VISALIA – Have you ever wished you could experience our nation’s history rather than just reading about it? No one has a time machine but the Visalia Chamber of Commerce is offering the next best thing with a 10-day tour showcasing monuments and memorials that punctuate American history from colonial settlements through the Civil War.
The Chamber will be holding a slide show presentation on the tour at noon on Jan. 18 at the City of Visalia Administration Building, 220 N. Santa Fe St. Titled “America’s Heritage,” the tour leaves June 7, 2018 and returns June 16, 2018.
The Visalia Chamber of Commerce offers a tour of America spanning many historical monuments and memorials including Colonial Williamsburg, Penn. (top) and Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army.
The Tour begins in Buffalo, N.Y. with a tour of Niagara Falls, including a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist and dinner at the historic 1923 Red Coach Inn. The next stop on the tour will be Lancaster Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. After passing through the Finger Lakes region of New York and stopping at the Corning Museum of Glass travelers will explore Amish country with a tour of Wheatland, the Federal home of President, James Buchanan, and enjoy locally guided tour of Lancaster’s “Plain Lifestyle”. From Lancaster the tour will make its way to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. A licensed guide will lead a tour with an in-depth look at the historic three-day battle that was a major turning point in the Civil War.
Next on the tour is Washington DC for a day of sightseeing. While at the nation’s capital travelers will visit Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam and Lincoln Memorials and the National WWII Memorial. The day will end with an evening tour of the Washington DC memorials and monuments bathed in lights including the US Capital and the White House. Continuing south travelers will jump back in time as the visit Mount Vernon and Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg. At Mt Vernon travelers will explore George Washington’s mansion willed with 18th century treasures and stroll the 45-acre estate. While in Jamestown travelers will visit the recreated colonial fort and discover the world of Pocahontas in the Powhatan Indian Village. The last stop on the tour is Colonial Williamsburg the largest living history museum in the country. The night will end with a traditional Colonial tavern dinner.
The cost of the tour is $3,723 per person (double occupancy) and includes 15 meals, round trip airfare from Fresno, transportation to the Fresno Airport and hotel accommodations at four outstanding hotels. For more information about the chamber travel program go to www.visaliachamber.org/travel.
