My very first visit to a historical home was when I was two and a half years old. I toddled around a stunning early 20th century Falaise Mansion in impish glee! The beautiful furniture, soaring ceilings, and elegant surroundings left me breathless and the tour guide in such shock that someone so young could behave during an hour-long house tour without even a whine or peep. To see this museum click on the following link: http://www.sandspointpreserve.org/htm/falaise.htm.
Since then I have never looked back! Even though I may have outgrown my favorite blue sneakers and Rainbow Brite sunglasses my love of history has increased with fervor.
When I step into a museum or historical home, I am awestruck with the history the site has beheld. While many might see an ornate Queen Anne sofa, I see the many delightful teas that glamorous women of a bygone era had partaken on its plush upholstery.
Museums and historical homes breath life into history. They offer us a concrete reminder that there was a time before us and transports us back to that time.
Museums act as a passport to the sweeping eras that are the fiber of our very history such as Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776 which declared our views as an independent free-thinking nation to our British rulers or Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in North Carolina where Sir Walter Raleigh and his band of settlers mysteriously vanished in the late 1500's known today as "The Lost Colony".
These profound moments in history relate to why we think and feel the way we do about our country today. Without those courageous individuals who risked their very livelihood against tyranny and injustice we would not be the worldly, established and strong nation we are today.
What is even more mind-boggling is that we can visit the locations where these events happened and recapture the exhilaration that these early peoples must have felt during these poignant pinnacles of American history.
Why not visit a museum on May 18th (International Museum Day) which celebrates these unique resources contributions to our world?
Better yet, visit one any day of the year and become entranced with the beguiling beauty of our world's museums, historical homes, and national sites where history truly lives year-round.
I would like to share a list of my favorite museums in the United States which I have visited (I have also provided links to their websites for further information):
Northeast
Walt Whitman Birthplace (West Hills, New York)
World-famous poet Walt Whitman was born in this farmhouse in 1819.
http://www.waltwhitman.org/
Sagamore Hill (Oyster Bay, New York)
Home of president Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 to 1919.
http://www.nps.gov/sahi/historyculture/index.htm
Salem Witch Museum (Salem, Massachusetts)
Museum relates to history of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials
http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/
Midwest
Stacy's Tavern (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
This is a beautiful 1846 stagecoach inn and the home of the delightful Glen Ellyn Historical Society.
http://gehistoricalsociety.homestead.com/
Benjamin Harrison Home (Indianapolis, Indiana)
One of President Benjamin Harrison's homes situated in the gorgeous city of Indianapolis. Not to be missed!
http://www.presidentbenjaminharrison.org/
Kenosha Public Museum (Kenosha, Wisconsin)
Incredible museum for the entire family which includes a replica of a mammoth, Native American artifacts, The Wisconsin Story, and interesting temporary exhibits.
http://www.kenosha.org/museum/exhibits.html
South
Winterthur (Delaware)
Mansion of Henry du Pont.
http://www.winterthur.org/?p=222
West
Mission San Juan Capistrano (Orange County, California)
A breathtaking mission founded in 1776.
http://missionsjc.com/
Winchester Mystery House (San Jose, California)
Weirdly amazing home which contains endless doors, windows and stairways that open to walls and lead to nowhere!
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Ripley's Believe It or Not (San Francisco, California)
Everything strange and outrageous all in one oddly fabulous museum!
http://www.ripleys.com/sanfrancisco/your-visit/inside-the-museum/
Children's Books About Museums
Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett Krosoczka
The Breakfast Bunch and the Lunch Lady go on a field trip to an art museum.
Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman
A boy enters a museum and becomes part of the exhibit in this wordless picture book.
Fancy Nancy at the Museum by Jane O'Connor.
Fancy Nancy goes on a school field trip to a museum.
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