What’s New in the Mid Atlantic States for Tour Groups?
PENNSYLVANIA
Fifty years ago, group tour passengers could ride the rails in high style. Now, a group in Northeastern Pennsylvania is recreating the experience of boarding a train to be an occasion, an experience as alluring as, say, boarding the Queen Mary. The non-profit group, Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society, owns two original dining cars and a sleeping car that operated every day through the Pocono Mountains from 1949-1970. They’re busy restoring the cars to their dignified state, circa 1960. Once up and running (projected to be in the summer of ’09,) the train will take up to 64 passengers on a leisurely ride along 65 scenic miles between Scranton, the Poconos and Delaware Water Gap.
[973-331-2739, www.eldcps.org.]
NEW YORK
For unparalleled, 360-degrees views of New York City, many groups soar 70 stories to Top of the Rock, the observation deck of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, an Art Deco skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. First opened to the public in 1933, the historic perch closed in 1986 and opened anew Nov. 1, 2005. The multi-level Top of the Rock features high-tech exhibits, two crystal installations by Swarovski, an indoor viewing area and a 70th-floor, open-air area with transparent safety glass panels. Visibility is about 80 miles on clear days. Panoramas encompass the city’s most prominent landmarks, from the Chrysler Building to the Statue of Liberty and from Central Park to the Hudson and East rivers. Sky shuttle elevators have projections on the glass ceiling showing images from the 1930s to the present. [212-689-2000, www.topoftherocknyc.com.]
The Adirondack Regional Tourism Council is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War through 2010 as part of an effort that started in 2003. In the summer of 2010, there will be a 250th commemoration of what was known as the Amherst Flotilla of 1760. The event is a re-enactment of British forces descending the St. Lawrence River toward Montreal in the final major campaign of the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War. Longboats, whaleboats, bateaux and their crews will undertake the voyage in 1760 dress and encamp 18th century-style, coming to shore in the Thousand Islands, over a one-week period. [800-487-6867, www.visitadirondacks.com]
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Courtesy of leisuregrouptravel.com
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