Category Archives: Historical recreations

Old Town San Diego – Visiting Old California

  By placeswithkids | February 28, 2012 - 3:30 pm | , , , , , , ,
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Old Town San Diego

Old Town San Diego

While it’s true that San Diego has tons of kid-friendly activities like SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, and nearby LegoLand, our first stop when we arrived in California was Old Town San Diego - a historic area filled with restaurants, shops, and historic sites which just also happened to be in Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up. 

I’ve always been a big fan of these kind of historical areas because they’re an easy way to learn about the past without spending a ton of cash.

Driving the wagon at Old Town San Diego

At Old Town San Diego there was no entrance fee and visits to the historic sites were self-guided, so we were able to peek into the old jail, courthouse, and bank before spending the majority of our time at the Seeley Stables Museum and La Casa de Estudillo, a restored hacienda.

My kids like places like Old Town San Diego because they feel less like a stuffy museum and more like stepping back in time to a different era.

Inside the Seeley Stable Museum

Seventy-four places visited, 426 to go.

 

Salem Witch Museum: Kid-friendly scares

  By placeswithkids | November 7, 2011 - 12:26 am | , , , ,
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Salem Witch Museum

No-so scary Salem Witch Museum

Happy Halloween!

To celebrate, I’m revisiting a post I did over a year ago about our visit to the Salem Witch Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Touting itself as “Salem’s Most Visited Museum,” the Salem Witch Museum offers probably the best overview (with only a tiny bit of scary thrills) of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Using dramatic lighting, a voiced-over narration, and life-sized figures, the Salem Witch Museum details the events leading up to the summer of 1692 when a group of bored girls accused their servant (and several others) of witchcraft. By the end of the hysteria, 19 men and women were hanged and 1 man, George Corey, was pressed to death.

The reenactment can be a little scary for younger visitors as the presentation/performance is done in dim light so know your kids and whether they can handle this kind of presentation. After the show, visitors are herded into an exhibit detailing the history of witchcraft and the ancient (and more modern) practice of Wicca.

And just to put a little bit of shiver into your Halloween, check out this statue of Roger Conant, the founder of Salem, located just outside the museum in the traffic circle . . .

Roger Conant statue

Roger Conant statue

. . . with his scary Pilgrim dress and stern face, it’s enough to put the “Boo!” in your Halloween.

Following the Lincoln Trail in Illinois

  By Anne Patrone | January 20, 2011 - 10:30 am | , , , , , , ,
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Lincoln’s Home in Springfield, IL

 Although I didn’t realize it when I planned our Memorial trip through the Midwest, visiting some of the Lincoln sites in 2009 was a great way to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth on February 12, 1809.  I also didn’t realize that by visiting the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, we would be adding a stamp to our National Parks Passport from THE ONLY NATIONAL SITE IN ILLINOIS.

Okay, there are others, but they’re historic trails that pass through several other states in addition to Illinois.

We began our “Lincoln Trail” at the only home owned by Abraham Lincoln, now part of a historic four block neighborhood where all the homes have been restored to look like they did in 1860.  We got there early enough in the day that we didn’t have to wait too long for the timed guided tour of Lincoln’s house.

The home is pretty large, even by today’s standards, and beautifully decorated inside (which was probably more Mary Todd Lincoln’s doing than Abe’s if I had to guess). 
An old-fashioned “float” advertising Lincoln for President
I think one of things that I most remember is Lincoln’s shaving mirror. They’ve positioned it on the wall at the height where Lincoln would have used it – and wow! – it’s amazing how tall the man was.  You always hear about his incredible height, but that simple shaving mirror really hammered the point home. 
Outside, we wandered around and inside some of the other restored homes for a while, but the real treasure at the Lincoln Historic Site was Lincoln’s home.  So with our National Passports stamped, we headed over (again, only a few blocks – perhaps walking the same path Lincoln took?) to our next stop on the Lincoln trail – the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices. 
Lincoln’s Law Offices Across from the State Capitol 

Run by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, these offices have been recreated to look like they did when Lincoln practiced law there from 1843 to 1852.  
When we visited the first floor visitor center, we were told a guided tour (about 20 minutes) would begin shortly and would we like to wait?
We shrugged, gave a few dollars for a donation, and wandered around until the tour began.  The guide gave a nice overview, then led us up to the second floor which has been restored to look like it did when it was used as a federal court.
We took our seats and listened to the guide explain the historical significance of the room.  Five minutes, right?  Ten, max?
Federal Courtroom in Lincoln’s Law Offices
Try closer to 30 minutes.  And when we finally decided to sneak out after the millionth squirm by our boys (yes, they were quiet, but just as bored as we were), our lovely guide was still going on!
So sadly, we didn’t make it to the third floor where  Lincoln’s law offices were – we were just too hungry!!!
More about our last stop on the Lincoln Trail – the Lincoln Presidential Museum – in my next post! 

Mystic Seaport & the Fourth of July

  By Anne Patrone | August 14, 2010 - 9:14 am | , , , , , , ,
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Mystic Seaport is designed to resemble a whaling town during the mid-1800s and my boys loved the easy history lesson it provided.

Since we went on the Fourth of July, we were treated to activities that would have occurred during that era – a parade, musicians playing in the grandstand, an old-fashioned baseball game (guys loved that one), and making ice cream the old-fashioned way – by cranking it out.

We spent half of the day there – climbing into ships, making our own, and just wandering around.

An old-fashioned float
Learning to communicate via flags

There were activities throughout the day which were very kid-friendly: helping with the ice cream, playing baseball, and participating in the parade.

Exhibits and homes (manned by costumed volunteers) were helpful and easy to understand.  The best exhibit was a hands-on area where the guys tied knots, learned semaphore (flag language), and discovered why pulleys make lifting easier.

For a steamy fourth of July, this was a perfect balance of old and new.  And although my youngest was tired of climbing into ships by the end of the day, a quick dip in the pool back at our motel made everyone relax.

Twenty-two places visited, 478 to go.

Mystic & Mashantucket – A Great Weekend Trip

  By Anne Patrone | August 6, 2010 - 3:05 pm | , , , , , ,
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This past Fourth of July, we decided to stay local and visit the Mystic, CT area to see some of the sights/places in Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up.


The plan was to visit four spots (one of which is no longer in the current edition) – Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Seaport, the Flying Horses carousel in Rhode Island, and the Mashantucket Pequot Indian museum at the Foxwoods resort.

The museum is only open Wednesday through Saturday, so by default, it was our first stop.

What to say about a museum a little over a decade old andbuilt with excess profits fromthe Foxwoods casino?

Wow!

The building (with an amazing viewing tower and spectacular glass atrium) was clean, well-run, and still shiny-new.  Inside, the exhibits are displayed in a logical manner (after, of course you pass through the initial ‘how-we-got-the-money-for-this-place’ exhibit).

The museum is kind of a one-way only street.  You begin in pre-historic time around the Ice Age, then evolve through exhibits detailing Native American life pre-European settlement, life during European settlement, and lastly the integration of the Pequots into European/American life.

As can be expected, the dioramas are incredibly life-like and detailed.  My guys were fascinated with a scene depicting a caribou hunt.  Sound effects and running water add to the experience.  The only complaint was that there was little written explanation in the recreation of a Pequot village (an audio tour is available, but the sound quality was poor and the explanations long-winded).

Still, the museum is well-worth the time (figure on 2 – 2 1/2 hours depending on the level of interest) and money ($15 per adult & $10 for kids 6-15).

Twenty places visited, 480 to go.