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USA 2024 Trip: Days 2-5

by Hatty W

Day 2 

After a restful sleep, we woke up to a delightful breakfast of pastries and fruit juice before heading out onto the New York streets and trekking to Broadway Station. 

With Mr Dawson’s incredible navigation skills and overjoyed that we all managed to fit on the same carriage, we caught the subway to Bowling Green. We went to our first tourist experience: a boat tour of some of Big Apple’s islands.  

As Mrs Campbell conquered her seasickness, we caught stunning views of Lady Liberty before arriving on Liberty Island, admiring the statue and Manhattan skyline that surrounded us. Our next stop was Ellis Island, as we learnt about the rich history and we explored the museum, before heading back to Manhattan for a spot of lunch. 

After some Mexican burritos, we met our tour guides Lynn and Ray for a walking tour of the city. We ticked off the Charging Bull and the Stock exchange for the Economics students, before seeing a statue of George Washington and visiting the grave of Alexander Hamilton.  

Ground Zero and World Trade One was next. We visited the first responders’ memorial, while learning about the mural’s significance and purpose, before heading to the South Tower waterfall, where we paid our respects to all those who passed during 9/11, before making our way to St Mary’s church.  

For our final Walking Tour stop, we walked up to Brooklyn Bridge, catching incredible views of Ellis Island and Staten Island, also spotting the Chrysler building and the Empire State. As we were saying our goodbyes to our tour guides, we saw a newlywed bride and groom pass, as we all sang a rendition of Bowes House’s part song ‘Marry You’, which the groom said he was almost reduced to tears by. 

We then started our journey to the Hard Rock Cafe for our evening meal, before seeing some iconic guitars such as those of Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. We finished by visiting the much-anticipated gift shop, for some Hard Rock souvenirs. 

After an explore of Time Square, and watching some street performers, we walked to our final destination of the day: Broadway Theatre for the production of The Great Gatsby: the Musical. For me, as a theatre lover, I was absolutely speechless at the performance. The music, vocals, acting, and performance was breathtaking, and we were so happy we could share these incredible memories together. And of course, our Director of Drama, Mr Edwards, was in awe of the show. 

After a remarkably busy day, and definitely getting our steps in, we settled down for another night in New York, dreaming of an incredible Broadway show. 

Day 3 

After another New York-style breakfast was served, we walked to our final stop in New York, the Empire State Building. 

After it shocked us all learning the ‘most famous building in the world’ took only 13 months to build, we headed to the lifts, avoiding the almost 90 flights of stairs. We arrived on the 86th floor, sighting magnificent views, as the sun shone over Manhattan. We spotted the Statue of Liberty again, our hotel, Central Park and Time Square before getting a group Barney photo as the whole of New York lay behind us (and of course, a staff photo!). 

After getting the lift, we then had a few hours to ourselves to explore the city, where we spent buying souvenirs, shopping on Fifth Avenue, and trying exclusive New York food. A few of us even made it all the way to Central Park!  

After our final lunch in New York, we packed up and got ready for our second city on our USA trip: Washington D.C.  

Our coach journey took us through the North-Eastern American countryside; we eventually made it to the capital, where we headed for a barbecue-style meal, of pulled pork, mac ’n’ cheese and cookies. We also sang happy birthday to Saffron F who turned 17 on tour!  

Before we headed back to the hotel, we walked to see the White House and Washington Needle, which look wonderful at nighttime. After learning some of the White House’s history from Mrs Campbell, we took the Metro back for our first night, in USA’s capital city. 

Day 4 

After waking up with a buffet-style breakfast, we met our guides John and Carol, for a walking tour of Washington D.C. 

Bathed in glorious sunshine, we were happy Washington brought us some great weather while we were there!  

We started at St John’s Chapel, where many of the Presidents go to church while in office, before seeing the White House again. After stopping for a quick ice cream, we walked through Memorial Park, paying our respects at the World War 2 memorial and Vietnam War Memorial before heading to the Lincoln Memorial. As we stood by the statue, we could scan all of the Washington skyline (although not as tall as New York!) while also seeing it in the reflecting pool that separated us from the Washington Needle. Afterwards, we walked to the Korean War memorial by the reflecting pool and the Martin Luther King Memorial, before thanking our fabulous tour guides. 

After some lunch, we visited the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which had some incredible cultural American artefacts. Some of our favourites included Dorothy’s famous red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, the R2-D2 and C-3PO costumes, as well as the history of American inflation and finance. 

After purchasing some Smithsonian souvenirs, we had some free time in Washington where many of us visited some classic American stores such as Macy’s, as well as having a wander around the city. 

Finally, we regrouped at the Elephant and Castle restaurant for our final evening meal in Washington, with a toast to the teachers, thanking them all for such an incredible trip.  

Day 5 

As we got ready for our final day in the States, we treasured our final buffet breakfast, before packing up our suitcases and heading for the Metro.  

We had a couple of hours to spare before our final stops on our itinerary, during which many of us spent the time purchasing our final souvenirs, having a sit-down meal together and some of us visiting the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We reunited for a quick History and Politics lesson with Mrs Campbell, highlighting the importance of the US Election on November 5th, before heading into a tour of the US Capitol.  

Upon arrival, we entered the Crypt, where George Washington had initially been buried and where the star lay in the centre. We were brought through into the great rotunda of the Capitol, and as we looked up, we saw the breathtaking Apotheosis of Washington, the mural on the ceiling of the dome. We learnt about how the rotunda is used for lying-in-state ceremonies and the beautiful, historical paintings also featured.  

We made our way into the National Statuary Hall Collection, which is composed of statues donated by individual US states to honour people notable in their history. Some, which were easily recognised by Barney, included Rosa Parks, Johnny Cash and Amelia Earhart. Our Ancient History students were also fascinated by the statue of Clio, the Ancient Greek goddess of history, featured in the centre of the statue hall.  

After thanking our tour guide, we said goodbye to the Capitol and went to see Union Station before making our way to Dulles Airport for our journey home. Saying goodbye to America, we had a safe flight home, reminiscing and resting, then landed in Heathrow before making our way home to Barney a few hours later. We said our goodbyes and wished everyone a great rest of their Half Term.