Need edu-vacation ideas for southern East Coast...

[CourtneyBrooke]

Last year I asked for ideas for our northeast vacation and received some great ideas. We went to Boston, Plymouth, etc and enjoyed our best vacation ever.

 

This year we're considering driving south from PA to visit family and friends in Florida. The kids also want to do Disney, as we never have, but that depends on the budget. I'm not sure it's feasible. Regardless, we'd like to visit some educational/historical places on our journey south.

 

We've done everything nearby- DC, Philly, Baltimore, etc. We've done Williamsburg. What is there to see or do in the Carolinas, Georgia, etc? We're also studying earth science anything related to that would be a bonus :)

 

Thanks!!

[MindyD]

Charleston, SC! You have to stop in Charleston. There's so much history here. We also have a lot of parks or you could to kayaking to really get into the wetlands and marshes more. It's only about an hour off of I95 so it's on your way anyway!

[ZooRho]

King's Mountain is on the border of NC/SC called the turning point of the Rev War, Cowpens isn't too far away either. Lincolnton, NC has some smaller interesting sites too.

 

Old Salem is in Winston Salem probably a bit further out than you would want to to thought. Daniel Boone has things in NC.

 

http://www.oldsalem.org/

http://www.ci.lincolnton.nc.us/history.html

http://www.nps.gov/cowp/index.htm This place was small but very friendly. They gave me some extra resources for places to see in NC/SC but it is packed away.

 

You could also look for the Civil War Trails and Rev. War Trails things.

[TXMomof4]

In Charleston - the Exchange and Provost Building was one of our favorite spots - not too pricey and a LOT of history in that place. We also went out to Ft. Sumter - it was good but you don't get a huge amount of time there.

[GoVanGogh]

Tybee Island, the barrier island off Savannah, was a wonderful educational vacation spot for us.

[TechWife]

Visit the Gold Rush Museum and Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia. It will fit right in to your earth science studies.

[CourtneyBrooke]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Any more?

[Skadi]

Asheville, NC has the Biltmore, which is the largest private home in America. http://www.biltmore.com/ Tickets are a little pricey for my taste, but the house a HUGE amount of historical items the Vanderbilts collected (Cardinal Richeleue's draperies, Napoleon's chess set, etc.). Asheville has a beautiful downtown, and you have to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway while you're in the area.

[SebastianCat]

You've got to visit St. Augustine, FL on your way down. There is SO much history there that you don't hear about in most history curricula, because the city was established by Spain, not England. It's very easy to get to - right off of I-95, south of Jacksonville, before you reach I-4 to cut over to Orlando. It's worth a day trip even if you don't come down I-95 - you can do it in a day trip from Orlando.

 

If you drive down I-75, stop in Gainesville, FL at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Florida. Our kids loved it.

[Faithr]

If you go by way of the Outer Banks you can visit the Wright Museum, hike the biggest sand dune on the East coast (go at sunset, it is glorious!), go for a dolphin cruise in the sound (we've seen dolphins every time we've done this) and you can also visit Roanoke Island, the site of the Lost Colony. There is a wonderful little living museum of a restored farm right there in Manteo.