We have a zoo membership already. I actually dont like the new cosi. I liked it better before they moved it. My daughter doesn't really like it either since she is a toddler there really isn't that much for her to do and there are always bigger kids pushing her out of the way. Maybe when she is bigger she will like it.
Yes, with Texas it really depends on where you'll be, and chances are that you won't travel far south. Palo-Duro Canyon and the musical "Texas" are not to be missed, IMHO. That's up in the panhandle. There's a zoo in Amarillo, but not in Lubbock. Abilene probably has some to do - I think there's someone on this board from near there, and maybe she can post some things near there. It's "where the east meets the west," or "where the west begins," and really - the dirt changes color there. There's also plenty, more than enough really, to do in the D/FW metroplex. You could spend a week just there and not do everything. Includes Six Flags Over Texas and... what's the water park right there by it? I forget. (Texas Water Rampage is the one in Lubbock....) If you happen to be able to get further south, the capitol in Austin is a must-see of course (bigger than the nation's capitol), and there are good museums there. Bats are out until October. San Antonio has the Alamo which is must-see, and the Riverwalk is gorgeous. And SeaWorld, yippee. Corpus Christi has the state Aquarium, which is really great. There's more. Coming here? Know where-abouts you'll be in this big-ole state? If you'll be through Midland-Odessa, I can find out stuff from there - I have an uncle that lives there.
I would recommend joining your local science museum. There's a network of science museums - if you join one, any one in the network is free. (for example our closes one is the DaVinci Science Center in Allentown....but if we go to the natural History Museum in NYC it's FREE). If you make it out to south easter PA....obviously - Valley Forge, Washington's Crossing, Old City Philadelphia - City Hall, Liberty Bell, etc.
Ok NY has quite a list and I am sure I am missing a few: Audobon Center in Jamestown Niagra Falls George Eastman House in Rochester Genesse Country Village and Museum - Mumford (by Rochester) Corning Museum and Glass Center- Corning (kids are free) Howe Caverns - near Albany Herkimer Diamond mines- Herkimer (they have homeschool days in the spring) Baseball Hall of Fame - Cooperstown Anything on the Erie Canal (various place have boat rides you can take on it) Fort Niagra Museum Village - monroe Rochester Museum and Science Center- currently has a great exhibit on the Underground Rail Road. Here is a link to some that I found down in the Albany area http://dir.hudsonvalleysojourner.com/Educational_Programs_,038_Field_Trips/ Hope that helps.
Yeah, I was also a fan of the "old" COSI. But get a membership anyway. When we went to New England, we used it to visit two separate museums. One was on Lake Champlain (did you know that Lake Champlain had its own "Loch Ness Monster" called Champ?) and one in Portland, Maine. The one in Maine in particular had lots of stuff for toddlers. We went on a day that did nothing but RAIN (and, considering we were camping, it was GREAT!). Another tip...when you come into town, find out where the library is! Fortunately, my kids can spend a whole afternoon contented in a library, even if they can't check anything out. It's a great place to spend a rainy day while camping (plus it gives me a chance to catch up on my e-mail!!!)
And Gettysburg! I just did a search the other day, since we're working on the Civil War, and there are loads of Museums to see.
Maryland has the Chesapeake Bay, St Mary's City, Annapolis, Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Ocean City, the Eastern Shore, and I understand that western Maryland has the hiking and camping areas.
If you come to California, Yosemite is beautiful. That's one of my favorite places to go. I'd say if it were last month to check out the Frog Jump which is my county's annual fair and also Mark Twain wrote the original story about it,heck you can even see Twain's old cabin up in the hills we also have the mines and gold rush era type places to visit, such as Columbia. And they say Black Bart went through the town I'm currently living in.
Becky, my pastor says that Antietam is really impressive if you want Civil War battlefields. If you DO go to Gettysburg, be sure to stop in Hershey, Pa!
Just a word of caution - it is in a really BAD neighborhood and they are famous for their horrible food!
For Indiana, in Indianapolis there is the Children's Museum, the Zoo, and Conner Prairie (living history) is slightly NE of the city. In the NW corner, only an hour away from Chicago, there is the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. ALL of the areas of the park are free. It may not have the stunning views of the western national parks, but it has a HUGE variety of wildlife and plant species. National Geographic just did a Bioblitz here last month, where they did a 24 hour count of all the species. It was neat to participate in. For all of the states, check out http://www.free-attractions.com/ for free attractions in all 50 states. Like others, I'm so envious of your opportunity. Have fun! Carol
We are going to start a website that is going to chronicle our journey. It will have a kids area, blog, also reviews of places we've been including "safe" bathrooms/good food/etc. When we launch it I will definately let you all know. You've all been so supportive of my families step towards our dream. Thanks so much!
well stonefamily I was on the road for years with my girls and want to go again, the one thing we found out that works wonderful is every state you go into just before you enter they have a Welcome Center stop there, take a few mintues, hour whatever talk to the person there, get all the information you can about zoo and all the neat things in that state to see. They have all the paper work there and it will show you everything you need to see and want to know about that state, and even something you don't want to know. LOL there is something in every state to see, believe me, we been to 28 of them and they were blast, if I have my way I want to go again...but the Welcome Center were wonderful and helped alot. They also have a dumping station for RV's and to fill up your water tanks... that was great.
I was going to suggest Hershey and the Crayola Factory. When choosing things to see and do, remember the age and attention span of your daughter... we spent a fortune last year on a beautiful Williamsburg vacation. Our kids were 9, 3 and 2 at the time. They were miserable, they didn't like sitting still watching reenactments. On the way home we stopped at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.. which is special since hubby proposed there! It was much more of a hit.. and then we went to the National Aquarium and a year later the kids still talk about the fish and dolphins and sharks and sting rays and all the other wild things we saw there. We could have saved several thousand dollars and just went on an over night trip to Baltimore and the kids would have been happy. Now a few years before we went to DC, Garrett was 5.. that was a big hit.. he loved the Smithsonian and the monuments. He was even intrigued by the Changing of the Gaurd in Arlington and didn't complain that we walked pretty all of that huge cemetary because I didn't know that I was allowed to drive in to see my uncles grave which if anyone is familiar with Arlington is clear back overlooking the Pentegon... but even that trip his favorite part of was parking in Grand Central Stations lot (only place big enough for our camper) and seeing the subway trains.
That's great! I didn't know that. We love the welcome centers they are a great place to get out and stretch around, learn what the state has to offer and get some much needed snacks and a potty break. We do all of our trips now in a Chevy Aveo it feels like the smallest car in the world. Especially on our trip from Columbus Ohio to Washington D.C......lol.
Our D.C. trip last year was a last minute we only get to spend a day there It was nice we saw the monuments and walked the mall. Then we had to head back home. Actually it was 2008 because Sophie couldn't walk yet... anyways we only spent about 4-5 hours there before we had to head back. It was so worth it.
