Take a walking tour through the humming streets of New York’s Midtown which is the home of famous sights such as Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Madison Square Garden and some of the city’s most revered museums and institutions.

The Empire State Building rises over the Manhattan skyline like a throne. Admire its Art Deco curves up close as you ascend a quarter of a mile skyward to get New York's best aerial view. From the top, you'll see the Monopoly-board patchwork of skyscrapers, hotels, apartments, and parks that make up the city. Note that the tallest buildings cluster in Midtown—this section of the island has the strongest foundations, making it the only area where skyscrapers won't sink into the harbor.

Take in the famous New York City skyline as you sail past the Statue of Liberty from the comfort of your cruise boat.

Tour Lower Manhattan, where industry, immigration, and colonial history converge. As the symbol of Western capitalism, Wall Street's modern traders bristle with cell phones, PDAs, and other modern tech accessories. This area's original traders, however, were Dutch colonialists, who gave the street its name by building a wall here to protect themselves from British settlers. Nearby Trinity Church, once the tallest building in the city, holds the grave of Alexander Hamilton and other Revolutionary luminaries who helped shape the emerging United States, and thousands of immigrants, who shaped the modern country, came in through Battery Park, the immigration entry point for the city until the operation moved to Ellis Island.

Visit the National 9/11 Memorial which spans across eight of the sixteen acres at the World Trade Center. The memorial honors the lives and memories of those who were lost on 9/11. The Memorial's twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood.

Visit Federal Hall, the site of George Washington’s inauguration, at 26 Wall Street on the balcony of the original Federal Hall, the first Capitol of the newly independent country.

Monumental achievements and memorable memorials. Join a licensed local guide for a tour of these impressive sights.

Participate in a welcome event with fellow student travelers to celebrate the presidential inauguration.

Created on the former estate of the family of Robert E. Lee’s wife Mary Anna Custis Lee (herself a descendant of Martha Washington), the Arlington National Cemetery contains the remains of more than 245,000 persons, mainly comprised of veterans and military casualties from every military incursion—from the American Revolution to the Iraq War. At the cemetery, make sure to visit the Tomb of Unknowns. Comprised of Yule marble quarried in Colorado, the tomb weighs more than 75 tons. And see the eternal flame that marks the grave of President John F. Kennedy.

George Washington so liked his estate at Mount Vernon that he placed the capital nearby so he didn’t have to move when elected president. Tour his gardens and mansion, where George and Martha lived from 1761 until his death in 1799. Don’t look for any cherry tree stumps in the garden, though—Washington never actually chopped down the tree as a lad. (We hate to ruin the story, but we cannot tell a lie!)

“We do solemnly swear…this will be an experience you’ll never forget!” Be there as a new head of the Executive branch of government is sworn into office. Hear firsthand how the president-elect sets the tone for his or her administration, then stick around for the party…

Choose between visiting the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the American Indian Museum, and the American Art Museum. In a tomb in the Smithsonian Castle lie the remains of John Smithson, an Englishman who left his fortune to the U.S. government in 1829 for the establishment of a museum in his name. (The government was a bit at a loss, given that Smithson had never visited the U.S., had no connections to the U.S., and never told anyone why he was leaving his money to the U.S.) Since then, the Smithsonian Institution has grown into 16 museums, covering everything from art to zoology. See the giant squid and the insect zoo in the National Museum of Natural History, or venture with your Tour Director into the further reaches of this world-class institution.