I just asked my college aged son who has been to many historic sites which sites would be useful for AP US History. He said none of them. He found them all to be interesting but not useful for the class.
So his recommendation would be to visit the sites that are most interesting to your kid. Look at the NPS website which has a lot of historic sites that nobody has mentioned yet like Edison's lab in NJ. I agree with checking out places like Mystic Seaport and Sturbridge Village. Something not mentioned yet would be going to Fort George in Canada. It's interesting to get the British perspective on the War of 1812. |
OP here- not Roanoke, I meant to say Williamsburg! Thank you all so much for the feedback so far, it’s so helpful! |
Op again- I am going to pair this trip with the series “The men who built America” and we saw the play Suffs earlier this year. To be honest, this is really my dream trip, and the kids will be there as my companions. I will also be playing women-centered historical fiction that adds context to our sites on trip. Do, it’s true, my two teen boys may get annoyed, but this is there only option, so they have to suck it up. |
In Philly, there is a walking comedy/magic/history tour that is cheesy and fun.
In Charleston, try out the Segway history tour. |
Add this trip to my the list for next summer. Awesome idea! |
Man, I hope this is sarcasm cause I don't even know where to start. |
Totally agree with these two. I learned more about about the civil war and secession from the Union than I remember learning in school. The African American Museum is definitely worth a visit as well. We also went to Fort Moultrie, which was interesting. Williamsburg is a good stop, if you haven't already been, if you focus on colonial history and Jamestown. In MA, I'd go to the Adams Historical Park, maybe Lexington, probably Plimoth Patuxent, in addition to the obvious Boston sites. On the way north what about going to Hyde Park? You can do Franklin and Eleanor there. |
Emily dickensen house? Eric Carl’s museum is great and maybe kids will relate to that even if it isn’t technically hostory |
My family is from the newburgh area and my mom went to HS there but I wouldn’t recommend it for this troop. There are better destinations if you will be going through the Hudson valley. Like Hyde park. |
Love this aea of the country but it’s pretty out of the way and not worth driving out of the way for this. If you’re going to be up by Seneca Falls, Cooperstown might be a fun add. Honestly we’ve never been to Seneca falls because it is so far from everything! For the drive, I love The Rest is History podcasts. They are Brits so have a different take on American history but they are very funny (in a British historian way) and I think their podcasts are a lighter listen than some of the other history podcasts like History That Doesn’t Suck (which is basically like an AP history class — it’s very good but incredibly dense on detail so gets a little draining if you listen to all of them.). |
I’m not OP but I get this — sometimes you want to do the vacation you want to do, and it’s okay to tell your teens to stretch their boundaries a bit and have fun with something that’s not their idea. Some kids are game for that (my son would be, but my daughter complains about everything that isn’t her first choice). Honestly it’s how most of us grew up — my family did a cross country trip when I was a kid and I guarantee they did not ask my opinion about the itinerary (except the San Diego zoo, which was my requested stop). Would I have picked the Henry Ford museum or Linton’s birthplace? Maybe not but they were both awesome. She’s probably being about 50% tongue in cheek. |
Please, oh please, give us day by day updates when you’re on the road. |
Do you know about Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts? |
This sounds like the kind of person who probably won't let their kids watch iPads on the long drives, too. |
I'm curious if you think this is a bad or good thing. FWIW I think long drives are basically what radio dramas were made for. |