Museum of Life and Science, North Carolina

This museum is in Durham, about 2.5 hours away.  It was first started in 1946 with a focus on the sciences.  It has a ton or cool hands-on exhibits in the main building, a Butterfly House, Outdoor treehouse playground, Farmyard, Dinosaur Trail, and the narrow gauge Ellerbe Creek C.P. Huntington train. All of us had a lot of fun exploring the exhibits.  My favorite was that they had a section about quilting and how the patterns follow all the rules of geometry! 

North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher

We met up with our amazing new neighbors at the Fort Fisher aquarium for the day.  We had been to Fort Fisher a while ago, but the aquarium was going to be closing soon so we didn't go in.  I liked the outdoor section going around seeing the native marshes.  Milton's favorite part is the jellyfish.  Owen loved the touch pool with Max and Matt. 

Richmond, Virginia

We met up with my mom in Richmond for an overnight adventure. Getting these last NPS stamps in Richmond have been on my list for a while wanting to get. Several were closed for Covid, but I was able to get what I could and we could still walk around the sites. First we visited the home of Maggie L Walker. She was the first woman to serve as president of a bank in the United States, St. Luke's Penny Bank (long since folded by mergers into other institutions), in 1902. The kids' favorite part was hanging out in the hotel with my mom where we watched the movie Soul together.  The next day we went to the Richmond Battlefield Cold Harbor visitor center where we went around the nice trail. The Battle of Cold Harbor was the final victory won by Lee's army during the war from May 31 to June 12, 1864 with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3rd.  It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. 

Bath, North Carolina

Bath is North Carolina's oldest city and first port of entry on the Pamlico River incorporated in 1705. It is a very small town with a booming 250 residents as of the 2010 census.  I liked the Palmer-Marsh house which was built in 1744 and is one of the oldest residences in North Carolina.  It is an example of  a large colonial town house with a commercial space built in. In the 1760s it was purchased by Robert Palmer, who served as the royal collector of the port. Bath also has the first public library and  St. Thomas Church, the oldest standing Episcopal Church in North Carolina. The most famous resident was the pirate Blackbeard who settled in Bath in 1718.  He was already a notorious pirate along the coast and got a royal pardon that was offered by the Crown in an attempt to reduce piracy. That was rather unsuccessful as he started piracy again, and was captured and executed later that year by Virginia forces.

Savannah, Georgia

We spent New Years weekend down in Savannah Georgia.  We visited the super classy rest stop by the highway South of the Border, Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island, and a tour of downtown Savannah. Fort Pulaski was a turning point for the Civil War when the Union Army successfully tested rifled cannon in combat in 1862 there, the success of which rendered brick fortifications obsolete. We weren't there very long but the kids loved running around the fort grounds.  I got my stamp! The next day we went to Tybee Island that had a beautiful beach.  Savannah has a huge cargo port so we got to see several enormous cargo ships go into the port.  It was a bit rainy the next day so we got a bus tour of the city center.