What are some popular historical sites my family should visit while on vacation?
The most interesting family site, and the one that is most developed for tourists and for families, is Colonial Williamsburg, which is a wonderful experience. They've done all these programs now that kids can get involved with, and do things the way they did them way back in the 1700s. They didn't have such sophisticated kids programs when we went, but we did go at night to hear them firing the rifles; it's incredibly interesting, and fun! We played with toys that the kids played with way back when, and we helped do some crops - we did some hoeing in the garden to get some crops going. So that is really wonderful. The other place that I absolutely loved was Jamestown, which is just having its 400th anniversary this year, in fact maybe even this week. You can walk around and see some of the structures of what's left of them, and there are local Native Americans there. You can also go to a powwow - there are powwows all over the country. There are some in Massachusetts, and there's some in Arizona. If you decide what you want to do, let's say that you're into exploring some of the Native American culture, just google it. I've never had a problem finding things like that. Let's say that you're a Civil War person - that's another. There are all different types of places to go for Civil War places, especially here in the East. But what about the West? People discover the West, and there are lots of places that you can go. Perhaps the important thing is making sure that your kids have an understanding of it before you go. It's similar to when we went to that Custer battlefield. Before, my kids wanted to go there because they read the story of it, and it appealed to them. If you read to your children about the destination where you're going, and about some of the historical things that happened there, that makes it appealing. Otherwise you're getting dry as dust history. My parents took us to Fort Ticonderoga when I was a kid - boring. I took my kids - loved it! It has to do with communicating with your kids, talking to them, going someplace you like. Let's say that you don't like historical sites, then you wouldn't take your kids there. Sometimes the entire destination is historic. Take the city of Boston - you have the Boston Tea Party, you have Paul Revere's ride, you have the historical walk - the entire city has history surrounding it, so it just imbues you and your family.
