This month we had a trip planned with some friends from school and we were all very excited!
Hensley's class had a trip planned to a NC landmark in the mountains and for several reasons we (along with several other families) weren't going. However, we didn't want the kids to miss out on an awesome learning adventure.
A few months ago when I realized there would be an interest from other families to join us, I planned a trip to our state's capitol, Raleigh! It isn't too far from us (1 hour 20 min) and I thought it might be more fun to take the Amtrak train there instead of driving. That way we could all travel together, plus we wouldn't take a chance getting stuck in the terrible traffic that evening.
There are a TON of activities to do in Raleigh. You could visit there a dozen times and still not see or do it all. I knew if we were taking the kids there we had to do things that would be educational as well as fun. I wanted them to be engaged!
None of the kids had ever been on a train before and many of the parents hadn't either. This was a huge highlight for them!
We ended up with 16 people joining us for this adventure and we couldn't have asked for a better group! Everyone was upbeat and ready for a fun time. Even though we had a few hiccups with our train reservations everyone was very understanding! Amtrak was a wonderful experience but their customer service wasn't exactly the most knowledgeable.
It was so fun to see their faces when that train came pulling in!
The train ride was 1 hour and 15 minutes. It flew by. The kids loved chatting and looking out the window (and playing their video games!). They were pumped when we pulled into the Raleigh station. The station we departed from near our house in Burlington is super small. There isn't even a ticket counter there, only a kiosk to purchase or print tickets. When we arrived at the Raleigh station we were all surprised. It was more like an airport! It was huge!!!
We had almost a one mile walk over to the first stop, the NC Museum of Science! I think the kids really enjoyed walking down the streets of downtown Raleigh. It was cool to see all the tall buildings and Raleigh has beautiful gardens and parks throughout the city.
We were all pretty excited to visit here because it looked really cool from the photos online!
It did not disappoint! Even from the outside first walking in we were amazed!
The museum is HUGE! It is 4 floors in 2 separate wings! There are tons of hands on exhibits, a discovery room (which was all the kids favorites), 3-D theater, investigative labs for the kids and lots of working space where actual researchers and scientists are working where the kids can look in and experience what is going on behind the scenes.
You could spend all day here and still never see or do everything they offer. And the best part, it's all FREE! It's such a wonderful gem in downtown Raleigh! We loved this place so much we plan to go back in the very near future with Andy!
The dinosaur exhibits were HUGE!
There were tons of reptiles and creepy crawlies!
Lots of hands on exhibits! We loved that this place was entirely interactive for the kids.
The rocks and minerals section of the museum is amazing! There are so many to look at and compare! All local to North Carolina!
All the kids were really fascinated by the fact that these were all found in our state!
The had a section on each floor totally devoted to each region in our state. Mountains, foothills, and plains!
These are all the natural rock and stone found in our state! I had no idea!
This is one of the largest fish found in our state called an Ocean Sun Fish!
Dead animals in jars are always a hit for the boys!
Touching this meteorite was a huge highlight for the boys. Knowing it is 4.5 billion years old and that it landed right here in North Carolina in a farmers field was really interesting.
Fun with a T. Rex head! This one was found right here in NC!
Apparently T. Rex really liked living in NC. There were several skeletons of them found here!
Super cool ocean walk through!
By far Hensley's favorite part of this place was the Discovery Room. This room is huge and pack full of hands on learning. They only let a certain number of people in here at a time in order to let everyone truly enjoy it. There is no time limit and the kids can touch everything!! There are microscopes and magnifying glasses to get up close and personal.
Hensley could have spent all day in this one room!
The "Match the Scat" game was just as fun as it was disgusting!
We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the cafe there at the museum, which had a very impressive menu, and then headed over the the globe to take a few photos.
Finally, it was time for our guided tour of the state capitol! I was most excited for this part of the trip. In order to take a guided tour you have to have a group of 10 or more people. We were very lucky to get a spot for the day. There were several school groups there and we were the last tour of the day, which was super nice because we didn't have to rush to make room for a group coming in behind us.
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| We saw this super cool sand sculpture on our way to the capitol building! |
The kids played tag and ran through the fountains while we waited for our tour to begin. It was a beautiful day.
Our state's capitol building is over 200 years old and still is amazing shape!
Our tour guide was amazing! She knew everything there was to know about the capitol and the history of our state!
She made the information for our kids really fun and interesting! We learned that the original building burnt down while they were trying to fire proof the building!!
Going into the capitol we noticed just how beautiful it was! Everything inside is original from the rebuild 200 years ago. The statue in the middle of the first floor room was very interesting. It was a sculpture of George Washington. He is dressed in Roman God clothing because Thomas Jefferson decided it was more appropriate then the clothes he wore normally. The original statue was destroyed long ago when the building burnt down and for almost 100 years they thought it was not replaceable. Luckily, the model for this sculpture was discovered in Italy where the sculptor lived and it was able to be used to replicate the original. It is solid marble and a state treasure.
Another cool thing about our state capitol building is that it is still a fully functioning building where our governor and many other officials work daily. The governor was not there the day of our visit which turned out to be an advantage for us because it meant we were able to look into his office!
We toured the Senate room as well as the House of Representatives room. The history in these rooms and all the laws made and discussions had was amazing to learn about.
The capitol has three levels and the architecture is beautiful! We learned that there is a behind the scenes tour they do twice a year where you get to explore the third floor as well as tons of hidden parts of the capitol building. These holes at the top of the rotundra are even able to be explored on that tour. It is something we plan to come back to do in the future when Hensley is a little older.
We really enjoyed our tour of the capitol building and plan to tour the legislative building next time!
We wander a bit more in the square between all these amazing historical buildings, bought our traditional ornament to remember our trip and grab a few souvenirs from the gift shop. We even witnessed a beautiful wedding going on in the courtyard! It was time to head back and decompress from our day before hopping on the train back home.
Now, the train ride there was amazing. It was smooth, right on time and all around lovely.
The ride on the way back....was not too wonderful. We were on a train that I'm convinced had square wheels and we boarded a train that had come from New York and it was full! The people on this train had been on it for almost 10 hours! It took us forever to get home as there were several small stops between Raleigh and Burlington. But we had a great time and really enjoyed everyone who traveled with us on this trip! We couldn't have asked for a better group or a better day!
We are looking forward to going back in the future and checking out more things. This city is a true gem and has so much to offer!
