As with every single aspect of our vacation, we were completely impressed with the quality and child-friendliness of the Yorktown Victory Center. Hands-on exhibits, actors, camps, films and indoor walk-through museums made this yet another wonderful stop. In the Revolutionary War camp, we watched as a cannon was fired... plotted our war strategy... wrote journal entries... and had to discipline a couple of characters. On the colonial farm, we washed clothes... carded wool... and took some time out for fun. After the museum, we caught the free trolley that took us on a tour of downtown Yorktown. As with several other stops, if we had more time, we could've spent the ... Read More
Vacation Highlights Part 2 – Norfolk, VA
Norfolk, Virginia houses the largest US Naval Base in the world - and it's huge! Just about everything in Norfolk seems to revolve around the navy including shipyard after shipyard similar to the picture above. We only spent one afternoon in Norfolk, but easily could've stayed longer if we had the time. Our main purpose for visiting was to tour the USS Wisconsin. Little did we know that our entry fee onto the ship also included an AMAZING hands-on naval history and ocean science center called The Nauticus!! (Can you see how the building is shaped like a ship?) From a sneak-peak into the inner-workings of the USS Wisconsin... and virtual war games... to weather lab ... Read More
Cincinnati Museum Center
I had mentioned in my WWII post about the Cincinnati Museum Center. Besides the Cincinnati History Museum, this historical building - Union Terminal - houses the Duke Energy Children's Museum and the Museum of Natural History and Science. (Oh, yes, and an Omnimax Theater and Amtrak Terminal.) For a very fair price, you can choose to tour all three of the museums in one day. Below are some pictures from our day... Besides WWII, the Cincinnati History Museum takes you through the history of Cincinnati from the earliest Native American settlers to about the 1950's. You get a lot of history about how Cincinnati developed because of it's position as a river town and how the Ohio River's ... Read More
Newport Aquarium
Did you know the Newport Aquarium offers two free children's admissions per adult in January and February each year? I didn't until recently. We've been wanting to go forever, but haven't wanted to fork over the steep prices. Our first trip today was made even sweeter with the $42.oo savings! The Aquarium sits right beside the Ohio River with Cincinnati in the background. Of course we saw fish - big fish, little fish, dull fish, bright fish, freshwater fish, saltwater fish.... Oh, and sharks. Lots of sharks! Many of the fish could swim over top of us as we went through tunnels under water. We saw tons of plants native to particular waters as well. Beautiful plants! And ... Read More
Shakertown
Have you ever visited Shakertown? It's such a lovely place to visit in Central KY. This weekend, we were treated to our first ever overnight stay in one of the original village buildings! My father-in-law took our family and the horses for two days of trail riding, hiking, touring and dining at the historic restaurant. We had a super time! Thank you, Papaw!! ... Read More