The Petersen House is a three story red brick townhouse located across the street from Ford’s Theatre. After President Lincoln was shot, he was carried to the Petersen House where he was tended to until he died. Last September the National Park Service began a rehabilitation project to repair the exterior and interior of the Petersen House. Work includes the installation of a new climate management system and repairs to the historic windows, castings, doors and shutters. The National Park Service hopes the Petersen House will again be open to visitors by the end of the summer of 2011.

Located in the historic Powerhouse on the west bank of the Flats in Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium will feature 70,000 square feet of aquarium exhibits and related uses. It will also include a approximately 1,000,000 gallons of water and an underwater walk-through experience. The $70 million Greater Cleveland Aquarium is expected to open in the Fall of 2011.

As you may or may not know, a memorial is currently under construction in Washington DC to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Located on the National Mall, the memorial is on a four acre plot on the north-east corner of the Tidal Basin creating a visual “line of leadership” between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. The memorial will honor Dr. Martin Luther King's national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change. The dedication of the memorial will take place on the National Mall at 11:00am on August 28, 2011.

Due to the large volume of visitors to Washington DC annually, many attractions now require that we purchase tickets for their facility and have placed restrictions on the process in which we obtain those tickets.   Some examples of these restrictions are limits to the amount of tickets purchased per call, limits to the amount of available tickets per time slot per day, per ticket convenience fees, and all tickets are now non-refundable.  Not only do these restrictions make the reservation process costly and timely, but it makes changes nearly impossible.  At this time, the Washington Monument, the Permanent Exhibit at the Holocaust Museum, Ford’s Theatre, and Peterson House have joined this trend.  In the past, exceptions were made by these attractions to “squeeze a group in” when they were completely booked.  These exceptions are no longer being made.  We now can only reserve what is available.  We will gladly continue reserving these attractions for your group.  However, we do ask that you keep in mind that there will be an additional charge for the reservations, the reservations are not always available for the date and time that you would prefer, and we will more than likely not be able to make any changes once the reservations are made.

As of November 21, 2008 the National Museum of American History has officially re-opened after being closed for more than a year to complete renovations. The transformation focused on architectural enhamcements to the museum's interior, a state of the art gallery for the Star Spangled Banner, and updating the 42 year old building's infrastructure. The renovation has dramatically transformed the museum and created new ways to present the objects of our nation’s past. Please let us know if you are interested in adding the National Museum of American History to your group’s itinerary.

The United States Capitol Visitor Center is an addition to the United States Capitol which serves as a gathering point for up to 4,000 tourists and an expansion space for the US Congress. The complex contains 580,000 square feet of space below ground on three floors. The visitor center officially opened on December 2, 2008. This date was selected to coincide with the 145th anniversary of placing Thomas Crawford’s Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol Building in 1863, signifying completion of construction of its dome. Visitors to the Capitol Visitor Center’s Exhibition Hall will experience the only exhibition solely dedicated to the Legislative branch of the United States government and the historic building it occupies. The primary purpose of the visitor center is to provide a place for people to wait while waiting for their Capitol Tour. At this time, the Capitol Visitor Center does not charge admission and does not require us to obtain tickets or make a reservation in order to enter the facility. However, all visitors to the Capitol Visitor Center are required to be screened by security before entering. Please keep in mind that in the Spring, the security combined with large numbers of groups waiting for guided tours will certainly result in large crowds and lengthy delays. Please let us know if you would like more information on adding the Capitol Visitors Center to your group’s itinerary.

The Pentagon Memorial was completed in the Fall and dedicated on September 11, 2008. The memorial contains 184 memorial units, each of which are dedicated to an individual victim by its unique placement within the collective field. The field is organized as a timeline of the victims’ ages, moving from the youngest, three-year-old Dana Falkenberg to the oldest, John D. Yamnicky, 71.Each memorial unit is specifically positioned in order to distinguish victims on board American Airlines Flight 77 from the victims within the Pentagon. The memorial units representing the 59 lives lost on American Airlines Flight 77 are positioned so that a visitor to the park will face the sky while reading the name of the victim to whom that unit is dedicated. When standing at a memorial unit dedicated to a victim who was inside the Pentagon, the visitor sees the victim’s name and the Pentagon in the same view. The simple but elegant memorial units are at once a glowing light pool, a cantilevered bench and a place for permanent inscription of each victim’s name. Something to keep in mind when determining if the Pentagon Memorial is a good fit for your group’s itinerary is the amount of time it takes to visit the memorial. The designated motorcoach parking area can only accommodate approximately 3 motorcoaches, is not very close to the memorial, and involves a great deal of security. We have found that the better option is to walk to the memorial from Pentagon City Mall which will take anywhere from 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the group. Overall, you want to make sure that you have approximately 45 minutes to spare in order to visit the memorial.