Farrar Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 "Unique" is a tall order, but thanks to growing up in DC, my kids... feel very comfortable in art museums - to sit on the floor and sketch even - and have pieces of art they like to visit periodically... think it's normal to be able to walk to all the stores and playgrounds and libraries you might need on your own... think it's normal to have a forest in the middle of your city just a mile away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAMommy Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Walk to the beach in 5 min. Plymouth Rock, mayflower, cape cod are within 15 min. 30 min to Boston/Cambridge/Harvard/MIT They can walk to a penny candy store & a pizza joint. Lots of nice we'll maintained places to hike.. Cons... The bleeping weather... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 until 2 months ago, my dc had lived their entire lives on an island and could walk to the beach and a short less than 5 min car ride to the Boardwalk. We now live offshore but only a 15 min car ride so still pretty good. oh, we also had a intercoastal waterway and meadows as part of our back yard for as far as you could see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Our library, farmer's market, an awesome hands-on children's science museum, several parks, at least 40 independently owned restaurants, and a major state university are all within a 10-20 minute walk of our house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 It's not unique, since lots of folks in this area could say the same thing. However, we live in Orlando, and my husband works for The Mouse (as did I for a few years, and as so the parents of a few friends). So, they've grown up going to WDW like it's a local playground. This is what I would have said if we still lived in Florida. We were lucky enough to have season passes several different times and could pop in whenever we wanted to go. We are now in SC, but still own our home in Florida and get the resident passes... But it is a 7 hour drive now, so not as easy to pop in. I can't think of anything fantastic in the SC midlands to speak of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My kids can hypnotize a frog and ignore the smell of rotting fish like nobody's business. Woohoo, sweet river life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Day trip DC and Baltimore. Heck, we can do it in half a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Double, triple like! I love it!! My kids can hypnotize a frog and ignore the smell of rotting fish like nobody's business. Woohoo, sweet river life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 I'm waiting for someone to post something like, "my kids can outrun a tumbleweed" or "my kids know what scrapple is and they love it" or something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I'm waiting for someone to post something like, "my kids can outrun a tumbleweed" or "my kids know what scrapple is and they love it" or something similar. My kids have eaten a roasted pig's head. My kids have eaten purple squid. That isn't due to our location though but my in-law's ethnicity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awisha. Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) nm Edited February 19, 2014 by Moderator This smacks of bullying. Knock it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planner Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My kids can have a lemonade stand in February with lemons from our trees. They can watch for the javelina, coyote, bobcat, rabbits, and quail that call our neighborhood home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckles Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My kids can wear shorts and flip flops almost year round. They can surf in the morning and snow ski the same evening (in theory) L.A. traffic is a nightmare We have the Getty Museum and Villa "Star" gazing at the Grove and Farmers Market Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knottsberry Farm, and Magic Mountain all within an hours drive LAX- the gateway to the world I'm trying to be positive. I rarely leave the valley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 We live in the middle of a National Forest, so my son doesn't really know what light pollution is. We can see Andromeda most of the year from the flat in front of our house. A mating pair of eagles live just across the river outback, and osprey are frequent because the river is wild and scenic. Three foot salmon can be caught from the backyard and frequently wash up/swim by depending on the run. There are signs that say, "please don't feed our bear" so the kayakers will pick up and the local bear (400+ lb black bear) won't get into stuff. My son started chopping firewood kindling at 6 and now helps us put in the year's wood with his own ax. He can start, build, and maintain a fire all day even when his dad and I go into town and aren't home. People often think that is a bit crazy. He also doesn't ever remember living in a house that had rooms. We live in a one room, 380 square foot cabin. People all think that is insane. Sort of Little House meets Alaska's Last Frontier. We have a shower, plumbing, and Internet, though. Thank goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 5 minute walk to the beach. where they fish pretty regularly. they can go swimming any day they want. GO boogie boarding or surfing if the waves are right. They can roam through native bush on the crown reserve that borders our property, the older boys go hunting in the state forest that is only a few km drive away. their target species is wild dog, (it currently has a $100 bounty on it.) we live rural and have a block of land that is half native scrub with a watercourse through it. we have a huge amount of native animals living right on our property, and the children can all identify all the birds in the area as well as identify all the animal tracks. downside is that they have no friends (apart from ds10 who has the neighbour boy and ds19 who is living on uni campus) the upside is that they all get on really really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 This thread was sparked by the comment that my son made that if we ever got 100 inches of snow, he'd like to dig a tunnel. I told him that kids who grow up with that much regular snow probably learn that tunnel digging can be dangerous. On our farm alone our guys can (and have) launch rockets from our fields, swim/play in our creek (which is wider than many small rivers), fish in our pond - or build an island in it as youngest did last summer (then wrote his college app essay about the experience), camp in the woods at our personal campsite along the creek, ride ponies, see Blue Herons, Redtail Hawks, a variety of owls, bats, and Bald Eagles on a regular basis (the latter have a nest on the property next to ours) or stargaze with or without their telescope. We have four seasons, so they can swim in the summer and sled in the winter (yes, they've dug tunnels and caves, but we didn't need 100 inches of snow to do it!). They enjoy the beauty of spring and the colors of fall. They've seen gazillions of fireflies lighting up the trees like they were Christmas lights and they enjoy the music of frogs mating in the spring or owls calling to each other at night. We do NOT have traffic noise, so that's foreign to them. Within half an hour they can be walking the Battlefields of Gettysburg or be on the Appalachian Trail (or many other hiking trails). It's an hour to Harrisburg (we don't go there often), an hour and a half to Baltimore, or 2 - 2 1/2 to Philly or DC (of all of these, we've done DC the most for day trips). Closer to home they tend to take visitors on potato chip factory tours... Most visitors come here to enjoy the tranquility, so we don't often go many places with them - they're here to enjoy our place. Due to where my mom lives, they've explored the St Lawrence River (prettiest blue river in the world IMO) including scuba diving some wrecks in it and find it difficult to consider Canada a foreign country... plus have seen/recognize many Remington paintings and sculptures. Due to where my in-laws live they've been able to play in the Rappahannock, boat, fish, swim and know to come inside when the mosquitoes get thick! (We don't get many at our house thanks to bats.) We love where we live and are glad we chose it 18 years ago. It's been a great place to raise kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My boys grew up in Hong Kong and China. In China, they thought it was completely normal for a takeaway from the excellent restaurant opposite to be delivered on china dishes by waiters. The boys would watch them process across the road, then the waiters would come up in the lift. When we were finished, we would phone them to come and pick up the dirty plates. There are some things about China that I miss very, very much. We now live five miles from the sea and a couple of hour's drive from the Highlands. We all love to walk, so it's a great place to be. Hobbes also plays golf in St Andrews. Oh, and they have the right to roam across most of the private land of Scotland. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 How bizarre that this thread was started yesterday. We live near Gettysburg. Our favorite Chinese buffet is in the heart of downtown historic Gettysburg. We went there just yesterday. We always go there for lunch when we study China in history. (Chapter 22 of SOTW, volume 2.) As we were driving to the restaurant my ds8 said, "We are so lucky to live right next to Gettysburg. Other people can only visit here maybe once in their lives but we can come here whenever we want." We do visit Gettysburg a lot: for the yearly reenactment of the Gettysburg address, to visit museums, to walk the battlefields, etc. There are other things around that we can do as well, but I living right next to a major tourist attraction that involves a well-known historic event has been cool for us as Homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 My kids can take a zillion classes at and volunteer at about 100 museums and a bunch of zoos, gardens, science centers, art galleries, and environmental centers all within 7 miles of my house. They can be on the beach in 45 minutes one direction, skiing or hiking on a mountain in 45 minutes the other direction, and at a farm 45 minutes in a third direction. They have the best homeschool group field trips (Ellis Island, NBS Studios, Met Museum, Federal Reserve, Ground Zero 911 Memorial, Christmas windows and Rockefeller Plaza tree, the U.N., etc) Dd's high school English class trip was to a Broadway show - and they walked there. My kids also have their choice of over 400 public high schools to attend (if that's what they want to do), each with a different focus. (But I'm ecstatic ds will be spending his high school years outside of a school building). They can walk or take (very fast and efficient) public transportation any and everywhere (and the city gives them 3 free rides a day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) Sorry, it was a typo, I meant 6 hours (with stops). Point being that they are both less than an easy day's drive, which is nice. Edited February 19, 2014 by Moderator Edited to remove quote from deleted post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Here in much-maligned NENJ, there isn't much we can't do, but maybe it's on a different scale. Beach? Yup. Appalachian Trail? We have a sliver of it. NYC? Close but not too close. Being the mutt of a state, and living in our county that is the transition from suburban to rural has had it's perks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 When little, the kids could run around naked and paint themselves with mud. See the stars without the glow of city lights. Someone just gave us a magnificent telescope! Live far enough away to feel isolated in the forest, but close enough to a big city to go to a baseball game. Go to the beach! Surf, boogie board, skim board, and spooner board the sand dunes. Mushroom hunting. Catch piglets (Wild Boar), raise 'em and slaughter 'em. Live in a tent all summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 When we first moved here we were using Sonlight 4 (I don't know what letter that is now--the US history, part 2 core). One of the books was Turn Homeward, Hannalee. It was fun knowing and seeing many of the places mentioned in the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Nothing unique. but we're 20 miles from skiing, in less than an hour you're in the (beautiful) mountains for camping, hiking, fishing, we're close to many hiking trails for daily walks, we have an awesome Shakespeare Theater in summer, we walk/bike along the river that runs through the city. We have 4 distinct seasons, an awesome farmers' market every Sat., we're close to fruit orchards and wineries (for mom). We have a historical museum, a decent art museum and zoo - nothing to brag about but okay. It's a good place to live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I don't know if anything is "unique," but I think it's just about the best location in the US! We're 40 minutes from Boston, and everything that entails. Great museums, lots of universities, lots of activities... oh, and a little bit of history, too. It's such a great city, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It has just about anything you'd need, in a smaller dose than larger cities, but it's akin to shopping at Trader Joe's v. the big supermarket: sure the big supermarket has an entire aisle of breakfast cereal, but how many breakfast cereal choices do you really need in life? And there's a fairly vibrant, though small, homeschooling community in the greater Boston area, so many of the major museums have special homeschooling deals and classes. And I cannot wait to study American history here! We're 2 miles from the ocean. In fact, the easiest way to get to Boston is to take the commuter ferry! It's part of Boston's public transportation system. We're about 25 minutes from Ikea. Which is a thing of its own on this list, because it is just AWESOME. Sometimes DH and I go there for date night, and drop the kids off in the play area. In the way that some people pity those who haven't found their religion of choice or the joy of a carb-free lifestyle, I pity people who cannot avail themselves of affordable Swedish design whenever the whim takes them. We're about 25 minutes from out local ski hill, which has great, relatively inexpensive ski classes for kids. We're only a couple hours away from larger mountains. We're about 20 minutes from Konditer Meister, which won "best wedding cake" on the Today Show shortly after I got married. I am eating a slice of their cake now (it was DH's birthday yesterday) and it is AMAZING. Seriously, you guys are missing out. We're about 40 minutes from Cape Cod, which is of course a beautiful place to go in the summer. And there's lots of stuff at Plimouth Plantation, too. The town we live in is just idyllic in many ways. It is almost half open space... and it's a very large town. We have a large state park, a Frederick Law Olmstead-designed parkland, and a couple other very large parks with well-maintained woodland trails maintained by the town. There are also beaches, multiple playgrounds, and many smaller parks. The town is just beautiful. Definitely one of the most beautiful communities in the US. Parts of it look like a postcard of "beautiful New England Town." The town-owned power company is just about the best thing ever. Our rates are a third lower than the state average, and we almost never lose power. I have friends in neighboring towns that lost power for up to a week TWICE last year, and our lights didn't even flicker. Town-owned utility companies are the bomb. It's a very child-centered area, full of affluent parents who only want the best for little shnookums, so there are TONS of activities for kids of all ages. ANYTHING you could possibly want your child to do, is here. Now, there's totally some sticker shock for some of these things, but that's another issue. We're 4 hours by bus from NYC. I took DD there as a day trip last fall, on the bus, and it was fabulous. I plan on doing that a lot more often as they get older. The Bolt bus tickets are only about $20 each. We're as close to Europe as you can get in the US, which is nice if you like to travel! Hmm, there's probably more, but I'm going to go get another slice of cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awisha. Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Sorry, it was a typo, I meant 6 hours (with stops). Point being that they are both less than an easy day's drive, which is nice. As an aside, it seems like a rather strange hobby to endlessly try to prove that someone in an online community does not exist, or is of such a character that she should not exist. Why on earth you'd be fact-checking my very unimportant posts from halfway around the world ... I mean, do you really need to know exactly where I live? Why would that be? It's a little creepy. Thanks for the clarifacation SKL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Not unique, per se, but my kid loves outdoor winter activities -- snowshoeing, snowboarding, Nordic, etc. -- so the 9 months of winter comes in very handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a27mom Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Not necessarily unique to only our area, but different from my, and many childhoods. My kids have been riding in tractors and/or combines since they were a few weeks old. They see farm animals, cows, sheep, goats, horses,almost every time we leave the house. They are used to working and playing in fields and a very large vegetable garden. We can go to our friends house and "help" milk cows anytime, or gather eggs from chickens. I realized my kids had a bit of a unique childhood when I realized that "a compartment used to change floors in a building" was the second, and less used, meaning they learned for elevator. And they've been to "the big place where you store grain" more often than they have been in "a compartment used to change floors" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 They can pronounce Demonbreun and see Ted Danson at a street festival. Not that my kids know who Ted Danson is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 World's worst weather--Mt. Washington held the world-record wind speed for 62 years until it got "blown away" by a typhoon in Australia. :lol: Australia only held that record for three years. My hometown in Oklahoma has that record now, 318 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 We live in between the mountains and the ocean, we have honestly been so charmed by being near mountains for the first time in our lives (dh and I are from plains states) we haven't even gone for a trip to the beach since we moved here. :lol: We live near many beautiful state parks, we basically spend all the warm days in the woods and creeks. We are in the foothils of the Appalachians, it is both cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than our homestates. We have Revolutionary war battlefields nearby. We are near several large metros without having to be in a large metro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pod's mum Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'm waiting for someone to post something like, "my kids can outrun a tumbleweed" or "my kids know what scrapple is and they love it" or something similar. Not tumble weeds but dd loves to run into willy-willys aka, dust-devils or whirly-whirlies, (you know those very tall, fast spinning colulmns of dust and etc) We took a long way home from getting the mail and had to stop twice so she could jump out and catch and release dragon lizards. She was driving around the paddocks at 9, swims in a waterhole, rides in the harvester and seeder and has hand reared a kangaroo, possum and two lambs (one of which is now in the freezer, shhhh!) Before we moved fully out of town we got to go to lots of public lectures at Universities, museums etc. but up here we get SKY, day and night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 My daughter got to watch the release of an opossum from our trash can. We had no idea how he got in, but he definitely wanted out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Going to a Civil War reenactment tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 1. Watch launches, which until recently included shuttle launches. Tonight at homeschool teen art club they all got up, walked outside, and watched the Delta launch. 2. Go to the theme parks (Disney World and Universal are 45 min. away) whenever time and/or money allows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Visit the birthplace of the Civil War - Fort Sumpter. We've been there often, sometimes with reenactors on scene. Hold alligators. The nearby Ecology Lab sponsors field trips and has no problem with the kids holding gators. The 3-week-old was kind of cute. The 3-year-old that DS held was almost bigger than him. Kind of scary for mom. Canoe blackwater swamps that make the movie Deliverance look like family entertainment. Banjoes echoed in the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerka528 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We have climbed Mt Fuji, not the whole things with the kids of course, but up one or two stations. My Kiddos also enjoy taking the train into Tokyo and checking out the fun sights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Where we used to live we had alligators at the state park near us. They lived in the "pond" and turtles would ride around on their backs. We also had a veritable nature sanctuary in our yard. We had everything from a Luna moth to dragonflies to alligators living in our drainage ditch (not as creepy as one would think since they were about 2 ft long) and lizards, I miss the lizards and maybe even the armadillo that would hop through the back yard. Don't really miss the snakes or ants though. Here, we got jack nothing. Okay, maybe the parade lining up on our street is kind of cool, we watch from the porch, ds doesn't care though. Unique? nothing exciting really. I read all these other posts and am jealous. But we're here and it's a safe area, nice area to be a hermit and sort of time out of life, but not somewhere either of us wants to be long-term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I don't know how unique out place is but my kids can go fishing at a moments notice since the river is close by. They can sit outside at night and find the constellations because there are no town lights drowning them out. I woke them up twice this winter to go watch the Northern Lights that were dancing around the skies in a lovely arrangement of different colors. They each have their own dog and there is room for that here. If they walk to their grandparents place a mile down the road, they are about as likely to see a bear as they are to see the neighbours. We have watched moose, deer, fox, coyotes, and elk in our yard. We are about 20km too far north for them to see the cougars that I grew up around or the grizzlies but they have seen plenty of black bear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We constantly battle tumbleweeds. Yesterday we were relocating a ton of them for burning. They're less thrilled then they look in movies. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We constantly battle tumbleweeds. Yesterday we were relocating a ton of them for burning. They're less thrilled then they look in movies. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Visit various sites from the Underground Railroad, as well as visit the birthplaces of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. See the annual pony swim at Assateague Island. For Snickerdoodle: Attend the annual Apple-Scrapple festival at RAPA. (They like scrapple) Play "corn hole" (the lawn game, just to avoid any ambiguity when you look it up) which is apparently a competitive sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Walk independently and safely in a medium-sized city. My 10-year old just walked to the *downtown* library, got a book out, stopped by a cafe, bought a muffin, and walked home. 1 hour round trip all by himself. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy in FL. Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Paddleboard to nearby springs where the manatees congregate in the winter. It is where the most manatees in the world congregate and it is beautiful. Over 500 manatees can be there when it's really cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Easily get into a great university or college? It's a little ridiculous for a tiny little province but within an hour we have four excellent universities, a rather well known art college, a theological college, and many community colleges. Drive another hour and there are two more universities. Another couple of hours and there are another three, one of which teaches Gaelic. And these aren't piddly universities. Canadians from across the country come to study at these institutions, Prime Ministers have been educated at them. One of the oldest, older then Canada by about 80 years, is Kings College and it has a foundation year program that follows a Classical model. Kids from the top schools across the country wasn't into that program and it's right next door to me! There's a lot off competition here in regards to universities but it's on the part of the universities seeking out students. It's ideal for the mom planning out high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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