2023066 Inside the Embassies of DC

Day 1

Depart for Washington, DC.

Visit the White house visitors center, security screening is required for entry, bags and purses will be searched. Within the White House Visitors Center, you can watch a 14-minture film that takes you inside the White House and the First Families. Explore nearly 100 artifacts, to include President Lincoln's telegraph key used to communicate with Gen. Grant during Robert E. Lee's surrender, an interactive touchscreen tour of the the White House and gift shop to find the perfect souvenir!Drive by the Washington National Cathedral. In a city of impressive monuments, memorials, and historic sites, the National Cathedral is unique. Standing higher than the Washington Monument, it is the sixth largest church in the world.

Tour the Woodrow Wilson House. The Woodrow Wilson House, a historic landmark, and a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, opened to the public as a museum in 1963. They take the responsibility seriously as stewards of this House. Sharing Wilson's legacy, including WWI, the League of Nations, and his vision for world peace, as we try to learn from regressive policies that institutionalized racism, segregation and the loss and obstruction of civil liberties.

Enjoy dinner included at Texas Jack's Barbecue. A large rustic-modern joint with a woodsy feel. Voted #1 Best BBQ restaurant in Washington D.C. area!

Check-in to your local area hotel.

Day 2

Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning.

Depart for Inside the Embassies! Bring your passport for stamping as you enter each country. Meet your GUIDE and line up at your choice of Dupont area Embassies to beat the lines that occur here later in the day. Discover the secrets and unique cultural traditions inside DC’s Embassies.

Enjoy lunch on own while exploring.

Depart and drive by the Washington National Cathedral. In a city of impressive monuments, memorials, and historic sites, the National Cathedral is unique. Standing higher than the Washington Monument, it is the sixth largest church in the world. This 14th-Century-style Gothic wonder is situated on 57 acres and took 83 years to build. Helen Keller and Woodrow Wilson, the only President buried within Washington, DC, are interred here. It is a living symbol of our country's heritage of faith and religious freedom.

After you will visit the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens. The mansion is the former home of cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and features one of the most comprehensive collections of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Russian Imperial art outside of Russia, as well as an extensive collection of eighteenth-century French decorative arts. Highlights include a diamond crown worn by Empress Alexandra at her marriage to Nicholas II; Beauvais tapestries designed by François Boucher; two Imperial Easter eggs by Carl Fabergé; La Nuit by William-Adolphe Bouguereau; and a collection of costumes and accessories worn by Mrs. Post or her family. The greenhouse and formal gardens are set among 25 acres of wooded hillsides located in the heart of Washington, D.C.

Enjoy dinner included this evening at Ivy City Smokehouse. The Tavern at Ivy City Smokehouse is Ivy City's first neighborhood restaurant. Their dishes are prepared in their open kitchen.

Continue on an Illuminated Monument Driving Tour. Washington’s grand buildings, memorials, and monuments sparkle and are impressive during the day; but in the evenings they are illuminated, soft, focusing the solid stones and bronzes; fountains and water features shimmer in reflection; shadows darken highlighting the floodlit detail. Impressive during the day – stunning at night! Drive by the Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima Statue), the Air Force Memorial, the Washington Monument, the National World War II Memorial, other memorials and monuments as time permits, and drive along Embassy Row.

Return to your hotel for the evening.

Day 3

Prior to checking out, enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning.

Depart for Artechouse and prepared to be dazzled by their Spring Show! With a mission to inspire, educate, and empower the creation of new, experiential and exploratory art form, ARTECHOUSE connects audiences to the arts, and stimulates interest in the limitless possibilities of technology, science and creativity.
Depart for The Mansion on O Street, check out over 100 uniquely-themed rooms and 70 secret doors. Your tour includes an introduction and Q&A about the Mansion, followed by a self-guided journey.

Enjoy lunch on own in Penn Quarter -OR- inside the National Portrait Gallery.

Visit Shops of Penn Quarter -OR- the National Portrait Gallery, housed in the magnificent “Old Patent Office Building,” this museum features a unique collection of portraits of famous Americans from the worlds of politics, sports, literature and stage and screen. The Gallery includes the Hall of Presidents, which has several official portraits of United States Presidents.

Depart for home.

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner