Traveling 50 States with Kids

Good Old Virginia! We read about Jamestown and how eight U.S. presidents were born in this state. After an early morning flight to Norfolk, we hit the ground running and stopped by the Children's Museum of Virginia  (an ASTC museum ) . We only stayed an hour, as it's the first time I'm noticing our older kids are getting a little old for children's museums which are more geared for toddler to early elementary age kids. Still, they had fun. Only a short 9 minute drive away was  Nauticus  (another  ASTC museum ) where we learned about and explored the Battleship Wisconsin. They also had a drones exhibit, and the kids all had a turn flying a drone.  From the battleship, we could see the  Pagoda & Oriental Garden  which was a gift to Norfolk, Virginia from Taiwan. The cafe was closed, but we enjoyed the koi pond and garden. Afterwards, we drove about 40 minutes to  Margie and Ray's for a late lunch. They have great reviews on Tripa...

We celebrated Juneteenth and Father's Day by visiting Tulsa, OK. We started in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District and read the Black Wall Street Mural sign. I still remember hearing about Black Wall Street for the first time 2 years ago. I had watched this video . It's hard and horrendous, but "A is for the acknowledgement of a painful past." We entered the Greenwood Cultural Center and read the articles and history on the walls. A nice man who worked at the center asked to be in our picture. 😊 We really wanted to visit Greenwood Rising but tickets were required to be reserved in advance, and there were no remaining tickets left for the day. We attended Vernon AME Church (the only standing structure left of Black Wall Street after the 1921 Tulsa massacre). We were warmly welcomed and got to visit the basement where people sought refuge. Dad even received a gift card when fathers were recognized. He was the dad with the most number of kids present at servi...

We  escaped the almost 100 degrees F temperature for some high 80s in Baltimore, Maryland. Just a mom plus boys trip.   We learned some facts about Maryland. How it’s known for fishing, and how it produces the most blue crabs in the United States. How Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland, but Annapolis is the capital. An interesting fact is that Annapolis was the capital for less than a year before Maryland gave up part of its land to help create Washington D.C. Harriet Tubman and Thurgood Marshall were also born in Maryland. We didn’t get a chance to check out the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Park but would like to visit there one day.  We had a great time at the Inner Harbor which was only about 20 minutes from the airport. The boys liked exploring and learning about the USS Constellation which was built in the 1850s and is the  only surviving ship from the Civil War Era.  We also went on the  USS Torsk submarine.  It was neat...

After watching Taste The Nation with Padma Lakshmi – The Gullah Way , the kids and I all wanted to try Gullah food and especially the red rice. We learned about how the Gullah Geechee people were descendants of West Africans, brought to America against their will and enslaved on southern plantations. We learned a little about their language, how there’s not a "t" sound in West African languages, and similarly, it reminded me of how there’s not a real “r” sound in Korean or a “v” sound in Mandarin Chinese. How they turned the treacherous swamps of South Carolina to productive rice fields, and how the Gullah Geechee people still live along the coastal areas from North Carolina to north Florida with Charleston, SC being the unofficial capital of the Gullah nation. We had hoped to visit a museum or a specific location to learn more about Gullah Geechee history and cultural heritage, but learned that the Gullah Geechee Corridor is not a specific location, but it's comprised o...