Attractions

Sometimes the small-town museums are the best.  With fewer crowds, the guides can take the time to give you a personalized tour.  Because of local support, the collections are complete and meaningful, and the guides can tell you stories about the artifacts and how they fit into someone’s family history.  Such is the case at the Village of Yesteryear in Owatonna.

Like many small-town museums in the Midwest, the Steele County Historical Society’s Village of Yesteryear is a collection of buildings that have been moved into one location.  It has a church, a log cabin, a general store, and all of the other buildings that were found in villages in days gone by.  But although these re-made villages have the same way of preserving history, they are not all the same.  Each has its special buildings and objects that aren’t found elsewhere. Read More »

Earlier this month, we visited our family in the Midwest and spent a week on a lake in Minnesota. And on that trip, I discovered five great activities that really made my vacation. My husband will argue that card playing (Whist, Pinocle and Hell’s Bridge) is his favorite way to spend the week, but for me, here are my five favorite activities at the lake:

Fishing

Fishing is always a great option, not that I caught anything to write home about. It is a relaxing way to spend the afternoon, bobbing about in a skiff, trying to catch one of the fish below. Apparently, if I was willing to get up at the crack of dawn, I would have had much better luck fishing! Read More »

Seafood, Jazz & Brew Festival

Turning the tables on wine tasting, the Hilton Head Seafood Jazz & Brew Festival on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island introduces attendees to the art of matching of beer with culinary dishes. From September 14-19, 2009, local restaurants will showcase special seafood menus and beers, with some venues offering four course sit-down meals while others provide a casual dining experience where attendees wander between sampling stations.

The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra hosts a jazz performance on Friday evening, encouraging guests to bring a picnic from home and purchase drinks from the on-site Budweiser wagon.

So many varieties of beer to sample.....

Read More »

Imagine that you’re in a place where cars roll uphill and water flows the wrong way.  You just may have found yourself at Gravity Hill, near New Paris, Pennsylvania.

Photo taken out the windshield as the car is backing up Gravity Hill in neutral.

By following the detailed directions to Gravity Hill and putting your vehicle in park, you too can experience the excitement as your car starts to roll uphill.  You’ll look at each other, dumbfounded, and then try the second spot just down the road, only to have it happen all over again.

“How is this possible?”  “It can’t be!”  “We were rolling uphill!”

Yes, it’s strange, it’s incredible, it’s unbelievable. Read More »

Jackie Robinson Exhibit in the Baseball Hall of Fame

Strolling down Main Street in the village of Cooperstown is a bit like going back in time. You feel transplanted to the days when people walked to town to take care of their errands and visited with neighbors along the way. And kids would ride by, unscheduled and unsupervised, with baseball cards in their bicycle spokes. You can buy those same baseball cards in collectors’ shops on Main Street or you can head down a few more blocks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum and see displays of them and other treasures while learning all about the history of the game.

Read More »

John Hancock Center

They say the Windy City got its nickname from fast-talking politicians, but step out on the open-air viewing deck of the John Hancock Observatory and you could easily believe otherwise. Standing at the edge, 94 stories above Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, you can feel the wind rushing by and the building swaying, up to 8 inches in a 60 mph wind.

Prior to construction of the Hancock Center, North Michigan Avenue was lined with fairly uniform mid and low-rise buildings; after its completion in 1969, a flurry of skyscraper building transformed the Magnificent Mile into the modern canyon of upscale retail, finance, and luxury residences that it is today. The building’s design, four vertical beams connected by a series of cross braces forming a square tube, was groundbreaking at the time. Not only did it minimize the use of steel, saving an estimated $15 million, it also eliminated the need for inner support beams, greatly increasing amount of available floor space.

Some of the fun facts about the construction include the following: Read More »

When we visited Philadelphia’s historic section with four young kids, it was hard to guess which things the kids would like and which would be, well, boring for them.  Even kids who like history like to have it be interesting.  It turns out that Franklin Court was one of our favorite stops of the day.

The photos I’d seen of Franklin Court were strange, showing a huge metal frame of a house, and descriptions of an underground museum were hard for me to picture.  Once we arrived, however, it all made sense.

The big metal frame is indeed there, indicating the place where Benjamin Franklin’s house stood.  Around the courtyard that contains the house frame are the museum entrance, print shop, and post office.

The museum is indeed underground, with a long ramp in the hallway from the outside entrance.  It is run by the National Park Service, and rangers are on hand to answer your questions.  We got there just in time for a movie about Benjamin Franklin’s life, which was interesting and informative for all of us.  I hadn’t realized just how much time Ben Franklin had spent away from his wife and family in order to serve the United States.

From the museum, we moved to the printing office, where a park ranger gave a demonstration of a printing press like Franklin would have used.  Many of Ben Franklin’s sayings were posted on the walls.  We enjoyed watching the printer in action.

Next door, Benjamin Franklin’s early post office still stands.  Upstairs is a postal museum, which is a series of displays on the walls, but downstairs is a working post office.  We had purchased postcards earlier in the day, and addressed one to each of the kids to be postmarked and sent from the post office.  It’s a special remembrance of our trip.

If you visit Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, don’t miss Franklin Court.  It was one of the highlights of our day.

Photo credits:  minnemom on flickr

Linda (minnemom) and her family braved a 17-day, 3700-mile winter roadtrip to Philadelphia.
She writes of her family vacations at Travels with Children.

Related Posts:

Marriott Philadelphia Hotel

Club Quarters Hotel in Philadelphia

History with Children in Philadelphia

To really appreciate Buckingham Fountain, visitors should see it twice. In the daylight, the details impress. One of the largest in the world, the fountain is 280 feet in diameter at its base and stands more than 25 feet high. In designing it, Edward H. Bennett took inspiration from the Latona Basin in Louis XIV’s gardens at Versailles. Representing Lake Michigan, the main basin is surrounded by four sea horses, symbolizing the four states that touch the lake: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Lake Michigan provides an exquisite backdrop for the cascading waters of Buckingham Fountain

Read More »

Often times in my travels, I have found that, sadly, most smaller towns don’t really maintain their Downtown areas.  Sometimes it is due to the invasion of big shopping malls in the community that force smaller, historical shops and businesses to close, other times the towns just don’t have the funds to support a thriving downtown area.

This is not the case with Sioux Falls in South Dakota.  We were making a stop along the way, but found as we as we made our way into our hotel that there seemed to be plenty going on.

We decided to take a stroll and came across a sign indicating that we were in fact walking along the Sculpturewalk.  These few blocks that run down Philips Avenue feature a wonderful display of sculptures created with all sorts of materials, from heavy copper to iron to things sheets of metal.  It gave the area a wonderful artistic vibe and sophisticated feel. My kids enjoyed stopping and admiring each piece and made sure we crossed the streets so that we could get a good look at the displays on the other side.

If you continue down Philips Ave., you will come right into Falls Park.

This is a quiet park, beautiful and lush in the Summer, with long paths and bridges for bikers and walkers, and picnic tables to spend afternoons at along the river.

Halfway down Sculpturewalk, if hungry, stop by Philips Avenue Diner. We had the most amazing burger there called “The Spread“.  It gets it’s name because after the chili and other toppings are added onto this massive burger, it is exactly that, a spread of deliciousness.

The service was wonderful, and quick, and if you are lucky enough to get there on “Burger Day” you’ll get your second burger at half price.  Totally worth the extra calories! But fear not, there’s plenty to see in the area, so you can always make up for it by finishing your afternoon with a stroll down to Falls Park.

We went there very early in the morning when hardly anyone was around.  There is a bridge suspended over the bottom of one of the smaller falls and I can honestly say it was one of the best, unexpected surprises of my day. And even better, there is no fee to enter the park.

Medora, North Dakota, in the North Dakota Badlands and at the edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, is North Dakota’s top tourist attraction.  With a musical variety show, the national park, a golf course, and many shopping and eating choices, Medora has a lot to offer visitors.

The history of the area can be seen in several museums in town, and at the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site on the edge of Medora.

The Chateau de Mores was the summer “cabin” of the Marquis de Mores and and his family.  Its 26 rooms were built in 1883 and showcase many of the family’s original belongings.  Among the Chateau’s famous frontier guests was Theodore Roosevelt, who frequented the Medora area. Read More »