Washington DC Trip with Veronica

Someday, I will add commentary and details to the pictures...

A comment on WorldStrides.  In theory, this is an excellent idea, but this type of "educational" trip can always be done cheaper on your own.  A few things to keep in mind:

• You are at the mercy and/or luck of the quality of the guide you get.  Talking to parents who have done this several times, some are great, and some are just good.  Never one who is bad, but your experiences may vary.
• The itinerary and exact places visited are set by the trip leaders with the guide (often a teacher or teachers) and their idea of an itinerary is not necessarily yours.  You cannot break from the group, because if you are a parent who has come along, you are a chaperone of several kids.  As an example, on our trip we spent an entire day at Arlington cemetery, and only 2 hours at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, of which 1 hour was consumed by an IMAX show.  It all depends on your tastes, but some of the time will almost certainly be spent at something you could care little about.
• WorldStrides takes several cost savings measures that can be irritating.  The hotel used on the DC portion of our trip was well out of the city, meaning we spent an hour on the road getting in in the morning, and an hour getting back to the hotel.  During our day excursion to Arlington Cemetery, many other groups were riding around in tram's, while we walked on a very hot day.  That place was hilly to boot.
• You have to chaperone.  Quality of kids can vary - our entire group were all supposed to be "SOAR" students, i.e. academically advanced, etc.  but two brothers brought along as a favor to some parent (and of course the parents were not on the trip) were major troublemakers.  The quality of the group can be a major factor.
• The age ranges of the kids in the entire group varied quite a bit, making for some interaction issues.

Some people really enjoy planned and guided trips, but with a couple of books and some personal planning you can save a lot of money, stay at nicer places, eat better and get more done.