History & Learning
Annual Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment 
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Plan a visit to the annual Civil War reenactment in Gettysburg, PA.
Antietam National Battlefield’s Civil War History
Antietam, one of the best preserved and least commercial battlefield parks, provides a dignified memorial and a powerful sense of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Time travel through history by driving and walking the pastoral landscape of meadows, creeks and corn fields.
Be a Waterman on Tangier Island, VA 
Molt your city skin and morph into a Chesapeake Bay waterman for a weekend on Tangier Island, VA, the self-proclaimed soft shell capital of the world. As the sun glints off the bay, go out on a boat with a seasoned fisherman then tour the crab shanties.
Budget Friendly Learning Vacations
Creative play isn’t just for toddlers. Learning vacations allow you to try something you’ve always wanted to do, including delve into a topic alongside experts. After these vacations you come away not only refreshed, but enriched. A bonus: these trips are modestly priced.
Children´s Museum of Indianapolis 
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One of the largest children´s museums in the world, the hands-on facility is fun and educational for adults as well as kids. Learn about African-American culture, space exploration and lots more.
Civil War Commemorations in DC and Virginia
The 250th anniversary of America’s most defining struggle--the Civil War--begins January 2011 and continues through 2015. States and cities associated with the conflict are showcasing compelling new exhibits and new museums. The Washington, D.C. area, is a good place to start your Civil War tour.
Colonial Williamsburg and African Americans
In the 1770’s patriots argued for rebellion from Britain because the motherland had violated the citizens’ rights. Find out what “freedom” meant for enslaved Africans at Colonial Williamsburg, celebrating 30 years of African American programming in 2009 with added experiences, tours and lectures.
Colonial Williamsburg, VA, in Winter
Colonial Williamsburg, the U.S. most well-known living history museum, is the kind of place you can visit many times. In winter, the Historic Area, looks lovely dappled with snow and decorated with real wreaths, fragrant pine cones and flickering candles.
Discover Life as a Runaway Slave
Discover what it feels like to risk your life for freedom as a runaway slave.
“Follow the North Star,” an immersion program at Conner Prairie, a living history museum outside of Indianapolis, IN, drops you into situations experienced by runaways traveling the Underground Railroad in the 1830s.
Discovering Roots in Krakow, Poland
Kazimierz, Krakow's Jewish Quarter, had been home to Jews for 500 years before World War II. In Kazimierz, we stumbled into the streets of our forefathers.
Eiteljorg Museum--American Art 
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The Old West of legend is memorably displayed in paintings and art work as is Native American life, cutlure and art.
Explore the Shelburne Museum, Vermont
The Shelburne Museum, dubbed “New England’s Smithsonian, is an extraordinary find. You could spend the day browsing the collections of American folk art, artifacts and architecture, including an historic steamboat, an authentic lighthouse, a covered bridge and paintings by well-known artists.
Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment [offsite link]
Plan a trip to Gettysburg to experience the annual Civil War battle reenactment.
Go Undercover at D.C.’s International Spy Museum
Go on a secret mission with Operation Spy, at D.C.'s International Spy Museum. In this one-hour, interactive adventure, you race through a back street bazaar and underground tunnel as well as monitor video surveillance, decode a cell phone call and piece together other clues to find the culprits.
Guatemala's Maya Sites
In Guatemala discover ancient Maya culture in the lowland jungles and experience a bustling, contemporary Maya market in Chichicastenango, in the highlands.
Guatemala´s Maya Sites
In Guatemala discover ancient Maya culture in the lowland jungles and experience a bustling, contemporary Maya market in Chichicastenango, in the highlands.
Historic Philadelphia and Family Adventures
Historic Philadelphia puts into perspective the events surrounding the creation of our nation and its concept of freedom. Highlights include the National Constitution Center. In Philly, be sure to take your kids to play at the newly, expanded Please Touch Museum, now in Fairmount Park.
Historic Philadelphia Time Travel
Time travel makes history engaging, especially for kids. Few major cities make it as easy and as interesting to drop-in on the 18th century as does Philadelphia, America’s first capital, where you can talk with early patriots and erstwhile colonials as they ponder and plan a break with Britain.
Historic Shipwrecks, Lake Champlain, VT
Vermont’s Lake Champlain has been drawing visitors ever since 1609 when explorer Samuel de Champlain “discovered” this mammoth body of water. Explore shipwrecks and celebrate 400 years of the lake July 2-14 at the Burlington International Waterfront Festival.
History on Virginia’s Northern Neck
Water—creeks,rivers and the bay—define Virginia’s Northern Neck. The region, a lesser known jewel offers more than 1,200 miles of tidal coastline as well as state parks and 18th century plantations.
Italy’s Pompeii and Herculaneum
Travel back more than 2000 years by touring Pompeii and Herculaneum, ancient sites easily reachable from Naples. When the Mt.Vesuvius volcano erupted on August 24,79 A.D, it froze both towns in time, but did so differently. Here’s how cruisers and day trippers can choose which lost world to enter.
Jewish Heritage in Hungary
Our week-long walking trip through Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic with Butterfield & Robinson turned into a pilgrimage to significant sites in our Jewish history. In Hungary we discovered Jewish sites in Tarcal and Budapest.
Lincoln, Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.
Every July I think of President Abraham Lincoln. His concept of liberty for all resonate for me on America’s Independence Day. A better understanding of Lincoln’s legacy as well as the aftermath of his assassination is the goal of the Ford’s Center for Education and Leadership,D.C.
Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, D.C.
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, Washington, D.C.’s, newest monument, opened to the public in late August, despite having its official debut delayed until fall due to Hurricane Irene’s pounding rains.
Nauticus, Naval Museum, Norfolk, VA
Home to the world’s largest naval installation, Norfolk is also the site of Nauticus, a unique museum that showcases the nation’s maritime history through hands-on exhibits plus a real, battleship.
Nazi Killing Camps are Living History
An important UNESCO site lies 30 miles from Krakow: Auschwitz and adjacent Birkenau. The true horror stories related by the guides as you tour the barracks, the gas chambers and the crematorium are powerful reminders of what happens when intolerance and bigotry rule. Learn what helps one survive.
The Two Jamestowns, Virginia
What was life like for the first English pioneers in the New World? Find out by exploring Virginia’s two Jamestowns. Historic Jamestowne marks the original 1607 site, the first permanent English community. Adjacent Jamestown Settlement, a living history museum, recreates the fledgling outpost.
Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, Lynchburg, VA
Although Monticello is the house most associated with Thomas Jefferson, a visit to Jefferson’s other home—Poplar Forest, Lynchburg, VA,-- reveals much about the famed statesman. For Jefferson, Poplar Foresttook shape as a personal retreat, a place for solitude and renewal.
Titanic Museum Attraction, Pigeon Forge, TN
The Titanic Museum Attraction, Pigeon Forge, TN, is a find. Shaped like the front half of the fated ship, the building looms over the parkway, forever foundering on its faux iceberg. “Tacky,” we assume, but we’re wrong. The museum delivers a tasteful retelling of the tragic story.
Virginia’s Civil War Sites: Pamplin
Pamplin Historical Park & National Museum of the Civil War Soldier surprised us. The privately owned facility, located on 422 acres in Petersburg, about 30 miles south of Richmond, proved to be one of the most engaging Civil War sites we’ve ever experienced.
Wagon Train Trek in Nebraska
Take a covered wagon trip and time travel back to the era of pioneer journeys when America’s west stretched out as a vast, little explored land filled with promise. On an Oregon Trail Wagon Train, you experience the Nebraska grasslands, the slow pace of a westward trek plus some old-fashioned fun.
Woolly Mammoths in South Dakota
On a visit to the Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, South Dakota, time travel back to the Ice Age when Columbian and Wooly mammoths roamed the region. The remarkable facility is one of the world’s largest and richest mammoth sites, one where the big animals’ bones lie in situ, or as found.
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