We are a home­school­ing fam­ily. I have six chil­dren. Two have grad­u­ated. Those keep­ing up will know that I still have four that I’m teach­ing. A cou­ple of years ago I came up with a bril­liant plan. His­tor­i­cal field trips.

We have done a Rev­o­lu­tion­ary War field trip, trav­el­ing clock­wise from Col­orado, tak­ing us to Philadel­phia, Wash­ing­ton, DC, and Charleston, SC. We lis­tened to some Faith and Free­dom Tour CDs  from Vision Forum on the way across the coun­try to pre­pare us for what we would see. Occa­sion­ally, we would make an unplanned stop to see some­thing spec­tac­u­lar, like the home where Stonewall Jack­son died. It was a high­light of our trip. The actual bed he lan­guished in is still in that tiny white house. With tears in my eyes, I relayed to my chil­dren the story of his death, his faith, and his Hope. And they were there.

Stonewall Jack­son Home

Then last year, we made a sim­i­lar trip, this time counter-clockwise from Col­orado to Florida, and up to Boston. On the way up to Boston, we planned to drive by to see the Statue of Lib­erty from across the har­bor. How­ever, when we got there we couldn’t resist the urge to go on the ferry to see it up close. We vis­ited Ellis Island while we were there. Faith decided that she would like to go back to NY for her birth­day. She waf­fles between NY and Paris. And throws in Pom­peii on occa­sion to keep us on our toes. We ended up in the Bronx dur­ing Rush Hour…in my 15 pas­sen­ger van. I called my hus­band and asked him to guess where we were. I was a tad bit overwhelmed.

So, we make great mem­o­ries, learn a ton of his­tory that sticks, and the chil­dren don’t even seem to real­ize that they are learn­ing. It’s just part of the big field trip.

This year, we are head­ing to the West Coast. I want to drive the kids to Cal­i­for­nia, by way of the Grand Canyon. Then we will head up the Pacific Hwy. I need some his­tory ideas! I want to take them to the Hearst Cas­tle, Solvang, San Fran­cisco. Pic­nic on the beach. What else should we do? I am in great need for ideas. We used to live at Edwards AFB, so I will take them out there for sure. I’m beg­ging you for ideas. Where do we go? Even in those spots I men­tioned, what are for sure not to miss sites? Act like I know noth­ing (and you’ll be pretty close to where I’m at) about the places and spill the beans. Where would *you* go?

Photo credit: Bill Selak / Foter.com / CC BY-ND