

On a cold February morning 37 History & Politics students began their journey across the Atlantic to see the sights of Washington DC and New York. We set out at 4am to Heathrow airport to get a Virgin Atlantic flight to Washington Dulles. After breakfast at the airport and a “team” photograph we boarded the rather empty plane and took off at 11am, landing 8 and a half hours later; our bodies telling us it was 8pm but Obama telling us it was 3 in the afternoon.

After a battle through immigration and customs, we met our guide Cathy and driver Bill who led us for a drive around Washington. Later we had dinner outside in the warm sunshine, drove to the hotel and collapsed into bed, having been awake for 24 hours!

Jet lag kicked in with most of us waking at 4am. We were then taken on our first tour at Arlington Cemetery, the national military cemetery of the USA. We were amazed by the number of graves, which really brought home the high death toll in both past and present wars. The main sights in the cemetery were the grave of John F Kennedy – which is marked by an eternal flame – and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We then continued our tour by visiting the Vietnam War Memorial, a long black wall covered in the names of the missing and dead. Our next stop was the Franklin D Roosevelt memorial alongside the Potomac River. He was the 32nd President and the memorial details his attempts to deal with the Great Depression of the 1930s.

One of the most exciting parts of our trip to Washington was the visit to Capitol Hill, the home of America’s democracy, and the site of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court.

The next stop was a visit to the famous Smithsonian Museum, and on entering the Museum of American History, we were instantly faced by an impressive piece of silver artwork – a contemporary interpretation of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’. Inside we got the chance to stand at the lectern to give our own Inaugural Address. Amongst other exhibits, we saw Laura Bush’s Inaugural ball gown, and Dorothy’s actual ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

On Friday morning we set off to Mount Vernon, the home of the very first US President George Washington. As well as touring the House we visited the Education Centre where we learnt about Washington’s early life and his Presidency. We even got the opportunity to take the presidential oath ourselves.

Next was our photo stop at the White House.

After this, a visit to the WW2 memorial in the lovely sunshine, followed by a night tour of the atmospheric Korean War Memorial, the very beautiful Jefferson Memorial and the grand Lincoln Memorial – where we got to wish the man himself a happy 200th birthday!

We travelled up to Philadelphia by coach on Saturday and spent a few hours in the city. We managed to visit the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and enjoyed lunch in a very interesting market where we saw the Amish stalls. Then we got close enough to see the New York skyline at night, an amazing sight.

Our fifth day in America was also our first full day in the Big Apple, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We set off for Central Park, seeing John Lennon’s apartment, and the doorway in which he was killed and took a stroll in Central Park. We then visited Strawberry Fields, the heartfelt memorial to John Lennon which spelled out the word ‘Imagine’ in a mosaic.

We returned to the coach in high spirits, however, the cheery atmosphere was soon abated by a poignant visit to Ground Zero. Seeing the location of such a momentous event gave us all a direct and hard-hitting picture of the tragedy of 9/11, and the immensely personal memorial to 11 workers who had died in a building nearby greatly moved us all.

On Sunday afternoon we paid a visit to the Jewish Heritage Museum, which is a living memorial celebrating Jewish tradition and culture, enabling us to extend our knowledge of the Holocaust through the fascinating information, artefacts and photographs that told the story of those men and women that were forced to cope with hatred, violence and isolation because of the Nazi régime.

Next was a quick stop at some souvenir shops and photo opportunity of Brooklyn Bridge. The day finished with a dinner at a Chinese restaurant followed by Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Parlour.

The following day began with a drive to New Jersey to get on the ferry to Liberty Island. On the ferry many of us braved the top deck to see the fabulous view of the New York skyline. When we arrived at the Statue of Liberty we were taught how to take the perfect photo with Lady Liberty herself.

Next was a ferry to Ellis Island, the immigration centre of the US from 1892 to 1954. On April 17th 1907, 11747 immigrants entered the US – a record high for one day. It has now been turned into a museum containing many of their possessions and allowing us to see their experiences.

The museum takes you around the route the immigrants would have taken, detailing what took place to them in each room. We then headed over to Manhattan on the ferry as we were finally going to the one and only Abercrombie & Fitch.

We drove past Wall Street and the Ghostbusters building to 5th Avenue; stopped off at Tiffany’s; stepped inside the lavish Trump Tower and then across to Abercrombie & Fitch. On entering the shop we were hit by a wonderful aroma, loud music and dark lighting with just spotlights on the clothes.

After meeting outside the CNN studios, we walked over to the Empire State Building where we were going to have diner for the last time in New York City. We were treated to arguably the best meal of the week in by far the nicest restaurant of the week.

After a typical NY donut for pudding, we got into the queue for the lift to take us to the 86th floor of the tallest building in New York – the Empire State. At the top we experienced the exciting sights of the whole of NYC by night. The panoramic view was breathtaking.

On our final day, we boarded Bill’s Bus for our last trip into NYC. We then shopped until we dropped in Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle and Borders to name but a few. For the final time we boarded Bill’s Bus and made our way to JFK airport. We said a tearful goodbye to Cathy and after a quick reorganisation of baggage to fit in the day’s purchases, checked in our baggage. We boarded the Virgin Atlantic plane to Heathrow. Many watched High School Musical 3 before reclining the seat and catching up on sleep lost over the past week.

We landed in London at 8.15am British Time and got on a coach back to Birmingham with everyone reflecting on the amazing time had by all in the USA.

This truly was a trip of a lifetime, with so many memories we will never forget. None of this would have been possible without the staff who went on the trip – Mrs Boote-Powell, Mrs Clements, Mrs Mann, Mrs Sander and, of course, Mrs Johnson who organised this fantastic trip. On behalf of all of the girls who went on the trip, we would like to say a huge thank you.

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