2023 • East Coast Trip
March 25, 2023 to March 31, 2023
In 2023, the itinerary for the East Coast Trip was almost exactly the same as it was the previous year: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, over Spring Break. However, while it was pretty cold throughout the trip, it was not nearly as cold as it had been the previous year. Even so, the cold made us change the trip to Summer Break in 2024. To start, we were in Boston and its surroundings. We went to Salem, Lexington and Concord, Fenway Park, the Freedom Trail, and the Tea Party Museum. This year, we made a little change by adding the JFK Presidential Library, which has always been an interesting experience. In the evening, during our last day in Boston, we were able to swing by Harvard and explore the campus a bit, even though the bookstore was closed.
New York came next, and like last year, we started in Brooklyn and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into lower Manhattan. Luckily, again, it wasn’t as bitterly cold walking across the bridge as the previous year, and we were able to continue our tour of lower Manhattan, including Wall Street and the 9/11 Memorial, before heading up to the top of One World Trade Center. Unfortunately, while at the top of the tower, some rain rolled through, which cut down the sweeping view that one usually can enjoy from the top of the World Trade Center. That evening, students were still able to explore Times Square. For our second day in New York, we were able to take a boat cruise around the Statue of Liberty, walk through Central Park, and then take the subway back to the hotel to get ready for our Broadway show, Hamilton. The show, of course, was spectacular as usual, and after the show, we took our big group picture.
After New York, we started the long drive to Washington, DC. As usual, though, we stopped halfway in Philadelphia. While in Philly, we saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and had lunch at the consistently excellent Reading Terminal Market. Finally, we went over to the Rocky Steps and ran up (I won every race, as usual). Upon arriving in DC, we did a nighttime walking tour of the memorials around the Reflecting Pool: World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Lincoln Memorials. The next day was a bit jam-packed because we were able to get inside the White House. We went to the Capitol, ran down to the bus, just barely made our appointment to the White House, and then walked around the Tidal Basin to see the Jefferson, FDR, and MLK Memorials. That night, we went on our dinner dance cruise, and on our final day in DC, we went to Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps (Iwo Jima) Memorial, and the Pentagon’s 9/11 Memorial. Once again, it was a crazy, exhausting trip, but as always, it was a rewarding and fun time for everyone involved!
