SATURDAY
Illinois International Travel will arrange a round-trip flight
from your hometown city to New York’s Newark Airport. Upon arrival,
you will be transferred to the Courtyard by Marriott Newark Elizabeth
Hotel that has an indoor swimming pool. Here you will be able
to meet friends from many other parts of the country including
your tour escort who will review the Bethel Tour Vacation with
you.
SUNDAY
This morning a complimentary continental breakfast will be served at the hotel.
You will then depart the hotel on our private motorcoach and drive
through the Lincoln tunnel to Manhattan for a sightseeing tour
of New York City. Your tour escort will point out such interesting
sights as the Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller
Center, 5th Avenue, Central Park, Chinatown, the Garment District,
Wall Street, Ground Zero and much more. You will see how so many
people who live in different cultures make this city one of the
most unique in the world. Even the skyscrapers are amazing in
their architecture.
This afternoon, there will be an interesting bible tour given
by Brothers from New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art located
by Central Park. Before the tour begins, you can have an optional
light lunch in the cafeteria followed by an encouraging tour highlighting
many biblical points. At 6:00 p.m., you will return to the Courtyard
by Marriott Newark Elizabeth Hotel. Located across the street
from your hotel is New Jersey’s largest indoor outlet mall that
has department stores, restaurants and a large food court.
MONDAY
Depart on our motorcoach through upstate New York to visit the
factory and Bethel Home at Watchtower Farm. Here you will have
an opportunity to see all of the latest expansion work taking
place at Wallkill to enlarge all the facilities. The bindery line
has 33 machines that can produce 50,000 books and Bibles a day
or 120 per minute. The paperback book line assembles 100,000 books
a day. In the shipping department, you will see how literature
requests for over 12,000 congregations are processed each month
on conveyors that are 1.5 miles long. See how literature is printed
differently for those who are in prisons or for those that can
only read Braille.
You will then have time to enjoy your included box lunch in the
picnic area. (If you know someone at Bethel, you may contact them
ahead of time to see if you can be invited as their guest for
lunch on this day at Wallkill or on Tuesday at Brooklyn Bethel.)
Each year thousands of friends from around the world travel to
New York, Patterson and Wallkill to visit the Factory and the
printing facilities (See WT 12/1/05, p. 8 and 7/1/09, p. 15).
After lunch, it is a one hour drive to visit the Watchtower Educational
Center in Patterson where the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead
and other schools are held. Since its beginning, Gilead School
has sent more than 7,000 missionaries to over 200 lands and islands.
The Patterson auditorium seats 1,700 and is used for the Gilead
graduation classes and for the Bethel Family Watchtower Study
and other special programs. Branch committee members from around
the world also gather here for an 8-week course designed to unify
the work of the Branch Offices.
Throughout the complex, you will see displays describing the work
done in the art department where artists create paintings for
many publications. The audio/video services produce video programs
for conventions, dramas, music programs and sound tracks for various
Society materials. There are also legal and writing correspondence
departments. The service department answers letters from congregation
elders, pioneers and other individuals. Circuit Assemblies and
Special Assembly days are also scheduled. The translation services
department works with over 2,000 translators around the world
to help produce Bible literature in over 500 languages. You’ll
also see the large dining room, kitchen and laundry. Throughout
the tour you will be amazed at this beautiful project including
the courtyard and how it was completed mostly by volunteer workers.
(See WT 11/15/99, p. 9) Following the tour, you’ll return to the
hotel. Balance of the evening will be free to do as you please.
TUESDAY
This morning our private motorcoach will depart from the Courtyard
by Marriott Newark Elizabeth Hotel and travel through the Holland
Tunnel onto the island of Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge to
visit the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Your tour
will begin at the Brooklyn Bethel Office where the work for over
100 Branch Offices is coordinated. This is where the Governing
Body is located that handles all of the materials related to the
preaching activity worldwide.
The Public Relations Department has a display of awards and even
an EMMY for their outstanding public services by the way of our
tapes and DVD’s. Under the direction of the writing committee,
material is prepared here that will be published worldwide. Considerable
research is done which means it must be checked and proofread
for accuracy. It is then sent to Branches around the world so
that it can be translated into different languages for all nationalities
to understand. You’ll also see the Archive’s Room where you can
view the original “PHOTO DRAMA OF CREATION.”
After this morning’s tour, you can enjoy your included box lunch
at noon on the promenade next to Bethel that has a beautiful view
overlooking Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. After lunch,
your motorcoach will proceed to Manhattan where you will have
some free time to do as you please. You will then return to the
hotel or you can remain in Manhattan to visit Chinatown, eat in
Little Italy or perhaps see a Broadway play in the evening. Your
tour escort will explain how easy it is to return to the hotel
by bus or train at your leisure.
WEDNESDAY
Enjoy your complimentary continental breakfast at leisure and then the entire
day and evening will be free to do as you please to enjoy New
York City. Don’t miss the indoor outlet mall across the street
from your hotel. Here you will find name brand stores with merchandise
at discounted prices. Your tour escort will also have several
suggestions on places to visit and how easy it is to take transportation
into and back from Manhattan where there is a variety of things
to enjoy. You will have plenty of time to visit the Empire State
Building, Time’s Square, Macy’s Department Store, Chinatown and
other great shopping areas plus there is a variety of restaurants
and several museums. You may also want to take in an afternoon
matinee or evening musical or some other live performance at one
of the Broadway theaters. Be sure to try some New York style cheesecake
and pizza.
If you prefer a well-organized tour, we suggest taking one of
our tours that includes all transportation to Brooklyn, Wallkill
and Patterson. All tours include your hotel, continental breakfast daily,
two lunches, sightseeing and admission tickets for a Biblical
tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You will also have a tour
escort from the time that you arrive New York until the day you
depart to your hometown city. As mentioned in the Kingdom ministry,
your visit to Bethel will be encouraging and educational. You
will see how Bethel family members who are volunteers of all ages
enjoy working, eating and studying together at the World Headquarters.
THURSDAY
This morning, breakfast is included. Depending on which tour date
you prefer, you will either return to your hometown or continue
on our motorcoach on September 12 to Washington, D.C. In the afternoon,
you will enjoy a sightseeing tour to view the United States Capitol
Building, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Washington Monument,
Smithsonian and the White House. Later, check in at the beautiful
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel. The balance of the day and
evening will be at leisure.
FRIDAY
This morning, our motorcoach will take everyone to visit the Holocaust
Museum where we have included special tickets so you can spend
as much time as you please. The museum is dedicated to presenting
the story of how more than 30,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses were persecuted
by the Nazis. It has many documents, photographs, videotaped eye
witness accounts and interviews with over 70 of Jehovah’s Witnesses
who were victims of Nazi rule. You will see many coats with the
purple triangle badges that identified Jehovah’s Witnesses in
the concentration camps. (For additional information on the Holocaust
Museum see Awake, 3/8/05, p. 16 and 11/8/93, p. 16). Balance of
the day is free to do as you please or to tour the famous Smithsonian
Museum.
SATURDAY
Entire day free to visit the United States Capitol Building, White
House, Bureau of Engraving and Printing of money, Washington Monument,
Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian, Air and Space
Museum, and many other points of interest. All attractions are
free of charge.
SUNDAY
This morning, everyone will take the hotel shuttle bus to Reagan
Airport for their return flight home with many Bethel Tour Vacation
memories.
2013
Tour Dates
June
15-20
+
July 19-28
*
September 7-15
September 21-26
October 12-17
+ This date includes the New York and Canadian Branch
Office plus Niagara Falls.
* The September 7-15 tour date includes three additional
days in Washington D.C. On the morning of September 12, our private
motorcoach will travel through the states of Delaware and Maryland
to the Nation’s Capital. Upon arrival, there will be a sightseeing
tour and on the following day you will visit the Holocaust Museum.
NOTE: You can travel to New York on any of the
above dates from any departure city . Please indicate the city
and departure date you prefer on the reservation form. If your
city is not listed, please let us know which city you would like
to fly from and we will then inform you of the total cost from
your hometown. You can view pricing and tour information
below.
BOOK
EARLY AS THESE TOURS SELL OUT QUICKLY! |
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