CTC Kingshurst - New York & Washington DC School Trip Travel Blog - April 2010

On a cold and wet April morning, 58 students and 6 staff from CTC Kingshurst Academy in Birmingham set off to Heathrow for a trip of a life time to New York and Washington DC.

Whilst we were in New York we stopped at the Wolcott Hotel, which is less than 5 minutes walk from the Empire State building. We were only in New York for three days so had a very busy schedule planned.

We visited Time Square, had a meal at Planet Hollywood, visited Ground Zero (a very moving experience - I had never known 58 students so quiet), Central Park, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and had a tour of NBC Studios. We also rode the subway - a lot! One evening went to see the show, STOMP! I would definitely recommend this, as it was hilarious.On the forth day we travelled to Washington DC by coach, where we stopped at the Comfort Inn. On our first night in Washington we went to see an Ice Hockey match between Washington Capitals v Boston Bruins and thankfully we won. What an experience!

During our visit to Washington we had a guided tour and visited US Capitol Building, The White House, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorial, The Mall and the Washington Monument, had a meal at the Hard Rock café, visited the International Spy Museum, the National Zoo and many more places.

On the last evening of the trip the students ‘needed’ some more retail therapy so we spent the afternoon at Pentagon City where there are many shops and restaurants. A few students also wanted to visit the Pentagon, so we jumped on the Metro and visited the Pentagon Memorial, which again, was a very poignant experience.

During our very busy week the students had a fantastic time, we had brilliant weather and saw so many places in two amazing cities. On the last day one student said to me that it was the best thing he had ever experienced and ‘thanks for organising it, sir’. After all the worry and stress of organising such a large trip, that made it all worthwhile.

Written by James Howell – school trip organiser, CTC Kingshurst Academy.