A peek at pre-season holiday preparations! Our first stop is Kohl's Stony Hill Tree Farm in Milton for a wonderful behind-the-scenes peek at a Christmas tree farm in action during the "off season."

We'll learn how Christmas trees are raised from planting to harvest, about different kinds of trees and why the farm owners have chosen specific types to raise. We'll also see how live wreaths are made, enjoy the owner's tree stand collection and browse among a vast selection of ornaments displayed on decorated trees.

Then it's on to lunch at Mulberry's Restaurant in historic Danville where the choices will be:

• opened-face turkey sandwich with gravy,
• grilled turkey sandwich with cranberry or
• hot ham and cheese sandwich.

Also included, tossed green salad, non-alcoholic beverage and apple pie (please indicate lunch selection when making your reservations).

The next stop is the Ribbon & Bow Outlet in Berwick, a true outlet offering wonderful savings. Everyone will receive a bag which can be filled with ribbons and bows at NO ADDITIONAL COST! We'll have some fun as a few of the trip participants will engage in a gift wrapping contest to see who can wrap oddly shaped items with the greatest finesse and style! And we'll get a lesson in tying a bow so we'll be experts when we get home.

Then it's on to the Rolling Hills Red Deer Farm in Catawissa where we'll learn about Red Deer during a hayride into the farms' rolling fields. The tour also includes a chance to feed the animals plus visit the small on-site gift shop.

COST: $100. Includes coach, breakfast snack, tours/admissions, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

Eastern State Penitentiary and Shofuso Japanese House & Garden, Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 7:30 am - 6:00 pm

At 10 am we'll get a guided tour of this National Historic Landmark. This was the world's first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence -or true regret - in the hearts of criminals. The original seven cellblocks spread like the spokes of a wheel, and had running water and central heat before the White House. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells held many of America's most notorious criminals, including bank robber "Slick Willie" Sutton and "Scarface" Al Capone. The prison stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and surprising, eerie beauty.

Jack's Firehouse Restaurant will be the location for our lunch. The restaurant is situated in a 19th century firehouse in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia. Much of the original mahogany interior, wood plank floors and even the brass fire pole remain intact.

Lunch choices are:

• Southern style pulled pork sandwich,
• cheeseburger,
• smoked chicken salad with buttermilk dressing, or
• vegetarian pasta (please indicate selection when making reservations).

All lunches will include a mixed green salad, beverage, and chocolate chip pecan cookies.

Before heading home we'll stop at Shofuso Japanese House and Garden for a guided tour. A primary goal of Japanese garden design is to unify dwelling and landscape, something Shofuso (pine breeze villa) does exceptionally well. The house was handcrafted in Japan in 1953 by Heizaemon Ito, a 13th generation carpenter. The garden's stones were collected from mountains in Japan and wrapped for shipping to preserve the moss growing on them. During a 2007 restoration, artist Hiroshi Senju painted murals of waterfalls on sliding partitions within the house, using traditional materials in a modernist style. We'll also get a lesson in origami during our visit.

We'll depart at approximately 4:30 pm for our trip home.

COST: $100. Includes coach, breakfast snack, tours/admissions, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

A southern experience not offered to the general public is what is in store for trip participants. Just south of Washington, DC a new winery has opened its doors. Potomac Point Winery looks and feels like it belongs in Italy. Here visitors will enjoy an extensive wine and oil tasting along with a special cooking demonstration. Continuing south into Fredericksburg there will be free time to visit the unique shops and to stop for lunch on your own.

Next is a tour of Ferry Farm, George Washington's boyhood home. Recently the site has discovered the actual placement of the house. Be one of the first to learn what else has been discovered and to be invited into the Archeological Lab to see some of the artifacts not on display. The Curator will be waiting for the group at the Fredericksburg Area Museum to take a unique tour of their new facility.

Complete the day with dinner along the beautiful Rappahannock River at Tru Luv Restaurant, where the choices are:

• crab cake, prime rib, or
• fettuccini Alfredo with chicken (please indicate choice when making reservations).

We'll depart for home after dinner at approximately 6:15 pm.

COST: $175. Includes coach, breakfast snack, wine tasting, tours/admissions, dinner, gratuities, and escort.

See this smash hit musical, based on the hit film and featuring a score by Elton John! Billy Elliot is nominated for 15 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography! Billy Elliott is a funny, heart-warming and feel-good celebration of one young boy's dream in a gripping tale of triumph over adversity. Based on the enormously popular film, this powerful new musical is the story of a boy who discovers he has a special talent for dance, while the boys all around him are more interested in boxing. The play reunites the team behind the award-winning 2000 film - director Stephen Daldry, writer Lee Hall and choreographer Peter Darling - and adds to that the musical mastery of Sir Elton John, to turn the highly acclaimed film into an all-singing, all-dancing stage spectacular.

As usual we arrive in the Big Apple in time for lunch, shopping or sightseeing before the 2:00 pm matinee at the Imperial Theatre.

After the play there will be time to grab a bite to eat before the coach departs NYC at 5:45 pm.

Orchestra seats

COST: $190. Includes coach, breakfast snack, tickets, gratuities, and escort.

Here we go again! How did four blue-collar kids become one of the greatest successes in pop music history? Have we got a story for you! Follow the rags-to-rock-to-riches tale of four blue-collar kids working their way from the streets of Newark to the heights of stardom, featuring such hits as "Sherry,"‚ "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Oh, What a Night" and more. Winner of Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Lighting Design. The music and lyrics are by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe.

We'll arrive in New York in time for shopping, sightseeing and/or lunch before our 2:00 pm matinee at the August Wilson Theatre.

After the show, there'll be time to shop or grab a deli sandwich for the ride home before the 5:45 pm coach departure.

Orchestra seats

COST: $180. - same price as 2007! Includes coach, breakfast snack, ticket, gratuities, and escort.

A day full of Maryland history! We'll meet our guide at St. Clement's Island Museum to trace the area's history through exhibits, which highlight the plan of the Calvert family to find a land that would be founded on the idea of religious tolerance. The museum rests on the east shore of the Potomac River overlooking St. Clement's Island - Maryland's First Colonial Landing in 1634. The Museum's mission concentrates on Maryland's earliest history and Potomac River heritage.

We'll travel to Leonardtown for lunch at the Cafe des Artistes, a French restaurant on the square. Lunch choices are:

• croquet monsieur (their signature hot ham & Swiss with a bechamel topping);
• French onion tart (puffed pastry with caramelized onions, pancetta & mozzarella);
• chicken & vegetable crepes (topped with cheese);
• quiche Lorraine (classic quiche with ham, bacon & Swiss);
• or chicken parmesan croissant (panko encrusted breast topped with provolone and marinara sauce).

Each choice will be served with salad, chef's choice for dessert and non-alcoholic beverage (please indicate your selection when making reservations).

After lunch we hope there will be some free time to visit some of the unique shops on the square. We then leave for Historic St. Mary's City, site of the first English settlement in Maryland and the beginning of the church in America. We'll be able to view the 17th century Chapel that has been under reconstruction for several years and opened to visitors in September, 2009.

We'll visit the State House and see a replica of The Dove, the early vessel that carried the first colonists from England with enough time to visit the HSMC Gift Shop and the Visitor's Center to see the displays and watch a video before our departure at 4:30 pm.

COST: $100. Includes coach, breakfast snack, guide, tours/admissions, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

This is one of our most popular trips and we haven't visited in almost 3 years! Since opening in the fall of 1997, QVC Studio Park in West Chester, PA, has become a popular destination for thousands of visitors interested in seeing live television at its best.

The QVC Studio Tour is a one-of-a-kind guided walking tour through the fantastic world of electronic retailing. At this state-of-the-art broadcasting facility, visitors will see and experience how QVC products are sourced, tested, brought to life on air, and delivered to millions of QVC customers. There are views into the studio throughout the tour, including a spectacular view from the observation deck. Standing 50 feet above the 20,000-square-foot broadcast area, guests can watch QVC programs in progress and may even catch a glimpse of a favorite host or guest!

After the tour, we'll have time to visit the Studio Park Shop before the 1:30 luncheon buffet at the beautiful Desmond Great Valley Hotel and Conference Center.

At approximately 2:45 pm we'll depart for home.

COST: $80. Includes coach, tour/admission, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Its collections include more than two million works of art spanning 5,000 years of world culture, from prehistory to the present and from every part of the globe. The museum was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens - businessmen and financiers as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day - who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. In 1880, the Metropolitan Museum moved to its current site in central Park.

The original Gothic-Revival-style building has been greatly expanded in size since then, and the various additions (built as early as 1888) now completely surround the original structure. The present facade and entrance structures along Fifth Avenue were completed in 1926. The Museum's two-million-square-foot building has vast holdings that represent a series of collections, each of which ranks in its category among the finest in the world.

We'll enjoy a highlights tour and then have plenty of time to explore and to have lunch on our own before we depart at 3:00 pm.

COST: $85. Includes coach, breakfast snack, tour and guides, gratuities, and escort.

Join us to commemorate the sesquicentennial (150 years) anniversary of John Brown's Raid. At eight o'clock on Sunday evening, October 16, 1859, abolitionist John brown led a party of 21 men into the town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, where they captured the lone night watchman and cut the town's telegraph lines. Encountering no resistance, Brown's men seized the federal arsenal, an armory, and a rifle works.

We'll meet a local guide at the Harper's Ferry Visitors Center and take a shuttle to town for a tour including history and, of course, John Brown's Raid. We'll enjoy some free time in town and lunch on our own before departing for a guided tour of Charles Town where John Brown was hung on December 2, 1859.

We'll stop at Brewers Alley in Frederick for dinner on the way home. Choices for dinner are:

• bistro steak,
• salmon, or
• chicken parmesan (please indicate choice when making reservations).

COST: $140. Includes coach, tours/guide, dinner, gratuities, and escort.

Ladies, this is a great trip to bring along the "boys" in your life. Visit the Harley-Davidson Factory in York to see how these famous "hogs" are made and enjoy a guided tour of the facility (no children under 12). The guides are usually retired employees and are super knowledgeable about the whole plant. There's also a great gift shop.

Next stop is the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg for a site tour and lunch. Lunch choices are:

• pulled pork BBQ sandwich (served with chips and coleslaw),
• grilled chicken sandwich (served with chips and coleslaw),
• cheeseburger (served with French fries and coleslaw), 9-piece wing sampler (served with blue cheese and celery), or
• personal pepperoni pizza (please indicate choice when making reservations).

All choices include non-alcoholic beverage and apple pie for dessert. Of course, you can try some of their brews at your own expense.

We'll find the "hemis" at the Automobile Club of America in Hershey. This site, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute, displays vintage automobiles plus is home to the Museum of Bus Transportation housing a dozen buses from the days of crank starts and wicker seats to full-sized motor coaches complete with uniformed hostesses. A highlight of the display is the bus used in the movie Forest Gump.

We'll board our own modern coach and head home at approximately 3:30 pm.

COST: $85. Includes coach, tours/admissions, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

Enjoy a wonderful visit to the Victoria House Restaurant, a 19th-century showpiece, in Lewisburg, PA.

There we'll be treated to a Victorian-inspired brunch featuring juice, fresh fruit, chicken champagne crepes and the restaurant's popular country smoked ham breakfast bake. Also included will be assorted fresh muffins, sponge cake and coffee/tea. As a special treat there will be a chef demo on how to create and serve crepes.

Next, we'll visit the Country Farm & Home in Mifflinburg where staff will demonstrate how to create a living wreath with time for browsing the site's garden offerings and indoor decor items.

We'll finish the day with a visit to Shade Mountain Winery in the Penns Creek area for an introduction into the local wine industry plus tasting with cheese and crackers.

With our tummies full and great "tricks" to take with us, we'll depart for home at approximately 3:15 pm.

COST: $90. Includes coach, brunch, tours/admissions/demos, wine-tasting, gratuities, and escort.

A food tasting adventure into the past, present and future! Explore two old industrial areas that are evolving into the hottest new destinations in New York City. Taste delicious specialties from seven food shops during the tour including Amy's Breads, Ronny Brook Milk Bar, Sarabeth's Bakery, Lobster Place, Buon Italia, Chelsea Market Baskets, and Eleni's.

The "New" Meatpacking District is an old industrial area in the Far West Village that is transforming rapidly into an area for ethnic restaurants, boutiques, art galleries, night spots, and cutting edge hotels. Find out how this neighborhood is coping with change while seeing it happen right before your eyes.

Chelsea Market is an enormous wholesale/retail complex that takes up an entire city block. As we stroll through we will learn about its history, view original artwork and granite sculptors from local New York artists, and learn how it became the ultimate indoor food paradise. Chelsea Market is also the home of Food Network, so maybe we'll see one of the stars during our visit!

After the tour there will be free time to revisit your favorite shops and make purchases to bring home. This is a three-hour walking tour with one hour being outside.

COST: $110. Includes coach, breakfast snack, tours/guides, all samples, gratuities, and escort.

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the world famous Radio City Rockettes is an unparalleled show featuring the Rockettes signature eye-high kicks, and precision choreography in multiple show stopping numbers including: the legendary "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," and "New York at Christmas," a dynamic holiday celebration. You'll be delighted as Santa flies high above the crowd and touched as the true meaning of Christmas is brought to life in the awe-inspiring "Living Nativity."

You don't want to miss the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which has dazzled and inspired over 65 million people for more than 75 years and continues to create memories that last a lifetime!

Arrive in New York in time for sightseeing and/or lunch before our 2:00 pm matinee. After the show there will be some time to shop or grab a deli sandwich for the ride home before the 5:45 pm coach departure.

We are very pleased that we can offer this trip for the same price as last year.

Front Mezzanine seats

COST: $120. Includes coach, breakfast snack, ticket, gratuities, and escort.

It's sure to be a popular trip, so call 443-840-1717 for additional information.

The classic holiday story based on Irving Berlin's beloved film, White Christmas tells the story of two showbiz buddies who put on a show in a picturesque Vermont Inn and end up finding their perfect mates. The score features beloved songs "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," "Sisters," "How Deep is the Ocean" and the ageless title tune.

Cost: $185

The St. Alban's School Christmas House Tour and Bazaar is a holiday tradition for many! Once again we'll have the opportunity to tour four or five homes, selected from various neighborhoods in and around DC. Each house is rich in style and decor that is sure to delight all. Leading floral designers will decorate each home for the season and live holiday music will be provided by students from St. Albans and the National Cathedral Schools. Free shuttle buses are provided. More than 40 vendors will sell unique items at the bazaar a great place to pick up some unusual holiday gifts.

Lunch is included, consisting of several hot entrees, soup, salad and delicious desserts.

There will also be time to visit the National Cathedral and Herb Shop before we board the coach at 3 pm for our return trip.

************This trip sells out every year, so book early.***********

COST: $95. Includes coach, house tours, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

In 1906, Pierre S. du Pont purchased the Peirce Arboretum to save its trees from being cut for lumber. Over the next nearly half century, Mr. du Pont developed Longwood Gardens into what it is today, a magnificent horticultural showplace.

After a brief stop at the Visitors Center, we'll proceed to The Terrace Restaurant to enjoy a delicious Yuletide Buffet luncheon consisting of Seasonal salads, hot soup, three hot entrees featuring carved roast beef, vegetable, potato or rice, fresh baked rolls, an assortment of holiday desserts, coffee or tea.

Then it's off to explore the gardens at our own pace. Christmas sparkles at Longwood, blending all the ingredients for a memorable holiday celebration exquisite decorations, spectacular lights, festive music, and colorful displays within one fantastical garden. Thousands of brilliant poinsettias, lavishly decorated trees and wreaths, and fragrant flowers flourish inside the heated Conservatory, while daily "dancing" fountain shows and evening light displays heighten the holiday splendor.

At 6:00 pm we'll depart for home.

COST: $100. Includes coach, admission, lunch, gratuities, and escort.

A great day to start . . . or finish your holiday shopping! Enjoy a day doing whatever your heart desires - sightseeing, museums, shopping, or a matinee. Drop off and pick up will be in the theatre district. Maps and a restaurant list will be distributed on the coach.

The group departs NYC at 6:30 pm.

*******This trip will depart from and return to Perry Hall High School.********

COST: $55. Includes coach, breakfast snack, gratuities, and escort.

Soldiers. Charioteers. Archers. Musicians. Generals. Acrobats. Nearly 2,000 years ago, thousands of life-size clay figures were buried in massive underground pits to accompany China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, into the afterlife. Their discovery outside the city of Xi'an in 1974 is one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century. Now, you can stand face-to-face with these terra cotta warriors.

The National Geographic Museum is hosting Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor, an exhibition featuring treasures from the tomb complex including 15 life-size figures, weapons, armor, coins, and more. Don't miss this chance to see the largest collection of significant artifacts from China ever to travel to the United States.

This is a self-guided tour so you can spend as much time as you like in this exhibit or explore other areas of the museum until our departure time of 1:00.

We'll then travel the short distance to Union Station where we'll have some time to grab a bite to eat and explore the unique shops within the station.

COST: $50. Includes coach, admission to exhibit, gratuities, and escort.

*** An additional bus has been added for this trip***

California's Wine Country - San Francisco, Napa, and Sonoma Valley
October 8 - 14, 2010

• Golden Gate Bridge
• Fisherman's Wharf
• Muir Woods
• Napa & Sonoma Valleys
• Viansa Winery & Marketplace
• Napa Valley Wine Train
• Korbel
• Bodega Bay
• Glen Ellen

COST: $3149/double
$3749/single

$100 non-refundable deposit due by February 8, 2010.

This trip is limited to 24 people so get your deposit in ASAP.
Call for complete itinerary and reservation forms, 443-840-1717.