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Student & Senior
page 20
Shopping, Dining & Lodging
page 12
Historical Attractions & Museums
page 4
Volume XLIV, Number 5 • May/June, 2023
Main Street USA
display at the
Billy Graham Library
Bring your group to see a powerful story of hope unfold at the Billy Graham Library.
You’ll see exciting changes including multimedia enhancements, updated exhibits, and new
technology. Come discover how God used a dairy farmer’s son to tell the world about His
love—and see for yourself how this never-changing message changes everything.
Experience it for yourself.
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Mon.–Sat., 9:30–5:00 | BillyGrahamLibrary.org | 704.401.3200 | 4330 Westmont Drive, Charlotte, NC
©2023 BGEA A MINISTRY OF BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION
NOW OPEN AND NEWLY UPDATED
STAFF
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COVER PHOTO
The National WWII Museum tells the story
of the American Experience in the war that
changed the world –
why it was fought, how
it was won, and what it means today – so
that future generations will know the price of
freedom and be inspired by what they learn.
CouRTESy of THE NATIoNAL WWII MuSEuM.
Bus Tours Magazine / May, 2023 • 3
Guides
HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS &
MUSEUMS
Historical attractions and museums
are exciting places for both young and
old. They provide an insight into the
way things were and how people lived
in past generations. Here are a few
locations that have been a hit with bus
tour passengers.
12
SHOPPING, DINING & LODGING
Dining and lodging are integral parts
of bus tours because passengers need
to eat and sleep. Shopping can be a
great addition because it gives pas-
sengers a chance to look for interesting
items and bargains. These locations
can add a great stop to your next bus
tour.
20
STUDENT & SENIOR TOURS
Some locations offer a special attrac-
tion to students or seniors or both.
Here are a couple of places that could
add a lot to your next bus tour.
Features
18
TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM
Boothbay Railway Village is always a
good addition to a bus tour. In addition
to an historical train ride, you get to
see interesting antique cars and are
welcomed by a friendly staff that appre-
ciates bus tour groups.
24
MYRTLE BEACH,
SOUTH CAROLINA
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is always
a good location for a bus tour.
Beaches, boardwalk, dining and attrac-
tions will please everyone on your bus.
It is one place where you can give your
group some free time to explore a wide
range of options on their own.
26
STUDENT TOUR LOCATIONS
Nicole Aspesi, a ninth grade student,
writes about WonderWorks as a great
locations for student tours.
And More
28
20 TIPS FOR TOUR PLANNERS
by Larry Plachno
30
ADVERTISERS INDEX
contents
MAY/JUNE 2023
Volume XLV, Number 5
12
24
20
26
18
National Watch & Clock Museum
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Discover the history, science and art of
timekeeping. The National Watch & Clock
Museum has been a beloved Lancaster
County, PA, attraction for more than 40 years,
providing kids and adults alike hours of learn-
ing and enjoyment. The museum was offi-
cially opened to the public in 1977 with fewer
than 1,000 items. Since that time, the collec-
tion has increased to more than 13,000 items,
and the museum has undergone several
expansion projects. Today, it is recognized
as the largest and most comprehensive horo-
logical collection in North America.
As you enter the museum's time tunnel
and begin your tour of international time-
pieces, you will know you have stepped into
something special – all the time in the world.
The museum’s collection is international in
scope and covers a wide variety of clocks,
watches, tools and other time-related items.
Collections include 19th-century American
clocks and watches, early English tall case
clocks, public time clocks, timepieces from
Japan and China, and timekeeping devices from
Germany, France, the Netherlands and Russia.
Modern timekeeping is explored with displays
on novelty clocks, car and airplane clocks,
wristwatches and the Hamilton Watch Co. story.
The exhibits take you on a tour through the his-
tory and wonder of timekeeping.
The museum is also proud to display a
piece of true Americana – the Engle clock.
After spending 70 years touring the eastern
United States at the turn of the last century,
this 1,049-pound marvel disappeared from
public view in 1951. After being rediscovered
in a barn in the 1980s, the Engle clock was
painstakingly restored by museum staff and
volunteers. It is now run twice each day for
museum visitors. It features not just time-
telling but music, carved moving figures and
reminders that time is indeed fleeting.
While touring the museum, you will see
everything from a 16th-century clock to a
clock that tells the time on Mars, plus pocket
watches and wristwatches from around the
world. Learn what makes a clock tick and
4 • Bus Tours Magazine / May, 2023
Historical Attractions
and Museums
National Watch & Clock Museum
how clocks revolutionized travel at sea and life on land. For movie
buffs, there is an impressive collection of watches featured in the
James Bond films. The exhibit connects the iconic Super Spy to the
Quartz Revolution, which changed not only watches but the world.
Visiting the National Watch & Clock Museum is truly a journey
through time. View at www.nawcc.org for more information.
Swiss Historical Village
& Museum
The Swiss Historical Village & Museum presents the unique story
of the founding of New Glarus in 1845 and traces the Swiss colony's
growth into a dairy farming community that continues to keep alive
its ethnic heritage.
The museum, in the heart of "America's Little Switzerland," is
owned and operated by the New Glarus Historical Society, Inc. The
society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of
artifacts, records and family histories of the Swiss immigrants. The
society is affiliated with the Wisconsin State Historical Society.
Each year, the Swiss Historical Village & Museum welcomes a
wide range of school groups, history buffs, Swiss enthusiasts, charters,
families and sightseers.
For
more
information
phone
(608)
527-2317 or view swisshistoricalvillage.org.
Bus Tours Magazine / May, 2023 • 5
Guide: Historical/Museums
514 Poplar St., Columbia,�PA
www.�����.org
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Scan the QR code for more information.
To plan your group visit or for more information,
please call 504-528-1944 x 222 (toll free 1-877-813-3329 x 222)
or email group.sales@nationalww2museum.org.
Group rates ofered for 10 or more guests. Be sure to also ask about group rates
for the Museum’s new outdoor sound and light show, Expressions of America!
Crawford County,
Pennsylvania
For those wanting to spend a rainy after-
noon or a whole weekend immersed in
unique history, Crawford County has a num-
ber of amenities that connect the region to
not just regional history, but major events
and individuals who shaped our nation’s
past. Explore everything from timeless archi-
tecture to the history of the underground rail-
road and the man that helped get Andrew
Jackson elected President.
While every town in America, it seems,
has their own house museum that relays the
history, in Crawford County, the house
museum was owned by a United States
Supreme Court Justice – and he is responsible
for helping to acquire Florida, the Missouri
Compromise and many of the nation’s tariff
laws.
The Baldwin-Reynolds House Museum
was the former home of United States
Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin, who
served on the bench from 1830 through 1844
after spending time in Congress and helping
Andrew Jackson get elected President. Bald-
win lived in the house a relatively short time
(dying within a year of its completion), but
his descendants (and future Mount Hope res-
idents) were major figures in the Atlantic &
Great Western Railroad as well as much of
the development of this region. The house is
open as a museum from Memorial Day
through Labor Day every Wednesday through
Sunday from 12-4 p.m.
Another unique tour spot, serving as the
main graveyard for the City of Meadville
6 • Bus Tours Magazine / May, 2023
Guide: Historical/Museums
Crawford County
Albuquerque, New Mexico | Open Daily 9 am – 5 pm | nuclearmuseum.org
Smithsonian
Afliate
EXPLORE
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
LEARN. THINK. IMAGINE. DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS.
since 1852, Greendale Cemetery is much
more than its name implies. The cemetery
is as much a park or arboretum as a burial
ground. It features the landscape design of
Herman Munz, an architect who helped lay
out much of the older section of the ceme-
tery as well as planted thousands of rhodo-
dendrons on the property. These blossoms
are enjoyed by visitors and locals alike
each spring. The cemetery features walking
trails near a waterfall as well as the final
resting places of the inventors of the zipper,
the wife of a Supreme Court Justice, those
involved in the Underground Railroad and
many more. Hours are dawn to dusk, and
respectful visitors are welcome.
For more information or to see upcoming
events, visit VisitCrawford.org.
Tri-State Museum
and Visitor Center
Belle Fourche, South Dakota
Smack-dab in the middle of the United
States is Belle Fourche, South Dakota – and
that is where you will find the Tri-State
Museum and Visitor Center. The complex
includes not just the museum and visitor
center but also the beautiful granite com-
pass rose Center of the Nation monument,
noting the town’s distinctive status, and
the fully furnished Johnny Spaulding Cabin,
one of the few two-story pioneer cabins to
have survived since the 1870s.
Surrounded by lawns dotted with flower
gardens and only steps away from the city’s
River Walk in front of the historic Belle
Fourche River, the Tri-State Museum and Vis-
itor Center is a great place to stop on the road
between Mt. Rushmore and Devil’s Tower,
for a tour of sites as well as a picnic lunch.
The museum proper includes exhibits on
pioneers, ranching, rodeos, the sheep indus-
try and local business history. Natural history
exhibits include geologic and archaeological
finds, as well as some dinosaur fossils
unearthed from nearby paleontological dig
sites.
Significant exhibits include photos and
information on Belle Fourche WWII hero
Don Smith, one of the pilots in the Doolittle
Raid. The museum also includes the less
than heroic story of the most bungled bank
robbery ever, which occurred in 1897 and
involved an extremely inebriated Tom
O’Day.
In addition to permanent collections, the
museum also features three temporary
exhibits and three mini exhibits which
change throughout the year. Exhibits for the
2023 season include ones on the history of
cosmetics, westerns in film and TV, the ori-
Bus Tours Magazine / May, 2023 • 7
Guide: Historical/Museums
Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center
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It’s Electric!
58 North Rd.
(CT
-140),
East
Windsor
CT 06088
860-627-6540 | www.ct-trolley.org
ake a ride in our beautifully
restored trolley cars.
Explore our indoor displays
on Trolley history.
Special Events are held
throughout the year.
gins of baseball plus quilting and modern
homesteading.
The town of Belle Fourche is a little one
big in history. The name comes from the river
that flows here, visited by the famed French
fur trappers of the early 1800s. The town itself
was founded by Seth Bullock, a larger-than-
life western character who was featured in
the TV series, “Deadwood.” It soon became
the place for the internationally-known Black
Hills Roundup, now in its 103rd year of show-
casing classic rodeo action.
The Old West lives on in the middle – and
at the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center.
For more information phone (605) 723-1200
or view at thetristatemuseum.com.
George Bush Presidential Library
and Museum
Texas A&M University
The George Bush Presidential Library and
Museum at Texas A&M University is a pre-
mier destination for visitors from around the
world. Included in the museum’s exhibits are
items ranging from a 1925 film of Bush’s first
steps in Kennebunkport, to records and
memorabilia from his tenure as the 41st pres-
ident. See Bush’s Camp David office and
White House Situation Room, and have
your picture taken in the replica Oval Office.
Learn about President Bush’s leadership and
public service.
In addition to the permanent galleries, the
Bush Library and Museum hosts temporary
exhibits that cover a wide variety of topics.
This summer, you will be able to enjoy a new
exhibit entitled Honor, Courage, Commitment:
Marine Corps Art, 1975-2018 which features
powerful works of art from 15 Marine combat
artists. The result is a rich commentary on
the men and women of the Marine Corps and
their engagements around the world. This
exhibit will be on display from May 26
through September 4.
Just in time for fall, the exhibit A Spirit Can
Ne’er Be Told…A Century of Aggie Football will
open August 28 in the Ansary Gallery of
American History. For more than a century,
Texas A&M football has shaped traditions,
forged camaraderie for generations of fans
and embodied a spirit that even Presidents
of the United States embraced.
The Bush Library and Museum also hosts
numerous free events throughout the year,
such as a Summer Film Series, the Bush
8 • Bus Tours Magazine / May, 2023
Guide: Historical/Museums
details Below
This program is made possible in parth through the Hotel
Tax Revenue funded by the City of College Station
through the Arts Council of Brazos Valley
SUMER 2023
MOVIE SERIES
Presented by
GEORGE BUSH presidential LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
FREE!
May 19
SGT. Stubby: An American Hero
June 23
The Game Plan
August 11
Little Giants
September 8
Rudy
Games and Snacks begin at 7
movies start just after sundown
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum