The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center was our fourth space museum that we'd visited on our Explore All 50 project. Many of the exhibits were things that we'd seen before but there were plenty of others that were unique enough to make this visit interesting. One highlight was going inside a model of the interior of the space shuttle. We got to see how the astronauts sleep, eat, and even use the bathroom in space (pretty … [Read more...]
Sadly, we missed the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute but even so I thought it was important to cover here because it was on our itinerary. On our trip #10 Civil Rights and American Music we'd been to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, the Little Rock High School National Historic Site and Visitor Center, the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, the Rosa Parks bus stop and the Rosa Parks Library and Museum in … [Read more...]
There are few things in this life that can rival hiking on a glacier, I would even venture to say it was a life changing experience. And if that statement needed any validation, my jaded teenagers excitedly declared it "totally sick". Is there a higher compliment from a tougher audience? I think not. I decided early on this was a must do on our Alaskan road trip and it totally exceeded our expectations. The … [Read more...]
Though our time in Mississippi was short we did cover a decent bit of ground. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was made deeply aware that Mississippi is one of the poorest states in our union. The gulf coast was very pretty and we enjoyed our time there but I didn't quite feel like we'd gotten the whole story. There was so much that we missed that I wished we had time to explore but often times to get done … [Read more...]
After driving around in the heat and humidity and all the museums and educational stuff we'd done over the last few days, it was time for a kid break, to let them just have fun. Luckily we found the Gulf Island Water Park and the kids could not be more excited to get into the water and have a great time in the late afternoon. The park wasn't enormous but it was big enough to offer a really great selection of … [Read more...]
One of Mississippi's biggest industries along the gulf coast is shrimping. If you've watched the movie Forrest Gump, then you've seen how Forrest and his friend Bubba buy a shrimp boat and go into the shrimping business starting the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Since shrimping is so important to this area we thought it would be just fantastic to take a shrimp boat tour and learn all about these creatures who play … [Read more...]
The Mississippi State Capitol Building is located in Jackson which has a reputation for being a pretty tough town. We were told to be careful where we went but honestly, the area around the capitol building was lovely, calm and peaceful. The building itself is a beautiful structure with the traditional dome and gold topper with the Parthenon like header on top of massive columns. Inside, the building is … [Read more...]
There is something about those little cars hanging precariously from a single solitary cable that always makes my heart beat a little faster. Looking up at the Mt. Roberts Tramway I asked my kids if they were game. When the answer was a resounding yes, I gathered my courage, bought our tickets walked up to the loading area. I knew that the views would be totally worth it, in addition to all the cool cultural … [Read more...]
Louisiana definitely has it's own distinct charm. Most folks only get to see New Orleans but we were fortunate to explore from Shreveport all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The Pelican State in my opinion is the most unique is so many ways-from it's ecosystems and the folks who live within them along the bayou and along the coast to it's distinctive cajun and creole cuisine. Couple that with it's lively music and … [Read more...]
Any Explore All 50 project road trip is never complete with a visit to the state capitol. The Louisiana State Capitol Building is quite different as it doesn't have a dome. Born of the vision of larger than life Louisiana governor Huey P. Long, it was built during the 1930's during the Great Depression. It's shape is more like a tall single column with hints or art deco architectural detail and it is the tallest … [Read more...]
