Great 1-Night Trips: Dearborn, MI

                                

Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village- Dearborn, MI
The Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum complex are a huge treasure trove of history and rich in educational value for the whole family. I have probably been there 5 or 6 times over the years as a child and adult and have always enjoyed it.

The Village is an all-day undertaking as you will have tons of things to see and do.  There are seven historic districts to visit in the village and plenty of old-fashioned rides (steam locomotive, vintage Model-T, carousel, horse-drawn carriage). Step back in time and visit the stomping grounds of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and the Wright Brothers.
The Henry Ford Museum is chock full of historical memorabilia and it will take several hours to see everything.  There are presidential limousines on display, the Rosa Parks bus , Abraham Lincoln/George Washington artifacts, as well as plenty of planes, trains and automobiles.
www.thehenryford.org
In addition, the museum/village complex is the starting point for Ford Factory tour tickets as well as IMAX tickets.  Purchasing combo tickets for the attractions is the most economical way to get more bang for your buck and I highly recommend doing this.

Dearborn boasts many hotels and I have stayed several times at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn, which is very close to the attractions. I would recommend checking out the TripAdvisor ratings to see which hotels in the area are getting the best ratings.

For more 1-night trips to Ohio and surrounding states, click here for a free ebook:
http://travelingkidsonthego.blogspot.com/2012/08/one-night-trips-with-kids-minibook.html 

FREE Disney Planning DVD

If you are planning on visiting a Disney park and would like an overview of what each park and resort have to offer, I would encourage you to send for a free Disney vacation planning DVD. They provide the highlights of each park and give a glimpse into the various themes of all of the Disney property resorts.
Even though we just took a Disney vacation within the past year, my kids still ask to watch the DVD. I think it brings back good memories of their trip and gets them excited to make a return trip someday.
Just click on the link and fill in the information.
https://www.disneyvacations.com/dv/en_US/VacationPlanningDVD/index?CMP=ILC-DPDVDPagetoWDWVPD&sourcecode=14326
                                          

Travelzoo

 

Travelzoo is a bargain travel website where I like to peruse the hundreds of deals on hotels, airfare, entertainment and vacation packages. I have found some truly great prices here and receive the updates on the week's Top 20 best deals.
www.travelzoo.com

Magnificent Museums: The Indianapolis Children's Museum

The Indianapolis Children's Museum is the world's largest museum of its kind and a definite must-see attraction if you have kids. My kids loved everything about it and would like to go back as often as possible. Between the excellent dinosaur exhibit, train displays, indoor carousel and playhouse, dedicated toddler/preschooler area, and Egypt station, the kids will enjoy hours of educational entertainment. There are always several rotating special exhibits as well. An on-site cafeteria makes eating easy as you won't have to leave the premises for lunch.
www.childrensmuseum.org

Amusement Park Fun: Cedar Point

For the 15th straight year, Cedar Point has now been named the world's best amusement park at the recent Golden Ticket Awards ceremony. I love amusement parks and Cedar Point is definitely a favorite. The park also boasted 4 coasters on the Top 21 steel coasters in the world list as well as winning the bragging rights for best steel coaster in the world with Millennium Force.
If you have never been, it is a terrific park with a beautiful setting on the shores of Lake Erie. In addition to one of the best collections of roller coasters in the world, there are several top notch kids' areas, plenty of family rides, shows and a waterpark. Even though summer is coming to a close, there are still several weekends that Cedar Point will be open with their HalloWeekend celebrations.
http://www.cedarpoint.com/

Destination Activity List- Part II

Great places to visit continued..............
Here is the link for the activity list, part I
http://travelingkidsonthego.blogspot.com/2012/08/destination-activity-list-part-1.html.

Fun Places to Take the Kids in Southwest/Central Ohio
Free
$- under $8 per person
$$- $8-15 per person
$$$- over $15 per person


31. Cincinnati Museum Center- Cincinnati $$
32. Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum- Wapakoneta   $
33. Englewood Centennial Park Sprayground-  Free
34.Possum Creek MetroPark- Dayton  Free
35.Lebanon Railroad-  $$-$$$
36. Strickers Grove- $$
37. Entertrainment Junction- West Chester  $$
38. B&B Riverboat- Cincinnati  $$
39. Ride the Ducks Cincinnati  $$
40.Cincinnati Art Museum- Free
41.The Wright Cycle Company Complex-National Aviation Trail- Free
42.Kettering Rec Center Adventure Reef Pool Complex
43. Reds. Game- Cincinnati  $$-$$$
44. Dayton Dragons Game- $$
45. County Fairs
46. COSI- Columbus   $$
47. Garst Museum- Greenville  $
48. Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park- Hamilton $
49.Ohio Caverns- West Liberty  $$
50.Newport Aquarium- Newport, KY  $$-$$$
51.Jumpys- Troy  $
52. Stillwater Prairie-Miami Co. Parks- Covington  Free
53. Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum- Dayton  Free
54.Bonnybrook Farms-Chuck Wagon Dinner Rides Near Lebanon  $$$
55. Crohns Conservatory- Cincinnati  Free
56. Miami County Bikeway/Walking Path- Free
57. Freshwater Farms- Urbana  $
58. Great Wolf Lodge- Mason  $$$
59. CoCo Key Waterpark- Cincinnati  $$$
60. Historic Bears Mill- Arcanum Free
61. Fort Ancient- near Lebanon
62. Ozone Zipline Adventures- Lebanon  $$$
63. LaComedia- Springboro  $$$
64. Carew Tower- Cincinnati  $
65. Woodland Mound Park-Parky’s Wetland Adventure- Cincinnati  $
66. Columbus Zoo- $$
67. Loveland Castle-Cincinnati  $
68. Jungle Jims- Cincinnati
69. Scene 75-$$$
70. Aullwood Metropark- Free

Zoo Highlights: The Columbus Zoo

I love visiting zoos. Most zoos these days are very well laid out with natural surroundings and top notch care for the animals. An afternoon at the zoo can be such a wonderful learning experience for kids. I wanted to highlight some of the zoos I have enjoyed visiting, starting with The Columbus Zoo.

The Columbus Zoo is one of the largest zoos in the country boasting eight distinct sections, divided according to world regions. The zoo was under the direction of famed zookeeper, Jack Hanna for many years and he continues to serve as Director Emeritus. A few of my favorite exhibits are the arctic/polar bear enclave, manatee landing and the gorilla habitat. In addition to the animals, the Columbus Zoo also has its own waterpark, Zoombezi Bay, and a small amusement park, Jungle Jack's Landing. There are several themed rides inside the zoo itself, including a train ride, boat ride and carousel along with some large outdoor playspaces for the little ones.
Plan to spend a good part of your day exploring this zoo and remember to check for reciprocal membership with other zoos!
http://www.colszoo.org/

ASTC Passport Program

A great way to gain access to hundreds of museums nationwide is thru the ASTC (Association of Science-Technology Centers)passport program. Purchase a pass at one of the participating centers for free or reduced admission to other centers throughout the country. This is an excellent resource for traveling families.
We purchase our passes thru the Charlotte Harbor Historical
Society out of Florida, which are very reasonably priced for an annual family pass. The current amount for the year is $35 for a family and we more than get our money's worth.

Find a complete list of participating centers at:
http://www.astc.org/members/passlist_about.htm

Here is a link to the one we subscribe to:
http://www.charlottecountyfl.com