If you’re interested in traveling the United States, be it East, West, North or South and don’t forget Hawaii and Alaska, America is full of surprises and I’m here to act as your United States tour guide and provide the introductions! On Take My Mother Please Tours we meet face to face with the beauty, the culture, the history, the food and, best of all, the local people who made and make it happen.
Think of Take My Mother Please Tours as “long weekends” of approximately 5 days. We stay in beautiful accommodations and unpack but once - no passports necessary – unless you’re joining us from abroad!
![Anne Block & The Chicago Theater ] Take My Mother Please Tours](images/tours/United States/Anne-Chicago-Theater-O.jpg)
I began exploring this country as a guide in 1997 and never stopped. I love showing off the many places I’ve come to know – New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, my home city of Los Angeles – and that’s just the start. Then, of course, there are all the destinations through-out this extraordinary country that are just waiting to be explored.
I choose places to visit based on many factors; local festivals, special art exhibitions, seasonal celebrations, unique historical events, music, fashion, gardens, architecture, and pretty much anything that sparks my imagination.
As your United States tour guide, I can custom build a tour to your specifications. This might include location and environment, best time to visit, eating and drinking, culture and customs, festivals and events, history and government, as well as shopping and antiquing or any of those things that you’ve wanted to see and experience all your life.
I can serve as your United States tour guide, from arrival till departure. Or, if you prefer, I can create a do-it-yourself guide that will lay out your entire itinerary, day by day, meal by meal, event by event – all tailored to your needs and specifications. I will see that you are provided with the best guides for what interests you and admissions to any event, museum or any tour that you want to take. For more information about what is involved with do it yourself tours please visit my Travel Consultant page.
Here is a collection of my tours that show off the breadth of my approach to creating tours that have been described by many as, “a once in a lifetime experience,” and for all the right reasons.
In 1998 the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills recommended me to The Museum Of The Southwest (a fine arts museum in Midland, Texas). The referral came as a result of my having led guests at the hotel on a well-received group tour for The Denver Art Museum.
The Museum Of The Southwest’s response to the The Beverly Wilshire referral, had Take My Mother Please Tours planning and leading U.S. tours for art-loving patrons from 1998 to 2019. Traveling in groups ranging in size from 6 to 50 participants, a few of the cities we visited include New York, Chicago, Savannah, Williamsburg, VA, Charleston, SC, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
The itinerary for each package was created specifically for that tour. It included luxury accommodations, great restaurants, music and theater performances, privately guided experiences in museums, artist’s studios, regional festivals and meetings in gardens and stately homes with local experts and historians. Once we even had a reception at The White House.
When Take My Mother Please Tours is not creating group tours for institutions, organizations or families, here are two examples of tours that were created to offer individuals the opportunity of having a unique luxury experience while visiting a particular US city.
Garden aficionados, history buffs, architecture fans and ravenous foodies will find plenty to love in this glorious springtime tour to South Carolina’s Low Country during Charleston's renowned House & Garden Festival (seen above is the historic Heyward-Washington House and garden).
Charleston fulfills to overflowing the requirements of an ideal location: a pleasure for walking and an appeal to all the senses – sight, sound, smell, taste and feel. My 5-star, luxury, guided tour to Charleston caters to folks with an interest in:
Our Chicago tour will introduce you to one of the most vibrant cities in America. From the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, Chicagoans, by the beginning of the 20th century, had transformed their windy city into a center of international business and culture! Today some of the finest collections of art, architecture, and grand public spaces can be found kicking up their heels in the city Frank Sinatra described as that "toddling town!"
Our urban adventure will begin right in the heart of the "Magnificent Mile" where we will be luxuriating at the Ritz-Carlton Water Tower Hotel. Here are a few of the highlights of the tour:
The Art Institute of Chicago - Privately guided tour with an expert art lecturer who will introduce the museum's unparalleled collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Van Gogh; one of the finest collections of American arte ever assembled and a new Contemporary Wing, designed by acclaimed architect Renzo Piano
Millennium Park – A privately guided visit with a docent from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, will introduce us to Millennium Park, which sits adjacent to The Art Institute. Reached via a curving pedestrian bridge connecting the museum directly into the park's stunning gardens filled with marvelous and surprising works of sculpture (below), water, and architecture.
Architectural River Cruise - A one-of-a-kind introduction to "The City of The Big Shoulders." As we sail up the Chicago River, guided by an expert professional architecture docent, we will see some of the city's greatest buildings and original skyscrapers designed or inspired by the modernists of nearly a century ago. Seeing this magnificent skyline completely unobstructed, we will hear the remarkable story of those who revolutionized the building arts and how they are linked to the present.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Original Family Home and Studio - Situated in Chicago's charming residential neighborhood of Oak Park, we step back in time to visit inside the very house and workshop where this architectural giant began his career. Our guide is not only an expert on the house and on Wright's contribution to the world of architecture, she is a longtime resident of Oak Park. She will provide us with a personal introduction to this historic neighborhood, which includes the home that Ernest Hemmingway was born in and now a museum
Free Time to Shop and Explore! Since we will be staying in the center of the Magnificent Mile area of Chicago, one afternoon will be left unscheduled so that we can enjoy individual explorations to the many other cultural and commercial treasures available just steps from our hotel.
If you or an organization you know is interested in creating a one-of-a kind tour to a city or unique location in the United States, don’t hesitate to contact Take My Mother Please Tours to learn how we might help create a once-in-a-lifetime experience.