From Yahoo Travel: 10 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up
Here they are:
- The Brooklyn Bridge
- The Pacific Coast Highway
- Niagara Falls
- New Orleans
- Devil’s Tower
- Mount Rushmore & The Crazy Horse Memorial
- Dinosaur Valley (Glen Rose, Texas)
- Gettysburg National Park
- National Air and Space Museum
- The Grand Canyon
My kids have been to Niagara Falls, Devil’s Tower (which is our camping disaster family memory), and Mount Rushmore. I’ve been to the Pacific Coast Highway (my childhood memories include car sickness), New Orleans (a rather adult-oriented city in my mind; why is it on the kids’ list?), and the National Air and Space Museum.
One doesn’t have to Texas to see great dinosaur footprints. We live just a couple miles from Dinosaur Ridge, which is west of Denver.
My thumbs up to taking the kids to Niagara Falls, Devil’s Tower, Mount Rushmore, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Grand Canyon (I’ve never been there).
For what its worth, here is my list of ten great places I’ve taken my kids to, in no particular order:
- Yellowstone National Park — How in the world did this not make the Yahoo list?
- The Eiffel Tower, Paris — I’m sure it beats the Brooklyn Bridge hands down.
- Bucharest, Romania — Doesn’t make most people’s list of top spots, but my children have tons of wonderful memories of spending over five years of their childhoods in Romania.
- Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Utah — A wonderful family vacation.
- Mountain biking near Red Lodge, Montana, and Reutte, Austria — I wish I could do this with the family a whole lot more often.
- Great nature museums — The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
- Great art museums — The Louvre and Musee d’Orsay in Paris, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and the St. Louis Art Museum.
- St. Louis, Missouri — Free zoo, free art museum, Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis Cardinals baseball games.
- Beartooth Highway, Montana and Wyoming — The most amazing and scenic highway in America.
- Whitewater rafting, Arkansas River, Colorado — I did this with two of my kids this summer, plus rappelling.
Places we haven’t been that I’d like to take my kids to:
- The Grand Canyon — my dream trip.
- Glacier National Park, Montana — I’ve been there, but the kids haven’t.
- Ekalaka and Miles City, Montana — I had to go there as a kid, why shouldn’t they? And the museum in Ekalaka has a two-headed calf!
Grace and Peace
P.S. The entire family says, “No, not Miles City and Ekalaka!”
GeoChristian 
My 10, I’ll keep it US-only since I hate traveling:
1. Williamsburg, VA – We’ve been 10 times and still haven’t gone to Busch Gardens.
2. The Jersey Shore – Ocean City Boardwalk needs to be experienced.
3. Independence Hall – where the USA began.
4. Gettysburg – Teach about this part of our heritage and the shame of why it happened.
5. Any Decent Amusement Park (we go to Hershey Park) – every kid ought to get to a big park at least once.
6. The Grand Canyon – I still need to see this.
7. Plymouth Plantation – It’s really worth the trip south of Boston.
8. Philly Art Museum – Show the kids the Rocky scene first and then run up the steps (it’s a LOT of steps)
9. Any good zoo (We do two, Philly and Hershey) – Kids love giraffes for some reason.
10. Any planetarium – let’s kids be awed by just how huge and amazing the Universe is.
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Wezlo:
Thanks for your list. I’ve taken my kids to the Jersey shore (it was fun), A few decent amusement parks (Disneyworld, Six Flags St. Louis), a few good zoos (the St. Louis zoo is world-class and free). We don’t make it to the East coast very often, but the historical sites like Williamsburg (and others) I know would be very worth the trip.
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My top 10, some of which I’ve done:
1. Grand Canyon. I’ve been there myself, and it lives up to its reputation. Now to take the family.
2. Yellowstone national park, mainly the geysers.
3. Williamsburg – it is SO worth it!
4. Washington DC. You’ll need multiple years of trips to cover everything. I’m still trying to get a White House trip set up.
5. COSI in Columbus. Science for kids. Loved it as a kid. I REALLY want to take the family some time.
6. New York City. I’ve only been through the airport. I want to see the Empire State Building if nothing else.
7. Appalachian Trail – I’ve done a couple short hikes. I want to do it with family for a week-long hike.
8. Amusement parks – find a good one and go off season if possible.
9. San Francisco – Golden Gate Bridge, trolley cars, and more!
10. My grandfather’s home in Young, AZ. Dessert mountains with horse-riding cattle ranches around. Absolutely gorgeous if you like that type of country. I DO!
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WebMonk:
Washington DC is definitely worth it, for adults or kids.
New York City? Probably. My experience is the same as yours: I’ve been at the airports. I would hate to live there — see my A Montana native’s perception of New York City.
Appalachian Trail — That would be a wonderful hike, even just for a segment of the trail. I’ve spent some time in northern New England and liked it a lot.
Thanks for your list.
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