{"id":339,"date":"2010-07-11T14:13:12","date_gmt":"2010-07-11T18:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/practicalbits.com\/?p=339"},"modified":"2017-03-02T19:59:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T00:59:11","slug":"10-places-to-which-you-may-not-have-taken-a-field-trip-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/?p=339","title":{"rendered":"10 Places To Which You May Not Have Taken A Field Trip – Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

* Some sites listed below require appointments to visit. Always check first!<\/p>\n

1. Ethnic shopping<\/h3>\n

Come on, I dare you: go into an ethnic market, hand your kid $20 and see what they come back with.<\/p>\n

Korean Korner (in Silver Spring, no website.)
\nLotte Plaza<\/a> http:\/\/www.lotteplaza.com\/
\nEden Center<\/a> http:\/\/edencenter.com\/
\nIndia Sari Palace <\/a>http:\/\/www.indiasaripalacedc.com\/
\nKorean Korner (12207 Viers Mill Rd, Silver Spring – sorry, couldn’t find a website.)<\/p>\n

2. See How Stuff Is Made<\/h3>\n

Money: Bureau of Engraving and Printing – the “free samples” joke *never* gets old
\nSnack foods: Herr’s Potato Chips: http:\/\/www.herrs.com\/SnackFactoryTours.html
\nGuitars: C.F. Martin Guitar Co.: http:\/\/www.martinguitar.com\/visit\/tour.html
\nHarley Davidson motorcycles:
\nCrayola crayons: http:\/\/www.crayola.com\/Factory\/exhibits.cfm
\nHershey’s Chocolate: http:\/\/www.hersheys.com\/chocolateworld\/chocolate_tour.shtml<\/p>\n

3. The office of Your Elected Official<\/h3>\n

http:\/\/www.visitthecapitol.gov\/Visit\/Book%20a%20Tour\/
\nThey *have* to listen to you. It’s their JOB.<\/p>\n

4. An animal rescue or animal sanctuary<\/h3>\n

http:\/\/www.farmanimalshelters.org\/
\nDays End Horse Rescue http:\/\/www.defhr.org\/
\nhttp:\/\/www.ruderanch.org\/<\/p>\n

5. An artists studio<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

VisArts <\/a>http:\/\/www.visartscenter.org\/
\nTorpedo Factory<\/a> http:\/\/www.torpedofactory.org\/
\nArt of Fire<\/a> www.Artoffire.com
\nKiparoo Farm Studio<\/a> http:\/\/www.kiparoofarmstudio.com\/<\/p>\n

6. An ethnic neighborhood<\/h3>\n

Baltimore: (http:\/\/www.littleitalymd.com\/) Little Italy<\/a>
\nGreektown<\/a>: (http:\/\/www.greektownmd.org\/)
\nChinatown<\/p>\n

7. A Living History Museum<\/h3>\n

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?<\/p>\n

Mount Vernon<\/a> (http:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/visit\/plan\/index.cfm\/)
\nClaude Moore Colonial Farm<\/a> (http:\/\/www.1771.org\/)
\nColonial Williamsburg<\/a> (http:\/\/www.history.org\/)<\/p>\n

8. Meet Some Unusual Plants<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

U.S. Botanical Gardens<\/a>: www.usbg.gov
\nU.S. National Arboretum<\/a>: http:\/\/www.usna.usda.gov\/
\nCarnivorous Plant Nursery<\/a> (by appointment only): http:\/\/www.carnivorousplantnursery.com\/<\/p>\n

9. An archaeological dig<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

www.marylandarchaeology.org<\/a>
\nwww.porttobacco.blogspot.com<\/a>
\nwww.marylandhistoricaltrust.net\/workshop.html<\/a>
\nwww.calvertmarinemuseum.com<\/a>
\nwww.mountvernon.org<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.dhr.virginia.gov\/arch_DHR\/archaeo_index.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

10. An Open Rehearsal<\/h3>\n

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:
\nThe Kennedy Center<\/a> http:\/\/www.kennedy-center.org\/ KC has been known announce open ballet rehearsals.
\nBaltimore Symphony Orchestra<\/a> 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.
\nFolger Shakespeare Library<\/a> http:\/\/www.folger.edu\/
\nShakespeare Theater<\/a> http:\/\/www.shakespearetheatre.org\/
\nRound House Theater<\/a> http:\/\/www.roundhousetheatre.org\/
\nWoolly Mammoth Theater<\/a> http:\/\/www.woollymammoth.net\/ Woolly Mammoth also sometimes offers “Pay What You Can” nights very early in performance runs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article originally ran in Helping to Homeschool, my column at communities.washingtontimes.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summertime is a great time for field trips. Although your regular schedule may already permit more outings than the average<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":""},"categories":[27,37],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practicalbits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}