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Day Eight

Our final day of the tour began with another hotel breakfast (how many ways can a Hampton Inn prepare eggs?) followed by turning in our LCC vests and ties and loading our overstuffed suitcases on to the buses for one last time. Following a tradition begun 15 years ago on the final day of the 2007 Vermont Tour, everyone donned their pony tails and braids for LCC Pigtail Day, as led by the 2022 Pigtail Princess, Kelsey. (Our former princess, Shae, was unable to fulfill her duties as Pigtail Princess due to the 2021 tour being postponed, but she was kind enough to hand over the crown and scepter to a new regime.) We then set off for our final adventure of the tour at Cedar Point Amusement Park.

After one last group photo at the entrance, we headed for the famous roller coasters of Cedar Point. The weather was PERFECT (72-77 degrees and not a cloud in the sky) and the park was not as crowded as it might have been on such a beautiful day. Many of us were able to ride multiple roller coasters including the Millennium Force with its 310 foot height and 93 mph speed, the Gatekeeper which soars right over the main entrance, the hybrid metal and wood Steel Vengeance with its incredible airtime (out of the seat), and the Raptor which is suspended from a track. Others who weren’t quite so adventurous tried some of the smaller coasters, Ferris wheel, Cedar Point & Lake Erie train or spent time in the arcade - and, of course, we all found plenty of goodies to eat throughout the day. Unfortunately, three in our group spent a little too much time on the Maverick when it broke down with them on it. For 40 minutes. In the dark. (Terrifying!)

Despite that coaster craziness, we had a fun-filled and memorable final day with choir friends. Before departing we took a few minutes to thank our drivers, Mike & Keith, who have both been with us on multiple LCC trips. They are the best Imperial Travel has to offer and we’re grateful that they were able (and willing!) to drive us once again. After one last snack stop near the Indiana/Ohio border, we loaded the buses one last time and headed for home where our families and friends were waiting to greet us and hear all about our adventures first hand.

It has been an absolutely incredible eight days of history, adventures, food, fun, and song! (And for the first time ever, it didn’t rain a drop for the entire tour!) Thanks to all of the Washington DC tour participants who made this trip such a success. You were a PHENOMENAL group to travel with! Everyone was punctual, courteous, and kept a positive attitude throughout the tour. And the singing was pretty fabulous as well! A special thanks to the chaperones who gave up eight days of their own vacation time to help watch the kids and keep the whole trip running smoothly. And, of course, thanks to our singers who were INCREDIBLE ambassadors for the Logansport community and who sang so beautifully and touched the hearts of all who heard them. You all have a remarkable gift and we are humbled by your willingness to share it.

While this may be our final LCC tour (more on that topic in another blog post in a couple of days), we still have more music to make with all of you during our 35th anniversary season next year, so we’ll look forward to seeing everyone (and all of your souvenir T shirts) in the fall. In the meantime, as we sang on tour, “Keep your music going, flowing from your heart until the day is past and gone. Sing on!”

Thanks again for a wonderful tour!

Tim & Susan

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Day Seven

With a later departure time than previous days, we were able to sleep a bit later and have a leisurely breakfast before starting out on the penultimate day of the tour. Our first stop of the day was at Jennings Retirement Community in Garfield Heights, OH for our final concert of the tour. While Covid restrictions prevented us from interacting with the residents directly, we were still able to present a beautiful performance for a very appreciative audience. (Although given the amount of tears from choir members - and parents - on “Here’s to Song”, we may have to record next year’s spring concert in advance.)

Following our final tour concert, we traveled to downtown Cleveland for our visit to the Great Lakes Science Center. After eating our box lunches, we toured the interactive exhibits in our chaperone groups. The activities ranged from measuring pitching speed to reaction times to balance. There was an entire exhibit devoted to how music is created using various tubes, pipes, and strings. Another exhibit examined the different ways pulleys can be used to lift objects of the same weight and others explored new advances in biomedical technology. An entire section of the museum was sponsored by NASA and devoted to past and future space exploration with exhibits including an Apollo Command Module, artifacts from Ohio astronaut, John Glenn (the first American to orbit the earth), and a giant Mars airbag landing system (and you could get your picture taken in a space suit).

A popular exhibit with LCC members was the giant Lite-Brite board with colorful pegs where several members worked together to illuminate their love for LCC. :)

Following the science center visit, we made our way next door to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Filled with memorabilia from pop music’s biggest stars, we had a chance to see Michael Jackson’s jacket worn in the “Thriller” music video, tour an exhibit about The Beatles filled with artifacts from the band’s infamous years at the top of the charts (including the original lyrics to “In My Life” written in Lennon & McCartney’s own handwriting), view a jacket and notebooks filled with lyrics from Billy Joel, and gawk at So. Many. Clothes. worn by pop music stars from Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin to David Bowie to Taylor Swift & Lady Gaga.

In addition to all the memorabilia, we also had a chance to earn Rock & Roll Hall of Fame stickers by answering questions about our knowledge of African American pop music stars (although our resident radio DJ had an unfair advantage). Along with earning stickers, there was also an exhibit where you could make your own album cover sticker which was a lot of fun. The fourth floor houses the actual Hall of Fame where all the inductees names and signatures are etched in gold.

One of the most popular floors (besides the gift shop on level 1!) was The Garage on level 2. Filled with guitars, electric basses, ukuleles, keyboards, and drum sets, tutorial videos showed museum goers the rudiments of how to play the various instruments, so several members of our group gave it a try. Great music from several decades played throughout all levels of the pyramid-shaped museum to make the experience even more enjoyable. For a bunch of music lovers, this was a great last museum stop on the tour. (And made for a great group shot as we posed on the “Long Live Rock” sign.)

Back on the buses once again, we headed for our tour farewell dinner at Texas de Brazil in Westlake, OH where we had an AMAZING meal. Salads, breads, vegetables, soup, potatoes, rice, fried bananas, and charcuterie items were in (over) abundance at this beautifully decorated restaurant. Meats - chicken, BBQ ribs, sirloin, bacon-wrapped filet mignon, lamb, and more - were served table side on long skewers until we couldn’t possibly eat another bite. Despite that fact, we somehow managed to find room for desserts including carrot cake, crème brûlée, key lime pie, Brazilian cheesecake, and chocolate mousse cake. Luckily, calories don’t count on tour!

Returning to the hotel with (very) full bellies, the rest of the evening was spent playing in the pool, relaxing in our rooms, and making LCC bracelets with friends. What a great way to end tour day seven before heading to the roller coasters and rides at Cedar Point for our final tour day.

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Day Six

After four action packed days in Washington DC it was time to pack up our suitcases (heavier now due to quite a bit of souvenir purchases!) and head back to the Midwest. We loaded the buses, made one last drink purchase at the Starbucks in the lobby, said goodbye to the friendly Marriott staff and headed off to our last DC location: George & Martha Washington’s Mount Vernon home.

Upon arrival, we walked directly to the 12-Acre Field in front of the mansion and gave a performance to Mount Vernon visitors. While we hadn’t seen many youth tour groups at our Washington destinations, Mount Vernon was packed with middle and high school groups, many of whom stopped to listen to a bit of a song and were very complimentary of our performance when we saw these groups as we toured the grounds.

After the concert, we had a chance to explore the estate in chaperone groups, visit the upper & lower gardens, relax in chairs overlooking the Potomac, visit the graves of George & Martha Washington, and tour the very nice museum dedicated to our first President. After a lunch in the food court (with every other tour group), we headed off for our tour of the mansion. Surrounded by trees, some of which were planted by Washington himself, the mansion was not as ornate as Jefferson’s Monticello, but nevertheless, it was amazing to think we were walking in the same space that our Founding Father walked. (Although, we’re not sure about that particular shade of green in the dining room, George.) We also got to see the Washingtons’ bedroom where he died in 1799 at the age of 67 (only two years after leaving office). Our guide explained - in a little too much detail - how he had an infection of the throat which, despite “bleeding him three times” eventually closed off his airway and he suffocated to death. Eww. Didn’t need to know that.

The tour ended in the kitchen, which, like all colonial era homes was separate from the main house due to risk of fire, heat, and to keep insects confined to the kitchen (hopefully not in the food). We then said goodbye to our Music Contact International tour planner, Hannah, loaded up the buses yet again, left Virginia (“Virginia Is for Lovers”) and headed for Cleveland. The six hour bus ride gave us all a chance to catch up on sleep (Bus 2) and watch a movie (Bus 1), although the people on Bus 2 were pretty disappointed when the Auntie Anne’s at the travel plaza where we stopped three hours in was closed.

We arrived at our Cleveland hotel, checked in, and had time to dine in or order in from local restaurants, swim in the hotel pool, relax in the hotel lobby, catch up on blog & picture posts, and prepare for another full day of activities on tour day seven!

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Day Five

We’ve passed the halfway point of the tour and woke up ready for more DC adventures on day five. Instead of boarding our buses as usual, our entire group set off to the Metro station next door to the hotel and rode the subway train to the US Capitol building. Many in our group had never ridden on the subway before, so that made the short trip even more exciting. (It was also made easier by the fact that no one was on the Metro at 8 AM because federal offices were closed in observation of Juneteenth.)

We emerged from the Metro station and walked to the US Capitol Visitors Center on the lower level of the building, pausing along the way to gawk at the sheer size of the structure. (It’s A LOT bigger and more impressive when you see it in person.) After going through security, we entered the Visitors Center with its many statues donated by individual states. Each state can contribute two bronze or marble statues to the Capitol commemorating important people from the state who are no longer living. (Indiana’s contributions are Oliver P. Morton, governor of Indiana during the Civil War and Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur.) While the statues all used to be housed in National Statuary Hall, the collection grew too large over the years as more states were added to the Union, so they are now placed in various locations across the Capitol complex. Two of the more interesting ones in the Visitors Center are the massive gold & bronze statue of King Kamehameha from Hawaii and the statue of a young Helen Keller discovering communication for the first time through the use of water (contributed by the state of Alabama).

After a short video on the history and importance of the US Capitol, we met our guide and donned our headsets (the guides talk into the headsets during the tour since there are so many groups touring the Capitol at the same time). Our first stop was the crypt. Despite its name, there is no one actually buried in the crypt - although the original use was to be an entrance to George Washington’s tomb. Washington, however, wanted to be buried at his Mount Vernon home. Instead, its architecture helps to support the massive dome of the Rotunda directly above it.

We then made our way up the stairs to the Rotunda of the US Capitol. We were amazed by the sheer size of the dome. (Again, seeing it on TV does not convey just how massive it really is.) 96 feet in diameter and 180 feet from the floor to the canopy, the dome was completed in 1866. Upon their deaths, many US presidents, senators, Supreme Court justices, and military generals have lain in state on the floor of the rotunda (Lincoln, Kennedy, John McCain, & Ruth Bader Ginsburg to name a few). Some influential Americans without military or political backgrounds - Rosa Parks, Billy Graham - have lain in honor beneath the Rotunda dome.

In addition to the impressive dome, the Rotunda is also home to 8 original historic paintings lining its walls, including the famous “Declaration of Independence” painted by John Trumbull which is also depicted on the back of the $2 bill.

Next, we made our way into National Statuary Hall, previously the site where the House of Representatives met until 1857 when they outgrew the space and the House moved into their present-day home. All of the states’ statues were housed there from 1857-1933 when, due to the growing size (and weight) of the collection, the statues were moved into other parts of the Capitol. Among those remaining in Statuary Hall include Thomas Edison (Ohio), Lewis Cass (Michigan), & Rosa Parks (statue commissioned by the Senate). The public tours end with Statuary Hall, so we made our way to the obligatory gift shop and then walked to see the outside of the Supreme Court and get a group picture in front of the Capitol.

Many streets are closed around the Capitol, so after a long walk back to our waiting buses, we headed to the Jefferson Memorial where LCC gave a short performance on the steps of the monument for all those visiting the memorial to the nation’s third President.

We then headed north of the city to the area near Catholic University where we had a chance to eat a leisurely lunch in chaperone groups. We then made the short trek to our next concert location, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

There may not be enough superlatives to describe seeing the Basilica for the first time. Not only is the outside impressive, but the inside of the church is indescribably beautiful. Begun in 1920 and finished in 2017, the Basilica, which is the largest church in North America and one of the top 10 largest churches in the world, boasts of 80 chapels and millions of individual glass mosaic pieces adorning every chapel and ceiling with over 15 million included on the massive center dome alone. The mosaics are unique in so far that they depict modern saints and events in church history, including Pope John Paul II and Saint Teresa of Calcutta, and represent Mary, Mother of God, as she is depicted in dozens of countries around the world. The Basilica has also hosted three popes (John Paul II, Benedict, & Francis) and has hosted the wedding of President Johnson’s daughter and the funeral of Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Scalia (although weddings and funerals in the Basilica are rare). LCC was honored to present a concert in this historic and beautiful church.

Following our concert, we headed south to Alexandria, Virginia’s Old Town where we had a chance to visit the cute (but expensive!) shops, listen to the live music, and relax along the waterfront before our group dinner at Chadwick’s Restaurant. After a delicious meal, we boarded our buses once again and headed back to the Marriott for one last night and the end of tour day five.

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Day Four

It was another beautiful day in Washington for the fourth day of our tour. We began with a guided tour of some of DC’s most iconic memorials and monuments, stopping first at the World War II Memorial. Located between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, this memorial commemorates the brave men & women who fought in the Atlantic & Pacific Theaters during WWII. The center pool is surrounded by pillars inscribed with the names of each U.S. state and territory with wreaths over the name of the state. Wreaths depicting oak leaves stand for industry while those depicting wheat represent agriculture. After finding Indiana’s pillar (oak wreath) we had a chance to look around the memorial and view quotes etched into the granite from the generals who served during WWII as well as see the 4,048 stars on the Freedom Wall, each star representing 1,000 American military deaths.

Our next stop was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The memorial includes the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, the Three Servicemen statue, and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. Going first to the women’s memorial, this bronze statue, which evokes thoughts of Michelangelo’s Pieta, depicts three nurses caring for a wounded soldier. The memorial is surrounded by eight trees representing the eight servicewomen who lost their lives during the Vietnam conflict.

We then moved on to the memorial wall and came upon the annual Father’s Day remembrance where hundreds of roses lined the base of the wall. Families could place red roses for those killed in the war, yellow for those missing in action, and white tinged with red for those who served during the Vietnam War but have since died. It was a moving tribute and a stark reminder of the ultimate sacrifice paid by over 58,000 men - both fathers and those who died before they had a chance to be fathers.

The final piece of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the Three Servicemen statue. Oriented toward the memorial wall, the soldiers in this statue represent those who came home after the war but look toward their fallen brothers for eternity.

Our tour continued at the nearby Lincoln Memorial which celebrates its 100 year anniversary in 2022. Climbing the 145 steps, we were greeted by the impressive sight of the 19 foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln (30 feet including the base) looking out over the National Mall, flanked by his Gettysburg Address and second inaugural address carved into the Indiana limestone walls. On the way back down the steps, some of our group spotted the in-ground plaques that mark the spot where singer Marian Anderson gave a concert in 1939 because her performance in Constitution Hall was cancelled due to her race and the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.

After the obligatory group photo, we were off to see the Korean War Memorial with its 19 statues of soldiers walking through the rice fields of Korea. When the statues are reflected in their memorial wall, their number doubles to 38, symbolic of the fact that the war was fought at the 38th Parallel. Following our visit we boarded the buses to travel to the MLK & FDR Memorials.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial depicts Dr. King emerging from a mountain with the inscription “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope”. The unfinished bottom of the statue conveys the idea that though Dr. King is our “stone of hope” our work toward equal rights for all people is not yet finished.

Our final stop on the monument tour was at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. The monument begins with a statue of FDR seated in his wheelchair and winds its way through several vignettes depicting the milestones of each of his four terms - from the New Deal, the Great Depression, World War II, and his death at the beginning of his fourth term. There are also statues of FDR’s wife (and right hand women), Eleanor, as well as his Scottish terrier, Fala.

Following the monument tour we returned to our buses, had a quick lunch at Union Station and headed off to the National Archives where we were able to view the original Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. (No photography allowed at the Archives.) Since our tour coincides with the Juneteenth holiday, the original Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln was also on display (which only happens on rare occasions). We finished our visit in the gift shop (of course!) and headed off for our afternoon concert destination at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America.

Upon arrival, the very hospitable Father Jim greeted us and welcomed us to the monastery. After changing into our formal outfits, we did a quick sound check in the church and then gave a wonderful performance of our tour repertoire for the parents and guests in attendance in the remarkably beautiful church. (The echo after the final notes of each piece lasted f o r e v e r.) Following the concert, everyone was treated to much appreciated lemonade, punch, & cookies and then we made our way back to the hotel to prepare for our dinner cruise on the Potomac.

Dressed in our finest, we headed to the waterfront to board the Spirit of Washington for our dinner cruise on the Potomac River. (Happy Father’s Day to our tour dads!) The dinner buffet was good, but the dancing was fabulous! The DJ kept the songs coming and LCC made sure the dance floor was never empty. Line dancing and even a few Swing Choir moves kept the party going all evening until we pretty much closed the boat. It was a great way to end the night and the halfway point of the tour!

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Day Three

After a lovely breakfast buffet at the Marriott, we began day three of the Washington DC tour at the White House. We were lucky to have the opportunity since White House tours have only recently resumed after Covid restrictions were lifted and are currently only offered on Friday & Saturday mornings. And we picked a beautiful Saturday morning to see Washington (sunny with highs in the mid 70s!).

The tour began with a security check and the first of many photos with the Secret Service members who guard the White House. (Shout out to all the Secret Service who were so willing to answer our questions and pose for pictures!) We then made our way through the tour entrance hall and into the East Colonnade which was adorned with colorful ribbons in celebration of Pride month. Pictures of famous events and visiting dignitaries lined one wall of the colonnade (where Susan noticed the picture of President Biden signing legislation declaring June 19th as a federal holiday had Juneteenth spelled incorrectly (Juneteeth - oops).

After a brief stop at the White House gift shop, we continued through the ground floor past the China room (filled with China dishes from previous administrations), the Vermeil room (with portraits of the First Ladies), and the library. We then made our way up the stairs to the state floor and the largest room in the White House - the East Room. The site of state dinners, receptions, concerts, award presentations, press conferences, and even laundry hung out to dry (I’m looking at you, Abigail Adams), the East Room is also home to a famous portrait of George Washington from 1800 that survived the 1814 burning of the White House thanks to the quick actions of First Lady Dolley Madison, as well as three huge crystal chandeliers which each take 30 days to clean. (We told you those Secret Service members were kind enough to answer our questions.)

We next passed through the Green Room with a portrait of Indiana’s own William Henry Harrison (longest inauguration speech; shortest term of office), the Blue Room, and the Red Room, all of which were filled with portraits, busts, and artifacts of former presidents and first ladies. Following the colorful rooms came the State Dining Room, the Cross Hall (seen in many presidential addresses and press conferences) and the main entrance hall with its ornately decorated Steinway piano and portrait of a contemplative JFK.

Our group exited the White House through the north door and after another picture with the very friendly Secret Service and a group shot of both singers and chaperones, we were off to our next adventure - souvenir shopping. A very conveniently located souvenir shop made our hands full and our wallets lighter (who knew bucket hats were so popular?) and then we boarded our buses for a quick ride to the National Mall (not the shopping kind).

After yet another group photo (in front of the Washington Monument this time), we were off to have lunch and explore the Smithsonian Museums in chaperone groups. While the Air & Space Museum is currently closed for renovations, many of us visited the National Museum of Natural History with its look at life from fossils, dinosaurs, mammals, insects, humans, and even geology & minerals (including the 45.5 carat Hope Diamond). Some of the group also checked out the exhibits at the American History Museum. While the popular arts & entertainment artifacts were currently off-exhibit also due to renovation, we still saw the inauguration gowns of the First Ladies, learned about American Democracy, and examined the history of the United States at war. The original flag flown over Fort McHenry in 1814 during the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 was also on display. The sight of this flag still flying over the fort inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem which became known as the Star Spangled Banner.

Speaking of the Star Spangled Banner, while we were unable to sing it at the Washington Nationals game (luckily, the soloist was really good so we didn’t have to storm the field…), we did have a great time at the game which was our final activity of the day. We arrived at Nationals Park, found our seats in left field and joined the sell-out crowd who settled in on this beautiful afternoon to watch the Nationals play the Philadelphia Phillies (where the Nationals also retired the jersey of former player, Ryan Zimmerman and gave away free shirts to all the kids!). It was a low scoring game with the Nationals losing to the Phillies 2-1 in 10 innings, and the lines for the concessions were insanely slow, but we really had a great time enjoying the music, fans, mascots’ antics, and even the game itself. All in all, it was a wonderful way to end LCC DC Tour day three! (Lots on the agenda for day four, so look for the next blog post…eventually.)

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Day Two

Day Two of the tour began early with make your own waffles at the Hampton Inn (yum!), then we loaded the buses and headed off to Washington DC.

Our first stop of the day took us to Shanksville, PA where we visited the Flight 93 National Memorial. On September 11, 2001, the United States came under attack when four commercial airliners were hijacked and used to strike targets on the ground. We were honored to sing at the 9/11 Memorial during our 2017 NYC Tour and today we were humbled to learn about the heroic actions of the passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 as they challenged the hijackers and prevented the plane from reaching its presumed intended target of the US Capitol building or White House.

We began our visit at the Tower of Voices which was conceived as a ninety-three foot tall musical instrument holding forty wind chimes representing the forty passengers and crew. The tower provides a living memorial in sound to honor the forty through their ongoing voices - and on this windy morning, those voices provided a haunting melody which rang out across the surrounding hills.

From the tower, we moved on to the Visitors Center where we learned more about the events of that tragic day through pictures, recovered debris from the crash site, and recordings from the flight data boxes and of calls passengers made to their loved ones. We then made our way to the Memorial Plaza near the crash site where we were honored to perform for our chaperones and visitors.

After leaving the memorial, we continued our journey through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania and into the traffic-filled and construction-happy roads of Maryland & Virginia, arriving at Arlington National Cemetery just in time to board our private tram to the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Following the solemn and moving ceremony, we presented a short concert of patriotic selections near the Tomb at the Memorial Amphitheater - a performance that none of us will soon forget.

We then continued our tram tour of the cemetery, seeing and learning about the graves of our nation’s generals, Supreme Court Justices (including the Notorious RBG), and the thousands of servicemen and servicewomen who are buried at Arlington. The tour also paused to allow our group to visit the graves of President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie (and two of their children), as well as the graves of JFK’s brothers, Robert & Ted.

From Arlington, we s l o w l y made our way through the streets of downtown Washington DC, catching a glimpse of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the White House en route to the Washington Marriott at the Metro Center which we’ll be calling home for the next few days. (The DC traffic also reminded us why we all live in Logansport and not in a metropolitan city.) After a bit of time to relax and refresh, we set off on foot to Carmine’s Italian Restaurant where we all enjoyed a delicious meal of spaghetti, meatballs, and chicken parmigiana and celebrated our birthday girl, Ava. (Chocolate torte - YUM!)

The evening was capped off with a leisurely stroll back to the hotel where we socialized in the lobby, swam in the hotel pool, or relaxed in our rooms.

We’re off to the White House, Smithsonian museums, and a Washington Nationals baseball game tomorrow for day three!

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Day One

Despite a year’s delay due to Covid and a destination change, the Logansport Children’s Choir is finally on tour once again! We’re headed to Washington DC for our thirteenth major tour and we’re excited to sing in our nation’s capital over the next eight days.

Our first destination of the tour took us to Go Ape Adventure Park in Strongsville, OH near Cleveland. Upon arrival, we had a quick sack lunch and then we began our adventure. Some of our group started off with axe throwing where we were able to take out our frustrations and stress by throwing sharp objects at wooden targets (and at the ground below the wooden targets).

The braver and more agile part of our group put on harnesses and gloves and headed for the ropes course and ziplines. After some important instruction on how to hook up the harnesses to the wires, we climbed rope ladders, crossed planks, traversed hanging logs 30 feet in the air and flew across the forest on ziplines. Our arms were tired, our shirts and shorts were dirty, and we were all covered in sweat. But the sense of accomplishment in completing the course (or even part of the course) made it all worth it. And we even came away with all our fingers, toes, and no broken bones! After a quick song, we loaded up our blessedly air conditioned buses and headed to our final destination for the day: Pittsburgh.

Pizza and salad were on the menu for dinner and then we checked in to our hotel, managed a very quick change and headed back out for our first concert of the tour at Memorial Park Church in Allison Park, PA - which just happened to be the site of our final concert of the 2007 Vermont tour! Despite a long tour day with lots of activity, the singers gave an outstanding performance to a very appreciative audience - and were rewarded with after concert popsicles!

We returned to the hotel for a well-deserved rest and freshly laundered shirts (thanks to the moms who skipped the concert to wash everyone’s dirt-covered tour tees from our zip lining adventures)! We’ll be headed to DC bright and early tomorrow morning! Be sure to follow our progress on this blog and our Twitter & Facebook pages.

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LCC Washington DC Tour Send Off Concert

The touring members of the LCC Chamber Choir will present a Send Off Concert on Monday, June 13 at 7:00 PM in All Saints Catholic Church before embarking on their tour to Pittsburgh, Washington DC, and Cleveland. The concert is free and open to the public. Come support our touring members and enjoy an evening of beautiful music!