There are four originals of the 1297 Magna Carta, one of them is in Washington, D.C.‘s National Archives. Entry is free but photography is prohibited. The modest downstairs gallery tells the troubled national history of how slaves built the Capitol and the White House, broken promises, the long-time disenfranchisement of Read more
This is the most child-friendly museum of the Smithsonians in Washington, D.C. If you don’t like having your seat kicked by a toddler on the bus, screaming babies on airplanes, or parents bringing tweens into bars then you will not like this place. The Smithsonian is a revered institution, but Read more
History. Nature. Science. These three words are the calling card for Winnipeg‘s Manitoba Museum. It is the province’s most comprehensive museum with multiple galleries on everything from dinosaurs to how Manitobans lived during the roaring 20s. I particularly liked the Arctic and subarctic gallery, as I did in Ottawa‘s Museum Read more
If I had a tail I’d wag, and it’s a shame their shop isn’t called swag. The museum in Winnipeg has over 24,000 works of indigenous art and the largest collection of Inuit art in the world. It has space for educational activities and docents that explain the works to Read more
The Forks was an ancient meeting place for indigenous peoples for over 6,000 years where different groups made alliances and traded. It was here that Louis Riel defended the rights of Métis people. His house and grave are historic sites in Winnipeg. It was also the site of the first Read more
Grand Rapids was my bonus level in Michigan. I had only planned to visit Flint, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Lansing on the trip, but efficiency won the day. Former president Gerald Ford was born and grew up in Grand Rapids, his presidential library and grave site has price space on Read more
Pier 21 in Halifax is what Staten Island was to New York—the first port of entry for many migrants in the 19th and early 20th century. The special exhibition on German-Canadian relations was told through a series of photographs depicting German immigrants to eastern Canada and Canadians occupying West Germany Read more
Instead of being a giant Greek Revival building full of dead exhibits, Halifax‘s Museum of Natural History comes alive with staff introducing visitors to live specimens of non-native animals. I also appreciated the prehistoric exhibit told through the lens of Nova Scotia’s indigenous people. Reptiles are cheap to buy and Read more
The Lehigh Valley Heritage Center is the history museum and artifact archive of the coal mining, steel smelting, and war loving region in the Great Appalachian Valley. The coal was used to power ships, the steel used to build ships, and men sent to operate the ships. The ships were Read more
Scranton had a trolley system from 1896 to 1954, the first economically sustainable system in America. The Lackawanna valley was rich in anthracite, top-notch coal, and the trolleys were powered from the nearby coal-fired power plant via a third rail, unusual for interurbans. But one line, the Northern Electric Railway, Read more