It was a lovely day! Eating and shopping! Tour guide was very nice

For the most part we enjoyed the trip however, being on the bus for effectively 3 1/2 days to get there and back was not so much fun. We signed up for this trip in mid-April when I knew that my schedule for May would allow some time off and as a result the tour guide had to work with the front desk at every hotel to get us a room because the head office did not update the list after 31 March 2024 that they had sent to the hotels. We had requested a King bed and only got it on the very last hotel night. The food at the Texas Steakhouse in Smithfield, NC was fair. I have gotten much better food at Outback or practically any other steakhouse I have ever been to. The dinner at the Pirates Restaurant in Savannah was rushed and the food was not very good. The best meal was the steamship sunset cruise in Savannah. There was way too much free time in Charleston; I believe one of the local specialists cancelled on us at the last minute and it was too late to find a suitable replacement activity. I would have liked to have gone to Patriots Point to see the Lexington (CV-10) but there was insufficient time and good weather to do that. We did get to tour the Bigelow tea plantation and see how tea is made which I found very interesting since I drink a lot of tea. To be fair, the bus was as comfortable as a tour bus could be. I would have liked the trip better if there was an option to fly into Savannah and then fly home from Charleston and do the tour bus in the two cities. I think we will probably take shorter trips in the future or find day-trip type tours where being on a bus for only 2-3 hours is much more relaxing than driving ourselves. I thought it was a bit of a shame that the tour bus insisted on staying on Interstate 95 through DC which took far more time than getting off onto U.S. 301 and taking that North from Fredericksburg to Baltimore; that way you don't have to cross the Annapolis Bay Bridge. Had I been driving that is the route I would have taken since I drive to Virginia and North Carolina to see family several times a year and know that 95 around DC is usually very slow if it is moving at all.

Lovely day in Lancaster. I was glad to be able to sit back on the bus and relax, rather than drive. Very nice lunch at Shady Maple, and great shopping in that plaza. Kitchen Kettle had nice shops, and many excellent quilt shops. Very nice people on the day trip. I recommend!

Lancaster, PA, my first time going to Amish country and my 2nd trip with Gary. Driver was Darryl and tour guide was Esther. Perfect from start to finish, especially Shady Maple Smorgasbord. Lancaster PA is absolutely beautiful. Enough free time to go exploring on your own, loved all of the very personal attention. Can't wait to book another trip. 5 stars *****

There were positives and some negatives. Daryl was a great bus driver and made the trip feel safe. Al did a good job of organizing everything. The people on the trip were great. The dinner cruise in Savannah was good and the hotel was also conveniently located. The negative was with whoever worked on the itinerary. We were told that the tour in Charleston would go until 5:30 pm. We were back to the hotel by 1:30. The Steak house that was included in the tour was not ready for our group and the food was not good. On the trip home they used the same hotel in North Carolina that we used on the way there. The difference was we were coming from Charleston and arrived in the hotel area very early. Plans needed to be changed last minute for lunch, rest stops and a tour of a museum since it was too early to check in. I feel there were more positives then negatives.