Washington, D.C. Senior Trip

Before I left New York on my first job as a tour director, I was offered a tour in Washington, D.C. for a small high school senior class trip. The dates coincided with my scheduled DC tour guide test, but after consulting with my Facebook friends, I decided to take the tour and postpone the test. This would give me two more weeks to study, but, more importantly, essential experience to add to my resume.

I was told that the students were from a small school. One of the suggestions I picked up at ITMI was to learn a little about your group before they come so that you can make appropriate comparisons and references, so I went to the school's website. It turns out that "small school" was a little bit of an understatement. The senior class had 16 students; the school is pre-K through 12, with a total of about 150 students with a teacher-student ratio of 1:12. The school board was paying for all of the seniors to participate in the senior trip to Washington, but 6 of them decided the trip would be either too dangerous in light of terrorist threats or was just going to be "uninteresting and dumb." So, there I was at 1:00 a.m. at National Airport picking up the 10 students, school band teacher, and the school nurse. They would end up teaching me almost as much as I taught them.

Eight of the students had never been out of Texas, and the same eight had, obviously, never flown in an airplane. None of the ten had been in a subway or in a taxi; in fact, for at least one young lady, riding the metro turned out to be the highlight of the trip. One young man had already finished boot camp and was off to the army the day after graduation, and two others were heading to the marines. What this taught me was perspective: what is important to me or what I think might be important to students is not necessarily so. A good tour director, like a good teacher, has to know the students: where are they and where do you want to take them? This caused me to make some changes in our itinerary as we started our three-day tour of the nation's capital.

I had already checked into the hotel, a recently renovated but still "classic" hotel not far from Navy Yard. The teacher leader was thrilled that I was ready with the keys, but even though we got to the hotel around 1:30 a.m, the students were more interested in food than sleep. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn't have a late night restaurant or anything close (or safe) within walking distance. I was very glad that the school chose to hire a security guard for each night; I think the students might have tried to sneak out. At my age, if I kept talking to the teacher, I couldn't be my best the next morning, so I excused myself by 2 a.m. (way past my bedtime) and set a couple of alarms just to be sure.

Like the NY trip, we would be traveling by metro for the first two days. But I know the metro (and it is much easier) a lot better than the NY subways, and I was ready to go. Even though I could make my way to each destination easily, I still routed everything ahead of time and included it in my detailed itinerary. This time, after all of the kvetching about walking in New York, I tried to utilize the metro as much as possible; we had all-day passes, so we were good to go. I was "escorting" them the first two days and on the last day we would be joined by a licensed "step-on" guide, but it is hard to escort without guiding. I really need that license!

Forewarned that they could not take anything liquid, including hair spray, we made our way to our visit to the Capitol. We had plenty of time, so we stopped at the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress where I quietly pointed out a few things before going through security in the Visitor's Center and having an early lunch before our timed visit. I thought our tour was a bit short, but I didn't think much of it until the teacher expressed his great disappointment. Unlike his students, he is a lot more worldly and has been to DC several times and knew that we were short-changed. I was reminded that we usually see the Old Senate Chamber, the corncob columns, and a lot more. To make up for this, he decided he was going to take his students into the chambers to see Congress in action. A phone call later, we were scheduled to pick up tickets at the Rayburn for all of the students to visit the house and senate. I would go pick them up during their lunch tomorrow, and we would cancel the scavenget hunt of the Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, when we went back to the Capitol see observe in the galleries the following day, I forgot to remind them about the liquid restriction. They had just shopped in Union Station while I ran to the Rayburn, picked up the tickets, and ran back and had packages filled with shoe spray (for their new shoes), perfume, drinks, etc., so I sat outside watching all of the bags while they went in. As I waited for them, I was amused by how many people tried to "hide" their bags outside the trash bins, but the security officers always caught them! Soon, I had company as well. Lesson: don't forget that you can't take anything liquid into the Capitol, including EMPTY water bottles or coffee mugs!

By the time we were walking back to the metro to make our way to Arlington Cemetery, the kvetching began. Are we really walking? The forecast was for rain, but it was still dry, so we took the Blue line to Arlington, where, unlike DC, I could actually guide without the danger of being arrested. I had previewed the trip, and I was confident in taking the students to the site of JFK's gravesite and the Tomb of the Unknowns. I bagged Arlington House when it took half of the students a long time to walk to the fork in the road: up to Arlington House or down to the Tomb, so down we went. We were at the Tomb of the Unknown not only for the changing of the guard, but also for a wreath-laying ceremony. They got the history of the tomb and an explanation of the symbolism in the ceremony. So, you can imagine my dismay when asked by the tour guide on the last day if they had seen the changing of the guard, and one of the young ladies answered no! Oy!

By this time the rains did come, and we made a quick as possible walk from the metro to dinner at Buca di Beppo for a family style Italian meal with no consensus of whether it was good or not before heading to the obligatory student tourist show: Shear Madness. Although I have seen it at least three times, they do attempt to make it topical (although I was the only one who laughed at the joke about Rockville) and they seemed to have changed the focus to engage the students greatly. The students really got into it, although I was squirming at some of the interruptions.

The trip home was another lesson for me. Since we knew from the night before that there wasn't any food at the hotel, and the students had an early dinner, we agreed to stop on the way back for some snacks. The only place between Navy Yard metro and the hotel was a 7/11. Now, there I was with 10 students, a very large young male teacher, and 10 high school seniors. Although I would never walk alone at night in the same direction, I didn't feel threatened or uncomfortable: that is, until the cashier whispered in my ear, "You know, you are risking your head"! Really! Did he really just say that? There were two policemen in the 7/11 and I thought for a minute about asking one to walk us there. (We had a one block walk). Although I decided against it, I also decided that we would not make the same walk the following night. Hence, all of the students got their first ride in a taxi! They loved it! And, with only 10 students and 3 adults, the less than 2 mile taxi fare was some of the best-spent money. Of course, I called my boss and asked permission first; I was delighted that she said she trusted my decision.

The highlight of the trip for the students was the student cruise on the Spirit of Washington; it was great watching the students have such a good time. I knew that pointing out anything we were passing was worthless, but I did excitedly point out my own place to the two teachers. The students wanted to dance, and dance they did, although we almost missed the boat. Again, walking! Why can't 17 and 18-year olds keep up with a 56-year old out-of-shape woman? The excuse is that no one walks in Texas! In discussing this with other tour guides, I have learned with the exception of students from Colorado and New York, most don't walk.

On the last day, rather than the mini-bus we expected we had a full motor coach with a driver who had not done a city tour in 8 years and his lack of experience took us in many wrong directions, but we managed to see all of the monuments and memorials on our tour with our step-on guide who had just gotten her license and had finished ITMI this past summer. It was frustrating for me because the bus had no mike, the kids were tired, and she was soft-spoken; I wanted to scream the tour out and get the kids more involved. When one young lady didn't want to walk up the steps to see Jefferson, I made her at least walk over with me to take a look up the steps. I did get a few good stories from her, including my favorite for kids -- "Kilroy was here" at the World War II Memorial.



We were just a few hours shy of heading to the airport, and it was obvious that the students had had enough. We made a detour to Iwo Jima, especially for our two young men who had already joined the marines. After making our way to the Old Post Office Pavilion for lunch and a view from the tower, I decided that a trip to the National Archives to see the faded Declaration of Independence would be the last thing the students would want to do. Instead, we gave them extra time to finish their souvenir shopping and headed to the airport a few minutes early. The students were ready to go home.

I am not sure how I knew, but I expected no tip. The students, despite their fatigue and complaining, were extremely happy with the trip and gave me an excellent evaluation. The teacher asked me to work with him again. But I could tell that there was no thought of a tip; we were told at ITMI that most student tours do not tip and that is why the pay is a bit higher for students than adult tours. Someone told me they would guess about 40% of the student tours tip. But I am good; I am happy, and, especially for now, each experience is a learning opportunity for me.

New York: First Tour Escorting

It was my first job as a tour director or tour escort as Capitol MusicFest defines the position: New York City with 20 high school students from a small school in Corpus Christi, Texas. Since I was sitting for the grandkitties in New York a week before the trip, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and scope out the itinerary. As I arrived at the corner of Second Avenue and E. 42nd Street, the sign above the door of this newly renovated hotel was being changed: the Tudor was now the Hilton Manhattan East. Were these students really going to stay at this now upscale hotel? It seems that, in fact, the original reservations were being honored, and I was delighted, especially considering some of the dives I have stayed in with students like the Carter!


On my frequent trips to New York I always shy away from the subway, preferring to spend the money on taxis or using my feet to get around, so a subway trip following the itinerary was in order. The biggest challenge was not finding the right subway or knowing when to get off, but finding the right exit to get where I wanted to go. The entire week of the trip I never seemed to come out of the same exit twice! That makes it a little suspect when you get on to the street with 20 students and have to ask which direction to walk! Again, I found the iPhone my greatest tool; a downloaded app, Hop Stop, literally tells you where to walk, what train to take, all of the stops along the way, where to exit, and how to walk to your destination from there. I mapped out each of the subway rides and added the details to the itinerary. Now I was going to look like I really knew what I was doing!


I was appropriately anxious as the date of the trip neared. I arrived in New York a day early to pick up tickets and check out a few more sites, especially Central Park since I would be taking the students for a walk in the park. I knew what I wanted them to see -- Alice in Wonderland, Imagine, and the angel in front of the lake. I also came upon the Delacorte clock just as it chimed and the animals started to move, and I decided to time our arrival on the hour or half hour. On the day of our tour, when one of the students asked how long the clock "show" was, and I couldn't answer, I started to time it on my handy iPhone. After four minutes, we all decided it was time to move on. Some things that are cool for a minute get tiresome after two. On the day of our trip to the park I couldn't find the bathrooms by the lake; I remembered too late something we learned at ITMI: always scope out the bathrooms! Now I know that they are in the tunnel leading from the mall area to the angel statue.


Anxious not to be late on the day of the students' arrival, I left the hotel early to take two subways, a NJ transit, and the Air Train to LaGuardia. In the end, it was a little too anticipatory, since I had two hours to kill at the airport. When I finally saw the students coming out of the secure area, I relaxed and everything seemed to fit into place. Bags arrived, the bus was right outside the door, and after counting 16 teenagers, three teachers, and a very over-protective father, we were on our way. I couldn't practice my microphone skills that we spent so much time doing at ITMI since there was no mike in this mini-bus, but that also made it easy to talk. Most of the way into the city to start our trip with lunch at Bubba Gumps, a perennial tourist place, we talked about procedures and expectations.

I really loved being with the students. However, I was reminded several times of the importance of patience. The questions were funny. "Do we have to dress for breakfast?" I asked them what they were thinking; I believe they wanted to come down to the Hilton restaurant in their pajamas. "Is the play tonight in the same theater as last night?" Do you think they could strike the set and set up for the next play? Remarkably, I was asked this question at least four times, including by over-protective dad. After taking the S train, the shuttle that goes between Grand Central and Times Square, at least three times, I was still asked, what stop do we get off? And the ultimate question: how far do we have to walk? And then there was Jose, a sweet young man with more of an interest in buying sneakers than seeing the Big Apple. This was the first time anyone called me, "Miss Faye." Often, I would hear "Miss Faye, how many more stops? Miss Faye, do we have to pay for our own dinner? Miss Faye, are we really having breakfast without sausage and eggs?" And always, "Are we really going to walk there?"



That was the mantra of the trip. It seems that outside of the big cities students don't walk very much. By New York standards, we didn't overdo it, but when we walked down Fifth Avenue from Rockefeller Center at 49th to the Empire State Building at 34th, we had to stop at the New York Public Library for a rest stop. I thought they might like to take pictures of the lions; most of the students had seen them come to life in Ghostbusters or destroyed in some end-of-the-world movie, but all they wanted to do was to sit. When the bus picked us up Friday morning and stayed with us throughout the day, we had some very happy students.




I guess I should admit that there was an afternoon of walking: a three and a half hour tour of lower Manhattan with ace tour guide Matt Levy who led the students to Battery Park, the financial district, the World Trade Center site, and over the Brooklyn Bridge. The students loved his light saber leading the way and suggested that I get one of my own. After the walking tour, Matt led the students to Chinatown by subway rather than the planned walk (yes, there were complaining) where they had an hour and a half to shop and eat whereever they wanted in Little Italy or Chinatown. I am afraid to know how many students found the McDonald's. Next time I am going to do a better job leading students to good eating spots.


I loved it. I couldn't believe I was getting paid to see two fabulous Broadway plays -- Wicked and In the Heights as well as one rather mediocre one -- Mary Poppins (even the students didn't really like Mary Poppins). One of the highlights of the trip, both for me and for the students, was a suprise to all of us, including our teacher leader who was taken aback that these students, who have never put on a musical, chose singing and dancing for their Classroom on Broadway. I never heard of this program; a cast member and music director lead the students for 90 minutes, in this case, learning the music and choreography of one verse of a song from the play. The students, who were hesitant at first, did marvelously well singing and dancing to "One Short Day." Jose was our photographer.


I didn't lose any students, although when one room of boys overslept the last morning despite a wake-up call I had put in, they left behind a wallet and a pair of shoes in their haste to get on the bus. I learned that anyone under the age of 18 accompanied by an adult does not need an ID to go through security. We decided that it was a natural consequence for the young man to pay for his wallet and shoes to be shipped back home rather than attempt a ride back to the hotel during lunch. Lunch that day was in the East Village as Dallas BBQ. I thought that it was the best lunch we had with the exception of the "free" time choice meals, but I guess the students had a point that taking Texans to barbecue in New York seems a little silly.


Everyone went home happy, especially the teachers who were able to relax on the escorted trip. Next time I will utilize the teachers more; it would have been easier for each of them to count fice or six students than for me to count 16 each time. The students, despite their whining, were respectful and fun. I truly loved being with them and sharing a city that I love as well. It is said that to be happy in your career find something you love to do and get paid for doing it; I found it!

My First Tour

I prepared: I drove the route I planned three times -- Sunday, Monday night (to get a sense of traffic), and Tuesday morning. I took notes, read more background information, and took the Old Town Trolley Tour Monday. I learned a lot on the Trolley Tour and added to my note cards. Although I wasn't totally confident, I felt that I could handle a three-hour tour for three persons -- grandmother, grandfather, and student on a college tour. I also considered the tour great preparation for my test on April 27th and felt that the experience was more in line with showing my friends and family around town than leading a tour.

Imagine my first surprise when the student, rather than the sophomore or junior I expected, turned out to be a 7th grader! This was his Bar Mitzvah present; I don't know many seventh graders interested in touring colleges. The tour started out well. I picked up the family unit at National Airport where they had dropped off their rental car after a tour of UVA, and we headed to the district. With all of my practice, I was actually able to get around, not an easy thing, especially with my poor sense of direction. It is not a rumor that L'Enfant designed the city in a way to confuse invading armies, including the scores of tourists here for spring break and the cherry blossoms. I had my GPS for back-up.

We went up 14th Street and headed immediately to 10th Street to see Ford's Theater. We were able to stop for a picture before continuing our tour. We did a circle of the Supreme Court, Library of Congress, and around the Capitol with a picture stop as well. I thought that the family might appreciate some water and snacks, so I had stopped and picked some things which turned out to be a good idea. It was hot (90 degrees in DC in April!), and everyone wanted water; Grandpa enjoyed the cheese crackers and grandson had an apple. What surprised me was that none of them seemed to appreciate this gesture; at least, I never heard a thank you.

From the Capitol we made our way to Raoul Wallenberg Place and to the memorials. Grandpa had some difficulty walking and brought along his handicapped sticker which turned out to be very helpful. Parking around the FDR memorial has been removed in preparation of the new Martin Luther King Memorial, but they kept a small area for handicapped parking. We were able to do a full tour of the FDR memorial, one of my favorites and one close to my heart since this was the last place I visited with my mom who passed away a number of years ago. We were also able to stop at the Lincoln and take time to see the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial as well as the Korean Memorial; it was difficult for the grandfather to walk around, so he waited in the car while Grandma and grandson visited.

From there the tour went downhill. I knew from my previous driving runs that I had to turn around to 17th in order to drive into the handicapped parking. What I forgot is that you cannot make the left from Constitution during rush hour. Grandpa said to forget it and just go to the White House, which his grandson wanted to see. There is no place to park at the White House, so I dropped them off at the corner by Decatur House and told them I would be right back after a trip around the corner. Big mistake! Rush hour was particularly bad this evening (I found out later that it took my friend who works in DC two and a half hours to get to Tyson's Corner, more than double the usual rush.) and it took me about 35 minutes to go around the corner. Grandma was not a happy camper. "Why didn't I go the other way around the block? Did I know that traffic was better the other direction? Maybe I should know.

By now they were concerned about getting to the airport. Ironically, although I am usually very anxious about getting to an airport on time, I was somehow confident we would be fine. I promised them to be there at 7:30, and I was determined that I could do that. It was 6:50 when I finally was able to pick them up at the corner on 17th, and we found ourselves in the same traffic mess. I tried to keep up the conversation because I knew everyone was on edge. As we cleared 14th Street and I could see an open road in front of me at 7:25, I knew that we would make it. Drop off at the airport exactly on time, bags taken out of the car, good start, bad end: no tip.

The first tour was certainly a learning experience.

Practice, Learn, and Familiarize

Now that I have my first assignment as a professional tour director on my schedule, the next challenge is to be prepared like any good boy scout (or, in this case, girl scout). Although I have taken my own students on New York theater tours, we always had a motor coach at our disposal; I have never taken students on the subway. However, I have also never had the luxury of a step-on guide for a student tour; the student tour company provides a local, licensed tour. My job is to escort the group around New York, but I still want to be as knowledgeable as I can, so I spent the last two days familiarizing myself with the itinerary.


I started the day by locating the hotel. This proved to be more of a challenge than I thought. It seems in the last day the name of the hotel changed. The hotel was recently renovated and truly elegant, not the usual student hotel, at least on my student tours. When I inquired about the group, the desk manager couldn't find the reservation, but I also didn't know under whose name the reservation was made, so I sent a quick e-mail to the company who confirmed that, indeed, this was our hotel. The students are in for a very pleasant experience. Its location close to the United Nations and not far from Fifth Avenue and Bryant Park add to its charm.

I love to walk. When I don't walk in the city, I take a cab. I never learned the subway system, but it was clear from the itinerary that on at least one of the two days that we do not have a bus, the students are going to need to take the subway: it is just too far to walk. Therefore, my main purpose of running through the itinerary was to make sure I know where to get the subway, which train to take, where to exit the station, and in what direction to walk once we make our way out. I surprised myself and found it easier than I thought. All those wasted dollars on taxis on my past trips!

On day three the students will begin their day with shopping on Fifth Avenue before heading to Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building. I had the sense that the walk from the hotel to shopping would offer a better perspective of the city than a subway ride, so I walked up 42nd Street to Fifth Avenue, discovering (as native New Yorkers already know) the magnificent Bryant Park along the way. Directly in front of Bryant Park is the New York Public Library. Since Project Runway is very popular among high school students, I assume most of them will have heard of Bryant Park. All kids know the lions in front of the New York Public Library from the popular Ghostbusters, so I have decided that a picture stop at the library followed by a few minutes walk around Bryant Park will be a good way to start the morning before letting the students loose on Fifth Avenue.

On the second day, after seeing a production of Wicked, the students are participating in a class with cast members from the show. With an early morning call, I decided the subway will definitely be the best way to go. Notoriously bad at numbers (including remembering as well as adding them), I walked out of the subway and to Eighth Avenue confident that I was looking for 800; by the time I got to 52nd Street and couldn't find an 800 building, I decided to recheck the address. This reinforced the importance of previewing the trip; I should have been looking for 500 -- about 17 blocks away. Better to walk the blocks myself than with 20 high school students!

After locating the building and checking procedures with the security guide, I located the closest subway station right outside the door and headed to the students' next destination: South Street Seaport, a great place to hang out, shop, and take pictures of the great view of the Brooklyn Bridge. At this point in our trip we will be joined by a licensed step-in guide who will take us across the bridge, through the financial district, St. Paul's, and Ground Zero. Our itinerary also says that the student will experience Chinatown and have dinner in Little Italy, so I decided to a familiarize myself with the two adjoining neighborhoods.

Chinatown was a quick walk from South Street Seaport. The second largest Chinatown in the states (San Francisco is the largest) adjoins Little Italy where the students will be enjoying dinner. I learned that the best subway line to get back to Times Square for the group's evening performance was the R at the end of Canal which takes you straight up Broadway where we can walk to our performance of Mary Poppins. I have discovered that my greatest tool for this job is my iPhone! I downloaded the HopStop app, and now all I need to do to get anywhere is put in the location and destination and I am on my way. And, if I ever do get lost, all I need is to click on Google Maps, and I am on my way.

I didn't feel the need to preview the tour to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, or the Empire State Building; I have done all of those previously, and we have a bus to the ferry for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I previously found a walking tour of the theater district on Goldstar that I booked for the next morning; adding to my knowledge is always a good thing. Even though I majored in theater and took a fabulous course on American Musical Theater, that was 35 years ago!

The tour, which started in Times Square and walked us around to the various theaters, was a walking history of American theater using the physical buildings as the focal points. Much of the tour served as a reminder of past history and details learned and much forgotten as well as a new sense of modern theater history. I wish I had thought of taking notes, but with what I picked up and some reading I plan to do in the next week or so, I feel I have a lot more to offer the students. I asked our tour guide, Nathan, for his card; I thought that this might make a nice addition to any tour for high school theater students.

My first professional assignment is in three days: I am taking a family on a private tour of DC for a few hours that they have between a college tour in Virginia and taking off for more from National. I consider it great practice for everything I have learned in preparation for the DC tour guide license test. My second professional assignment is the New York tour, and I am feeling a lot better about that now that I have had a chance to walk through the itinerary. I am also coming up the day before the tour and will have some additional time with the final technical to be sure that someone with a bad sense of direction doesn't take 22 high school students down the wrong street!