While your kids might roll their eyes at the suggestion of a family trip based on history, they might be surprised once you get there.  They're probably thinking they'll be tested at the end of the vacation, but we're betting that what they learn will stay with them for a very long time!
   Most of the initial settlements for our country are on the East Coast.  Head east and learn more about America than you ever knew you could!
Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown are absorbing year-round, as historic interpreters dressed in period costumes help thoroughly modern families appreciate what life was life without TVs, computers, or indoor plumbing. In eighteenth-century Williamsburg, you'll find the largest outdoor living history museum.
The kids can help weed the garden in spring, make bricks in summer, or attend a slave couple's wedding in winter. Visit in summer and you can also go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA.
A trip to Washington, DC, will give you The Smithsonian Institute which is interesting for all ages.  Plus, you can see the White House, Congress, and so much more!
One of our favorite historical places to visit is Boston, Massachusetts.  This beautiful city is absolutely filled with historical significance.  When you take the blue trolley tour, you learn so much about the city and everything that occurred there in the history of America.
You can see the grave of Mother Goose and stand in front of the North church where Paul Revere saw the lanterns signaling the coming of the British.  John F. Kennedy's first apartment is along the tour as is the "Cheers" bar that spawned the award-winning TV series.
Boston Common offers tourists the opportunity to ride the lake in their famous swan boats, and Faneuil Hall Market Place is a spectacular place offering not only great food and shopping, but entertaining street performers and musicians.
One of our most respected presidents was Abraham Lincoln.  Springfield, Illinois, offers the most comprehensive and interesting museum based on his life and historical significance.
Visitors can tour his home, visit his tomb, and learn everything you never knew about this amazing man.
Just 30 miles down the road near Petersburg, Illinois, is New Salem – an early settlement where Lincoln lived and worked.  There is one cabin that has been there since the 1800's and has been carefully preserved to give visitors a taste of what life was like in the early years of America.
These are only a few places where you can go to find interesting, historic exhibits that your whole family can enjoy.

Historical tour - a well-known form of recreation in my town. It's fun and informative.