Seaports & Spaceports
Distant Heavens and The Deep Blue Sea
13 Days | Year Round
Starting At $Flexible Pricing
This 13 day itinerary explores the Distant Heavens and Deep Blue Sea. You will learn of man’s efforts to conquer both, while discovering his impact on Nature. This may be the ultimate Educational Tour, whether you’re planning an extended student tour or a you’re retiree re-discovering life – there are lessons and learning, laughter and merriment here for everyone.
Highlights
Space Exploration
Nautical Adventures
Historic Sites
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Naturalist Activities
Plus a little fun with
And more
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U S Tours Flexible Pricing:
- Customizable Comps
- Commissionable or Net Rates
- Luxury or First Class Hotels & Meals
- Motorcoach Transportation & Professional Tours Managers are available
Whatever you want, US Tours will be happy to structure tour prices to match your needs. Just let us know!
Itinerary
Day 1 – Orlando
Arrive in Orlando, FL today. Then check into your hotel for a three night stay. Dinner is on own this evening.
Day 2 – Full Day at Disney
Today, you will enjoy a full day at Disney where you will have a Two Day Disney World Park Hopper Pass. The pass is good at the following parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney Animal Park, MGM Studios and Water Fun World. You will also have a Disney Food Card for use this evening for dinner. (B,D)
Day 3 – Another Day at Disney
Today will be another day at Disney to use your Park Hopper Pass. Lunch and dinner are at your leisure in Disney World. (B)
Day 4 – Kennedy Space Center – Daytona Beach
Depart Orlando this morning and head to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Here you get the unique chance to tour – up close – NASA’s launch and landing facilities, experience interactive simulators, enjoy live shows and have jaw-dropping encounters with massive rockets. Your Kennedy Space Center admission includes IMAX® space films, all exhibits and shows, the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Then continue travel to Daytona Beach for an overnight stay. You will also have time to enjoy the beach. Dinner tonight is included at a local restaurant. (B,D)
Day 5 – St Augustine Pirate Ship – Jekyll Island – Georgia Sea Turtles
Stop in St. Augustine this morning and set sail on the Pirate Ship Black Raven. It’s a chance to learn of the History, Mystery, Magic and Mayhem long attributed to Pirates. You’ll sing along, help with sails, and participate in an entertaining and interactive show with a Pirate Crew that are actually professional actors.
Then travel to Jekyll Island and take a Nature Walk on the Beach with a naturalist. On this narrated tour, learn about the coastal eco-system, maritime forest and more.
Next, visit the Tidelands Nature Center. Learn about many of the native animals on display, including loggerhead sea turtles, snakes, fish, alligators, and crabs and more. Your tour also includes a visit to the new Shark Tank.
You will also visit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. The Center specializes in the rehabilitation of injured Sea Turtles. It offers an interactive Exhibit Gallery and Rehabilitation Pavilion with a number of viewable sea turtle patients.
Check into your Jekyll Island hotel for an overnight stay. Dinner tonight is included at a local restaurant. (B,D)
Day 6 – Savannah – Pirate House – Charleston
This morning you will travel to Savannah and visit the Ships of Seas Maritime Museum. The largest gardens in Historic Savannah are the setting for a museum celebrating the maritime history of Savannah, Georgia. The museum features nine galleries of ship models, maritime paintings and artifacts. The collection of models includes, colonial vessels, ironclads, ocean-going steamers, and modern navy ships.
Next, enjoy lunch at the Pirate House. Since 1753, The Pirate’s House has been welcoming visitors to Savannah with a bounty of delicious food and drink and rousing good times. Situated a scant block from the Savannah River, The Pirate’s House first opened as an inn for seafarers, and fast became a rendezvous for blood-thirsty pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas. Here seamen drank their grog and discoursed, sailor fashion, on their exotic high seas adventures from Singapore to Bombay and from London to Port Said.
Then you will have free time this afternoon on River Street, a glittering, multi-faceted gem along the broad Savannah River. The century old buildings, once cotton warehouses, have been converted to antique shops, distinctive boutiques, spectacular galleries, quaint brew pubs, fabulous restaurants, unique nightspots, elegant inns and hotels. Bustling with welcoming hospitality, it’s also the place to see Savannah from the river that made her by taking a cruise or watching ships from around the globe sail into one of the busiest ports in America.
Late this afternoon, you will travel to Charleston, SC and check into your hotel for an overnight stay. Tonight, enjoy a free evening on own. (B,L)
Day 7 – Boone Hall Plantation – Patriots Point – Myrtle Beach
This morning, tour the Boone Hall Plantation, one of America’s most photographed plantations. Established in 1681, Boone Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places for its significant brick buildings and it contribution to history of the Carolina Lowcountry. Interpreters conduct tours of the 1936 house and nine original brick slave cabins.
Then tour of the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. Tour the USS Yorktown, USS Clamagore, Medal of Honor Museum, Cold War Submarine Memorial and the only Vietnam Support Base Camp in the U.S. Its history you can touch.
This afternoon, travel to Myrtle Beach, SC. Check into your hotel for an overnight stay. A Seafood Dinner buffet is included tonight.
This evening, visit Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach. View thousands of intricately colored fishes from the tropical islands, Pacific Giant Octopus, living corals, green sea turtles, sharks and more. Spend the afternoon at Broadway at the Beach featuring restaurants, shopping, rides, exhibits and other attractions. You may even get to see a Dive Show. Either the Ray Bay Dive: Explore the world of sharks and stingrays while watching stingrays feed out of our diver’s hands or the Rainbow Rock Dive: During this feeding show you will discover the world of coral reefs and the many colorful fish that live there. (B,D)
Day 8 – Virginia Beach
Today, travel to Virginia Beach, VA. Check into your hotel for a two night stay. Dinner tonight is included at a local restaurant. (B,D)
Day 9 – Nauticus – USS Wisconsin – Kayak Tour
This morning, it’s off to Norfolk to visit Nauticus the National Maritime Center, and tour the USS Wisconsin, the largest battleship ever built by the Navy. You’ll discover how it earned it’s five battle stars during WWII.
Then tour the U.S. Navy Base at Norfolk. It is home to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and is the world’s largest naval installation. You may see Aricraft Carriers, Destroyers and submarines.
This afternoon, enjoy a Kayak Nature Tour of First Landing State Park. Launch from a beautiful beach shaded by Maritime Forest deep in the Park. We paddle above the sand flats of Broad Bay which are the Southeast border of the Park. We often see Egrets, Heron’s, Red Winged Black Birds Oprey and occasionally one of the nesting pair of Bald Eagles. Dolphins can sometimes be seen. (B)
Day 10 – NASA Wallops Center – Chincoteague Horses
Whether you are driving north or south, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel showcases the mighty surge of the Atlantic Ocean, the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay, and the soaring grace of an engineering marvel. Both a tourist attraction and a travel convenience, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connects Virginia’s Eastern Shore with the Virginia mainland at Virginia Beach near Norfolk.
Today, stop at the NASA Wallops Visitor Center is the place to explore the past, present, and future of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The Visitor Center offers many great exhibits as testimony to the amazing things done at Wallops in addition to serving as a prime viewing location for rocket launches!
Then head to Chincoteague Island for a sightseeing tour were naturalists discuss the wildlife and where you have a chance to enjoy a wild pony pontoon boat cruise. Then continue travel to Ocean City, MD for an overnight stay. Dinner is on own this evening. (B)
Day 11 – Washington DC – Air & Space Museum – Illuminated Monuments Tour
Travel to Washington, DC this morning. On arrival, enjoy a narrated tour of Washington, DC. You will see all the famous sights surrounding the National Mall including the White House, U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and Union Station.
Then visit the Smithsonian Museum of Air & Space. Among the items on display are the Wright Brothers’ 1903 “Wright Flyer,” and Aviator Charles Lindburg’s “Spirit of Saint Louis.” The museum also features the Albert Einstein Planetarium and the Samuel P. Langley IMAX Theater. Check into your Washington DC area hotel for a two night stay.
Dinner tonight is included at a local restaurant. Evening Illuminated tour of the famous Monuments and War Memorials to include: Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. (B,D)
Day 12 -Udvar Hazy – Spy Museum – Museum of Natural History
You spend this entire morning at Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Center. Here you see a variety of planes including a Space Shuttle. You also have a ride in a Flight Simulator and a Classroom Lesson by an Aeronautical Engineer.
Then visit the International Spy Museum, the only public museum in the world dedicated to the tradecraft, history and contemporary role of espionage. It also displays the world’s largest public collection spy artifacts.
The afternoon also features a visit to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. It houses the world’s most extensive collection of natural history specimens and human artifacts including the remains of dinosaurs and tools used by early man. Dinner tonight is included at the Hard Rock Cafe. (B,D)
Day 13 – Departure
Depart for home this morning. (B)