America's Perfect Springtime Destination...

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of American Classic Tour TV. I'm your host, JD Conroy. On today's episode, I'm going to preview my favorite springtime destination in America. But before we get into today's episode, I want to let you know that we are offering a special tour TV discount to you because you're tuning in today. If you sign up for any tour that I preview in today's episode, by the date that's listed on this screen, you'll receive $200 off on your reservation. Discover our nation's beautiful capital city during its most festive time of year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Seeing Washington D.C. covered in cherry blossoms is a sight to behold. Together with our nation's beautiful monuments and memorials, they make for picture-perfect scenes. We'll see the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and more. We'll also take a night-like guided tour of Washington D.C. to see the monuments beautifully lit up. We'll see the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol Building, and more. Some other highlights we'll take in on this tour include a visit to Ford's Theater, the site where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. We'll explore the National Museum of the Bible, a new state-of-the-art museum that explores the history of the Bible and how it has shaped American history. Next, you'll have an entire free day to explore the National Mall and visit any combination of the Smithsonian Museums you'd like. You can choose from the National Museum of History, the Air and Space Museum, or the brand new Museum of African American History, or any combination of Smithsonian Museums. We'll cruise on the Potomac River, and we'll take a guided tour of Mount Vernon, the estate of George Washington, where we'll learn about the life and times of our first president. Now the last time I visited Mount Vernon, I learned this very interesting historical factoid that I wanted to share with all of you. Now when guests would walk into George Washington's home, the first thing that they would see was this key hanging on the wall. Now this key wasn't just any key, it was a very important key. Now many of you are probably familiar with the name Marquis de Lafayette. He was a young French nobleman, and during the time of the American Revolution, he heard about this great fight for freedom, and he was so inspired that he came over to America, joined the American military to fight for the cause of freedom. And he quickly worked his way up the American military and started working personally with George Washington. Washington quickly grew to love the young man, and he became like a son to Washington. Now as many of you know, Washington had no children of his own, so Lafayette was the closest thing George Washington ever had to a son. Now a few years after the American Revolution had ended, there was another revolution that broke out in Lafayette's home country of France. And I guess he hadn't had his fill of revolutions yet, so he went back to his home country to fight in the French Revolution. And after the dust had settled, he got his hands on this key. And again, you're probably asking yourself, okay, what is this key? If you're familiar with the French Revolution, you probably know that it began with the famous storming of the Bastille. The Bastille was an old prison in the middle of Paris. And when its prisoners were let out, that marked the beginning of the French Revolution. And it was this key that opened the Bastille. Lafayette brought the key back to George Washington, and he said, George, you are the patriarch of liberty. You should hold the key to freedom. Now isn't that just fascinating? It's those little factoids that you learn when you travel that really bring history to life. We'll take a guided tour of Arlington National Cemetery, which is beautiful in the spring with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. And the cornerstone, of course, of this itinerary is the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We'll enjoy our nation's premier springtime parade up close. Now one of my favorite things about this tour is our dinner at Philomena's Restaurant. Now as a tour director, I'm really blessed to have eaten at top tier restaurants all across the country as part of my job. And of all these great restaurants I've been to, Philomena's definitely is near the top. It's one of my favorite restaurants in the country. The owner of the restaurant was from a large Italian family. And the restaurant's ambiance was designed to reflect the family dinner she had growing up made by her Italian mother, Philomena. It is just amazing Italian food. You'll have to join us on this tour to try it for yourself. That's our tour to our nation's capital. So there you have it, folks. That's it for today's episode. Remember that if you sign up for any tour that I talked about in today's video by the date listed here on the screen, you'll receive $200 off your reservation. We anticipate that this tour will sell out soon. So if you're interested, don't delay, call 847-548-3333 to make your reservation today. Thanks for tuning in today. We'll see you next time on American Classic Tour TV.