Clara braves a peep at a dinosaur "habitat" at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis
With five kids, flying is not exactly a cost-effective method of family travel, but that’s okay – I’m a big fan of getting to know my own region, and some of my very favorite destinations are the gems we’ve discovered within easy driving distance.
Since I know I have some Great Lakes-area readers – or those who might visit our lovely region soon – I thought it would be fun to share four of my family’s favorite go-to day trip destinations:
- The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
First of all, it’s the biggest children’s museum in the WORLD; second, their dinosaur exhibit, Dinosphere, is amazing – it features real dinosaur fossils (including a T-Rex) staged in their own little world complete with so-realistic-they’re-a-little-scary multimedia “thunderstorms,” a dino dig area and more. I was there as a guest of the Children’s Museum last month, when I got to see a sneak peek of the impressive new National Geographic Treasures Of The Earth exhibit. I can’t wait to take the kids back there – hopefully soon. - Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
Giant bronze horse (including kids for scale) at Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI
The Meijer Gardens are one of Michigan’s treasures – beautiful botanical gardens including an innovative hands-on children’s garden with water play area and little hidey-holes kids can explore. Plus the park features dozens of sculptures, including an enormous bronze horse that’s a hit with the kids.
- Field Museum, Chicago, IL
Other Chicago museums might be flashier, but the Field Museum of Natural History is my favorite. My favorite exhibit is Nature Walk, consisting of hundreds of “stuffed” animals in realistic scenes. In fact, we have gone before and never made it out of that exhibit. The kids love Sue, the world’s largest complete T-Rex. - Michigan History Museum, Lansing, MI
I’m a sucker for Michigan history, and this museum is a great, free resource. My kids love the recreation of an 1800s schoolroom and historic main street, complete with ice cream shop. I love the exhibit featuring what Michigan homes might have looked like through the ages. The park is close to downtown and the Capitol, so make a day of it.
What are your family’s favorite day-trip destinations? If you can, include links so we can discover new-to-us gems in your backyard.
I’m a Chicagoan who moved to Texas 11 years ago (yee haw!) We were just in Chicago for two weeks visiting all of my family. We had our first outing to the Field Museum with the kids and it was fantastic! They loved it! My sister raves about the Indianapolis Children’s museum but we haven’t made it over there yet. I have to add Museum of Science and Industry to your list for Chicago too as it is MY most favorite museum in the whole wide world (we took the kids there too when we were in town).
Day trips in Texas are not happening much for us since the big cities are fairly far apart, so we usually turn it into an overnight trip. For the DFW area, the Fort Worth Zoo is amazing. In Houston we loved the Space Center – lots for even the little ones to enjoy. San Antonio also has a nice zoo too, and Sea World. And of course our city, Austin, has a lot including the infamous Congress Ave bat colony. We’re hoping to go on one of the boat cruises to watch them soon if the weather ever dips below 100!!
I just went to Meijer Gardens for the first time on a recent trip to MI and that place is amazing. You could spend days there and never get bored!
As much as I love leaving Seattle, there really is so much to explore right here, year round. We are very fortunate to live in such a “rich” (meaning rich in culture and arts and nature, etc) part of the country.
I live about an hour south of Indianapolis and have a listing of posts about our favorite “backyard adventures.” We think it’s wonderful to explore areas a short drive from home! (And your recommendation of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is spot-on!)
http://www.arrowssentforth.com/p/backyard-adventures.html
We LOVE the Children’s Museum!!!!! We are fortunate enough to live about a half hour away from the Children’s Museum. It is a regular haunt of ours on super cold and super hot days. The last time we were there, we spent a good 3 hours and barely left the first floor.
As far as other day trips, I hope to get out to the Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, OH soon. The Mr says it is super-cool. I also hope to get up to Indiana Dunes or somewhere on the lake. I am a Florida girl and am fascinated by lake beaches. So very different, even the wave frequency!
I would love to live near the Children Museum. My two daughters aged 3 and 5 would be thrilled.
We are 16 miles north of Boston, when we aren’t going to a new exciting beach, we head into the city to the museum of fine arts, sn excellent children’s museum or the museum of science. (our town library has the best passes available) we also have an excellent museum next door in Salem mass called the Peabody Essex, my 8 year old could spend all day there. (I used to teach in MI, miss that state!)
This is my first visit to your blog and I am having a WONDERFUL time hopping from post to post, page to page.
As a fellow Michigan mom, I share the same “backyard” as you but still have so much to explore! Thank you for this great post but mostly for this great blog. I so admire what you’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. You are truly inspirational!