Showing posts with label 1-Night Trips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1-Night Trips. Show all posts

Monday, December 3, 2012

Great 1-Night Trips: Indianapolis


 
Indianapolis is such a great city! The destinations in this 1-night stay work really well together because both are incredibly kid-friendly and one is mainly an outside attraction while the other is strictly inside so you can plan according to the weather.

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum is one of the nation’s top tourist draws and the world’s largest children’s museum. For those of you that have never been, it is huge and the kids will LOVE it! We spent at least 4 hours there and could have spent more time. From the fantastic dinosaur exhibit to the train exhibit, indoor carousel, toddler/preschooler play area and special touring exhibits, there is definitely something for everyone. They also have a cafeteria on the premises so you don’t have to leave for lunch. If you have kids, make sure you visit this great museum.
www.childrensmuseum.org

Conner Prairie is such a terrific place to visit and learn about early American history in a fun and interactive way. It is one of the nation’s largest outdoor living history museums and really brings history to life with costumed historical interpreters playing the part of their time periods. From the Indian encampment to the Prairetown,animal encounters, working farm and dedicated kids’ discovery areas, Conner Prairie will provide the whole family with hours of activities. My kids loved the old-fashioned dress-up play area and the Indian encampment the most, but my daughter was also enthralled with all of the baby animals in the farm area (we were last there in the spring and the baby animals were plentiful).
www.connerprairie.org

Indianapolis has a lot to offer in the way of hotel accommodations. I would recommend checking out the Caribean Cove Hotel and Waterpark. While we have not stayed there, I know that they offer special deals for some of the Indianapolis attractions.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

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