Attractions

Raceworld USA - Home to Michael Waltrip Racing

Now that the NASCAR Sprint Cup has been handed out to record breaking driver Jimmie Johnson, you might think that the folks involved with those NASCAR teams would be taking a break until Indy in February. Well, you would be wrong. Those wanting to find their way to victory lane get the real work done when the races stop. You can get a behind the scenes look at everything from gears to the pit crew climbing over the wall at Raceworld USA.

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Some might remember the Franklin Institute from the movie “National Treasure,” where a young boy goes into the foyer and copies down letters of a code from under the statue of a Benjamin Franklin statue.  While the Franklin statue is indeed impressive, there’s much, much more to see and do at the Franklin Institute.

Health Exhibit at Franklin Institute

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The Minnesota History Center, the state’s primary historical museum, is consistently home to quality exhibits showcasing the history of the state of Minnesota.  In addition, it periodically hosts special exhibits, including the Declaration of Independence and items from the Vatican in recent years.

From November 27, 2009, to July 4, 2010, the Minnesota History Center will be home to Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World.  I was a guest of the Minnesota Historical Society for the media preview of this exhibit, which will open to the public this weekend with a variety of special activities.

Electricity Experiment at Ben Franklin Exhibit

Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World is suitable for both adults and children, with a number of interactive pieces that my children enjoyed.  In addition to Benjamin Franklin artifacts, touch-screen learning games and animations and electrical experiments (developed in cooperation with the Bakken Museum) make the exhibit family-friendly.  My children and I spent over an hour in the Ben Franklin exhibit before exploring the rest of the History Center. Read More »

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

While many of us are busy making plans to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, a great number are also taking pause to remember the anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s death which falls on November 22nd. If you are in the Boston area, a visit to his Presidential Library & Museum will go a long way in educating those new to his accomplishments while reminding those already familiar of one President’s role during an impressive part of U.S. history. Read More »

Please Touch Museum

Children’s Museums can be found all around the United States, and our family has visited many of them. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never return to the one that tops our list of favorites because it’s half a country away, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Please Touch Museum is located on one of the halls of the 1876 Philadelphia Museum.  Its historic building may be deceiving, but it’s name tells it all:  kids love going to a museum where they can explore anything and everything. Read More »

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Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage

When the Spanish arrived in the early 1500’s, it is estimated that up to 300,000 indigenous people occupied Florida. These Indian cultures were powerful chiefdom societies that built villages characterized by temple mounds, burial mounds, and middens (trash heaps). After contact by Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, and other explorers, the natives endured decades of stress from warfare, starvation, and diseases such as smallpox and measles. With no natural immunity, disease initially wiped out up to 95% of the native population; within 150 years, virtually all indigenous people were gone from Florida. The few remaining Native Americans eventually merged to become the present day Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes.

Although long gone, the original natives left behind a wealth of evidence that their civilizations flourished. Today, the non-profit Trail of Florida’s Indian Heritage has created a network of archaeological sites, museums and heritage interpreters committed to responsible site visitation and public education of Florida’s Indian heritage. This network encompasses 28 sites across the State, including the following:

The Museum of Florida History, Tallahassee (panhandle)

Collections include 19th century lithographic prints of Native America leaders in Florida, Seminole and Miccosukee patchwork clothing, traditional arts and crafts such as dolls and wood carvings, and 20th century ceremonial artifacts.

Mount Royal Mound

Mount Royal Archaeological Site, Welaka (NE Florida)

Site of native American burial ground, earthworks, a village, and evidence of a Spanish mission. Excavations have turned up embossed copper breast plate, polished stone tools, pearl and shell beads, and decorated ceramic vessels. Read More »

Salvador Dali, a leader of the Surrealist Movement, was most famous for the soft or melting watches featured in his paintings, jewelry designs, and even in glass artworks. Although he was lesser known for his preoccupation with science and religion, by 1940 these subjects had become the focus of his work. During this classic period, he created a series of 19 large canvases, many concerning scientific, historical or religious themes. Among the best known of these works are The Hallucinogenic Toreador, The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, and The Sacrament of the Last Supper, the first two of which are part of the collection at The Salvador Dali Museum in St.Petersburg, Florida.

The Dali Museum, on St. Petersburg's Bayboro Harbor

“The Dali” is home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of the renowned Spanish artist’s work. Compiled by the A. Reynolds Morse and Eleanor Morse over a 45-year period, it is celebrated for its 96 oil Read More »

Family Day at Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The biggest draw at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts currently may be its special exhibit, The Louvre and the Masterpiece, which features several pieces from the Louvre, but for families wishing to visit the museum, I’ll offer another reason to go to MIA: the free Family Day programs at the museum.

Held on one Sunday each month, each Family Day is based on a theme that incorporates art from the museum, arts and crafts projects, performances, and more that build a entire day of family-friendly activities upon the arts theme.  A few years ago, we attended the “Horses” Family Day and completed a scavenger hunt of horses hiding in the museum’s art as well as learning to gallop and canter, with a whole range of activities in between.

The most recent family day was entitled “Art Smart” and was related to the special Louvre exhibit at the museum.  Throughout the afternoon, my children engaged in a variety of activities that brought the Louvre exhibit to life.  They made projects like a model of the pyramid entrance to the Louvre and decorative plates like those found in the exhibit.  They listened to French cafe music as well as opera pieces that were related to the artwork in the exhibition.  They learned how to draw like the masters and to speak a nice little bit of French while learning that the Mona Lisa has another name in France.  All the while, we were wandering the halls of the museum, seeing Impressionist paintings and Chinese pieces, textiles and Arts and Crafts furnishings, and all of the other artwork that was in the Institute.

The best thing is that the Family Day made the Minneapolis Institute of Arts a fun place to visit.  My children didn’t realize how much they were learning about art on their visit; they merely thought that they were having a great time.  Family Day activities are well-thought-out to make art accessible to everyone, including children.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
888-MIA-ARTS

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10-5; Thursday 10-9; Sunday 11-5.

Daily Admission and Family Days are free; there is a charge for the special Louvre exhibition.

Photo credits: minnemom on flickr

Linda (minnemom) explores Minnesota and beyond and writes about her family’s adventures at Travels with Children.

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Orchard House - Home of Little Women

How would you like to step inside the setting of your favorite book and walk around in it for a while? See where the characters that you have come to know so well lived and breathed. Or get a look at the view the author had while creating those very same characters that you hold near and dear. If you stop for a visit at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House you can do all of that and more.

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Dakota Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson, ND

A dinosaur museum?  In North Dakota?  Yes, you read that right.  Dickinson, North Dakota, is home to the Dakota Dinosaur Museum.  The exhibits at the Dakota Dinosaur Museum include both real skeletons and casts, as well as fossil and geology displays.  It includes a full triceratops skeleton, which is considered one of the best ever found.

Triceratops Skull

This is not so much a “Hey, kids, let’s go have fun with the dinosaurs!” type of musem as it is a scientific collection.  In fact, the museum consists entirely of pieces owned by one couple, Larry and Alice League, who have been collecting specimens from all over the world for more than forty years.  The Dakota Dinosaur Museum opened in Dickinson in 1994 to share the Leagues’ collection with the public.

Exhibit Explanation

While most of the museum is kept quiet and the exhibits are kept behind railings, the Dakota Dinosaur Museum does include a small children’s corner, consisting primarily of books, and there is a “please touch” table in the entryway.  The museum shop includes gifts for dinosaur and fossil enthusiasts of all ages.

Please Touch Table at Dakota Dinosaur Museum

Dakota Dinosaur Museum

200 E. Museum Drive, Dickinson, ND 58601
701-225-3466

Open May 1-Labor Day, 9-5

$7.00 – Adult

$6.00 – Senior

$4.00 – 3-12 years

Photo credits:  minnemom on flickr

Linda (minnemom) writes about family travel at Travels with Children.

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