70+ Places I’ve Visited!

Recently I picked up a great little book for my grandsons. It’s called “101 Places You Gotta See Before You’re 12!” by Joanne O’Sullivan. It’s 144 pages and comes with stickers for the kids to use with the book. The stickers come with sayings such as – Wish List – – No Way! – Top 20 – Absolute Favorite, Loved it! – Yawn Fest! – This Rocks – Awesome Adventure! – Been There! and Way Strange. I looked through the book and found myself saying “I’ve done that”, “I’ve been there”, “I’d love to go there”, etc. I started making notes of places I’d been and things I’d done.And then I had a wonderful time going on the internet finding the web sites of these places. It was a fun and fulfilling afternoon. I saw photos of familiar sights, and it was very much like going down memory lane. I’m sharing my links, which I’m sure I’ll be adding to often. I thought it’d be a wonderful way for the children to follow up after they’d been to visit some of the places where they go. They can take pictures and include them with their souvenirs and their thoughts. It’d be great for them to do a scrapbook or even a web site or a document that they keep for the rest of their lives. When my middle son was seven, I decided we needed an adventure. My grandmother lived in Florida and had just been diagnosed with cancer. I didn’t like flying so I decided to take my son and drive there from California. I made sure that we stopped at all the fun things there are to stop and look at since my dad had always just driven by the largest ball of string or a huge dinosaur.We visited with my aunt and grandmother for a few days and then decided we didn’t want to go back the way we came. We went to AAA for new maps and headed off to Washington D.C. – then on to Milwaukee, Las Vegas and then home. Recently I asked my now grown son something about his memories from the trip, and he said he didn’t remember any of it. I thought that was sad and even though we’d collected brochures, souvenirs and maps on the way home – we didn’t discuss it enough over the years so he could keep those memories close. This book lists lots for kids to do that aren’t really far from home. Little trips around your area will be a wonderful learning experience for your child. And check my list to see if you and I have been to the same places! Make your own list and when you go to find the link for different places, it’ll be like revisiting a special place.These are some of the places I’ve visited. I’m sure I’ve missed some, but the internet is truly a wonderful way to revisit some of the places where you’ve been. Have you been to some of the same ones that I have? Where have you been that you think I may want to go?

Akaka Falls – Oahu The Alamo Angel Stadium Arlington Cemetery Atlantic City Carlsbad Caverns (NM) Catalina Island Chicago Davis Dam Disneyland Dodger Stadium Edwards AFB Ensenada Featherdale Park Geneva, IL Golden Gate Bridge Hawaii Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood Bowl Hollywood Park Hoover Dam Houston Jeopardy Studio to take the test Knott’s Berry Farm Las Vegas, NV Laughlin, NV Let’s Make a Deal Lincoln’s birthplace (KY) Lincoln Memorial Los Angeles/Hollywood Los Angeles Restaurant History Los Angeles Zoo Magic Mountain Mazatlan Melbourne

Milwaukee Mt. Fuji Mt. Vernon New Orleans New York City Oahu Olvera Street – L.A. Pearl Harbor Pioneer Village (NE) Port Phillip Bay Puerto Vallarta Regis & Kathie Lee Route 66 San Francisco Santa Barbara Courthouse Santa Monica Shambala Solvang Space Shuttle Landing Edwards AFB – sts-4 Columbia 7/04/82 St. Charles, IL S.S. Lurline Statue of Liberty Sydney Sydney Opera House Tampa, FL The Joey Bishop Show The Tonight Show (Johnny Carson) The Woody Woodbury Show Tokyo Zoo Trees of Mystery – Klamath, CA Volcanoes Union Station – L.A. Universal Studios Washington D.C. Watsons Bay