Tag Archives: kid-friendly places

Goodbye Summer but Hello Fall!

Posted on by

As I was catching up on messages, I noted how many blogger friends and tourism folks were writing about summer’s end and fall coming.

I love autumn – esp. apples (made my first homemade apple pie of the season this weekend), pumpkin patches, football, apple cider, popcorn, my anniversary and hubby & I’s bdays. My son plays fall travel baseball and my teen daughter preps for choir and drama productions in late October.

My blogger friend, Lacie @ Life Down Our Lane posted something that really struck a cord: Wrapping up our summer!~~pictures from our weekend camping trip. It’s mostly little side trips.

I noticed it was mostly pics of getting there and just hanging out? That’s why our family DOESN’T LIKE TO FLY – we miss all the good stuff along the way.

Our KIDS LOVE I-75 book is the best example of this. Unlike our other books that discover every nook and crannie of the state, the I-75 book reviews places we’ve been to maybe a dozen times! Every, I mean every, time we travel south, we have to stop at Buddy’s BBQ for pulled pork, Lane Peaches to watch the peaches march along the conveyors, stop for a snack of Peach ice cream cones and chocolate covered pecans at WE’re Nuts!, and every time we enter Florida – a glass of juice at the Welcome Center.

Of course, there’s about 400 attractions we give you the skinny on, too – like watching freighters, inventors workshops, sharks, horses and manatees.

And you know what, we wouldn’t have those priceless moments and favorites if we flew south vs. road trips and side-tripping.

Just a thought as you plan those spontaneous weekend road trips to local pumpkin patches or regional festivals – remember the journey is just as important as the destination…

Question: What do you do to say good-bye to summer and welcome autumn and back-to-school?

Working on KIDS LOVE I-95 in South Carolina

Posted on by
Meet Pedro – South of the Border

This week I’m ping-ponging along I-95 in SC. So far, we’ve been South of the Border, on a NASCAR track, trying pecans from a massive sampling counter, running around with kids chasing giant swans and noisy ducks, climbing an ancient mound, and walking through a black swamp. Yesterday, I ate lunch at a place that specializes in casseroles – when was the last time you ordered a sampler plate of JUST casseroles and, Tomato Pie. Today, we sampled a bunch of low country foods – shrimp and cheese grits, quail, pecan pie. . . i’m having a piece right now…

I tell you all this to remind you there are so many adventures just minutes off the highway on your roadtrips to anywhere USA.

D.C. FOR FREE – Smithsonian

Posted on by

DAY TWO – the next day, put on your walking shoes.

Although Washington, D.C. is a very concentrated town with lots of buildings, most museums and memorials are near grassy, wide-open park spaces. Devote an entire day to the FREE Smithsonian Museums & National Mall buildings (Smithsonian.org).

DC by Foot, a walking tour company, gives FREE, kid-friendly tours (gratuity recommended) infused with games, fun facts and trivia. Or, just wander from one building to the next. Be sure to go online first and print off any “Hunts” (scavenger hunts) that interest you.

Play pilot in a mock cockpit at America by Air, an exhibition on permanent display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Teach kids about history at the newly renovated National Museum of American History for a rare look at the original “Star-Spangled Banner,” the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem. The museum’s Spark!Lab uses fun activities to help kids and families learn about the history and process of invention through games and conducting experiments plus there’s an Under 5 Zone just for pre-schoolers.

Walk among the butterflies or witness a view of the blinding Hope Diamond at the National Museum of Natural History.

See the original Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights at the National Archives, then stick around to research your own family’s immigration records.

Whatever memorials you didn’t get to view, fill in after 5pm, when most museums in the national Mall close.

FOR MORE TO THE STORY….Visit KIDS LOVE VIRGINIA / D.C. travel guides and updates.