Search Results for: Missouri

Grant’s Farm, St. Louis, Missouri

Byjennrecord March 20, 2018May 9, 2022

One of my favorite roads trip our family has taken was a three week trip from Connecticut to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We spent a few days in St Louis, Missouri and one of our highlights was a visit to Grant’s Farm. Note: this post has been fact checked as of March 2018.

Grant’s Farm was originally owned Julia Grant’s family. After the Civil War, it was purchased by Julia’s husband, Ulysses S. Grant, and then by the Busch family, makers of Anheuser-Busch beers, in the early 1900s. Located about twenty minutes southwest of of downtown St Louis, it’s open from April through October, with full time hours during the summer months, and limited hours in April, September, and October. The farm is home to dozens of animals, including elephants, deer, kangaroos, donkeys, goats, buffalo, and the famous Clydesdale horses.

family travel

Five Years of Blogging & Ten Years of Road Trips!

Byjennrecord May 31, 2022May 30, 2022

This week marks 5 years since we started this family travel blog. We started road tripping in summer 2012, so it’s a double celebration of 10 years of road tripping and 5 years of sharing our adventures on our little corner of the ‘web.

We’re proud to share that we’ve gained a LOT of followers and readers over the past two years (since we last did a Google analytics deep drive) and we thought this week would be a perfect time to share a blog recap.

10 Places We Love in Tennessee

Byjennrecord April 7, 2020May 10, 2022

Upfront disclosure: There is so much that we have not seen across the 400 miles of Tennessee. However, last summer, we had a lot of fun exploring the Volunteer State. Driving from New England, we made stops in Pigeon Forge, Nashville, and Memphis. Here are 10 places we loved:

Radio City Music Hall Backstage Tour in New York City

Byjennrecord March 10, 2020February 17, 2022

Radio City Music Hall was the largest theater in the world at the time it opened in December of 1932. With a seating capacity of 5,931 guests (over 6,000 when they used the orchestra area for additional seating) and a stage that spans 130 feet across, it’s one of the largest, and most recognizable, entertainment venues in the world. Radio City Music Hall hosts hundreds of events each year and is home to the famous Rockettes (who were actually founded in St Louis Missouri in 1925, when Radio City Music Hall founder Roxy Rothafel brought them to New York City). Today, guests can see performances in music, theater, comedy, and sports 365 days a year, with over two million annual visitors. The Hall also offers daily Backstage tours with a behinds the scene look at how it all comes together.

family travel | museums | Pigeon Forge | Tennessee

The Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Byjennrecord June 5, 2019March 21, 2022

Most people know of the Titanic disaster from the popular 1998 film by James Cameron starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. But how much do you really know about the ship that was the length of 4 city blocks took 15,000 people two years to build, and less than three hours to sink in the early morning hours of April 14, 1912, with only 712 of the 2208 passengers and crew members surviving?

On a recent visit to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, we spent the morning exploring the Titanic Museum, located right on Route 441 in the heart of all the action (and less than a half hour from an entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Read about our adventures in the park here). The other Titanic Museum in America is located in Branson, Missouri.

10 Reasons Why I Love the National Parks Service System

Byjennrecord January 9, 2018May 9, 2022

Seven years ago I planned my first major road trip. My children were toddlers and we were planning on traveling almost cross country to visit good friends who were temporarily relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sharing my itinerary with my Uncle Bob, he asked if I planned on visiting any National Parks. I knew of the National Park Service system, but didn’t know much information about the various locations. Uncle Bob pulled out a worn, tattered, small blue spiral book and about an hour went by before I spoke again. (Full disclosure: Uncle Bob is a good storyteller and he does have a TON of travel experience.) His National Parks Passport book was filled with stamps dating back to the early 1970s. It was the perfect memento of his travels and I knew I had to start my own passport book.

Since 2012, I have collected dozens of passport stamps from various stops in the National Park Service system. There are over 400 locations in the United States and American owned islands. These locations include parks, monuments, battlefields, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and even the White House. With every stop, I became a bigger and bigger fan of the National Parks system. Here are my top 10 reasons why: