All the school groups we have that go to Washington, DC, whether it is a history or government class, or even it’s a choir or band, all want to visit the US Capitol and tour it. If you can think back five years ago (pre 9/11), you could get in one line if you had a school group and another for individuals and families and go right in without a reservation. Also no elaborate security screening. Those days are gone. That is why we stress that school groups need to book their trip early with us. Once we know your dates and approximate travelers, we can contact your local US Congressman (or woman) or Senator and get an appointment for you. This is now the only way you can get into the Rotunda of the Capitol. Some groups would like to get gallery passes too for the US House of Representatives or for the Senate, and we can also get those, but again book early, as the reservations are strictly controlled and it’s first come, first reserved. I feel badly for some school groups who book later in the fall and want to travel at a particularly busy Spring week. All we can do at that point is make the US Capitol a picture taking spot. All reservations would have been given out. Besides 9/11 the current architects that have been involved with renovations of the building, have put a maximum on the number of visitors allowed through the building each day (which is about 60% of what it used to be). So again, I say book your trip early so you won’t be disappointed about not getting into the US Capitol as well as other popular Washington, DC attractions.
Category Archives: Blog
Terrorist plot foiled on flights to USA
I don’t like these kind of stories, especially related to the sensitivity of the student travel market, but everyone is thinking back again to September 11, 2001 after yesterday’s foiled plane bombing plan. I have school groups right now booked on flights to New York City and Washington, DC and it makes people think again of the terrorist attack of five years ago. My mindset is different than alot of Americans, although I think over the last five years many have changed their mindset too. My mindset is, we no longer live in a protective “glass bubble” immune to events in other parts of the world. Israel has lived in a state of military readiness for years and yet they still live normal day to day lives (even with the latest rocket attacks from Hezbollah). The United States has a “knee jerk” reaction to terrorist threats. That reaction is to stop doing what we normally do and change our plans. This is actually one of the goals the terrorists have in mind. I’m not saying our country should not be caught with “their pants down”. I’m in favor of security measures. However, even with security measures in place, it does not make us impenetrable. We have to be able to live our normal lives (as they do in Israel) knowing we have very good security measures and an excellent Intelligence Department capable of sniffing out and finding terrorists and their plans against our country. I am also editorializing to school boards and administrations that cancel trips based on the news media accounts (which is also somewhat editorialized). You know, because of yesterday’s events, it is not unconceivable that a school from (let’s say) Jackson, Mississippi may cancel their trip to Atlanta. Sounds untrue. I was there after 9/11 and after we sent troops to Iraq in 2003. These kind of things happened. I hope, since 9/11 the American mentality has toughened.