Favorite Field Trips {5 Days of Field Trips}

To wrap up my week of Field Trips, I'd like to share some pictures and links of our family's all-time favorites. I've also collected a list of links from fellow bloggers and I'm sharing their favorites too.

We are lucky (in my opinion) to live within reasonable driving distance of Gettysburg and several other Civil War Battlefields; Fort McHenry; Washington DC; Harpers Ferry; and Historic St Mary's City.  There are plenty of destinations in our area that we still need to visit too! On vacations, we have been able to visit some amazing places as well. Here are some of the standouts:

Homeschool Coffee Break favorites in Maryland include:

Historic St Mary's City in southern Maryland - You can visit the living history park and enjoy many hands-on activities. In  History Lesson: St Mary's City I share about some of our experiences there. We also loved our Camp Flintlock encampment experience nearby. It has been voted by our boys (Kennady was too little to go along) as our  Most Memorable Field Trip Ever. We stayed in tents, dressed in period costume, cooked over an open fire, gathered and chopped our own wood, learned how to shoot a flintlock rifle, and learned how to throw a tomahawk! 

We've been to the Chesapeake & Ohio National Historic Park several times, and highly recommend it if you're in the area! Among the highlights - mule-towed ferry rides! Read more and see pictures at: Think Back Thursday: C&O Canal (History Lesson).

Nearby Hashawa/Bear Branch Nature Center has some great programs. We especially loved spending a day there during Maple Sugarin', where we not only learned about tapping maple trees and making maple syrup, but got some close-up looks at birds of prey. My Nature Center PhotoJournal tells about our day.

Memorable Homeschool Coffee Break vacation field trips:

We enjoyed a family field trip to Philadelphia, where we saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. 

Our family's favorite vacation to Florida allowed us to see Castillo de San Marcos and other parts of St Augustine, including the Colonial Spanish Quarter. In addition to those blog entries, I more recently shared a History Lesson: St Augustine post that explained how a vacation field trip from several years previous helped us in the current year's history lessons.

   

My family enjoys visiting lighthouses. Two that offer nice tours are Ponce Inlet Lighthouse in Florida, and Marblehead Lighthouse in Ohio. And yes, we had a great History Lesson: Lighthouses this past year!

                               

Visits back home to the Calgary, Alberta area are few and far between, but always include a trip to Banff National Park.  Another Canadian favorite is in Toronto: the Hockey Hall of Fame. On the Atlantic coast of Canada, we really enjoyed our trip to Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick last summer - we went to an airshow, saw the Bay of Fundy at high tide and low tide, and went on a whale-watching cruise on a sailing ship!

Crew Members' Favorites

I asked fellow Crew members to share some of their favorites, and here is a selection from all over the country, and a couple overseas! (All the links should take you to their blog entry with pictures and description of their memorable field trip adventure. Have fun visiting!)

If you're in Boston, LaRee at Broad Horizons recommends visiting the National Historic Parks in the city. She explains in two posts - a Weekly Wrap-up and one titled Boston!

Sara at Embracing Destiny lists nearby Plymouth Rock among her family's Favorite Field Trips. She also tells about a field trip to the Almanzo Wilder Homestead in New York state.

  

New York state is more than just New York City! Heather at Thrifty Mom Spot really enjoyed a trip to the Corning Museum of Glass.

Meg at Adventures with Jude tells about their local zoo and how they incorporate their visits into their science study in S is for Snowy Owl and other Critters at the Zoo.

Lisa at Our 4 Kiddos shares some Pennsylvania destinations: Crystal Cave and Valley Forge National Historic Park. She also tells about some of the things to see and do in Washington, D.C., and about a trip to Assateague Island on the Chesapeake Bay.

Marcy at Ben and Me tells us that Mitchell, Indiana is home to one of their favorite destinations - Spring Mill State Park. She's got more pictures and description at Q is for Quintessentially Pioneer.

Lisa at Golden Grasses shares about a pioneer theme field trip too - their visit to the Ingalls Homestead at DeSmet, SD. She also takes us on the field trip behind the faces at Mount Rushmore.

Jennifer at A Glimpse of Our Life also recommends Mount Rushmore, and she tells about Castillo de San Marcos in St Augustine, FL and Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO.

Speaking of Branson, Beth at Ozark Ramblings informs us that the Titanic Museum there is worth visiting. She also recommends Cahokia Mounds.

Diana at Aspiring to Be has some great pictures of the Museum of the Appalachia in Tennessee.

Nicole at Mama of Many Blessings is sure kids will especially enjoy the Iowa Children's Museum. Her family also visits these Butterfly Gardens in Michigan every year, and also recommends LEGO KidsFest.

From Clara at A Slice of Homeschool Pie, we learn about the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, and the ShurTech Brands packaging plant (they're the people that make Duck Tape!). They've also visited Auntie Anne's Pretzels.

Emilee at Pea of Sweetness shares about the Space Center Houston.

Lexi at Lextin Academy tells about visits to Sea World and the zoo, and a blueberry-picking adventure.

Christa at Fairfield Corner Academy offers these suggestions: a local police department; a National Weather Service station;  and Mt Holy Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Leah at As We Walk Along the Road lists some of their favorite field trips: F is for Field Trip.

Jennifer at Chestnut Grove Academy hosts a Friday Field Trip blog hop where she and other bloggers share some favorites. 

And finally, from an international Crew Member in the UK - Sarah at Delivering Grace tells about some memorable field trips in England: Scotney Castle; Rochester City and Castle; and Bodiam Castle. If your children enjoy the Railway Children books, you may be especially interested in her field trip to the Bluebell Railway, which is home to a station used as the setting in the books.

What has been your family's favorite field trip? Have you visited any of the great destinations listed above? Leave a comment and let me know! Stop by for a cup of coffee and more discussion about field trips during the 5 Days Blog Hop, and be sure to visit the other Schoolhouse Crew members and their 5 Days topics. Just click on the banner below to return to our Blog Hop Home!

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