nelewaf Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Our family is going on a rather impromtu trip tomorrow for 5-6 days. We are studing the American Revolution, and are trying to follow the battles chronologically.....this spring we have visited: Lexington & Concord in Massachusetts, Fort Ticonderoga in New York, back to Bunker Hill in Boston (and other Boston sites Old North Church, Paul Revere's House, most of the Freedom Trail). We want to visit other American Revolution battle sites in some /all (?) of these states : New York, New Jersey, Pennslyvania, and if time, some in Virginia. For those of you familiar with these states where would you go, keeping in mind we are trying to visit each Battle Site, (if its there) or any other neat site (want to go to Valley Forge).....We all would appreciate the help/expertise, since we have lots to do before we go, and time is a factor! We are driving and starting from Connecticut. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Well, Yorktown, VA is pretty signifcant.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Brandywine Battlefield in Chadds Ford, PA was pretty good. http://www.brandywinebattlefield.org/ It would be a brief, but interesting stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I can't imagine not making the historic triangle of Virginia a priority destination on this trip. Yorktown is significant, and Colonial Williamsburg is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwin Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 If you're going to hit Ticonderoga, you might want to try to hit Saratoga as well. And if you DO decide to do that, get your hotel in Ti because Saratoga hotel rates are ridiculous during track season (Saratoga is much more fun for a family to visit than Ticonderoga, though.) Lake George (about halfway between Ti and Saratoga) has historic stuff and just finished up a public-friendly archaeological dig right on the premises, but as far as I know it only deals with the French and Indian War. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelewaf Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 8 Fill, Thanks yes, Yorktown is a must, any idea how long it would take to visit the site? (we're definately on the quick side when touring) Samba - Thanks, Brandywine looks good. Thx for the timing, too. zennjenn - thanks, the triangle, how many days to see it do you think? at least one day for Williamsburg? or more? Also, we probably don't have time to visit Monticello, but I would love to. Williamsburg vs. Monticello, would you say Williamsburg? Hwin - thanks for info on Fort Ti and Saratoga. I'm thinking I might be able to do that trip myself w/ the kids this fall, while dh is working......funny you mention the archaeological dig, both my kids are very interested in that and geology as well! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) zennjenn - thanks, the triangle, how many days to see it do you think? at least one day for Williamsburg? or more? Also, we probably don't have time to visit Monticello, but I would love to. Williamsburg vs. Monticello, would you say Williamsburg? We went to the Historic Triangle area in May. We spent 5 days there. 1/2 Day in Yorktown, 1 Day Jamestown Settlement/Jamestown, and 3 Days in Colonial Williamsburg. I could have spent longer. *I* found Yorktown fascinating, but my kids were a little bored, to be honest. My kids are only 6 and 8 though. I could have easily spent a day or two exploring all the sites and doing the driving tour. To them Yorktown was just a big field with a park ranger rambling on about history, and it just went over their heads. If Yorktown is a must you absolutely must do Colonial Williamsburg even if just for 1 day. I haven't done Monticello since *I* was a teenager, so it is hard for me to compare - but I think the *living history* nature of Williamsburg is just so memorable for kids. To see the homes, the trades being practice, the foods being served. The re-enactors are AMAZING. I mean AMAZING. How do they find a guy that LOOKS like George Washington, is able to put on a believable acting performance, AND is an extremely knowledgeable historian? And then do the same for Thomas Jefferson, etc? Heck if I know, but it is amazing. Definitely get tickets for the audience with Jefferson or Washington or both. Then every afternoon, they do "Revolutionary City" re-enactments down by the capitol. Main actors, and the "atmosphere" actors dispersed through the crowd, muttering and creating buzz about the "current" events. The end of the day concludes with the militia beginning a march to Yorktown and then a public reading of the Declaration of Independence - just *beautifully* done by actors. The whole thing is just an immersive work of art that emotionally gets to you in a way that standard historical sites can't. Jamestown Settlement is also amazing, but not as just over-the-top immersive as Williamsburg. The staff there are in costume but not "in character" like many of the cast members at Williamsburg are. Obviously that is pre-Revolutionary history too, so if you had to skip something, that could be skipped since it doesn't fit the theme of your trip. Don't forget, Mount Vernon is not far, either, and for a Revolutionary War trip, gosh that would be worth visiting. I haven't been there since I was a teenager, myself. Can you maybe double the duration of this trip? :) Edited August 23, 2011 by zenjenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) My kids by far prefer Jamestown of the 3, but it really isn't Revolutionary War relevant. CW comes in 2nd, but maybe some of the "awe" is missed b/c of repeat visits and theer is more hands on w/Jamestown. Yorktown is their least favorite and their view is similar to Zennjenn's. (1 day at CW and 1/2 each at Jamestown/Yorktown is our norm) BTW, I don't know if you are aware of homeschool days, but they are from Sept 10-25 and the rates are very cheap for all 3 sites. (Oops.....I just went and read your OP and saw you are doing this impromptu immediately.....Sorry!! I'm not deleting the info just in case others are reading the thread and it might benefit them) http://www.history.org/History/teaching/groupTours/SchoolandYouth/images/homeschoolerorderform2011.pdf http://www.historyisfun.org/homeschool-program.htm Monticello is going to be 2 1/2 hrs west of Williamsburg. Mount Vernon is pretty much directly 2 1/2 hours north of Williamsburg. So, depending on which way you travel, you might want to consider Mount Vernon. (I really enjoy it as much as Monticello.) Hope you have a wonderful trip. (ETA: I just was Zennjenn edited her post while I was typing and added a lot of the same info :) Sorry for the duplicate info!) Edited August 23, 2011 by 8FillTheHeart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy Inman Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 We just went to Yorktown in June. Just wanted to throw it out there that we really enjoyed it. My son is 9 and had just learned about the Revolution... we LOVED the driving tour.. and being able to walk on the earthworks.. and see where the canons and troops were positioned.. to see the field were the British surrendered. I had no idea so many earthworks from the battle still existed. He was enthralled :) I can't remember how long the driving tour took.. maybe an hour or so? We got out and walked around all the stops. The little museum was neat too.. they had GW's tent, a replica ship you can walk in, a British flag that was surrendered.. and the overview movie thing was informative too. We have passes to CW - adore it. Perfect for Revolution study. Jamestown is great too, though not on topic... Have fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelewaf Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Thanks All for all the good info!! Sure wish we had 2 weeks to visit this area, all sounds wonderful! Now to decide...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 There should be a site, I can't find it right now for American Revolutionarly Trails, similar to the Civial War Trails. I'll put some links I did find though http://www.americanwaymag.com/boston-freedom-trail-revolutionary-war-trail-saratoga-national-historical-park http://nysparks.state.ny.us/historic-preservation/heritage-trails/revolutionary-war/default.aspx http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/revolutionary_links.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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