Since we knew from the beginning that this tour would focus on American History, I researched major history events from colonization through the Civil War.  I put the list in chronological order, then tied a city to each event.  I threw in a few attractions just for fun (at least 1 water park and 1 amusement park), added 7 of the top 10 children’s museums in the country, and tried to include as many national parks as possible.  We also added a few factory tours because our boys love that stuff.  From that list I developed a route, trying to keep the events in order without zigzagging all over the country.  In the end, some of the sites had to be eliminated because they were too far out of the way, but most of them remained.  To help decide which cities to bypass we kept in mind how much “bang” we were getting for our buck.  Some cities have 1 or 2 history attractions.  Some have 15.  Those are worth driving a few extra miles to see.   Because we have so many places to see, most of our stops are about a week long.  Some are shorter, some longer.  We are scheduled to stay overnight at 52 cities and are expecting the trip to take about 14 months.   Also, timing is very important because we don’t want to get caught in the north during the winter months.   The rig we plan to purchase is not really set up for that kind of weather.  So it’s either stick to the schedule or get really friendly with the space heater!

All in all we feel that we have a very comprehensive list that not only covers much of American History, but also gives us a good overview of the American landscape.  We can’t wait to see it all!  Here is our list of cities for March through June of 2008…

Richmond, Williamsburg, Jamestown,  Yorktown, Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, Kitty Hawk, Cape Hattaras, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC, Mystic Seaport, Hartford, Providence, Boston, Plymouth, Portland, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Wilmington, Cooperstown, Rochester, Niagra Falls, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Springfield, St Louis.

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