The Early American History Trip - Suggestions?

[Lothlorian]

A friend of mine did a civil war battle field trip. He drove to many of the battle fields one summer and had a great time. Maritime and aviation museums are really cool. I have been to a Maritime museum on lake superior and a aviation museum. Warner Robbins in Georgia has a great aviation museum. Heck there are so many places to go I am just getting excited about this summer just typing this.

Look at your childrens social studies curriculum map and see what they have to master. That will help you plan

Brian

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by rebelstand

That is a bummer.. unless I can find dog boarding we might not be able to do that Chicago.... Can't leave the Dane for more than 4-5 hours!

Well, you might be able to find a good doggie day care where your Dane could play and have doggie-fun while you were in the city. ??

We take Lily to one here, once a week, for $16. She absolutely loves it, and it is "date-day" for us---do some shopping, have lunch out, etc. They also do boarding.

We have been very, very happy with them. The staff are all dog-lovers, Lily can't wait to get inside when we get there and greet all her 2 legged and 4 legged buddies.

There is a nice county park just north of here, Comlara, and a train station in Normal that will get you into downtown Chicago in a couple of hours.

I'm sure doggie day care accessibility would be pretty high in the Chicago outlying area, too, and the Metra runs everywhere. Might be something to consider.

What an adventure awaits you and your family! You're going to have to do a thread to keep us all informed of where you are and what you're doing.


Maggie

[rebelstand]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

Well, you might be able to find a good doggie day care where your Dane could play and have doggie-fun while you were in the city. ??

We take Lily to one here, once a week, for $16. She absolutely loves it, and it is "date-day" for us---do some shopping, have lunch out, etc. They also do boarding.

We have been very, very happy with them. The staff are all dog-lovers, Lily can't wait to get inside when we get there and greet all her 2 legged and 4 legged buddies.

There is a nice county park just north of here, Comlara, and a train station in Normal that will get you into downtown Chicago in a couple of hours.

I'm sure doggie day care accessibility would be pretty high in the Chicago outlying area, too, and the Metra runs everywhere. Might be something to consider.

What an adventure awaits you and your family! You're going to have to do a thread to keep us all informed of where you are and what you're doing.


Maggie

I will just have to do some research on doggie daycares.

[rebelstand]

Been organizing the 11 pages o data from a word doc into a spreadsheet.... it's impressive.

[casa3805]

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

Look at your childrens social studies curriculum map and see what they have to master. That will help you plan

Brian

What a great idea.

[Skatiero]

Rideair is right about the Shenandoah Valley! Be sure to visit the Museum of American Frontier Culture in Saunton; it will be the highlight of your trip. Our kids LOVE it and it is amazing.

[rebelstand]

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

Look at your childrens social studies curriculum map and see what they have to master. That will help you plan

Brian

I plan on using this idea. Their core curriculum is an Intro to American History. I won't get the curriculum until April but I'm compiling all the recommendations into a spreadsheet for easy access and just loosely planning for now.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Stream'n 1987-2012 we've found a strict schedule sometimes spoils the fun.
Leave some wiggle room, as Kirmit said, "times fun, when your have'n flies"

Bob

[Lothlorian]

RebelStand:

They should already have the curriculum map on line. Most curriculum spells it out for you before recieve the curriculum. Just get online and look. I think your plan is awesome. Performance, visual, audio, with some reading is a great way to learn. I wish I could join you guys

Brian

[mimiandrews]

If you visit Monticello, don't miss James Monroe's estate right next door. Also don't miss Montpelier (James and Dolley Madison) about 30 miles down the road at Orange, VA. Three founding fathers' homes in one area.

[rebelstand]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Stream'n 1987-2012 we've found a strict schedule sometimes spoils the fun.
Leave some wiggle room, as Kirmit said, "times fun, when your have'n flies"

Bob

We discovered you need wiggle room just to stop and take a break from moving every week...

I think this years planning will be a lot looser than last years.

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

RebelStand:

They should already have the curriculum map on line. Most curriculum spells it out for you before recieve the curriculum. Just get online and look. I think your plan is awesome. Performance, visual, audio, with some reading is a great way to learn. I wish I could join you guys

Brian

I didn't find one but I am going to email the company and ask for it.

Originally Posted by mimiandrews

If you visit Monticello, don't miss James Monroe's estate right next door. Also don't miss Montpelier (James and Dolley Madison) about 30 miles down the road at Orange, VA. Three founding fathers' homes in one area.

Thanks. I will add it to the list!

[FlashSilver]

Originally Posted by fireflyinva

But it still was the site of the founding of the oldest continuous representative legislative body in the world. Plus, the museum is cool--the colonial craft workshops really do a great job of maintaining almost lost skills.

Did they really tell you that that? I think that the Isle of Man, and maybe Malta might take exception. Were they referring to some pre Colombian legislative body? Obviously, the English Parliament is older, as it authorized the Williamsburg assembly in the first place. What am I missing?

[Lily&Me]

Hmmm, there are some teachers and historians on this thread.


Maggie

[fireflyinva]

Originally Posted by FlashSilver

Did they really tell you that that? I think that the Isle of Man, and maybe Malta might take exception. Were they referring to some pre Colombian legislative body? Obviously, the English Parliament is older, as it authorized the Williamsburg assembly in the first place. What am I missing?

The key here is continuous--the British Parliament was shut down for a few years since 1619 (when the Virginia House of Burgesses, now called the House of Delegates was founded). Don't know about the Isle of Man--but I do know that in 2008, Queen Elizabeth did come to VA on the anniversary of the Jamestown landing and recognized the House of Delegates for being oldest. But now I notice that the website qualifies this to the Western hemisphere.

That said, almost all of the houses at Colonial Williamsburg are original. I had been under the wrong impression that there were relocated houses (like Sturbridge Village, which I adore as well)--but I was corrected on that.

Granted--there is the question of restoration, which wasn't as conscious an effort in the 1930s as now--but the Foundation has worked to correct past errors. Also, there are a few new re-creations--a coffee house that was built about 5 years ago and a magazine/smiths shop which they are presently in the process of excavating and re-creating. These were built because the historic and social function are necessary components of the story and community CW presents. I think there were also a couple of craft shops built in the 80s, but they've torn them down in the past few years.

[Relentless]

Cooperstown. Yes, it has the baseball hall of fame but much more. The area was was the setting for The Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper. In fact, you can visit Natty Bumto's cave which would be a great adventure for the kids. Plus there is a great museum with life masks of some of the founding fathers including Jefferson and Adams. They can see what these people really looked like.

Also, the last time I checked, it has a 10,10,10 rated RV park on the lake.

Also, on your way to Boston, go up the east side of the Hudson and stop at Sleepy Hollow. Again, the kids will love it.

John

[socdiva]

The best day of our trip to Williamsburg and the surrouning areas was our day spent at the original Jamestown settlement which has only been discovered and "unearthed" in the past 15-18 years. Everyone thought it had eroded into the river. Fabulous history!

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by socdiva

The best day of our trip to Williamsburg and the surrouning areas was our day spent at the original Jamestown settlement which has only been discovered and "unearthed" in the past 15-18 years. Everyone thought it had eroded into the river. Fabulous history!

Good point. The glassworks nearby (also part of the national park) are not to be missed. Speaking of national parks, we've accidentally visited the historic triangle in years past and found it to be national park week. This year it's April 21-29. This gets you free admission to all national parks. For a family, this can be a big savings. An in the historic triangle, two of the three destinations have national parks!

I highly recommend national park passports. Our kids love getting the stamps at the various locations. Even mom & dad bought one Hopefully we will fill them all up traveling in the Airstream.

[mistral blue]

Originally Posted by mistral blue

This 3-day weekend we are hitching up and going north to Old Sturbridge Village once again.

We arrived home a couple of hours ago with a new heated mattress pad.
MAN, it was cold!
4 degrees Saturday night, and a balmy 9 degrees last night.

Our cheeks may be a little wind-burned but we had an excellent weekend.
We learned about Elizabeth Freeman (Mum Bett) who was born into slavery and who would be the first African-American to successfully sue for her freedom in 1781.
At the heart of her case was the concept that all men are born free and equal.

[rebelstand]

1. They could not give me a curriculum map of cities. I am just going to organize the data and have it ready when the curriculum arrives.
2. We have the National Park Annual Pass.... one of the best things we bought. We did take advantage of one of the free days before getting the pass.
3. Just might send that pm about for the museum critique but I am nowhere near ready for that.
4. Lastly, every time I think I'm close to getting it all put into the spreadsheet you guys pop in and give me more.....just wanted to say THANKS and keep it coming!

[rebelstand]

Just finished organizing the data I have in a spreadsheet.

There are around 170 lines of suggestions and notes.