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Our family will be traveling to NY from MO for a family wedding in the fall. We will be making this our family vacation! We want to travel around the area and see some historical places that we've studied in HOD the last year and a half! Our kids want to see the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and we want to spend some time in Boston seeing the USS Constitution and doing the history walk there. For those of you who live on the east coast or have travelled there, what "must see" places should we add to our list? Thank you!

I am really looking forward to going to Philadelphia and Boston sometime too. I think it would really bring a lot of what we read to life. I don't know how far along the East coast you are planning on traveling, but we just returned from the Homeschool days at Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg. It was really fun to see some of the sites that we have been studying for the last 2 years in Beyond and Bigger. Jamestown and Yorktown had really nice programs that were educational. Colonial Williamsburg is a fun place to visit. All 3 of these places have Homeschool days again in the fall, I think in later September. If you have the time, they are fun to see!

Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington is a really neat place to visit. I went there as a child, and I thought it was so neat to see where George Washington had lived. It is also really awesome that he and his wife are buried in a "tomb" in the forest in the back with a walking trail that you can walk down and see. You can look inside and see it. Just a neat experience!

I second the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Went there too as a child, and I really enjoyed it. Williamsburg, absolutely! Love that place. I sang there when I was in a traveling choir when I was about 11 or 12, we sang in Bruton Parish, the oldest congregation in the U.S. that still meets. Very amazing to sing in there!

If I think of more, I will let you know. I would love to do something like that. As a matter of fact, thank you for the idea for a vacation plan for us this summer! We are doing Beyond as well and loving it.

http://plimoth.org/
http://www.betsyrosshouse.org/
http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond ... tions.html
http://pilgrimpathtours.com/
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/phila ... /index.htm
http://www.visionforumministries.org/events/fft/

Found these sites for you.

If you are going to Boston, be sure to visit Plymouth Plantation. We took our older kids there when they were young and I'd like to take our youngest there, maybe next year. Can't this year, because of two out of state weddings, but it was fun.

Some neat places to visit in my home state, PA, are Gettysburg, also Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster-about the history of the Pennsylvania Germans with special performances, craft demos and living history. If you want to go somewhere just for fun, Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in Halifax is great. You get to ride a special cruiser, kind of like a topless bus, through the 150 acres of rolling land and see herds of wild and exotic animals from all over the world. Once we were there and we had animals chasing the bus and when we stopped there was one that came up the steps of the bus when our guide was talking.

Those are just a few. There are so many neat places to go, you couldn't do it all in one vacation.

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island come to mind. I used to live in NYC This website has a link to a map of NYC during the Revolutionary War, specifically the Battle of Brooklyn and other info. Maybe you can visit Brooklyn. I recall a bank on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court street has a plaque about the battle on it. Brooklyn Heights has many streets and homes that are historic, and many homes and churches that are over 100 years old are considered historic landmarks. http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/www ... lyndef.htm
Historic buildings in Brooklyn: http://www.brooklynonline.com/history/oldhomes.html
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan http://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/

You could spend a day or more in Old Philadelphia. Last I was there, they had Ben Franklin's house open to tour as well as Betsy Ross's house, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Be sure to wear good walking shoes as you tour Old Philly.
Jamestown in a lot of fun as well as Colonial Williamsburg.
Washington DC has all the Smithsonian museums open free to the public. One is focused on American History. And of course DC has all the monuments. My 4 year old was so excited to see Abe Lincoln last spring. But again, pack good walking shoes.

Wow, thank you so much for all the great ideas! I can't wait to share these with my husband and "map out" some places to visit. I'm getting excited!

We live about 30 miles north of Philly. Last year, on our way to the Outer Banks, we spent two days in D.C., one day at Mount Vernon, and three days at Colonial Williamsburg. Then we spent a week at Kitty Hawk, NC. It was a WONDERFUL vacation! Mount Vernon is a don't miss! All the places mentioned are great. In Kitty Hawk, we visited Kill Devil Hills and the Wright Brothers museum. We also went over to Roanoke Island and watched an amazing outdoor drama about the Lost Colony. I hope you have a great time!

This is a great thread. I live in upper New England and have never done most of these things. We hope to now that our kids are getting a wee bit older. Thanks for sharing!

I'm in NH so I can offer a couple things over this way. Definately Plymouth Plantation. And the Thornton Burgess Musuem isn't too far away from there either (it"s on Cape Cod about 45 minutes or so away) if you've done Little Hearts and read the Thornton Burgess books. If you've read Justin Morgan had a Horse, the Justin Morgan hourse musuem is in Vermont, I don't recall exactly where but you could easily google it. The Robert Frost Farm is in NH if you've read any of his poetry yet.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. I'll post more if I can think of any. Have a grat trip.