Still unable to find tour groups for WWII memorial dedication.
 

I have come up empty in trying to find a travel group for people who are going the the WWII war memorial dedication in D.C. on the Memorial Day weekend. My parents want to travel by bus or air with a group leaving from Minneapolis or Fargo. If you know of any specific tours, travel agencies, or web sites I would appreciate it.

jor, have you contacted the Washington DC Chamber of Commerce or Convention & Visitors Bureau?

Also try local VFWs and other similar organizations.

Post if you find any info as my father would probably like to attend.

jor and go travel, I too am looking for some more info about the Ceremony. I want to fly to Pa and drive my parents to DC. I feel I MUST take them, yes? My father gave to the campaign to build it and I know he wants to go. I am sure it will be a madhouse! Judy

I just stayed at the Ritz Carlton Pentagon City and someone on the staff mentioned that they have blocked much of their inventory for groups during that time.
Possibly someone in sales would be kind enough to give you some info...?

I'm not sure if this will help, but here I go.

In my local Sunday paper was an ad from Holiday Tours, www.holidaytoursinc.com, 1-800-733-9011 and one of their trips was for the WWII dedication.

I don't know if it's a local only travel agent or national agency, but I would check it out.

jor-I did a google search and came up with a tour out of Kansas. I plugged in World War 2 Memorial Dedication. You might want to try doing a similar search on google or dogpile.

I also found this link to the Memorial.
wwiimemorial.com. They have a registry for veteran's who were honored for service. I just registered my father who was a POW and recipient of the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart.

The WWII memorial is still a muddy mess, along 17th Street, across from the hill that rises up to the Wash. Monument. Your best bet is to use the Smithsonian Metro Station, and walk (20 minutes) to the location. What is still not clear is why they had to chop down dozens of trees and site this 7.5 acre extravaganza in the midst of the Mall where it can interfere with the sightline between Lincoln and Capitol.

the toll free number for information regarding the memorial is 1-800-639-4992

According to the offical web site, tickets are no longer available to the public.216.115.242.52/wwii

Melissa

ALso, if you are going, check for hotel rooms Now

Did you call Neal at Carlson Wagon Lit? They have block rooms set aside, admission tickets, airline discounts..the entire package.His company is handling the WWII memorial worldwide.

Neal at 800-355-1065 x 338

Thank you for your help I will be checking into all of your suggestions. I just got my parents on the waiting list for dedication tickets...which I didn't know they needed.
buckeyemom, I hope you got your Dad's name on the list in time to be inscribed on the memorial.

I don't know about the rest of you but its hard to plan this kind of thing when your parents don't understand that you can't just plan the trip at the last minute. If planning a trip for myself was this difficult I would never go on a vacation!

And aprilluv, sorry that the memorial might interfere with your sightline being obstructed. Maybe it should be. Get my drift? BTW I am a degreed professional Landscape Architect and City Planner who believes that the WWII Memorial is an excellent plan and design.

IMHO, the Monument is long overdue.

There is a waiting list for tickets. If anyone has any relatives who were in the Battle of the Bulge, they may have hotel rooms and/or tickets available. Here is their website: www.battleofthebulge.org.

jor-Have you tried AAA? Another idea is to email the travel editor of either newspaper and ask if they have any info.