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Historic Homes & Gardens of the Colonial South
Every spring, the South becomes a lush garden just waiting to be explored. In April, Middleton Place’s formal gardens—the oldest formal gardens in America—are alive with the deep colors of rhododendrons and the fragrance of magnolias, while the 21 squares of Savannah showcase multihued azaleas and delicate gardenias. This spring, cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway from Virginia to Georgia, calling at ports and traveling to plantations that are steeped in history and reveal the genteel splendor of the antebellum South.
Itinerary
Day 1 • USA | SAVANNAH, Georgia | EMBARK
Day 2 • SAVANNAH
Day 3 • BEAUFORT, South Carolina
Day 4 & 5 • CHARLESTON
Day 6 • WILMINGTON, North Carolina
Day 7 • MOREHEAD CITY for NEW BERN
Day 8 • CRUISING IN THE INTRACOASTALWATERWAY
Day 9 • HAMPTON ROADS, Virginia | COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
Day 10 • HOPEWELL for BERKELEY PLANTATION and WESTOVER PLANTATION or RICHMOND
Day 11 • Richmond | DISEMBARK
View Detailed ItineraryTRAVEL WITH A TEAM OF EXPERTS
Laura Viancour is Colonial Williamsburg’s manager, landscape services. She is responsible for the overall management of Colonial Williamsburg’s gardens and grounds, which include the 301-acre Historic Area and all hotel, museum and business properties. Viancour received a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech University and began her career as a gardener for Colonial Williamsburg more than 30 years ago.Viancour is a frequent presenter at events such as the Philadelphia International Flower Show and Macy’s Flower Show and has been interviewed for a variety of publications and television programs including Country Gardens, Southern Living, and CNN. She serves as chairman of the annual Garden Symposium, Colonial Williamsburg’s longest running educational seminar, and was The Herb Society of America’s first chairperson for the herb garden at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.
Marlene Elizabeth Heck's work focuses on the architectural and social history of America in the age of Jefferson. She is particularly interested in vernacular building traditions and the way 18th-century building design was altered to respond to new social and cultural practices adopted during the early national period. She is at work on a pair of articles on America's 18th-century Palladian architectural tradition, and has begun research for an architectural and social history of Portsmouth, NH in the years just following the Revolution. Extensive travel in the Near and Middle East has permitted her to document the work of American architectural firms who built in those regions during the 1970s and 1980s. As a founding partner in the Austin, TX-based cultural resource management firm of Hardy.Heck.Moore& Associates, she has conducted architectural surveys throughout the country.
Temu Nana, Cruise Director aboard Yorktown, is a native of Detroit, Michigan. He traveled extensively as a child and has spent time living in Saudi Arabia and Europe. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in Theatre Performance, he moved to New York and joined Travel Dynamics International, working for several years both in the office and in the field.
In addition to presenting a superb itinerary through the waterways of the Colonial South, we are most pleased to have with us three renowned artists from New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, who will preform a program of classical chamber music aboard ship and at historic venues ashore.
Co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society, pianist Wu Han ranks among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. She has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious concert series and venues and performs extensively each season as duo pianist with cellist David Finckel. They are the founding artistic directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley, and were named the 2012 Musicians of the Year by Musical America.
Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, violinist Arnaud Sussmann is a multi-faceted and compelling artist. As a soloist, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Monaco Chamber Orchestra, El Salvador National Symphony Orchestra, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, among others, and recently recorded with CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han. He studied at The Juilliard School with Boris Garlitsky and Itzhak Perlman. A former member of Chamber Music Society Two, he is currently an Artist of the Society.
Romanian born cellist Mihai Marica won first prize in the 2005 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, and the First Prize and Audience Choice Award at the 2006 “Dr. Luis Sigall” International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile. He has performed with the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Mexico’s Xalapa Symphony and the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg. He studied with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music and is a member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet. Mihai is a member of Chamber
Music Society Two.
Yorktown
The Yorktown
The Yorktown is the perfect vessel for relaxed and convivial exploration of America’s great coastal waterways. Built in Florida in 1988 specifically for coastal cruising and certified by the U. S. Coast Guard, the Yorktown flies the American flag and is staffed by friendly and experienced American officers and crew. With a draft of only 9 feet, the Yorktown is able to maneuver in secluded waterways and visit small ports that are inaccessible to larger vessels. And Yorktown’s American registry makes it possible to operate domestic itineraries unavailable to foreign-flag ships. The ship’s cuisine, served in a dining room large enough to accommodate all guests at once, emphasizes American regional culinary traditions. Accommodating only 138 guests in 69 exterior cabins, the Yorktown enjoys an atmosphere of warm and relaxed informality that endears it to repeat and new guests alike.
Life aboard Yorktown
Life aboard Yorktown is relaxed and informal, and dress is always casual. Guests discover soon after settling in that the ship’s design fosters a sense of community and shared enterprise. Most cabins have large picture windows, and each is furnished with comfortable beds, a writing desk, ample storage, a clock/radio/CD player, and has a private bathroom. Your cabin is the perfect place for peace and quiet and for private rest and reflection. But you will want to spend most of your time in one of Yorktown’s inviting common areas. The Lounge, never more than two decks away (Yorktown has no elevator), is the hub of shipboard activity—the place to read, to converse with fellow travelers, to attend lectures and concerts, to enjoy a cocktail as the pianist performs on the ship’s Steinway piano, or simply to enjoy unobstructed views of the passing scene. The Sun Deck affords similar opportunities to read and relax, with the added virtue of open air.
BESPOKE SMALL-SHIP AMENITIES
Returning from excursions, guests enjoy complimentary refreshments, afternoon tea and all-day coffee in The Lounge, a gracious space for relaxation, surrounded by panoramic windows. Before or after dinner, cocktails are served to live music performed by the ship’s pianist on a Steinway piano.
Other Yorktown features include:
- Internet access
- Window-lined lounge with panoramic views
- Dining room surrounded by windows
| Cabin Code | Cabin Description | Regular Rate |
|---|---|---|
| E | Outside cabins on Main Deck with portholes | $4,995 |
| D | Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows | $5,695 |
| C | Outside cabins on Promenade Deck with windows | $6,495 |
| B | Outside cabins on Main Deck with windows | $7,195 |
| A | Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows | $7,895 |
| AA | Outside cabins on Promenade or Lounge Deck with windows | $8,495 |
| S | Superior outside cabins on Sun Deck with balcony | $8,995 |
SINGLE RATES: A limited number of cabins are available for solo travelers between categories C-A at $995. Categories AA & Superior are available at double the per person, double occupancy rates.
AIRFARE: Airfare is not included in the cost of the program. Please call the Air Travel Desk at toll-free 877-711-9896 or 212-592-1340 to make your reservations, or see your travel agent.
Yorktown Deck Plan
PROGRAM INCLUSIONS
• 10-night cruise aboard the 138-guest Yorktown
• Complete program of tours and excursions
• Welcome and farewell cocktail receptions aboard ship
• All meals aboard ship, including house wine, beer, and soft drinks with lunch and dinner
• Educational program of lectures and discussions by accompanying study leaders
• Professional Travel Dynamics International tour staff
• Complete pre-departure materials
• Gratuities to guides and drivers
Day 1
USA | SAVANNAH, Georgia | EMBARK
Fly to Savannah to embark Yorktown.
Day 2
SAVANNAH
Georgia’s oldest city Savannah was founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733, on a bluff
overlooking the Savannah River. Today the fine avenues and open spaces that Oglethorpe
planned form the cornerstone of the threesquare-mile historic district, which features over 1,000 Federal and Regency buildings and 21 verdant squares brimming with azaleas, gardenias, cabbage palmettos, English yews, giant oaks, and other lush vegetation. Explore
the renowned Historic District, the largest in the country, and also enjoy time at leisure to explore the lovely streets and squares, including verdant Forsyth Park and its famed White Fountain. Savannah’s first park, its style was influenced by the urban renewal prevalent in the 19th century.
Day 3
BEAUFORT, South Carolina
South Carolina’s Lowcountry flourished on the cotton trade, making Beaufort one of the wealthiest cities in the country after Independence. Tour elegant Beaufort, with its magnificent antebellum homes and gardens.
Day 4 & 5
CHARLESTON
Arrive today in Charleston, one of the East Coast’s loveliest cities. A prosperous, cosmopolitan seaport from colonial times, Charleston has meticulously restored its historic
district. Tour the Heyward-Washington House, an 18th-century structure which features a
separate kitchen house and enchanting formal garden, and other sites. During your stay, also
visit Middleton Place Plantation, a carefully preserved 18th-century plantation that is a
National Historic Landmark. Situated on the Ashley River, the property includes the House
Museum, built in 1755 as the gentlemen’s guest quarters, various bird species, and 65 acres of magnificent gardens, with rhododendrons, magnolias, and dogwoods blooming during April.
Day 6
WILMINGTON, North Carolina
Founded in 1739, Wilmington flourished on maritime trade, made possible by its deep water port. By 1860, Wilmington was North Carolina’s largest city. In the morning, tour Wilmington’s historic district, a veritable open air museum of 19th-century architecture. Visit the Georgian Burgwin-Wright House & Gardens. Built in 1770, it was once home to Lord Cornwallis and was purchased in 1937 by the The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America. The beautifully restored home is adorned with seven unique walled gardens, its architectural structures carefully preserved, and includes a formal or parterre garden, a terraced garden, and an orchard. Continue to the Airlie Gardens, established in 1901, and purchased and restored in 1999 by New Hanover County. Airlie Gardens boast 67 acres of formal, woodland gardens, which will be flourishing at the time of our visit. Enjoy a walking tour to explore its many gardens, including the spring garden, historic structures and sculptures, and a majestic Airlee oak that dates from 1545.
Day 7
MOREHEAD CITY for NEW BERN
From Morehead City, drive through Croatan National Forest to historic New Bern (settled in 1710), to visit the jewel among New Bern’s sites, Tryon Palace and Gardens. Completed
in 1770, the Georgian mansion served as the first permanent capitol of North Carolina, home to Governor Tryon and his family, and hosted a dinner in honor of George Washington in 1791. Destroyed by fire in 1798, it was restored and reopened in 1959. Tour the palace and its elegant gardens. Designed by landscape architect Morley Jeffers
Williams in the 1950s, the gardens represent the style of the Victorian era, and offer three
centuries of gardening history. Its spring display includes tulips and azaleas as well as perennials.
Day 8
CRUISING IN THE INTRACOASTALWATERWAY
Relax aboard and attend lectures as Yorktown navigates the Intracoastal Waterway en route to Virginia.
Day 9
HAMPTON ROADS, Virginia | COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
Arrive in Virginia’s Hampton, at the center of the Hampton Roads, the historic waterway
formed by the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth Rivers that empties into the Chesapeake. Take an excursion to historic Colonial Williamsburg. The capital of the Virginia colony from 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg is the nation’s premier living museum, offering visitors a glimpse of life as it was in the 17th and 18th centuries. A guided tour leads along the Duke of Gloucester Street, Williamsburg’s main thoroughfare, past the Capitol, the courthouse, the Governor’s Palace, and Bruton Parish Church, which has held Episcopal services since 1715. Enjoy lunch at the historic King’s Arms Tavern before time at leisure to explore the museums and side streets, which are filled with taverns, bakeries, and the restored houses of wheelwrights, coopers, apothecaries, and other tradesmen.
Day 10
HOPEWELL for BERKELEY PLANTATION and WESTOVER PLANTATION or RICHMOND
From Hopewell, drive to the historic Berkeley Plantation, site of the first official Thanksgiving in 1619, and built by Benjamin Harrison in 1726, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence and father of William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States. It is
also the location where “Taps” was composed by Daniel Butterfield in 1862. Its rooms are
furnished with a superb collection of 18th century antiques. Set on a pastoral landscape and atop a hill that overlooks the historic James River, the mansion is surrounded by five terraced gardens that were dug prior to the Revolutionary War and lead to the river. Tour
the mansion and stroll through the boxwood gardens, surrounded by dogwoods, azaleas,
and other flowering plants. Continue to Westover Plantation, a Georgian style mansion built in the 18th century by William Byrd II, founder of Richmond, and Virginia’s oldest plantation manor. Known for its magnificent formal gardens, architectural details, and secret passages, Westover boasts 150-yearold tulip poplar trees, formal gardens, and stunning views of the James River. Alternatively, tour Richmond, with its many outstanding sites,
including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Day 11
Richmond | DISEMBARK
Disembark Yorktown in Richmond in the morning.