Sutter’s Fort – Outside the Bay

Sutter’s Fort – Outside the Bay

Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento was a hit with our girls. It isn’t large, and you could probably zip through it quickly, but we took our time, and tried to read as much of the signage as we could, and so spent maybe just over an hour there.

They have done a lot to try, through the restoration, to give a feel of what life was like living at the fort. We let the kids take charge of the map, and they enjoyed taking our family from one room to then next and announcing what each room was for.

There was a video presentation that appeared to run on a loop. We had previously visited other Gold Rush Era historical sites, and so it didn’t provide us with much new information, and they kids lost interest in it quickly. However, the parts I watched would have been very informative if we had come in without all our prior knowledge.

The gift shop was tiny, but surprisingly reasonably priced compared to gift shops in general. Parking was also not a problem for us the weekend day we visited. I’m not sure how much this varies from day to day.

Outside the Fort itself is a short path around a small pond. It felt like the kids wanted to spend almost as much time at the pond watching ducklings and turtles as they did in the fort itself.

Next door, there is a Native American museum. I regret that we did not have time to visit it as well while we were there. There is a reduced price for admission if you choose to visit both the museum and the fort on the same day. As great as our day was, I think combining these two attractions would have been even better.

You can get the most up to date hours and prices at the Sutter’s Fort website. 

Legends Series by Anthony Horowitz – Book Review

Legends Series by Anthony Horowitz – Book Review

My daughter has always loved retellings of the Greek and Roman myths. I picked up ‘Legends: Tricks and Transformations’ by Anthony Horowitz for her at the library, and once she started reading it, she zipped through all the stories in just a few days. She has since read the ‘The Wrath of the Gods’ volume as well, and told me she would like to read the rest. From a kid, I think that’s a darn good recommendation.

The reading level for these books are listed as 9 and up, and my daughter was 8 when she started reading them, and did not have any difficulty with the reading level. However, the old mythology itself, as most of you probably know, can be brutal. While I believe this is a child-friendly version, if you have a sensitive kid, these myths may not be a good choice, no matter who is telling them.

Carmel Mission: San Carlos Borromeo De Carmelo – Outside the Bay

In our continued exploration of California History for 4^th grade, we recently visited Mission San Carlos Borromeo De Carmelo, also known as Mission Carmel near Monterrey.

The mission is currently undergoing restoration, so some parts were unavailable for us to view. Still, our 4^th grader really liked looking at one of the places she has been reading so much about. I was disappointed by how many beautiful and interesting looking artifacts were completely unlabeled or marked in any way to explain what we were seeing. It's possible that this might also be partially due to the restoration going on, if things have been moved around, but I'm just speculating.

One area that had good signage and better descriptions was a series of reproductions of small rooms that various people would have lived in during the early days of the mission.

We happened to visit on a day when they were not charging admission. While we all enjoyed ourselves, and are happy we went, I think I would have not been happy spending the usual admission price for the short time we spent looking around. Still, we made a purchase from the gift shop to support the restoration efforts, and if you find yourself in the area, and are interested in California history, it is easy to get to, and pretty to view.

Our kiddo is working on building her own model mission. She chose to build Mission San Rafael Archangel and we hope to take her to visit that mission as well. If you would like to find a historical California Mission closer to you to visit, you can find a list of California Missions here.

Sutter's Fort – Outside the Bay

Sutter's Fort – Outside the Bay

Another great spot to visit for kids interested in California history is Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. Many of the rooms of the fort have been restored to demonstrate their original purpose. The fort isn't large, and we took our time exploring and reading signs, even revisiting spots that the kids wanted to go back and see again, and still finished in les than two hours.

Our kids liked being in charge of the map and looking up the purpose of various areas of the fort. There is also a lot of open space in the center of the fort for little legs that need to let out some energy in running around before they can pay attention to the history again.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children, and kids under 5 are free. The State Indian Museum is on the same grounds as Sutter's Fort, just outside the fort gates, and I believe a discount pass can be purchased if you plan to visit both places. We did not go into the State Indian Museum, but would like to go back to do so.

In addition to Sutter's Fort, our kids wanted to spend some time at the walkway and pod next to the fort. The pond is home to ducks (there were baby ducklings when we visited) and turtles and squirrels, and the kids did not seem to tire of watching the animals.

Sutter’s Mill in Coloma – Outside the Bay

Sutter’s Mill in Coloma – Outside the Bay

We have a 4^th grader in our family this year, and in our adventures to explore the traditional 4^th grade topic of California History we have wandered to areas that extend beyond the Bay Area. Still I wanted to share the places we visited for anyone who may want to make similar trips.

A big part of California history is the Gold Rush. We visited the site of Sutter’s Mill, in Marshall Gold Discovery Park, where gold was first discovered in California. Many of the buildings are reproductions, but I think the kids got more out of that than they would have by looking at ruins or something they couldn’t tell what it once was.

They have a small museum that didn’t take us more than 20 to 30 minutes to walk through, and that was at a dawdling pace, but the kids enjoyed much more than I expected them to. We went into the museum right after we finished panning for gold at the shack just across the road from the museum. The gold panning was more difficult than the kids had expected, although the instructor was very helpful and patient in helping everyone perfect their technique. Perhaps their own gold panning experience helped them appreciate the replicas of some of the gold nuggets retrieved from the river in the early days of the gold rush.

Beyond the museum and reconstructed mill and surrounding buildings, Marshall Gold Discovery Park also has hiking trails. We happened to visit on an unusually hot day, so we didn’t wander far from the historical displays, but it is an option during your trip. There were also many picnic tables available for a nice picnic lunch.

The Marshall Gold Discovery Park website mentions there being folks dressed up in period outfits there as well. We didn’t see anything like that on our visit, so perhaps they aren’t there every day. The volunteers and rangers we met were all a wealth of information and friendly, but were all dressed in uniforms or regular modern clothes.

Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco

Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco

The Legion of Honor Museum is located in Lincoln Park at 100 34th Avenue at Clement Street. It showcases ancient and historical European art.

My children were very young when we visited the Legion of Honor, yet I was surprised how much they enjoyed it. What helped, I believe is that we spent a little bit of time learning about ancient art before we visited, so they were able to recognize some of what they had learned about. A trip to the Legion of Honor would go along very nicely with the study of ancient Romans, Greeks or Egyptians, as well as European history from the medieval times up to the early twentieth century. They also have some special exhibits, and you can visit their website (linked above) to see what is current.

My youngest was two when we visited and while she wore out before we’d seen all there was to see, it was a lot of fun to watch her, and see what pieces spoke to her. The elaborate chandeliers in each room may have fascinated my children more than any of the art did, but that was interesting too.

The Legion of Honor is closed on Mondays, and is free on the first Tuesday of the Month, and is always free for children under 12 years old.

We visited on a free day and arrived right at opening, and had no trouble finding parking right out in front. When we left, it looked like parking was more of a problem, so I recommend arriving early or taking public transportation if you have the option.

Blackhawk Car Museum in Danville

Blackhawk Car Museum

When I thought of fun places to take my kids, a car museum did not come up in my mind. Yet when we were invited to attend a tour with a group of kids at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, we agreed to go. My girls enjoy playing with trucks and wheeled toys as much as the next kid, but they aren’t nuts about cars and neither am I. I was therefore, very happily surprised how fun the Blackhawk tour really was.

Our docent was so knowledgeable, and also seemed to really love kids. The museum is beautiful. The cars are spotless and just gleam in their spotlights. Having my littlest one running around this place made me cringe, but our docent was relaxed and encouraging to the kids. She had great stories to tell about the cars, and pointed out some very interesting historical details. Then at the next car, she would ask the kids to look at it a moment, then tell her what they noticed so the kids had a chance to use what they had learned along the way during the tour. The docent did a superb job of keeping the kids engaged.

While anyone who visits the museum can join a docent led tour as part of their museum admission, I don’t know how the routine tours might vary from the one we got that was focused for children. If this is a place you’d like your kids to see, I think it would well be worth taking the extra step and getting a group of kids together and calling ahead to set up a tour special for children.

There was a lot of history in our tour, as well as some very strange looking prototype cars that never went in to production, and the kids loved them all.

Just outside the Blackhawk Museum there is a very pretty little shopping area that also has a small pond, and stream with ducks and a small playground. Luckily, we were not in a rush, so we spent some time there as well. It would have been hard to drag the kids away once they saw it, so you may want to factor this into your planning as well.

As of this writing, the Blackhawk Museum is included in the Discover and Go discounted museum pass program through a number of public libraries.