10 Places To Which You May Not Have Taken A Field Trip – Yet
Summertime is a great time for field trips. Although your regular schedule may already permit more outings than the average bear, the summer months present a slightly different challenge in that now *everybody* has time for outings. Your regular haunts are now flooded with tourists, public schoolkids, people from countries only 10 km square – you know what I mean.
Get off the beaten path. Take some time to take the road less travelled. Think beyond the usual art galleries, museums, parks; there are a host of unusual places to go that will still encompass – I assure you – a learning experience.
* Some sites listed below require appointments to visit. Always check first!
1. Ethnic shopping
Come on, I dare you: go into an ethnic market, hand your kid $20 and see what they come back with.
Korean Korner (in Silver Spring, no website.)
Lotte Plaza http://www.lotteplaza.com/
Eden Center http://edencenter.com/
India Sari Palace http://www.indiasaripalacedc.com/
Korean Korner (12207 Viers Mill Rd, Silver Spring – sorry, couldn’t find a website.)
2. See How Stuff Is Made
Money: Bureau of Engraving and Printing – the “free samples” joke *never* gets old
Snack foods: Herr’s Potato Chips: http://www.herrs.com/SnackFactoryTours.html
Guitars: C.F. Martin Guitar Co.: http://www.martinguitar.com/visit/tour.html
Harley Davidson motorcycles:
Crayola crayons: http://www.crayola.com/Factory/exhibits.cfm
Hershey’s Chocolate: http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/chocolate_tour.shtml
3. The office of Your Elected Official
http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/Visit/Book%20a%20Tour/
They *have* to listen to you. It’s their JOB.
4. An animal rescue or animal sanctuary
http://www.farmanimalshelters.org/
Days End Horse Rescue http://www.defhr.org/
http://www.ruderanch.org/
5. An artists studio
There are spaces where, in addition to an art gallery, visitors can meet and greet artists-in-residence. The VisArts Center in downtown Rockville is a lovely example of this. Want to take a tour, meet an artist, explore a studio, try out their artistic medium? They do that – all of it.
VisArts http://www.visartscenter.org/
Torpedo Factory http://www.torpedofactory.org/
Art of Fire www.Artoffire.com
Kiparoo Farm Studio http://www.kiparoofarmstudio.com/
6. An ethnic neighborhood
Baltimore: (http://www.littleitalymd.com/) Little Italy
Greektown: (http://www.greektownmd.org/)
Chinatown
7. A Living History Museum
Perspective is a great thing to give a kid. What was it like to live when there was no air conditioning and everyone had to wear four yards of linen?
Mount Vernon (http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/)
Claude Moore Colonial Farm (http://www.1771.org/)
Colonial Williamsburg (http://www.history.org/)
8. Meet Some Unusual Plants
Bonsai, Baja Fairy Duster, Gotelli Dwarf, Double Trapped Red Dragon, Triffid Traps. Names for your next rock band? No: they’re plants. More than merely pretty, you can visit some rare, beautiful, and even carnivorous plants.
U.S. Botanical Gardens: www.usbg.gov
U.S. National Arboretum: http://www.usna.usda.gov/
Carnivorous Plant Nursery (by appointment only): http://www.carnivorousplantnursery.com/
9. An archaeological dig
Believe it or not, digging for history is not entirely limited to Indiana Jones, or even the staff of Colonial Williamsburg. Visit an active dig site, learn paleontology, hunt a fossil.
www.marylandarchaeology.org
www.porttobacco.blogspot.com
www.marylandhistoricaltrust.net/workshop.html
www.calvertmarinemuseum.com
www.mountvernon.org
http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/arch_DHR/archaeo_index.htm
10. An Open Rehearsal
Some performance companies (orchestras, theaters, dance troupes) allow the public to attend “open rehearsal” – come sit in while they practice. A few places to try:
The Kennedy Center http://www.kennedy-center.org/ KC has been known announce open ballet rehearsals.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra http://www.bsomusic.org/bsokids/main.taf?p=2,2 The BSO is continuing their open rehearsal series, specifically aimed at allowing children to attend.
Folger Shakespeare Library http://www.folger.edu/
Shakespeare Theater http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/
Round House Theater http://www.roundhousetheatre.org/
Woolly Mammoth Theater http://www.woollymammoth.net/ Woolly Mammoth also sometimes offers “Pay What You Can” nights very early in performance runs.
This article originally ran in Helping to Homeschool, my column at communities.washingtontimes.com
