DAY 8 (NASHVILLE, TN) July 31, 2022

Today we started our day with a four hour bus ride. We all signed a card to thank our bus driver, John, for getting us where we needed to go safely and said a group goodbye. Then, we stopped at lunch at Culver’s for some classic southern fast food.

We drove A little further to the hotel, the Gaylord Opryland, and admired its opulence and grandeur. After checking in, we spent a long time finding our rooms because the resort is so big! We went exploring around the hotel and then enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation.

We had dinner in small groups and then enjoyed some ice cream! We are so grateful for everything we have had the opportunity to experience so far, and we are looking forward to our day of touring Nashville tomorrow.

Today's reporters are Miyako, Cynthia, Corinn

DAY 7 (ATLANTA, GA) July 30, 2022

Today was our last day of traveling before we head to Nashville tomorrow, and it was jam packed. First, we headed down to the World of Coca-Cola. There, we learned the history of the Coke brand, along with the different products, machines, and merchandise sold by or made for the Coke company. At the museum we were able to experience Coke through many different levels. We smelt the aromas of different flavors and played a game to guess the name of the smell. At the end of the tour, there were dozens of soda machines that allowed us to taste different coke products from around the world. There were a lot of interesting flavors, most of them with different fruits that we don’t use in sodas in the United States. Following the World of Coke, we went to the Georgia Aquarium. There, we saw fish, dolphins, penguins, and sharks, and much more. We stayed there until it was time to head off to our final concert. Oakhurst Presbyterian Church fed us a delicious potluck dinner directly before our performance— including a DIY strawberry shortcake bar! After the playing of our piece “Transitions Of The Heart,” we received a mid-concert standing ovation. The church had such wonderful energy and we thoroughly enjoyed bringing our gift of music to them. Additionally, Scott was able to sing with his sister Traci for two pieces— Shenandoah, and Irish Blessing. What a fantastic pair! Thanks to the generosity of the church, we raised $500 for a local LGBTQ organization in Georgia. It is always a pleasure to see how our music inspires people from all over. Finally, we packed everything into the bus through a complex game of Tetris and ate some cookies, courtesy of Scott’s mom, on the way home. We arrived at the hotel, ready to decompress and get ready for the final leg of our journey to Nashville. We will update you then!

Today's reporters are Jordan & Noreen

DAY 6 (STONE MOUNTAIN, GA) July 29, 2022

This morning we woke up and loaded the bus and as soon as we started moving we noticed the bus wouldn’t accelerate correctly. As it turns out we got water in the fuel tank somehow and it messed up the accelerator. We stopped at a quik trip gas station and got some snacks while waiting to find out if we were going to be there for 20 minutes or 2 hours. Luckily the problem was quickly resolved and we were on our way. We got out of a hike that was made out to be a lot worse than it probably would have been. For the 4 hour-ish bus ride we slept, did riddles in our group chat courtesy of Miyako, read books like studious children, and continued the infamous chess game from yesterday. We got lunch at a different quik trip that was surrounded by different fast food places. Julia, Scott and I (Kayla) went to subway, Sasha and London went to Burger King and the rest went to Wendy’s. We got back on the bus and headed to Scott’s sisters house. The bus couldn’t fit down the road so his sister and dad came to pick us up and bring us to our next destination. We then went to my (Julia) aunts’ house for a pool party hosted by them in their new pool. Everyone swam and played a variety of games. George and Kayla taught London how to dive and George started showing off his swimming skills. Most of the adults (and Issac) hung out in the pavilion. When some people got tired of swimming, they played badminton and volleyball. For dinner there were a variety of options: hot dogs, beef burgers, turkey burgers, and beyond burgers. There was also potato chips, potato salad, and baked beans as sides. Half of the kids ate on the deck and the other half ate in the pavilion. For dessert we had brownies and snow cones. I’ve heard the snow cones were really good. Afterwards we talked while waiting for a car to drive us back to the hotel. Kayla, Sasha, London, Issac, George, and I all drove together and listened to Disney music the whole way there. At the hotel, we grabbed our stuff from the bus and went inside for the night.

Today's writes are Julia & Kayla

DAY 5 (GASTONIA, NC) July 28, 2022

Although day 5 of the tour was mostly a bus ride of 9 hours, we managed to keep ourselves busy with various activities. Some preferred to catch up on movies and tv series while others decided on more mentally vigorous endeavors such as card games, riddles and chess. Many of us enjoyed playing Egyptian ratscrew and Hearts. The competition was fierce but I (Sasha) can thoroughly say I whooped people’s behinds in Egyptian ratscrew. Speaking of competition, the chess games between Issac, Noreen, Jordan and George initiated some intense meltdowns particularly for Noreen. Some memorable quotes from Noreen being, “please don’t murder my knights, they’re all I have left” or “my pawn will do no harm don’t touch it.” Immediately after, “well my pawn may have to do some harm.” Issac and Noreen had a 5 hour standoff. Around 1 pm, we stopped at a rest area with a subway and Little Caesars and sat together outside trying to enjoy the humid weather. The bus air conditioner is top quality. A popular activity we enjoyed was napping. The bus ride was a great opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep in funky positions. Some of us have strange sleeping habits. After a 5 hours afternoon stretch of driving, we arrived in Gastonia, North Carolina. Clapping and cheering was involved as our tired and travel worn bodies stepped out of the bus. Thankfully, we didn’t have to unload all of the bells and chimes. Some of us would’ve been extremely upset. We checked into our rooms, had a brief meeting in the lobby and went to a choice of 3 restaurants: Texas Roadhouse, Waffle House and The Cracker Barrel.

Today's reporters are Noreen & Sasha

DAY 4 (WASHINGTON D.C.) July 27, 2022

Today, our fourth day on tour, we woke up to head into Washington DC where we visited many memorials and museums. First, we visited the Lincoln memorial and took lots of fun pictures while admiring the history!

We then walked to the Vietnam, Korea, and World War memorial sites along with the MLK monument.

Walking past the reflection pool, we spotted some ducklings and had a fun time gazing at them. We also reminisced about Spider-man and Forrest Gump while viewing the Washington monument!

We split for lunch, some going to the food trucks along the roads in DC while we went to the Museum of Natural History to enjoy some food. Most of us roamed around that same museum and enjoyed the many exhibits.

Some went to the Museum of American History where we learned that the Star Spangled Banner was crated to Shenandoah (one of our bell pieces!). Many of us went to an eye-opening experience in the Holocaust Memorial Museum. An interesting fact about the Holocaust that we found was that many Jewish musicians survived by entertaining Nazis due to their specialized talent.

After visiting these museums, we headed back to the hotel and then later walked to dinner. We split for dinner once again but many of us grouped up after to grab some gelato. Jordan enjoyed a blackberry gelato that was homegrown by Ms. Fisher in Lancaster, Pennsylvania!

We finished by the poolside even though it was raining! Thanks for reading – we had a great day of touring!

Today's reporters were Cynthia, Corinne, and Miyako

DAY 3 (WASHINGTON D.C.)

Today marks our third day of the tour portion of the 20th International Handbell Symposium. We kicked off the day with an exciting morning of checking out of our hotel and hopping on a bus. After an exhilarating three and a half hour bus ride to Virginia, and some disappointing food from Wegmans, we arrived at the National Air and Space Museum (which by the way, is just a really big hangar of planes). We had a great time walking around looking at old war planes and a really big space shuttle, whilst preparing for another wonderous hour long bus ride. After the space museum ANEX, we went to Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church , Kyoko’s old church, to unload bells. Then we set up our bells to rehearse before the concert happening at 7:00. We ran the pieces with good enough accuracy to finish rehearsal on time. When we finished rehearsal Chevy Chase was kind enough to treat us to dinner, though some of us had a bit of trouble finding the room. Following dinner we changed into dress clothes and it was time to play. We got to our places and played the pieces. For being our third time playing on this trip I think we did great. After the concert and packing up the bells, we got on our way to our new hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel we got our bags into our rooms and settled down for the night.

As in the past tours, two members of the ringers are assigned to write the journal and today's reporters are Sam & Isaac The original post on KCR blog.

Day 2 Lancaster, PA

DAY 2 (LANCASTER, PA) July 25, 2022 — Leave a comment Hi everyone! Today we woke up to a lovely continental breakfast at our hotel. We then took the short bus ride to the First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, a historic and fascinating piece of history. Some of the artifacts in the church are as old as the 1800s! We had a wonderous time performing five pieces for the church service, including “A Blessing” by Eileen Laurence for a baptism! What a joyous way to bring a little piece of KPC to Lancaster 🙂 It is always a pleasure to see Eileen Laurence, and this time was no exception. Having her unconditional support is unmatched while we play! We thank her tremendously for her coordination and invitation. It was also a joy to see an alumni ringer, now residing in Philadelphia, Dr. Michael Goodman. Our choirs roots run deep, and we couldn’t appreciate his support more! After the lovely church service, we hopped on the bus to Gettysburg. After the 1.5 hr ride we welcomed a tour guide to our bus who showed us around the battlefield. It was such an amazing opportunity to be able to be so close to something so significant to American history. Since I haven’t learned about this part of history in my classes yet, I have a head start for the upcoming school year! On the tour we learned some amazing facts like there were 2 different types of cannons used in the battle, and 3 different types on ammunition. It was so cool how we stood where the troops stood all those years ago. My favorite part was when we stood on little round top, which is where the union troops also stood on the second day of battle. Our author photo was also taken on top of that hill! I am so glad I got to have a glimpse of such an important part of history.

As in the past tours, two members of the ringers are assigned to write the journal and today's reporters are Jordan & London. The original post on KCR blog.