Traveling 50 States with Kids

After a hiatus where we prioritized international travel, we’re back at it and hope to complete our last 5 states this summer. First up, West Virginia! We flew into Pittsburgh, PA since it’s much closer to Grand Vue Park in Moundsville, WV than flying into the state capital, Charleston. It was only a bit over an hour drive. For lunch, we stopped by Nana’s Pizza and Pie to try West Virginia’s official state food - pepperoni rolls. Per Food Network, pepperoni rolls were “created in West Virginia by Italian immigrants needing a hearty, delicious and, most importantly, non-perishable lunch to take underground while working the coal mines.” Perhaps I had low expectations imagining a Hot Pocket of some sort, but these pepperoni rolls were not that. Freshly made to order in 15 minutes, the handmade dough was my favorite part but the tasty tomato dipping sauce was a close second.  We also enjoyed the loaded fries - oven baked and covered in cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, crispy bacon, ...

We spent a day in Portland, Oregon eating yummy food and exploring  Washington Park , a one of a kind park with a rose garden of over 10,000 roses, 2,300 species of trees including majestic redwood trees, hiking and play areas with 410 acres to explore, archery range, and several memorials including the Holocaust Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans, and Lewis and Clark Memorial. Our first stop was  Doe Donuts , a vegan donut and ice cream shop! After seeing Phil eat 6 different donuts from here on Somebody Feed Phil season 5 , we had to try them! We got: Portland Fog (organic earl grey glaze, fresh whip made of soy and coconut, fair trade vanilla bean) - this was my personal fav! Maple Bacon (maple glaze, housemade coconut bacon) Maple Corn Fritter (fresh yellow corn inside, maple glaze, sweet corn crumble) Salted Vanilla Bean (organic vanilla glaze, vanilla bean sea salt) Lemon Snowball (lemon mousse, vanilla bean glaze, sweetened coconut) They were delicious, and y...

Our kids have always wanted to visit a cave since their  Octonauts lovin' days. What better cave to visit than  Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. There are many different park tours , but we bought the Historic Tour  ($20 for adults, $15 for kids ages 6 to 12, and free for kids 5 and under). We've been stalking tickets for weeks now as we're usually last minute travelers and don't like to purchase tickets in advance, but the Historic Tour tickets on a Saturday always sold out (usually 2 to 3 days in advance) so we did purchase them on Wednesday.   After a short introduction and talk on safety from our tour guide, we  descended into the cave. What surprised me was how quickly we could feel the change in temperature, it was as if an air conditioning unit was blowing cold air at us. While we didn't immediately need our light jackets, the further into the cave we got, the colder it got eventually to around 54°F (compared to 82°F abo...

We crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge and drove to Hagley Museum in Wilmington (an ASTC museum ). The Hagley grounds includes the first Du Pont family home in America and the original Du Pont Company powder mills. Walking the grounds, I was just taken aback at how lush and serene it was. It reminded me of the original Anne of Green Gables setting.  We came on a good day where the free activity was fishing on the Brandywine Creek. They provided bamboo fishing poles and bait. We all fished and after about an hour, we caught 2 fishes as a family. Afterwards, we toured the Du Pont family home and office and learned about generations of the family and about their business. There were other tours available but it was nearing closing hours. I would have loved to stay another 2 to 3 hours just enjoying the grounds, the beauty, and the lush greenery.

We flew into Philly and drove to New Jersey and Delaware. We visited the Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville, NJ, a picturesque park next to the Delaware River with views of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The kids got some energy out on the playground before we strolled around the park and along the river.  We found some kind of beetle!