Georgia: A Day out at the Children's Museum of Atlanta

The Children's Museum of Atlanta is downtown, across from Olympic Park and World of Coke. If you're visiting Atlanta with kids, it is a must visit!

Our first stop needed to be this Quiet Space. Walking into the museum was a little bit overwhelming for Bria, so we had to find a quiet corner to acclimate in. We were thankful for this great space to do that!

Once she was settled in, we went to check out the sand box - always a favorite. She played with some other children, and built some fun creations.

Dress-up is fun, but it's even more fun when you get to dress up as a tap dancer and dance away on a wooden floor!

There was plenty of hands-on fun to be had. The museum does a great job of integrating a variety of activities to help children look at a topic from multiple angles. Many of the exhibits when we visited revolved around food, so she shopped in a store, planted a garden, and made her own burger with paper, scissors, and glue.

There are also live shows! While we were there, we saw a fun show where they did science experiments, and another one that got kids dancing the wiggles out.

We would normally share ticket pricing and similar information, but the Atlanta Children's Museum is currently closed for renovations, and will be opening again in late 2015. This is a very exciting time! We can't wait to see what new exhibits will come out of the renovation.

Check out their website or visit them on Instagram to find out what they are up to, purchase a membership, and get the details of their grand reopening!

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Washington State: Exploring Coastal Bellingham

Bellingham is a beautiful coastal city on Washington state's I-5 corridor, 90 miles from Seattle and 25 miles from the Canadian border.

With this amazing location, it is no surprise they are best known for the Ski to Sea race, an event held each May. Teams of eight compete in a seven-leg, 101 mile course that brings them from Mt. Baker to Bellingham Bay. It's seriously exciting stuff, and indicative of the culture here, outdoor-loving, quirky, and very artsy. (In fact, Bellingham ranks second in the nation for arts businesses per capita.)

Full disclaimer - this is my stomping grounds! I grew up in Blaine (25 minutes north), and went to high school and college in Bellingham. This is home! We were in town for a good friend's wedding, and squeezed in some family fun around the nuptial festivities.

Not having been home for a while, everywhere I went people were suggesting things that were NEW in town! This means our itinerary is a bit heavy in that end, but I've thrown in suggestions for some good old favorites, too. Have something to add? We'd love to read your ideas! Please leave a comment below.

So what's to love about Bellingham? Lots! We started with a visit downtown, driving right on past the blocks around the bus depot where we hung out as mischievous teens, and stopping a few blocks down in an area that is known for interesting shops and fun museums.

SPARK

We love a good hands-on museum, and the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention is an excellent one. The collection takes visitors from the dawn of the electrical age through the radio era, and features plenty of experiments to facilitate independent learning. Bria learned quickly to look for the signs with a blue hand that indicated an exhibit you should touch, and she was fascinated to move from one to the next, learning how it all works.

Check the museum out on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for the MegaZapper Electrical Show. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday. Visit SPARK at 1312 Bay Street. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children under 11. Memberships are also available, which include unlimited admission.

Michael's Books

From there we walked a couple of blocks to one of my favorite haunts, Michael's Books at 109 Grand Ave. Michael's is a used book shop that specializes in out-of-print and rare books. It is filled floor to ceiling with books, books, and more books, just the way we like it.

The children's corner is a great one, featuring a large collection of books of all kinds. Bria is working her way through the Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading list. and we found half a dozen books from her list to pick up. 

Across the street is Henderson's Books, another used book shop well worth a look - it's a little bit of a Stones vs. Beatles debate here, everyone seems to love one or the other! If you are a bibliophile like me, check out this blog post for details on other bookstores in the area.

Mount Bakery

Open 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Mount Bakery at 308 W. Champion serves breakfast all day. The kids love the bottle of water served to the table (a recycled wine bottle), and feel very sophisticated pouring themselves a glass while they wait for the selection of goodies we ordered to be delivered to the table.

This family-owned local business is a treat, with a variety of pastries and cookies baked daily. Mmmm, and the crepes! Sweet or savory, you can't go wrong with a crepe from Mount Bakery. I indulged in the apple, pear, and brie crepe, while Bria had a half sandwich, piled high with fresh vegetables and meat, with a cup of the soup of the day.

We finished with a delicate brown sugar shortbread cookie that was so good, I wanted to go back and order a dozen. Or two.

If you are around more than one day and would like other suggestions for food, downtown Bellingham is a great spot for breakfast or brunch. The Little Cheerful Cafe at 133 E Holly does some serious goodies like an amazing Eggs Benedict and a Crab Cake Omelette that will leave you happy and full. Don't forget to "pimp your hash or cakes." Another great crepe place is AB Crepes at 1311 Railroad. If you're feeling crazy, bring a friend and do the AlphaBet Challenge - 26 crepes between two people in one hour. I'm sure the kids would enjoy the spectacle!

When breakfast isn't quite the right fit, check out Tadeos Mexican Restaurant at 207 E. Holly. It's authentic and yummy and priced right. I'm obsessed with the tamales.

Railway Museum

We wrapped up our downtown outing at the Bellingham Railway Museum, sneaking in for the last hour before closing. I wish we had taken more time!

This little museum is a great treat, featuring a large collection of model trains and tons of kid-friendly trains for kids to get their hands on and play with. Families will also love the large collection of train books which line one wall - you could spend a day just exploring those. Another favorite exhibit was the collection of railroad lanterns, definitely something little train lovers don't see every day.

Located at 1320 Commercial Street in downtown Bellingham, the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $2 for children and $4 for adults.

More Downtown

There is so much more to see downtown, we definitely didn't do it justice. Check out the Whatcom Museum and Mindport Exhibits for more museum fun. There is a great collection of art spaces, theaters, shops, restaurants, and lots more. Visit the Downtown Bellingham website to learn more, and then get out there and explore!

Indoor Activities

On our second day in Bellingham, we had tuxedo fittings, rehearsal dinners, and pouring rain to navigate, but we did manage to fit in one fun activity - a trip to Trampoline Zone. Located in the old Allsop building at 4201 Meridian St., this recently opened feature is a great place to run (or bounce) off some energy on a rainy day. There are not a lot of places that are equally fun for a 5-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, but this place fits the bill.

Parks

Our final day in Bellingham was beautiful and sunny, so we set out to explore the parks, starting with the brand spanking new Squalicum Creek Park.

So new the grass is still being cultivated, the park sits on the location of a former concrete plant, and efforts are underway to reclaim the area for fish and wildlife, as well as providing a fun place for families. You can follow the trail and explore the salmon enhancement project at Willow Spring, or do like we did, and hit the playground.

The playground at Squalicum Creek Park features a zipline (my Kiwi hubby would call it a flying fox), and a line of children dutifully waiting in line to take their turn at the excitement. There are also climbing structures for a wide range of age groups, and some very Washington-appropriate mushrooms to hop along.

The fun doesn't stop there, either. The park is home to a dog park, basketball court, baseball field, hiking trails, and shelters for hosting gatherings.

If you're looking for established trees and grass to run around on, head down the hill to Cornwall Park, which has always been a favorite. The paved trails weave in and out of a gorgeous oasis in the center of town. Or move toward the lake and explore the 241-acre Whatcom Falls Park, with its four sets of waterfalls and miles of trails.

We chose to visit Boulevard Park, which is a beautiful waterfront space with a boardwalk and beach. Bria and I brought along a book, and read from Winnie-the-Pooh and watched the kayakers and dog walkers. This is a great place to just hang out and take in some fresh air.

Links

Need more help planning your visit to Bellingham? Visit the Bellingham Tourism site, or their office downtown. The City of Bellingham also has some details on their site, and Experience Washington is a great state-wide resource!

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9 Legendary North Dakota Places to Bring the Family

Looking for a legendary way to spend your summer? North Dakota is the place to go! Here are nine of our favorite hot spots to spend a sunny day in the Roughrider State.

Dakota Dinosaur Museum - Dickinson

Roaming the halls of dinosaur bones never goes astray with our children. The fact that many of the dinosaurs in the Dakota Dinosaur Museum were found locally adds an awesome twist to this great adventure in learning and makes it a stop we love to make when we are in the Dickinson area.

There is a children's corner, which is a fun place to sit and take a break from the excitement, and a park outside for running around on the grass after.

Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids 3-12. Watch your dates, though - the museum closes for the season on Labor Day.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of our favorite places for wildlife viewing in North Dakota. Bison roam freely, which is usually the only kind of traffic you will encounter. We were excited to learn that 186 species of birds call the park home, too! How many can you spot? And don't forget the Prairie Dog Town! Watching the black-tailed prairie dogs is well worth the hike.

There is lots more to see, too. Drive the scenic loop, check out the visitors centers, and lots more.

There are two units of the park - the North Unit is located 14 miles south of Watford City on Highway 85, and the South Unit is accessible from exits 24 and 27 off Interstate 94, near the Montana border.

Entrance is $20 per vehicle, or use your National Park Pass.

Tip: If you don't already have a National Park Pass, we highly recommend it - it is a bargain at $80 and gets you into national parks for a year. We make a point of visiting national parks whenever we can, and the experiences are well worth it!

North Dakota Heritage Center

For learning about the history of this beautiful state, no location has more to offer than the North Dakota Heritage Center, on the capitol grounds in Bismarck. There are thousands of exhibits chronicling the state, including art, interactive exhibits, and lots of technology. In addition, learn about the energy development that is currently evolving the state into a destination for workers from across the globe.

Plan to stay a while, and pop into the James River Cafe for a bite to eat midway through. As you are leaving, be sure to look up - you are standing next to the tallest building in North Dakota! You are more than welcome to walk the grounds, which are a part of the capitol's Arboretum Trail.

Knife River Indian Village

Spanning nearly 1,800 acres near Hazen, the Knife River Indian Village is the place to go to see archaeological remains from the Northern Plains Indians. We love to explore the exhibits, including going inside the earthlodges we had previously only seen in books. There are lots of tools and other items to see, and the ranger talks are very informative.

In addition to the Native American history, Lewis and Clark came through here in October of 1804, camping nearby at Fort Mandan, so this free site is a fun place to add to your Lewis and Clark knowledge.

International Peace Gardens

The International Peace Gardens have a little something for a range of tastes. With historical sites, beautiful flowers, an interpretive center and so much more, there is sure to be something to please everyone in the family. Plus there is lots of room to run off some energy! Take the time to explore one of the park's many hiking trails, wander through the Formal Garden, or wander through the peace poles to read "May Peace Prevail" in 28 different languages.

Located near Dunseith on the border between North Dakota and Manitoba, the Peace Gardens are a symbol of the relationship between two countries. The park is sprawling - check out this map to plan your visit.

A daily pass is $15, and a season pass is $30.

Note that you are crossing through Canadian customs on the way back from the park, so bring along the family's passports to make for smooth sailing. If you don't have passports, photo ID is required, and you may spend a little extra time at the crossing.

National Buffalo Museum

Jamestown, North Dakota is home to the National Buffalo Museum, a can't-miss stop along I-95. The bison (or American buffalo) played a significant part in the area's history, and this site offers the opportunity to learn more through a series of exhibits and artifacts.

Plus there is a live herd, featuring the only true albino bison in the world, named White Cloud. And of course the world's largest buffalo! The 26-foot tall concrete bison, weighing more than 60 tons, has been standing over Jamestown since 1959.

There is also a frontier village and gift shop. The museum is $5 for adults.

Geographical Center of North America

Have you ever wondered where the geographical center of North America is located? If you're driving along Highway 2, you'll soon learn it is in Rugby, North Dakota. Everyone needs to pile out of the car and take the obligatory family photo next to the 15 foot obelisk that marks the site!

Fort Union and Fort Buford

This is really three sites in one. Start by checking out the Confluence Center, located at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers 20 miles west of Williston. The center features traveling exhibits (at a charge of $5 per adult and $2.50 per child, which also includes Fort Buford), and a beautiful view of the rivers.

Next door, explore Fort Buford State Historic Site, the remnants of a military fort built in 1866. There is a stone powder magazine, cemetery site, and an officers quarters building, where visitors can now explore a museum. A few times a year, there are also reenactments at the fort, which are a special treat.

Fort Union Trading Post is a few miles to the west, on the border with Montana. The fort was an important fur trade post between 1828 and 1867, and is filled with interesting nooks and crannies to scope out. Watch a blacksmith hammer out a horse shoe, climb to the top of the fort and look out over the river, and visit the exhibits inside the Bourgeois house on the site where seven Native American tribes traded buffalo furs and smaller furs for goods from around the world. During the summer months there are often tepees set up out front, for added interest. 

Medora

A list of North Dakota attractions wouldn't be complete without mentioning historic Medora, located near the western edge of the state. Options for a real cowboy-inspired experience abound. Check out the website to learn more.

If you have an evening to spare, don't miss the pitchfork fondue or the Medora Musical!

Where have your North Dakota adventures taken you? Share your favorite spots in the comments, we'd love to read them!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by North Dakota Tourism. All of the opinions expressed are our own!

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Florida: Potter's Wax Museum in St. Augustine

We kind of let the guy selling trolley tickets talk us into going to Potter's Wax Museum. (He was sweet and fun, how could we say no?) A maze of life-size figures representing popular culture and history greeted us as we escaped the heat of the day to explore.

Bria was excited to see the Star Wars characters. "Daddy loves this movie!" she proclaimed, and posed for photos to send him.

And of course Elvis. She's always happy to see Elvis!

There were figures from science, including Marie Curie and astronauts. Overall the tour took about 20 minutes, with the adults wandering behind the children as they moved at their own pace.

And the founding fathers - it was fun to match up who was where and talk about things each would be known for.

The wax museum is located in St. Augustine's Old Drugstore building. The building is an Italianate structure built in 1886, which would become the Speissegger Drug Store until the 1960s. The history of the building added to the experience, and we enjoyed reading about it on the historical marker.

This attraction is open from 9-6 Monday through Thursday and until 9 on Friday and Saturday. Admission is $10.59 for adults and $7.41 for kids 6-12. Children 5 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased online, or in combination with a trolley ticket for a discount.

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Florida: St. Augustine Old Town Trolley

On our way back from a side trip to retrieve a lost bag (oops), we stopped in St. Augustine. We quickly learned we could have spent the entire week in St. Augustine, but we only had one day. We decided to hop on an Old Town Trolley Tour and see as much of the city as we could in a small amount of time!

Much like the trolleys in other tourist cities, this was a great way to see lots of things without having to deal with traffic or parking, or any of that mess. Plus we had a fun guide who knows far more about the city than any of us could dream of reading in a brochure or guide book.

According to their website, the trolley highlights more than 100 historical sites (like this statue of Flagler) and has 23 stops. Your ticket is good for 3 days, so use the opportunity to hop on and off at your leisure. It's a great way to rest tired little legs, too.

Our guide told us stories of the development of St. Augustine into a beautiful tourist destination. In the late 1800s, Henry Flagler (who was John D. Rockafeller's partner in the Standard Oil business) built elaborate hotels that would become the go to winter getaway for the rich. According to our guide, "You couldn't rent a room for the night or the week, you got one for the entire season." 

Flagler was also responsible for the building of the Old Jail we visited - check out our post on that interesting piece of the town's history tomorrow. Learn more about Flagler's influence on the city here.

The trolley tour was fun - we even crashed a wedding or two. (These people were trying to take photos on a very beautiful side street, and we drove through the middle going both ways!)

One of the final stops on our tour was the "Old Senator," a live oak tree that is more than 600 years old, far older than these trees usually get. A Howard Johnson has grown up around it, but the Senator doesn't seem to mind.

At the end of the tour, the kids each got to ring the trolley bell!

The Old Town Trolley starts at $25.74 for adults, $10.30 for kids 6-12, and is free for those 5 and under. You can build your own package, adding on discount tickets to other St. Augustine attractions, as well. We added the Old Jail and Potter's Wax Museum. It also includes free parking.

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Florida: McLarty Treasure Museum

The McLarty Treasure Museum is a small museum located on the southern edge of Sebastian Inlet State Park. It tells the story of the 1715 Plate Fleet (from the Spanish "plata," meaning "silver").

Eleven of 12 ships in a fleet sailing along the coast of Florida sank in a 1715 hurricane. Around 1500 survivors struggled to shore, their ships and cargo at the bottom of the ocean. Tragic, but it was what those ships were carrying that have fed lore for generations since.

During the 1500s, 1600s, and 1700s, the Spanish were digging vast quantities of silver and gold from Mexico and South America, then smelting it into ingots and coins and sending the riches across the Atlantic in wooden ships. Treasures of the New World were gathered, and Oriental rarities were collected from across the Pacific.

Each year, ships that had been gathering riches gathered in Cuba with a year's worth of loot and made the perilous journey north along Florida's east coast, then back to Europe. Spain used warships and forts to protect the ships from pirates, but they were no match for Mother Nature.

The survivors established a shelter, but many died of exposure and exhaustion. Within weeks, help came from the Spanish establishment in St. Augustine to the north, and workers came from Havana to begin the salvage effort. According to signs at the museum, the Spanish forced Indian slaves and hired experienced divers to retrieve the treasures from the bottom of the ocean.

The four years following the hurricane were a flurry of official and unofficial salvaging operations, along with pirates of various nationalities searching for - and stealing from each other - treasure. In the end, less than half the items listed on the ships' manifests could be extracted from the sand and silt and returned to Spain.

It would be 1928 before the wreckage of one of the ships, the Urca de Lima, was found. By strange fate, it would be another hurricane in the 1950s that would reveal additional archaeological spots. A second ship, El Capitana, was found, and by the mid-60s, modern findings would include silver pieces of eight, gold doubloons, silver and gold bars and plates, pearls, jewelry, rare Chinese porcelain, and countless everyday items used by passengers.

Centuries after the wreck, treasure hunters are still finding millions of dollars worth of riches at the site, and most of the ships remain hidden in the deep. Among those rumored to still be missing is the ship carrying the dowry meant for the Queen of Spain

You don't have to be a diver to get lucky here, either - beach combers with metal detectors have been known to find jewelry, coins, china and more along the shore. For this reason, this area is known as the "Treasure Coast."

The McLarty Treasure Museum is located on the National Historic Landmark site that marks the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet Survivors and Salvaging Camp. For a $2 admission per adult, you can browse a small collection of items that have been salvaged from the wrecks, view a video about the efforts, and step out onto the observation deck to look out over the ocean and imagine what lies beneath.

To feed the budding treasure hunter or learn more, check out "Pieces of Eight" by Kip Wagner. Why not grab an inexpensive metal detector and visit the nearby beach for a little hunting of your own?

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Illinois: The City of Metropolis

Imagine you are driving down the interstate, and you see a sign: “World’s largest Superman statue.”

Hmmm. Intrigued, but the kid in the back seat looks comfortable, so it really isn’t time for a stop yet.

Then you see the next sign: “Metropolis, next exit.”

I mean, how could you not stop?

This is the sequence of events that brought Bria and I to Metropolis, Illinois.

We pulled off the highway and followed the signs along quiet streets, three miles to the county courthouse, where a 15-foot statue of the super hero rises above the town.

 The statue looks out over the Super Museum, where more than 20,000 items represent 75 years plus of Man of Steel history. Bria wandered through, stopping to examine decades old relics and ask questions, posing in phone booths for photos, and excitedly proclaiming when she saw Super Girl. If you are a Super Man fan at all, it is well worth the stop and the $5 admission per adult.

A few blocks away, a statue of Lois Lane stands on a square. Bria loved reading about the actress who played her (Noel Neill) in the Adventures of Superman, and her contributions to the community of Metropolis.

Want to learn more? Roadside America has a not-so-flattering article on Superman's hometown, but it has some interesting history about the town's original plans for a theme park and 200-foot statue.

The Southernmost Illinois Tourism Bureau has some info on attractions in the area, too.

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Goddess Ixchel Temple -- Mexico

Temple ruins

At the southeastern-most tip of Isla Mujeres there is one stood a Mayan Temple to the Goddess Ixchel - goddess of midwifery and medicine in the Maya culture and the guardian of childbirth. What is left now is little more than a pile of crumbling rocks (severely damaged by a hurricane in 1988), but the fantastic feminine energy of the spot remains.

My visit to the island would not have been complete without a trip to this spot. As a mother and a birth doula, this was a profound journey for me. 

Ixchel's temple is located at the very eastern-most point in Mexico, surrounded by rarely touched white sand beaches and the clearest water I have ever seen.

At the head of the trail to the temple is a tiny one room museum with historical information about the goddess and the site, along with a small gift shop, restaurant, and some merchants nestled into a small space near a magnificent statue of Ixchel.

The trek is well worth the energy!

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Auckland Museum

Other plans fell through today, so we made a spur of the moment decision to explore the Auckland War Memorial Museum. What a great choice that was. There was plenty to see and explore for days, but we saw a huge amount in the one day we had to check it out.

Admission was very reasonable -- a $10 suggested donation for adults, and kids free. The museum is free for Aucklanders, which is a great little feature. (Especially for homeschooling parents!)

Lunch was at the Atrium Cafe inside the museum. Prices were pretty on par with any sort of tourist attraction, and the food was nice and Kiwi. Everyone tried something interesting, then it was off to explore all three levels.

First was a traveling display of National Geographic photographs, which our budding young photographer (Cameron) quite enjoyed. There were nature photos from all over the world, plus pictures taken by a variety of age groups. He loved that each one said what camera it was taken with, and shared settings, etc. We saw the Maori court, and checked out all the carvings and canoes and all kinds of fun traditional things. 

Next we saw all of the nature things on the second floor and the "weird and wonderful" display, which was an interactive display for the children to play with hands-on.

On the third floor was the war memorial. Maia and Ella were very interested in the Holocaust exhibit, and Bria liked the telephones where you could pick up the receiver, push a button, and listen to a story.

Cameron really did not want to leave when it was time -- he was really into taking photographs. But as the afternoon wore on and people were getting worn out, we headed back to the beach house for the evening.

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