Educational Travel

Hotels:

Caherine Mulvey: Embassy Suites is a wonderful chain of hotels - especially if you have a family. You will stay in a two room suite complete with a small kitchen. We have stayed in them all over the country, including Hawaii!

The best cost saving purchase we made was a City Pass (http://citypass.com/city/sanfrancisco.html). This package includes approximately half price admission to 4 museums, plus a harbor cruise & Muni / Cable car pass. We chose to stay at a hotel (the Holiday Inn) at Fisherman's Wharf. Mind you, our 1st trip to San Francisco was not a homeschool trip, but rather a family vacation with many learning opportunities. Our second trip was more of a homeschool trip. These suggestions are gleaned from both trips. I found an internet special for the Fisherman's Wharf hotel. Staying there put us within walking distance to many places. Much of fisherman's Wharf is full of tourist traps. We explored much of the area, but did not succumb to things like the Wax Museum or the Pier 39 aquarium! We did, however, have to have ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli! There is a free maritime museum (http://www.maritime.org/index.htm) that I believe is part of the national park service. A boat tour of the harbor is a part of the City Pass (see below). This is a good opportunity to see not only the bay & city, but also the Golden Gate Bridge, as you pass under it! I wish we had seen the PBS "American Experience" program about the building of the Golden Gate bridge prior to our visit. The teacher guide for that program can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldengate/tguide/

We did not rent a car while in San Francisco, but rather took public transport to any place we couldn't walk. That's where the MUNI passes came in so handy. We criss-crossed the city on public transport! That, in and of itself, was a good learning opportunity for suburban kids! Reading maps & bus schedules; people watching; looking at the variety of architecture; scoping out places you want to head back to explore: these are all experiences to be gained by riding the bus!

Exploratorium: (http://www.exploratorium.edu/) This is the best science museum I have ever visited! The entire museum is hands-on. The physical shell of the museum is drab at best: that fades into the background. It is the remarkable exhibits that count. Save time (and room in your suitcase!) to check out the bookstore. I really like their publications. This museum's web site is also extremely helpful in searching for ideas for homeschool science. Admission: free, if you are a member of another cooperating science museum (such as the Science museum of Minnesota. You just need your membership card to obtain your free admission pass) Otherwise regular admission is as follows: adults $13; children 4 -12: $8; youth 13-17: $10; children under 3 are free. Note: the City Pass includes this museum!

Golden Gate Park: This place is enormous, with many separate sections & events. I was going to list the wonderful museums in this park, among other reasons for going. As is noted below, the museums seem to have moved out of the park! The Strybing Arboretum (http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/) is still in the park. Good thing they couldn't move the redwoods! It's free, has many sections & species (if you want to study botany) and gives kids some wide open spaces to run off steam...especially if they've been in, say, an art museum prior to this!

Steinhart Aquarium: (http://www.calacademy.org/aquarium/) This wonderful museum, which is a part of the California Academy of the Sciences, had been in Golden Gate Park. The web now says these museums have moved downtown. 875 Howard Street (between 4th & 5th Streets) San Francisco, CA 94103-3009 Phone: (415) 321-8000 I should add that, I believe, admission still includes that other portions of the Academy of Sciences: the Natural History Museum & the Morrison Planetarium.

Chinatown: This is either a short bus ride or about a 1-2 mile walk from Fisherman's Wharf. Walking takes one through North Beach, the Little Italy section of San Francisco, which is also worth exploring. Spending time in San Francisco China town definitely is an "immersion" experience: sights, smells, sounds, all which are so very different from our day to day life. Our Matthew was especially aware of all the unique food smells, which he did not always find pleasant! On the other hand my husband, Brad, would eat Chinese food three times a day!

Grace Cathedral: (http://www.gracecathedral.org/) This Episcopal cathedral is rich in history, even though it is not that old. It gave me a chance to show Matthew an example of architecture that we had been studying. The cathedral contains a replica of the Ghiberti Doors, from the cathedral in Florence. There is a virtual tour of Grace cathedral on their web site. I looked at this prior to our visit, to help plan what I wanted to make sure to see and point out.

On a personal note, I wanted to go to Grace to walk their labyrinth. (http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/) There are actually two labyrinths at Grace: one inside & one outside. Matthew & I walked the inside labyrinth, which is a replica of the Chartres labyrinth. Matthew was almost 12 at the time, I'd say borderline for being able to really appreciate this experience.

Catherin Mulvey - Chicago: The Field Museum was a real highlight with a whole underground Egyptian tomb. Membership to the Minnesota Science Museum allows you free entrance into the Field Museum, Science and Industry Museum etc.

• The Art Museum in Chicago has a wonderful display of Medieval suits of armor.
• Stay outside the city and then take the train in. We stayed in Schaumburg in an Embassy Suites : $125/night for a family of 6. This included a full breakfast complete with made-to-order omelets!

Catherine Mulvey -

1. Walk the Freedom Trail - Stop in the Boston Garden visitor information center to get a walking tour book. This will give you all the information and keep you on the right trail to see everything. This is the cheapest way to see the city; you could also hire a costumed guide or even do a lantern tour in the evening. Be sure to see Paul Revere's home, the Old North Church, Bunker (Breed's) Hill
2. Be sure and walk around my alma mater (grad. school) Boston College
3. Boston also has a wonderful art museum with a beautiful collection of Impressionistic art.
4. Visit the public garden with the duck statues in memory of Robert McClousky's Make Way for Ducklings and take a ride on the swan boats that the ducks in the book saw!

Catherine Mulvey- Do your homework before embarking on this trip. There are SO many things to do; you will want an itinerary set before you pack your bags. Fodor's Washington D.C. with Kids written by Sandra Burt and Linda Perlis is a good guide book.

1. Homewood Suites by Hilton: 4850 Leesburg Pike Alexandria, VA 703-671-6500 very similar to Embassy Suits. Hotel is very close to a metro station that is located in a large shopping mall to get to the sights.
2. Contact your senator to get free passes for private or semi-private tours of the famous government buildings. (You cannot get into the White House without a reservation.) Request a pass to get into the gallery to see the senate in session (children 6 and under will not be able to do this).
3. Don't miss the tour of the Library of Congress - you don't need a reservation for this tour - just show up and wait 20 minutes for the public tour to start. You will even be able to see one of the remaining Gutenberg Bibles!