The MATS Tour

I am going on what I refer to as the "killer tour" because it is going to rock! It's through BYU-Idaho and I just can't wait. It's through the Mormon Americal Travel Studies and it starts on August 23rd and it goes until September 18th. We are flying into Williamsburg, VA for our first stop and are going by bus the rest of the way. I'll see all of the church history sites, as well as famous sites in American history and literature. Again...I can't wait. Here is the itinerary:

2007 ITINERARY

23 August, Thursday - Travel from Rexburg to Salt Lake City. Orientation meeting. Visit LDS Church History Museum and Temple Square. Introductory lectures by instructors in the
evening.

24 August, Friday - Fly from Salt Lake City to Richmond, VA. Travel to Williamsburg. College of William and Mary in the evening.

25 August, Saturday - Jamestown Settlement and Jamestown State Park. Faculty lectures in the afternoon. “Cry Witch!” performance in the evening.

26 August, Sunday - Church in Williamsburg in the morning. Yorktown Victory Center and Yorktown National Park in the afternoon. “Capitol Concert” performance in the evening.

27 August, Monday - Time in Colonial Williamsburg all day. Travel to Charlottesville in the evening to visit the University of Virginia campus designed by Thomas Jefferson.

28 August, Tuesday - Tour Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, in the morning. Travel to Manassas battlefield in the afternoon. Travel to Woodbridge, VA.

29 August, Wednesday - Tour Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, in the morning. Washington, DC, monuments and sites in the afternoon. Travel to DC Temple in the evening. Faculty lecture at visitor’s center.

30 August, Thursday - Tour DC area, including museums, galleries, monuments, and Arlington Cemetery. Baltimore Orioles game in the evening. Travel to Frederick, MD.

31 August, Friday - Tour Gettysburg battlefield and cemetery in the morning. Travel to Lancaster, PA and tour Amish country in the afternoon. Travel to King of Prussia, PA.

1 September, Saturday - Travel to Philadelphia. Tour Independence Hall and National Constitution Center in the morning and Edgar Alan Poe House in the afternoon. Travel to East Rutherford, NJ. Broadway musical “Wicked” in the evening.

2 September, Sunday - Ferry ride to Ellis & Liberty Islands in the morning. Travel into Manhattan. Church with the Manhattan Ward in the afternoon. Tour Central Park area in the late afternoon and early evening.

3 September, Monday - Travel to Tarrytown and tour Sunnyside, home of Washington Irving in the morning. Travel to Harford, CT, and tour the home of Mark Twain in the afternoon. Travel to Waltham, MA.

4 September, Tuesday - Visit Lexington Green, Minute Man Museum, and Old North Bridge in the morning. Travel to Cambridge and visit Harvard in the afternoon, then on to Boston Commons and walk Freedom Trail.

5 September, Wednesday - Travel to Concord. Visit Author’s Ridge, the Old Manse, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home in the morning. Hike around Walden Pond in the afternoon (swimming is also an option).

6 September, Thursday - Travel to New Bedford, MA. Visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum in the morning. Travel to Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock and Mayflower. Tour John Adams Historic Site in Quincy in the afternoon.

7 September, Friday - Visit Fruitlands Farm in the morning. Travel to Amherst to visit the Homestead, home of Emily Dickinson in the afternoon. Travel to Lebanon, NH.

8 September, Saturday - Visit the Joseph Smith birthplace in the morning. Travel to and tour the Priesthood Restoration Site near Harmony, PA in the afternoon. Travel to Palmyra, NY.

9 September, Sunday - Visit the Sacred Grove in the early morning. Sacrament meeting in Palmyra. Visit the Smith homes (log and frame). Tour the Hill Cumorah, Grandin Press, and Peter Whitmer farm in the afternoon.

10 September, Monday - Travel to Niagara Falls and take the Maid of the Mist boat ride in the morning. Travel to Kirtland, OH. Lecture by Kirtland historical expert, Karl Anderson, in the evening.

11 September, Tuesday - Tour the rock quarry and Kirtland Temple in the morning. Travel to Hiram and tour the John Johnson Farm in the afternoon. Travel to and tour Historic Kirtland sites. Travel to Columbus, OH.

12 September, Wednesday - Travel to Cincinnati, OH. Tour the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in the morning. Travel to Springfield, IL.

13 September, Thursday - Tour the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in the morning. Travel to and tour Carthage Jail in the afternoon. Travel to Nauvoo, IL.

14 September, Friday - Baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple in the morning. Tour historic Nauvoo in the afternoon. “Rendezvous” performance and lecture at the temple in the evening.

15 September, Saturday - Travel to Hannibal, MO. Faculty lecture near the Mississippi. Travel to Independence, MO. Tour Temple Site, Community of Christ Temple, and Liberty Jail in the afternoon. Travel to Cameron, MO.

16 September, Sunday - Visit Far West in the early morning. Church in Gallatin. Visit Adam-ondi-Ahman. Travel to Omaha, NE. Visit Winter Quarters visitor’s center and cemetery in the afternoon. Travel to Lincoln, NE.

17 September, Monday - Travel to Kearney, NE. Tour the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in the morning. Travel to Little America, WY.

18 September, Tuesday - Travel to Salt Lake City in the morning. Watch the film Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Final banquet in the Presidents’ Room. Travel back to Rexburg.

I am going to be so tired, but I can't wait!