AP US History tour of the east coast

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I’m going to take my high school kids on an AP US History road trip this summer. We will begin in Charleston, and want to concentrate most on sites in the NorthEast. We are skipping DC because we live here, and only want a day or two in Philly. I also want to skip NYC as we have spent a lot of time there.

So far I am planning- Charleston, Roanoke, Philly, Seneca Falls, and a lot of Massachusetts. I would like to focus on women’s history too.

Please recommend any great experiences and guided tours that you have done. Also, if there are “must see’s” please let me know!

[Anonymous]

Why Roanoke?

[Anonymous]

The customs house in New London, CT for the Amistad connection, maybe?

[Anonymous]

Fort Sumter in Charleston is a nice boat ride and tour. What about Jamestown? That is really interesting and well done, both the real archeological site and the recreation. We liked it even more than Williamsburg. We've also done a walking tour in Philadelphia (a "free" one where you pay what you wish) that started at Betsy Ross's house. It was fantastic. We did a free walking tour through the US Park Service in Boston that started at Faneuil Hall. That one wasn't nearly as good. If I had to do it over I think I'd pay for a longer tour.

[Anonymous]

Harpers Ferry, Richmond, Williamsburg, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad museum on the eastern shore, Annapolis.

[Anonymous]

Gettysburg?

[Anonymous]

Good luck. My teens would not leave the car for an AP history tour.

[Anonymous]

Baltimore blacks in wax

[Anonymous]

In Massachusetts, do the NPS touts at Lexington concord (if we still have a NPS?) and Old Ironsides. If you are in western Mass, old Sturbridge village is fun.

In NY, outside of city, consider Hyde Park for Roosevelt history plus there is a Dutch plantation house that is interesting for 17th century New York history.

In Maryland, consider old St Mary’s, which is really well done. The Baltimore train museum is also cool.

Of course there’s Getttysburg, you can do a horse or car tour of the battleground — we used a downloadable car tour. I also really liked this house tour:

https://www.shriverhouse.org/plan-your-visit/

In Florida, st Augustine is neat for Spanish American history plus a beach break. Also in Florida, I did this tour as a kid and it really stuck with me:
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings-historic-state-park

Can you make it as far as New Orleans? There is so much cool history there—I would do:
WW2 museum
Tour of French quarter from the NPS
Tour of one of the plantations that includes a good discussion of life of enslaved people (there are a few that do this, rather than a home with the wind style tour)

Detroit is probably too far out of your way but this is another one that I remember really loving as a kid:

https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/greenfield-village/

I know you said not NY but the Tenement museum and Ellis island there are so great. I feel like there are a lot of sites focused on colonial history, and civil war history but very few focused on late 19th century and early 20th century through Great Depression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck. My teens would not leave the car for an AP history tour.

Some teens have goals and interest beyond video games and pot. Sorry yours don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Massachusetts, do the NPS touts at Lexington concord (if we still have a NPS?) and Old Ironsides. If you are in western Mass, old Sturbridge village is fun.

In NY, outside of city, consider Hyde Park for Roosevelt history plus there is a Dutch plantation house that is interesting for 17th century New York history.

In Maryland, consider old St Mary’s, which is really well done. The Baltimore train museum is also cool.

Of course there’s Getttysburg, you can do a horse or car tour of the battleground — we used a downloadable car tour. I also really liked this house tour:

https://www.shriverhouse.org/plan-your-visit/

In Florida, st Augustine is neat for Spanish American history plus a beach break. Also in Florida, I did this tour as a kid and it really stuck with me:
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings-historic-state-park

Can you make it as far as New Orleans? There is so much cool history there—I would do:
WW2 museum
Tour of French quarter from the NPS
Tour of one of the plantations that includes a good discussion of life of enslaved people (there are a few that do this, rather than a home with the wind style tour)

Detroit is probably too far out of your way but this is another one that I remember really loving as a kid:

https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/greenfield-village/

I know you said not NY but the Tenement museum and Ellis island there are so great. I feel like there are a lot of sites focused on colonial history, and civil war history but very few focused on late 19th century and early 20th century through Great Depression.

+1 to the bolded. Maybe not this trip if you're not hitting New York, but the Tenement Museum is fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Also, seeing your focus on women’s history — this is often tough! But if you focus on tours that include a social/home element, you’ll learn more about women’s lives in those eras, which often includes things they did outside the home. The Shriver House tour, plantation tours outside New Orleans, Old St Mary’s, all include a lot of information about the women and what their lives were like.

Also, I don’t know if your teens are Girl Scouts, but the Juliette Gordon Lowe house in Savannah has a lot of information about women and girls in early 20th century America.

[Anonymous]

What a great idea, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck. My teens would not leave the car for an AP history tour.

Some teens have goals and interest beyond video games and pot. Sorry yours don't.

Sadly, my teens also probably would not be super interested — would enjoy a few spots but would get burned out by a whole trip. I was a history major and LOVED this stuff growing up. All my favorite vacations were history spots. Absolute best was grinding corn in tje cliff houses at Mesa Verde. I was the kid at the front of the tour group asking follow up questions. Had great hopes my kids would be the same but apparently not.

[Anonymous]

Why Roanoke?