Traveling with kids means you can't pack as much into your day, there needs to be downtime, playtime, and snack time.
We'll only have a few days in any one location, and we may never get to go again, so deciding what to do is not easy. There are some historical sites that I don't want to miss, but I know those won't be the most exciting for the kids. We'll try to balance activities, by visiting (potentially boring) museums and historic sites in the mornings, and keep the afternoons for kid centered activities, like children's museums, swimming at the hotel or campground pool, and playing at the beach.
I've also heard from friends and family, places that they have been and were the best for families.
High marks went to Colonial Williamsburg, so we plan to stay three nights in the area.
Washington D.C. is always a favorite, and I know we could spend a week just there, but we won't have more than two days, and will have to choose wisely what to see and what to skip.
New York City is a must, even if we just see the Statue of Liberty. We would love to see a Broadway show, like Lion King or Mary Poppins, but I'm not sure that will work out.
If you've been to any of these places with your family, what were the favorites?
South Dakota:
Mount Rushmore area
Minnesota:
Mall of America in Minneapolis (mainly for the Lego store)
Virginia:
Monticello in Charlottesville
Richmond
Colonial Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (of the Marguerite Henry books)
Mount Vernon
Washington D.C.:
National Zoo???
Museum of Natural History
Air & Space Museum
Memorials - Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington
National Archives (for a bit of genealogy research and to see the Declaration of Independence)
Madame Tussaud's to see the Presidents??
Pennsylvania:
Gettysburg Battlefield
Independence Hall, Philly
National Constitution Center, Philly
Franklin Institute, Philly
Please Touch Museum, Philly
Valley Forge
Audubon Center at Mill Grove
Lancaster
New York
Wave Hill Gardens
Statue of Liberty (sadly she's closed for renovations)
Broadway Show??
Niagara Falls??
Massachusets:
Plymouth Colony
Mayflower II
Paul Revere House, Boston
Old North Church, Boston
Boston Common
Bunker Hill, Boston
Loisa May Alcott House, Concord
Lexington
Tennessee:
Nashville (we'll only have one evening here)
Kansas:
Topeka
Colorado:
Mesa Verde
Durango
Sand Dunes National Park
Arizona:
Mesa/Phoenix
Share your family's favorites, pretty please :)
Hey Heidi - super exciting trip! Evan and I just found a book called 101 Places you gotta see before you're 12 and I really like how it categorizes "places" - such as "a lighthouse" or "a general store" or "a peace place" (the UN in NY). I also liked "the subway" (you can do that in Boston or NY) and "an antiquarian bookstore" or "a famous road" (think: rodeo drive, wall street, or route 66, I think nashville has a famous street, Beale street). Also on the list that you could certainly find in your locations:
ReplyDelete- a mint (still want to go to one myself!)
- an endangered place (like abandoned train stations, grain mills, prairie churches)
- a replica (like the Eiffel tower in Paris, tx)
- places where they make cool stuff (Crayola and Hershey's and Snyder's pretzels are in PA, look for General Mills Cereal Adventures in the Mall of America)
- a crazy dream house (Loveland OH has a castle with a wonderful story)
- a great estate (like the Biltmore)
- a marvel of engineering (you most certainly will see these in NY and surely have in CA like the Golden Gate bridge)
- a gateway to a new world (Statue of Liberty)
- a battlefield
- a Kooky Capital (like the Troll Capital of the world in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin or Snack Capital of the World, Hanover PA) that's just funny
- a waterfall (Niagra is very memorable from my childhood)
- a living history museum
- a fort
- "big things" (world's largest catsup bottle, world's largest baseball bat)
- backstage at a theater (though I'd not pass down a Broadway show, you can see the more educational backstage at http://www.metguild.org/ - search for family backstage, tours look relatively inexpensive)
- halls of fame - Paul and I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this summer and it was okay, not sure the kids would "get it" (heck I'm not that much of a rock-n-roller myself)
- legendary locations (like fort Raleigh near the "lost colony", the Alamo; another trip of course :))
Wow, really looking forward to hearing about your adventures!
Wow, thanks Anne! What a great idea for a list scavenger hunt for the trip. I'll have to think on that a bit tonight and see if I can print up a page for each kid. Thanks again!
DeleteNot sure when you'll get to Minnesota, but make sure you take the kids to St. Paul to see the captiol building. They also offer free tours! It's a beautiful place. The MOA, well the LEGO store is cool, and oh yeah, it's an INDOOR amusement park! We lived there the past 9 years, this is a WONDERFUL time to go there! Hope you get to see the Fall colors later this month on the east coast. There's nothing quite like it....
ReplyDeleteDefinitely see Niagara Falls. Take the Maid of the Mist boat ride, which goes down around the bottom of the falls. You have to wear raincoats! Also in western NY is the Erie Canal where you can take a canal boat ride and Jamestown NY, home of Lucille Ball. Nice museum/gift shops there if you're Lucy fans. Margaret lives in Elmira NY and she'd have more ideas.
ReplyDelete