2025 • East Coast Trip
June 2, 2025 to June 9, 2025
For the second straight year, the San Benancio East Coast trip will take place the first week of Summer break. This year, however, we will not have to endure a red-eye flight for the first time since 2019 but we did have to get to the school at 4:00am!
Our flight from San Francisco left in the morning and arrived in Baltimore that evening, so there was only enough time to grab some dinner and then head to the hotel and rest up for a busy week! Our first full day in Washington saw the group visit some of the most famous landmarks in the nation’s capital: the White House, the Capitol Building, and the memorials around the Reflecting Pool. The next day, we visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. While there, we were able to witness the changing of the guard, and it truly brought home that freedom is not free. After visiting Arlington, we had more time than we have had in years to visit the various Smithsonian Museums. Some visited the ones that we visit every year, like American History, Natural History, and the National Museum of Art. However, with the extra time, some were able to visit the National Archives and see the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, while others were able to gain a timed entry and visit the Air and Space Museum. After the museums, we visited the memorials around the Tidal Basin, and then it was time for the dinner dance cruise! It is sad to say, but the other schools completely and totally showed up the San Benancio students on the dance floor. Those kids from Massachusetts knew how to party!
After packing up our hotel in Washington, we got on the bus and started driving in the direction of New York City. Before getting to the Big Apple, however, we made a stop in the City of Brotherly Love to see where it all began! Of course, while in Philadelphia, we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall while also having lunch at the always fantastic Reading Terminal Market. Finally, as is tradition, we had to race up the Rocky Steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am still undefeated! There was one student who came close, but there was no one at the top to see exactly who won, so as an old person, I am going to take the win.
Finally, upon arriving in New York City, we went straight to Lower Manhattan to go to the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere: One World Trade Center! As always, the view from the top was incredible, offering sweeping views of New York Harbor (including Liberty Island) in one direction and Midtown Manhattan in the other. After going to the top of the tower, we ventured over to Little Italy to have dinner at Puglia’s, which was fantastic, as always. The next day, we went to Ellen’s Stardust, which is always fun, and did a quick jaunt around Midtown before heading to our Broadway workshop. This was the first time we had ever done the Broadway workshop, and it was great! Even the boys, who are sometimes a little “too cool for school,” had a fun time. After that, we went on the BEAST speedboat along the Hudson River and towards Liberty Island. As always, it was a lot of fun (even if I did lose my sunglasses). After getting off the boat, all of the San Benancio kids unleashed their inner five-year-old and went running through the splash pad that was right by the dock. Luckily, we were heading right back to the hotel, but I am not sure the bus driver was totally pleased with a bunch of wet kids getting on the bus! After cleaning ourselves up, we went to dinner and then saw Hamilton on Broadway. It was phenomenal, as always, and then everyone had some time to explore Times Square before heading to bed. The next day, we did a quick walking tour of Lower Manhattan, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then got stuck in a torrential downpour waiting for the bus. Of course, there was enough space to wait underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, but some, ahem, chose not to.
Upon leaving New York and heading towards Boston for the first time, we decided to stop in New Haven and visit Yale University on the way. We also had a great BBQ dinner in New Haven before making our way all the way to Boston. While exploring Boston, we took the Duck Boat tour around the city, visited the Tea Party Museum, went on a tour around Fenway Park, went shopping on Newbury Street, and walked part of the Freedom Trail. Needless to say, it was a busy day! Finally, on our last day on the East Coast, we visited Salem, home to the infamous witch trials, and went to see Old North Bridge, where the American colonists notched their first victory over the British regulars at the beginning of the American Revolution. After all of that, it was time to go home! A couple of hours at the airport, 5+ hours on the plane, and then another couple hours on a bus saw us back at San Benancio, thoroughly exhausted after a great week on the East Coast!
