Philly and D.C. for Educational Tours

Where do you suppose a school goes for its eighth grade educational tour if the school’s already located in Washington D.C.? I mean, those kids have probably seen the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial a few million times, right?

At least I hope so. The nation’s Capital is so full of treasures for student travel that I’d like to think the students who live there take advantage of them. I have to wonder, though, if they feel that same surge of pride and inspiration that the rest of us feel when we visit for the first time. If you grow up there, I wonder if you take these beautiful attractions for granted like the rest of us take for granted our local department stores and parks. Surely not.

After all, what local attraction of our own can compare to the government buildings in D.C., the White House, the National Mall, and the amazing wealth of museums in Washington D.C. for just about every interest you can imagine? None of them really.

Maybe those born and raised in the Capital expand their historical tours to cities nearby. Washington D.C. and New York City are actually close enough to combine into one great educational tour. Throw Philadelphia student tours into the mix, and you’ve got one of our favorite three-city combos for student travel.

Philadelphia actually offers an attraction that has been the number one visited tourist attraction in the United States on the Forbes list. It’s the Independence National Historical Park and includes Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and the famous Liberty Bell, which students and other groups have enjoyed visiting for years. Whether or not the bell was used for some of the most important events attributed to it through legend, it still represents our country’s greatest principles of liberty, equality, and freedom.

So maybe the students who live in Washington D.C. have paid homage at Lincoln’s statue since they were very young and perhaps they’ve seen the view from Washington Monument enough to have it memorized. But they can’t have seen it all. And if they do need to spread their touring wings, there are many great historical and educational sites in Philadelphia to add to the itinerary.

Photo by MCS@flickr.

Related posts:

1. Independence is Popular
2. Next up for Educational Tours – Right Next Door
3. Back to the Beginning
4. How Close is That to This?
5. Swann Memorial Fountain