US History and LDS Church History Trip…and links to each days blog

This is a National Cemetery were many soldiers are buried from the Battle of Antietam.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We visited 218 US History and LDS Church History sites in 47 days.  (That included visiting 54 different cities). Each day is blogged with information about places we visited, maps, photos and highlights of the day.

If you would like more information if you are planning a trip, you can email me at priceless6191@gmail.com.  I kept very detailed records including: budgets, trip plans, and calenders for the trip showing our day by day progress.  I also have tons of brochures and maps for specific places, although I did try to scan the most important details I have onto each blog page.  Below is listed each city we visited, and what we did there.  Click on a city and start exploring.

I made this blog because I realized I would have appreciated a site with more specific information.  I hope this is beneficial to anyone who wants to take a history trip.  It was our families dream trip, and we still refer to it often.

Here is a PDF with a summary of our trip. (If you would like an editable version, I have the spreadsheet version also.)
Trip Itinerary

** Just a side note as you look around the site…no my kids names are not Bazooka, Starburst, Jawbreaker etc…our kids just picked nicknames so they could have some privacy.  Have fun looking!!!!

Alcova, WY
Devils Gate, Church, Trek, Independence Rock

Custer, WY
Custer County Museum, City 4th of July

Crazy Horse, SD

Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore 4th July Celebrations

Rapid City, SD
Dinosaur Park, Storybook Park

Wall, SD
Wall Drug

Omaha, NE
Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Winters Quarters Temple (E,B), Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Glenn Cunningham Lake, Pioneer Courage Park

Council Bluffs, Iowa
Kanesville Tabernacle

Nauvoo, IL
Play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, Women’s Garden, Riser Boot Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy M Smith Home, Brickyard, Heber Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s homes, Movie “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”, Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, Smith Family Cemetery, Trail of Hope, Youth of Zion, Play “Old Anna Amanda” 2xs, Nauvoo Pageant 2xs, Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Nauvoo Temple (B,E), Frontier Fair 2xs, Play “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”, Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Lands and Records Office, King Follet Discourse, Emma and Josephs Letters Vignette

Carthage, IL
Carthage Jail

Macomb, IL
Dinner with Steve -Guadalupes Restaurant

Petersburg, IL
Lincolns New Salem (camped there)

Springfield, IL
Springfield Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home, Lincolns-Herndon Law Office, Old Capital, Lincoln Library, Lincoln Presidential Museum

Chicago, IL
Chicago Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Chicago Temple (B,E)

Gary, IN
Just for Gas and Photos

Kirtland OH
Kirtland Ward, Ashery, Isaac Morley Farm, Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney Home, Sawmill, Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple RLDS

Parma, OH
Brian and Camilla’s Home

Hiram, OH
John Johnson’s Home

Middlefield, OH
Amish Country, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught)

Kenmore, NY
Mags home, Keeners, Lindbergh Elementary, Pam’s Home

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls, Cave of Winds

Buffalo, NY(2 sites or events)
Downtown Buffalo, Duffs Chicken Wings

Mendon, NY
Home built by Brigham, Early Meeting Home, Phineas Young’s Home, John Young’s Home, Tom Tomlinson Inn, Heber Kimballs home site, Camped at John Young’s Home, Site of Brigham Young’s Mill and Home, Baptismal Site, Tomlinsons Cemetery

Palmyra, NY
Palmyra Visitors Center, Palmyra Temple (B,E), Palmyra Pageant, Sacred Grove, Smith’s Log Cabin and Frame House Alvin built, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s Home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)

Waterloo, NY
Peter Whitmer home

Oakland, PA
Aaronic Priesthood Monument, Joseph and Emma’s Home Site, Grave of Emmas parents and son Alvin Smith, Susquehanna River

Jersey City, NJ 
Liberty Harbor

New York, NY
PATH Rail System, Site World Trade Center, 911 Memorial and Museum, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, China Town, Little Italy, Noho, Washington Square Park, New York University, Empire State Building, Garment District, Bryant Park, Time’s Square, Theatre District, NBC Studios, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, New York City LDS Temple, Madison Square Gardens

Philadelphia, PA
Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, Liberty Bell Center”

Hershey, PA
Hershey Amusement Park

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg National Park

WashingtonDC
Washington DC Temple (B,E), IKEA, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Walking Tour, Arlington Cemetery, United States Capital Building, a Session of Congress, a Session of the House of Representatives, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, White House, Holocaust Museum, Nationals Game

Alexandria, Virginia
Mount Vernon

Centreville, VA
Bull Run Regional Park (Camping), visit with Tamara and family, Atlantis Water Park

Manassas, VA
Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas)

Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry

Sharpsburg, MD
Antietem Battle Field

Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, VA Pier and Chick-fil-A

Chantilly, VA
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Annex

Middletown, VA
Cedar Creek Battlefield (2nd Manassas Battle Reenactment)

Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, University of Virginia

Buena Vista, VA
Southern Virginia University

St Louis, MO
St Louis Temple (B,E), St Louis Arch and Musuem, Old Court House (Dred Scott Case), Outside Busch Stadium, Feet in the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Cottleville, MO
Joel and Christy’s Home

Independence, MO
LDS Visitor’s Center, Harry Truman Presidential Library, Missouri Mormon Walking Tour (things we saw on the tour: Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Jackson County Courthouse, 1827 Log Courthouse, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, Church of Christ Temple Lot, Community of Christ Temple, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Printing Office Site (Evening and Morning Star), Governor Boggs Home Site, and Partridge Home Site and School) , Campus RV Park (next door to the LDS Visitors Center), Vaile Mansion

Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Temple (B)

Liberty, MO
Liberty Jail, Eight Witnesses Monument

Richmond, MO
David Whitmer’s Grave, David Whitmer’s Livery site (marked by with a plaque), Old Richmond Jail Location, Statue of General Alexander W. Doniphan, Pioneer Cemetery (Monument for the Three Witnesses, Grave for Oliver Cowdery, Peter Jr. and Jacob Whitmer’s Graves)

Farwest, MO
Far West Temple Site

Jamesport, MO
Amish Country, Amish Baseball Game, and Shopping

Jameson, MO
Adam-ondi-Ahman , Jameson Town Fair and Parade

Doniphan, NE
Mormon Island

McKinnon, WY
Little America

Boston, MA
11 years later we went back to add Boston to our list or US/church history travels. Here is a link to the beginning of that trip. Yale, Scarburough and Prospect Ave in Hartford, CT, Mark Twain’s Home, Boston Temple, Boston Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Boston Latin School Site, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, New State House, Boston Commons, Harbor Cruise, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Home, Old South Meeting House, Union Oyster House, Omni Parker House, Cheers, Prudential Tower Observation Deck, Trinity Church of Boston, Old South Church

Other Valuable Links:
Mormon Pioneer Trail Auto Tour Route Guide
mormontrails.org

DAY 28 – July 26, 2012 – RVing in Washington DC

Today was our first attempt to go into Washington DC.  You wouldn’t think that would be such a feat, but with a motor home and 8 people, it is quite complicated.  First if you drive a motor home into DC, what do you do with it?  Then if you decide to metro in, where do you start from?  You have to drive your motor home to a metro site.

So after extensive googling, this is what we came up with…  the only RV campground that is close to a bus stop is Cherry Hills Campground (9800 Cherry Hill Road, College Park, MD 20740).  It is the only campground that has a bus stop at the RV Park, so we could stay parked.  We thought that was the best option.

The next best one was the Capitol KOA that will shuttle you in for $15 per person, each way, each day.  You do the math with 8 people.  Seriously ridiculous.

So we are camped at Cherry Hills RV Park.  But then as we start studying the cost to metro in, it’s is about $7 per person each way, still very expensive.   So in desperation last night, I’m googling “parking a RV in Washington DC” for the hundredth time, and Mr. S suggests changing it to “parking a bus”.  Brilliant call, of course buses have to park somewhere!  There is actually a whole page with lists of where buses can park.  So I start making phone calls.  Many of them won’t allow motor homes to park, but it turns out Union Station will.  Apparently the best kept secret in DC, because none of the campers at this very large campground have heard.  Mr. S totally came through!!! 

So today we tried it out.  Union Station can be kind of far from some of our stops, so our plan is this…Mr. S will drive us as close as he can get to our starting destination (today the Spy Museum and Ford’s Theatre).  So he drives us within walking distance, stops the motor home at the corner (with traffic lined up behind us).  Six of us jump out, and Mr. S and one teenage boy navigator drive off to Union Station to park, then they run the distance back to us (today about 1 ½ miles), and we start our DC tour for the day.  Sound exciting?

Mr. S and Spitz came running into Ford’s theatre out of breath, and barely made it for our tour of Ford’s theatre to begin, but they were total troopers, and Mr. S says this is a feasible plan, and wants to continue doing it.  Tomorrow we will be 2 miles further, so lucky for Spitz his turn was today : )

Today we toured Ford’s Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was killed, the museum, the Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership.  Last year when we came with my mother the Petersen house was being remodeled.  We were lucky it was open this year, because it was a great experience, bummer we missed it last year.  One part that the kids loved was the stack of books they have made up of all the books that have been printed about Abraham Lincoln.  It is a 3 ½ stories tall stack of books.  It is crazy!

Ford’s Theatre is a National Park, so the kids did the Junior Park Ranger booklet again.  They have a baggy full of all the pins they are collecting from all over the United States as Junior Park Rangers.  I told them when we are done, we will have them put them all on and take a photo.

After Ford’s Theatre we went to the Spy Store and Museum.  It is a little bit expensive, but the older boys were dying to go.  The younger kids had no interest, so we let the older boys go while we had the little kids explore the store.  I didn’t realize how big the Museum was, we should have asked.  We ended up waiting for them for 2 hours.  And they told us they rushed the end because they knew we were waiting.  We should have left them to do something else, and met up.  But once we realized they had already gone in, with no phones or walkie talkies.  So our younger kids sat and watched pink panther cartoons in the Spy store, while Mike and I just relaxed and talked.

The older boys came out saying the Spy Museum was phenomenal.  Their tickets let them back in, so they ended up going back later that day.  It was all they talked about.

After the Spy Museum we went to the National Archives.  This is where the real Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are located.  There are other things there, but those are the highlights.

When we were done, the older boys went back to the Spy Museum, and the rest of us started walking to Union Station knowing this would be quite a journey for the kids.  At this point we were probably within a mile of Union Station, but it was the end of the day.  Starburst was sure she was going to fall on the ground and die any second, but Fireball is always a trooper, and so was Bazooka.

Mr. S carried Starburst the last leg of the trip.  I think he will have to pick us up with the motor home tomorrow.  She was a little dramatic.  But considering we have been gone for so many days, and this was the worst she has ever been, it wasn’t too bad, we can hardly complain.

We got back in time to go swimming at the pool and then head to bed.  We have to get into DC a little earlier than we did today.  We have a walking tour at the National Monuments in the morning.

It was a great day.  Spitz said if we went home now, and all he did was the Spy Museum, he was very happy.  Did I mention they all bought books today?  We have 5 new books for our library…Dark Water Warrior, Ghost Wars, The Ghost in the Wires, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, and the Book of Codes.   The older boys are serious goofballs.  Who knew we had to drive all the way to DC to buy books.  But that is the kind of souvenirs they want.

Summary of Day 28

Drove: 34 miles

Places we visited or saw: Ford’s Theatre and museum, the Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, the Spy Museum, and the National Archives

Detailed information on RV Parking in DC:  Union Station Parking Garage, 30 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Enter from Massachusetts Ave at the front of Union Station and up the east ramp to the garage, 24 hours daily, 7 days: 7am–7pm, $20 per entry, 7pm–7am, $10 per entry. Reserved $50 daily flat rate.  No in and out privileges (meaning once you park, you can’t drive out and come back, but you can get to your motor home anytime). Phone: (202) 898-1950.