History Lesson #5: Maritime History in Outer Banks North Carolina

 Roanoke Island Festival Park and Elizabeth II offers historical lessons about both Native Americans and the Roanoke Voyage of 1585.  This 25 acre interactive historic site represents the first English settlement attempt in 1585.  The museum had several interactive exhibits capturing the kids imagination including 16th-century and pirate costumes and ship ropes to pull. 

Taking a wooded path, you will discover the American Indian Town educating tourists about the homes and agriculture of the Algonquian culture.  Two longhouses represent the historical homes of American Indians, including one measuring 30 feet long.  Outside stands a ceremonial dance circle. 

The kids most enjoyed the 16th century representative ship of Elizabeth II located in Shallowag Bay.  It represents one of the seven English merchant vessels from the Roanoke Voyage.  Enthusiastic interpretive staff encouraged the kids to turn the capstan to raise the ship's anchor.  The kids examined the lines and riggings while the adults simply appreciated the views from the quarterdeck. 

The square-rigged sailing ship replica has a relatively short history; constructed in Manteo (across the waterfront), it was dedicated in 1984 and even Her Royal Highness Princess Anne attended.  The admission cost ($10 adult, $7 children age 3-17) was well worth the cost.  Tip:  check the website ahead for a $1 coupon.

 If you want to find other maritime museums in the United States, check out the Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM) website with an extensive list including:

1.  Hawaii Maritime Museum (Honolulu, Hawaii)
2.  Maine Maritime Museum (Bath, Maine)
3.  Portland Harbor Museum (Portland, Maine)
4.  Fells Point Maritime Museum (Baltimore, MD)
5.  American Merchant Marine Museum (Kings Point, NY)
6. Toms River Seaport Society Maritime Museum (Toms River, NJ)
7.  Michigan Maritime Museum (South Haven, MI)

Gym Class #6: Little Yogis & 3 Yoga Festivals

North Star Resort, Photo by Krenda

Vacation gives you an opportunity to unwind and explore new places, meet new people, and try new things.  My friend had a gorgeous wedding at North Star California resort in Truckee, CA (near Lake Tahoe), so I looked into kid friendly events on the resort and found the Patagonia store offering a free yoga class. 

Yoga, like vacation promotes relaxation.  Kids have stress too.  Schools feel pressure to reduce recess and gym class and add more tests.  Yoga helps teach focus, self-control, respect for others, and inner-strength.  Little Flower Yoga and Yoga Ed work to incorporate yoga into classrooms.

Physically yoga helps strength, balance, coordination, and body awareness.  Kids have natural flexibility, so my kids beamed as they found doing the postures called asanas easier for them.  Plus the instructor kept praising their skills, calling them future little yogis.

Yoga class emphasized mind and body working together.  We concentrated on breathing called pranayma to calm and refresh.  Breath deeply and fully, stretching on the inhale and relaxing on the exhale.

The poses also have names that help kids imagine.  You usually hear about downward dog, but yoga has so many more poses.  The kids especially like the animal pose names like cat, cobra, cow, lion, locust, fish, butterfly.

Yoga began in India.  It means "union" in Sanskrit, an Indian language.  It means coming together of mind and body.  Check out your local gyms for classes.  Many offer prenatal and baby yoga classes.

If you want to sample yoga at home, consider YouTube videos like Cosmic Kids which has kid specific yoga videos at no charge if you accept advertising.  Consider a yoga mat, but all you really need is comfortable clothes.

If you want to sample yoga with live trainers, consider a yoga festival with kid activities:

1.  Commongrounds (Loring Park, Minneapolis, MN) in July
All day pass $80, morning or afternoon only $45, single class $25
Bonus - "kids camp" free with event ticket and pre-registration for 4-12 year olds, a full day of fun (8:45AM-5:15) including activities such as hula hooping, circus yoga, peaceful ninja show, storytime, and yoga games like mat tag)

2.  Tuscon Yoga Festival (Gene C Reid Park, Tuscon, AZ) in October
free registration, free yoga
Many types of yoga including Yoga Nidra, Vinyasa, Acro, Yin, Yoga in Spanish, plus meditation

3.  Yoga Fest (San Jose/Bay Area, Christmas Hill Park, Gilroy, CA)
free for children under 12 and kids clases
Main stage includes a variety of yoga classes (gentle Hatha, Sri Sri, Sukshna), meditation for world peace, and multi-cultural performances (African drums, Mexican dance, and Chinese dance)

History Lesson #4: Tall Ship Windy Pirates and 6 Pirate Events

"Arrgh!"  Kids seem fascinated with pirates.  Perhaps sparked by a movie like Treasure Island, Hook, Peter Pan or Pirates of the Caribbean.  With our Hollywood costumer sister-in-law knowing Johnny Depp of Pirates of the Caribbean, there is even more intrigue.  Seems odds to talk more about people who commit crimes, but it is a part of global and American history.

Our kids learned more about pirates in a fun manner by taking the Tall Ship Windy "Skyline Sail with Tales of Real Pirates" cruise on the lake.  Tall Ship Windy conveniently docks at Navy Pier which has lots of restaurants and attractions.  You might connect pirates to ocean-lined states, but the Midwest had pirates too.  Pirate Dan Seavey used fake port lights along the lake shore so ships would crash on the rocks and he could steal their goods.  Dan Seavey was charged with piracy, crime by ship, on the Great Lakes.  River piracy concentrated along the Ohio River and Mississippi Valley.

The Tall Ship ride included pirate costumed employees leading a treasure hunt while the parents relaxed.  We admired the Tall Ship and enjoyed the Chicago skyline view.  The Tall Ship measures 148 feet and categorized as a traditional four-masted gaff topsail schooner.  This schooner takes claim as the first certified four-masted traditional sailing vessel built in the U.S.A. since 1921.  The book 100 Places That Can Change Your Child's Life lists Chicago as a must see site "With 50 acres of parks, promenades, and gardens jutting into Lake Michigan, Navy Pier is always thronged with Chicagoans.  Its websites details the area's many attractions, from amusement park rides to shoreline cruises.  Kids can help raise and trim the 11 sails of the tall ship Windy, and take a turn at the ship's wheel."

The 75 minute ride costs $30 for adults and $10 for children.  Plus consider Chicago parking fees.

If you want to spark kids imagination about pirates, but not visiting Chicago, consider the following six events:

1.  Pirate Fest Las Vegas; Las Vegas, Nevada (April), Craig Ranch Park
Treasure map for kids, jugglers, musicians, and a puppet show, $15 adult, $10 children age 5 to 11 years old

2.  Central Missouri Pirate Fest; Kansas City, MO
Foam sword battles and fire dancers, $7 admission, free for children age 5 and under

3. Blackbeard Pirate Festival; Hampton, VA (June)
Arts and crafts, music, fireworks, Little Scallywags Lagoon for young children including carousel ride and digging for treasure

4.  Pirate Party on the Beach; Virginia Beach, VA (May)
Pirate re-enactors, bandana-making, face-painting, and weapons demonstrations

5.  Vero Beach Pirate Fest; Vero Beach, FL (Sept.)
living history pirate encampment, authors, historians, kid's treasure hunt, cannon demo

6.  Michigan Pirate Festival; Grand Haven, MI; Loutit District Library
bellydance class for age 4-12, storytelling, mini golf, puppet show, and costume contest

If you want to ride a schooner, but not the Tall Ship Windy, consider Tall Ship Witch.  Read about our trip on Tall Ship Red Witch within article "Sports: Yacht Competition and Six Schooner Rides".  

Agriculture Lesson #4: North Carolina Zoo Bee Exhibit & 7 National Pollinator Events

  Bees serve us in so many ways, most importantly as a pollinators of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.  The world has other pollinators, but bees perform about eighty percent of all pollination worldwide.  Bees also produce honey from the sugary secretions of the plants, aka floral nectar.

When I toured the Google headquarters and ate lunch on a picnic bench, I noticed they had their own beehives for fresh honey - impressive!  In exploring the Fairmont Edmonton, Canada patio grounds, I delighted in the inclusion of beehives.  You don't need a special invite to a corporate headquarters or luxury hotel in Canada to show your kids beehives.

The United States is a major honey producer, ranked third after China and Turkey.  If you search events, you can likely connect your child to a local beekeeper who manages hives of domesticated bees.  Also, I like to look for bee products at farmers markets such as honeycombs or flavored wax honey sticks.  The kids love to taste sweet honey.

My family took time to explore bee hives and educational materials at the North Carolina Zoo located 75 miles west of Raleigh, NC in Asheboro, North Carolina.  Entry costs approximately $15 for adults and $11 for children.  We also watched a live hive at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum.  Admission is a suggested $7 for adults and $4 for children.  If you can't visit an exhibit or museum, go the to the KU Natural History Museum website for a link to the live bee cam.  Kansas designated the honeybee as the official state insect.

Unfortunately pesticides, air pollution, habitat destruction, and drought contribute to bees dying.  According to Greenpeace, worldwide bee colony collapse occurs as winter losses exceed the norm - especially in the United States.  Europe has placed more restrictions on pesticides.  You and your family can celebrate and support bees by joining events during National Pollinator Week in June.  Visit the website pollinator.org for updated events.  Here's 7 examples of past events across the country:  

1.  Bees & Brew at the Botanical Conservatory; Fort Wayne, IN

Suit up for a beekeeping experience with live beehives, sample raw honey, make DIY beeswax candles at the Foellinger-Freeman Botanical Conservatory

2.  Bee Bee Q; Detroit, MI

Fundraiser with silent and live auction, live music

3.  Wild! Heritage Pollinator Party: Huntington, WV

Make your own pollinator plant pot out of recycled materials at the Heritage Farm Museum and Village, see a colony of bees

Couldn't resist the costume.  He's so sweet, he's my Honey!

4.  BeeFest; Salt Lake City, UT

Enter your kids in the kids pollinator costume contest.  Event entrance free and you can support by buying plants or honey-baked items.

5.  Meadowbrook BeeBlitz; Urbana, IL

Train on how to photograph bees and upload photos to Bee Spotter, meet at the Garden Pavilion 

6.  Bugs & Brews; Denton, NE

Take an evening walk through the prairie and enjoy refreshments and presentation by biologist working with farmers and conservation groups

7.  Meet Our Beekeper; The Episcopal Church of the Advocate; Chapel Hill, NC

Watch Piedmont Patch beekeeper demonstrate the equipment at the hive besides pond where volunteers planted over 1,000 native grasses and wildflowers

She's my Honey too!

Gym Class #5: Kids Sailing Camps from High to Lower Cost

Hoofer Sailing Club

UW Madison, Photo by Krenda

Before classes at University of Wisconsin Madison even begun, I took the Hoofer sailing club up for a deal to sail for free as part of orientation.  Not only did I love the sport, I met lifelong friends.  Now when strolling outside Memorial Union, I always admire the sailboats and imagine having a little more time to sail on the water.

Sailing may seem unobtainable for kids to begin due to lesson prices.  I've done a bit of research for you to show that sailing can cost thousands of dollars to begin, but it does not have to be so expensive.  Look beyond the yacht club and search park programs or YMCA camps.  In descending order from most to least expensive, here's eleven options:

1.  Adriondack Camp (Putnam Station, NY) offers a diverse sailboat fleet including Mercury Sloop, Capri Sloop, Lasers, Sunfish, JV Sloop, Classic 420, and 6 Flying Juniors; 2 week session $4,600

2.  Coral Reef Yacht Club (Miami, FL) teaches 8 to 17 year olds $750

3.  Coconut Grove Sailing Club (Miami, FL), learn how to rig, launch a boat, basic knots, and develop wind awareness; age 6-17 9AM-4PM $600

4.  San Diego Yacht Club (San Diego, CA) host of the Junior Olympic festival, fleet of 24 new CFJ sailboats; $590 for Junior Summer sailing

5.  Northwestern University Sailing Center (Chicago, IL), 420s and lasers, 9AM-noon $575

6.  Premier Sailing (The Tides, Irvington, VA), founded in 1998 by Irish sailors, one week young sailors course for age 6-17 $445

7.  Sail Sand Point (Seattle, WA), non-profit community boating center, separated by age such as youth beginner (8-12 year olds), teen beginner (12-17 yr olds) $410; same pricing at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Seattle

8.  The Watersports Camp (San Diego, CA), sponsored by the YMCA, basic sailing morning camp and option to upgrade to afternoon activity for only $50 incremental; $370

9.  St. Petersburg sailing (Florida), Learn to Sail Camp for age 7 to 12 teaches rigging, steering, and maneuvering around docks 8:30-4:30PM; $321

10.  Sail Buffalo Sailing School (Buffalo, NY), Junior Sailing Camp Nautical Day Camp 9AM-4PM age 8 to 18; full week $294

11.  Hoofer Youth Program (UW Madison, Madison, WI); sailing day camp 10AM-4PM or beginner racing (3 hours) for $265; also offers windsurfing lessons

12.  Wilmette Park (Chicago suburbs, IL) group sailing lessons age 9-15, 8 lessons 12:30-2:30 or 3-5PM, learn on Lake Michigan; 12 students max. per class; $196 each

Before the kids begin lessons, give them a head start by teaching them the terms:  rudder, centerboard, tack, stern, boom, head mast, jib, jibstay, jibsheet, bow, etc.

Gym Class #4: 7 Top Fishing Spots in the US

Our Catch, Photo by Krenda

Wanting to share nature and sports with your kids? It's time to go fishing.
Fish, so graceful, you can get hypnotized watching them swim back and forth.  When your kids catch one, that's when peace turns to excitement.

You can go to a top destination, but we've found the local parks to provide plenty of excitement for beginners.  Check out license requirements.  Our kids caught this fish at the Voice of America pond in West Chester, Ohio.

When my kids got older, my dad bought a fishing boat to use in his pond in the photo below.   The kids relived the rush of catching a fish.

Tips

-Safety first.  Talk about fishing hooks.
-Go early, avoid the heat of the day.  Bring sunscreen & hats.

If you want to make the experience more memorable, plan ahead to include fishing in a trip.  The US and nearby islands are known for quality fishing.  According to americasbestonline.net, here's 7 places included in their Best Fishing Holes in the USA:
1.  King Salmon Fishing in Alaska:  look for youth only fisheries (anglers age 15 or younger) - Campbell Creek in Anchorage, AK (Sat. in June), and Seward King Salmon Fishery (specific dates)
2.  Salt Water Fishing in the Florida Keys
3.  Trout fishing in Yellowstone National Park
4. Tarpon Adventures of Galveston
5.  Rogue River Wilderness Adventures - Oregon
6. Montana Fishing and Fly Fishing
7.  Lake Sinclair

 -Set expectations or plan for higher odds.  When kids don't catch any fish, anticipate the disappointment.  It's happened to our family - rent a fishing boat at the park, but catch nothing.  Another time we planned ahead.  We made the extra effort to drive to a paid fishing pond/restaurant near the Smoky Mountains and the sure catch was a big hit.  See my cabin rental blog www.lightningbuglodge.blogspot.com

Geography #3: Belize and Cave Tubing Adventure

My husband and I had an amazing jungle river boat tour in Belize while I was pregnant with our second child.  Our fearless guide took the boat right up to a crocodile leaping into the air and splashing back into the water.  Our guide pulled  the boat close to shore, so we could see the giant iguanas hanging from the trees.  Our guide enthusiastically insisted we all need to move to Belize, really not that dangerous of a country.  We bought wooden bowls and vases at a local market in the jungle.  Our items wrapped in newspaper gave us reading material on the bus including the story of a foreigner murdered yesterday.  

Sharing the photographs would have been amazing...except my husband left the camera memory card in the Norwegian cruise ship room safe.  We had to return to Belize someday.  Who would know how to top such experience?  Pauline Frommer!  The award-winning travel writer would speak at the Chicago Travel and Adventure Show.  So I asked Pauline and she quickly replied that we must take the family cave tubing!

Not too many places offer cave tubing.  However, Belize has the largest cave systems in the Americas.  Humans have discovered over 300 caves in Belize and still looking for more.  The Dark Night Three Cave Tubing Adventure Cave Exploration tour takes you to a journey deep into Jaguar Cave.  Jaguar tracks left in the soil led to the cave name.  While I kept my eyes out for jaguars, I had a two surprise.  

Surprise #1 - Friendly Scorpion

The first surprise came after the hour plus bus ride including a bumpy section over a dirt road.  Employees warned us to use the restrooms because the trails had no restroom.  The signs clearly stated not to throw paper in the toilet.  I didn't expect the scorpion crawling out of the wastebasket.  I didn't freak out.  In fact, I waited patiently for the opportunity to photograph him.  I didn't follow the scorpion too long.  It's generally unwise to stalk a venomous animal.  I told my husband about the scorpion and he shrugged.  If your spouse lived in South America for a year and Spain for a year, you can get shrugs.  As if I just told him I saw a fluffy, cute cat or dog.  For goodness sakes, I probably just say a centruroides gracilis, the most common black scorpion in Belize.  

Surprise #2 -Termite-Eating Guide

The second surprise came from our tour guide.  Before you get to tubing, you hike in the rainforest, across wooden bridges, and near towering cliffs.  The caving tour company claimed guides were versed on jungle plants, herbal medicine, and Mayan history.  Boy, our guide more than delivered.  From Mayan descent, his father taught him at a young age how to survive in the thick rainforest.  He seemed to know every plant and animal.  At one point, he stops to show us termites and encourage us try them.  Surprise!  Termites are packed in protein!  You should eat them!  Despite my enthusiasm for protein, I let the guide eat the termites.  The kids really liked our guide as he let the kids climb vines and ask lots of questions.  

Historically the Belize citizens used caves were for sacred rituals and ceremonies and caves could cause fear.  You need not fear the caves.  The guides give you headlamps and it never seemed pitched dark to me.  The Jaguar Cave has enormous 100-foot ceilings.  I think even claustrophobic people would enjoy this cave tubing.  Indian Creek's calm waters let us enjoy the views.  Emerging out of the cave made for a beautiful scene of blue skies, bright blue green water, and green plants surrounding us.  

After all the hiking, we had quite the appetite and so grateful for the local lunch included.  Chicken, stew, and beans brought back good taste and scent memories of visiting Central America.

The neat part of the long bus ride was having the opportunity to see the city, the countryside, and even the above ground cemeteries.  I booked the excursion through the Royal Caribbean cruise.  The cruise traveled to Belize, Honduras, and Mexico.  Read about our dolphin excursions in Honduras in my article "Dolphin Kisses".  Travelers know that you can't just appreciate the destination, you need to appreciate the journey too.  A special thank you to Pauline Frommer, encouraging us to take another adventure.

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