Museums and views in Chicago

[caption id="attachment_4602" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Us at Millennium Park[/caption]

As you will know if you read the blog posts by Jess and Robert, we spent a wonderful week in Chicago this summer. They have both written posts on what they particularly enjoyed and now it's my turn!

It seems pointless to go over the same ground that my children did! After all, I too loved the Escape Room (which Robert writes about in detail in this blog post) and the brilliant Chicago-themed Mini Golf. And, although I'm not a teen, I especially loved the bike tour which Jess describes, the trip to the beach and comedy at Second City. But there was also a lot more that we did, and which I am going to share with you here.....

A city of beauty

Chicago is, as both my children said, beautiful. It's a gorgeous place for a city-based holiday, and enhanced by the fact that it has extras you would never normally connect with a bustling metropolis - like its own beaches. It's also blessed with magnificent museums and other must-dos.

And fabulous views

I always love a view when I visit a city and in Chicago, we found that the best viewing point was the Skydeck at the Willis Tower (once known as the Sears Tower) which is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, at 1,353 feet. We headed there after a busy day out, doing our cycling tour, and a quick walk along Navy Pier, which is also great for views of the city (and snacks!).

We arrived at the Willis Tower as the sun was starting to go down. We headed up to the 103rd floor via a speedy lift, before walking around and enjoying the views of the city from up high. We decided to queue up to wait to use one of the glass bottomed viewing panels - called "The Ledge"  - which are basically boxes which take you about four and a half feet from the Skydeck, and were blessed with some wonderful views and colours as the sun went down. We had to wait around 30 minutes and I'm not sure if I would have done this if I had been with young children. However, it was absolutely worth it for us as I loved walking onto the platform and soaking up the views.

Amazing art (and architecture)

I knew that Chicago was home to some terrific art and, if you have any interest in art or architecture, this is a brilliant place to visit. The buildings are stunning and we would recommend a guided boat trip to fully immerse yourself. We used the Shoreline Sightseeing Architecture Tour and had a wonderful 75 minutes relaxing on the Chicago river while our guide, Kyle, told us everything we needed to know. It was absolutely worth doing - and we learnt a lot.

[caption id="attachment_4600" align="alignnone" width="1024"] One of the amazing views from the Chicago architecture boat tour[/caption]

We also visited the Art Institute of Chicago - and it is mind-blowing. Not only does it host such world-famous paintings as American Gothic and Nighthawks, but it also has some incredible Impressionists (it hosts the largest Impressionist collection outside Paris) and modern art, not to mention some beautiful Chagall paintings and much, much more, including whole galleries on ancient Greece and Africa. Its collections cover hundreds of years of art, and I would have stayed longer but my children had had their fill after a couple of hours!

[caption id="attachment_4601" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Brian by the "Bean" in Millennium Park in Chicago - as recommended by all guide books![/caption]

The Art Institute is right near Millennium Park, which is huge and wonderful. Do go there to visit Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate (known more colloquially as "the Bean") as it's really a must-do and a wonderful piece of art. In fact, there is art that you can just come upon across the city, including a mural by Chagall and other works by Miro, Calder and a wonderful piece which spurted out water called Crowne Fountain by Jaume Plensa. We discovered many of these on a terrific Chicago Greeter guided tour with a wonderful man called Bill. These tours (on any kind of topic you like)  are all free and organised by the city. Bill wouldn't even take a tip!

And natural history and science and industry

Another museum I would highly recommend was the Field Museum, which is Chicago's Museum of Natural History. This is brilliant for kids and adults, and unlike its equivalent in London, it wasn't too manic or chock-full of guests.

The museum has so many things for you to do - we visited the "brilliant bugs" exhibit and glanced at a number of others, including the hall of gems (which was very impressive). But what was really amazing was the dinosaurs, as this museum hosts SUE, the biggest and most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world! It is really astonishing, and the whole exhibit is done brilliantly, with many other fossils, dinosaur skeletons and excellent explanations which take you right through history.

[caption id="attachment_4605" align="alignnone" width="1024"] SUE - the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex[/caption]

The final museum we visited in Chicago was the Museum of Science and Industry. We had heard great things about this place and it was highly recommended by my friends who live in the city.

The first thing to say about it is that it is absolutely huge! There is masses to see, and there are also a number of extras (many of which cost more money) such as a coal mine or 4D films. I have a feeling that this is a museum which you would need to visit over and over again, but we were impressed (although many of the exhibits did seem dated).

[caption id="attachment_4606" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A newborn chick which we saw hatch![/caption]

The genetics section, where you could see chicks being born was amazing, while we also enjoyed the "Science Storms" section - watching tornados blow up around you was an experience. Seeing a real u-boat was remarkable (we didn't pay extra to go on, just looked from the outside) and we enjoyed the Mirror Maze and "You the Experience" too, although not all of the objects worked properly. I also explored Colleen Moore's fairy castle, which is like something you'd see in Las Vegas (I said it was a museum with lots of different parts!).

There are loads more museums in Chicago and also loads more to do overall. We had planned a visit to the Shedd Aquarium, but in the end we simply ran out of time, what with all the other places we went to, and the endless eating and general exploring. It is a beautiful place, which offers so much to people of all ages. We'd highly recommend a holiday there!

Disclosure: We were gifted a CityPASS for Chicago which gave us free entry into the Skydeck, Art Institute, Field Museum and Museum of Science and Industry. CityPASS had no input whatsoever into this blog post, but we did think it was great having a pass which meant we could skip queues and visit places we might not have considered otherwise (like the Museum of Natural History). A CityPASS lasts for nine days and can also be used for the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. It costs $108 per adult and $89 per child, which works out as a lot less than if you visited the attractions and paid at each one individually.

Don't forget to read Robert's post on Chicago and Jess's on what's best for teens.

 

5 things to do with teens in Chicago

By Jess, aged 17:

Over summer, our family spent the most amazing week in Chicago. Though very full on, we all had a fantastic time, and there is not one activity which I didn't enjoy. Chicago is a genuinely beautiful city; busy but not too loud or congested. There were things to do for all the family, and here are my highlights from the trip, which I think teenagers would particularly enjoy.

Baseball

I had really wanted to go to a baseball match as I felt it was a typical American thing to do. Instead of watching the more famous Chicago Cubs, we opted for the White Sox, and I had a really fantastic time. Unlike football games in the UK, the atmosphere was much more relaxed, with people walking around the whole time. I definitely enjoyed this, as I can get very stressed when watching live sports!

[caption id="attachment_4559" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] We really enjoyed watching the Chicago White Sox![/caption]

Despite never playing baseball before, the people sitting around us were more than willing to explain what was going on, and I found myself getting very engaged with the game. The experience felt very American, with an audience cam, lots of adverts for pizza, a fill in the song lyric game, and everyone standing up and singing "Take me out to the ball game" between the seventh and eight innings.

There were other activities in the stadium as well, such a speed pitching test and a free interactive centre for kids. Mum and I collected free badges and certificates to commemorate our first visit to the stadium, and the people sitting behind us were generous enough to give us White Sox temporary tattoos and t-shirts.

I would definitely recommend baseball games to people visiting the US - not only was the game exciting, but I loved getting a taste of what it's like to be a real American. Mum says that it was expensive though - and we were all shocked by the cost of the food and drink inside the stadium (a bottle of Pepsi was over $6!)

Our tickets to the baseball cost around $50 (they were more expensive because we chose to be under cover - a good decision, as it was very hot!).

Second City

Second City is a famous sketch and improvisational comedy troupe, known for producing stars such as Tina Fey and Steve Carell. I am a huge fan of SNL, and it was especially exciting spotting lots of famous names in the programme we were given. Our family saw a production named "Grinning from Fear to Fear", which included two sets of sketches and an improvisational section.

I thought the production was hilarious, and unlike anything I'd seen before. Ranging from meeting your girlfriend's parents to sleepless late night anxieties, the production was very well done, and I laughed more times than I can count. They also used a lot of suggestions from the audience and even brought people up onto stage.

This was definitely one of the highlights of my holiday.

Second City is not for younger children - the show we went to started at 8pm and didn't finish until nearly 11 and there was quite a lot of swearing in it. Tickets cost $52 each.

Cycling food tour

Cycling isn't something we do very often, so I was somewhat terrified at the prospect of cycling around busy Chicago streets. However, I shouldn't have worried: our Bikes, Bites and Brews tour with Bobby's Bike Hike was great. Our guide Ro was extremely friendly and enthusiastic, and she toured us for 13 miles across Chicago.

[caption id="attachment_4560" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] We loved all the food on our cycling tour with Bobby's Bike Hike, and the views were great too![/caption]

We sampled pizza, cupcakes, hot dogs, and drinks from all across Chicago, learning a lot about the city in the process. A particular highlight was eating delicious deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's, and spending half an hour cycling down a cycle path right next to Lake Michigan. The views were brilliant, and it was very relaxing. The tour was both interesting and exciting, and we definitely wouldn't have had the confidence to ride around Chicago without a guide. The city was easy to ride around and the views were gorgeous.

I would definitely recommend cycling around Chicago, and there are lots of places to rent bikes from. Though we wouldn't have been able to navigate the streets by ourselves, the cycle path by the lake boasted brilliant views and was easy to make our way around.

This Bobby's Bikes, Bites and Brews cycling tour costs $66.75 for adults and $61.75 for students (Mondays to Thursdays) and lasts four hours. 

Disclosure: We were gifted the opportunity of taking part in Bobby's Bike Hire, the Bikes, Bites and Brews tour, in order to write about it. However, the company had no input whatsoever into this blog post.

Escape room

Our whole family loved going to an escape room at The Escape Game Chicago. Though only an hour long, our experience probably provided us with the most fun of anything we did over the holiday. Our challenge was called "The Heist", and our challenge was to retrieve a painting from the office of a man accused of stealing it.

[caption id="attachment_4557" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] We were pleased to find the painting with only two minutes to go![/caption]

I've been to three other escape rooms before, but this one was definitely the best. It was so well maintained, and some of the parts were genius. It was very difficult, but definitely not unmanageable or frustrating, and we were pleased to escape with two minutes remaining!

Escape rooms can be found all over the world and there are a copious amount in the UK alone, but I would recommend doing this one if you're in Chicago. We all had a fantastic time.

Read Rob's post on the Escape Game (he really loved it too!)
The Heist at the Escape Game costs $35.99 per person.

Beach

Chicago is particularly special as it is on Lake Michigan, so there are a copious number of beaches to relax on. We were all struck by the sheer size of the water - it seemed unfathomable that it was only a lake and not the sea! We went to the North Avenue beach, which was great as it was quiet, and there was a lot of space to sit down and unwind.

[caption id="attachment_4561" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Looking out to Lake Michigan on North Avenue Beach[/caption]

The water was ridiculously cold, but we appreciated that it wasn't salty like the sea. It also didn't get deep quickly, providing ample space for wading in the water and swimming. Chicago's beaches are especially notable as its gorgeous skyline is behind the lake, leading to gorgeous views wherever you look.

Overall, Chicago is a perfect place for teenagers, and I honestly enjoyed every aspect of the trip. Aside from these five highlights, there were so many other fantastic attractions, making the city perfect for all the family. I enjoyed incredible views of the city at the top of the Sears Tower, saw chicks being born at the Museum of Science and Industry, and looked at the largest T-Rex ever found at the Field Museum. Even activities which sounded boring, such as an architecture boat tour, were fascinating!

It may not a common holiday destination for those of us in the UK, but our trip to Chicago was great - both for the adults and the teens.

Read Rob's post on his two favourite activities: 

We also found useful information on the Choose Chicago website and the Enjoy Illinois website.

The Titanic in Southampton: a visit to the SeaCity museum

Last week I found myself in Southampton for the day (as you do). My first thought was that I must go to the Tudor House (as some of you might know, I love history - and especially the 16th Century). Unfortunately, this is closed on Fridays - and of course that's the day I was there. So, I moved onto plan B, to find out about the Titanic, and it was a good decision...

[caption id="attachment_4533" align="alignnone" width="1200"] This is the Tudor House - it certainly looked lovely from the outside![/caption]

Instead of the Tudor house (which I did visit to see it from the outside), I went to the lovely SeaCity Museum, which is a real gem of a place. It has a number of permanent exhibits as well as a little shop and lovely cafe. Helpfully, it also has lockers for large bags (you have to pay for these, but mine only cost a few pounds).

The exhibit which caught my attention, and which I spent a lovely hour and a half or so being fascinated by, was one on the Titanic. This was extremely well done, educational, interactive and sad. Plus, it was definitely worth the £8.50 entrance fee (£6 for kids).

The Titanic set off from Southampton

Although you may associate the Titanic with Belfast, it actually set off from Southampton. This means that many of those who worked on the ship lived in the Southampton area. In fact almost 409 of the ships crew lived in Chapel and Northam, two of the poorest distracts in Southampton, and of the 897 crew members, three quarters were living in Southampton in the days before the ship set sail.

Bringing the people to life

The exhibition is very good at personalising the experience. It gives you background of a number of those who were on the "unsinkable" ship, from the second officer, Charles Herbert Lightoller, to the first class Stewardesss Mabel Bennett, who was only 30 then, but already a widow, with a young daughter she had to leave behind (of course, she was paid less then than the male stewards). You don't know what happened to all these people until near the end, by which time you have built up a relationship with them. It's very clever.

Life in Southampton in 1912

The exhibit begins with an explanation of what it was like in Southampton at that time - the divide between rich and poor, the ongoing strikes and the numbers of unemployed (17,000 in April 1912). Many of the locals had never been to sea before, but were very happy about the opportunities that the Titanic brought.

You then walk across a bridge as if you are walking onto the Titanic - and there's sound effects to make it all sound that much more realistic.

[caption id="attachment_4535" align="alignnone" width="1200"] A carved wooden panel from the top of the Olympic ship's grand staircase - the Titanic had one just like it[/caption]

There are clothes to try on and people to find out about, as well as letters from those on the ship and details of all the provisions on board. There is also a beautiful recreation of what the grand staircase looked like - just like the film in fact!

You learn about lots of little details (first class passengers had use of a lift to go from deck to deck) and can also try out shovelling coal (hard work - I was not very good!) and steering the ship.

Tragedy struck

[caption id="attachment_4536" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Steward Sidney Sedunary was carrying this watch in this pocket - it's stopped at 1.50, about half an hour before the Titanic sinks. His watch was recovered when his body was found.[/caption]

It was just before midnight on April 14 1912 that the Titanic struck the iceberg. No one was prepared for what followed - and more than 1500 people died when the ship sank, in less than three hours.

The exhibition is particularly good at giving you an idea of what happened and the scale of the deaths. There is a room where you can sit and listen to the audio of those who survived and it's very moving. For example, you hear Eva Hart, who was then 7, say of her father: "He told me to hold my mummy's hand and be a good girl and that was it. I never saw him again."

After being "on" the ship, you go into a courtroom where you can listen to the voices of actors recreating the hearing into what happened and some of the experts asking questions. Some of these questions and answers are shocking - the lookout man saying there were no binoculars on board, and that if there had been he could have seen the iceberg earlier and the ship could have got out of the way. There were also no searchlights. There are newspapers from the time to look at and telegrams giving both good and bad news "regret, not saved," one widow is told.

[caption id="attachment_4537" align="alignnone" width="1200"] This map contains red dots which mark the address of a member of the Titanic's crew who was lost when the ship sank[/caption]

The exhibit is extremely good and definitely captured the interest of both adults and children making their way around it. I felt it gave a different view on what happened on the Titanic and made it personal and extremely moving. I went round more slowly than if I had been with a young child, but the children I saw did seem engaged in it all, especially the interactive parts.

More Southampton history

SeaCity has more than this exhibit though - there is one on Southampton as a Gateway to the World, which gives you background on the many people who have come to the area from all over the world (this is excellent) and another on Southampton's Stories, which showcases different topics such as work, pastimes and working life. It's a lovely museum, very hands-on, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

The SeaCity museum is located right near the historic clock tower, Havelock Road, Southampton, SO14 7FY. Its the BBC South studios.

It's open 10-5pm seven days a week and costs £8.50 per adult, or £25 for a family ticket - two adults and up to three children.

More English Cities:

What to do in Norwich (by all of us).

Beautiful Lincoln

A football trip to Manchester

What to do on a family holiday in Dorset

[caption id="attachment_4502" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Us at the beautiful Durdle Door[/caption]

Robert, who's 14, is back to tell you about our summer family holiday in Dorset - a place we would highly recommend.

Over to him:

"At the beginning of the summer holidays my parents and I drove to Dorset for a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable week-long visit. We stayed in a cottage around a ten-minute drive from Weymouth. It had two rooms, a bathroom with a shower, a kitchen area, living room and basically everything you would want in a living accommodation. It was a lovely place to relax in the evening; reading books, watching TV and playing games. 

Weymouth  

[caption id="attachment_4504" align="alignnone" width="1200"] On Weymouth Beach[/caption]

To say Weymouth is busy on a summer weekend is a huge understatement. Parking was hard to come by (although we did find a space every time) and the beaches and streets were bustling with locals and tourists alike. However, it never felt too crowded and there weren’t long queues for refreshments or long waits to get a meal. The beach was lovely – we rented deckchairs for £2 each – and spent a good few hours there on our first day. The sea was amazing to paddle, wade and swim in as there were basically no waves at all - due to the natural defences at Chesil beach.  

There are so many places to get an ice-cream or slushie in Weymouth and even more places to get yourself a quick lunch in the afternoon. Be warned though: a majority of the cafes and shops close relatively early and on our first night we found ourselves wandering the streets for a while before deciding on getting food to heat up at home. Weymouth and the surrounding area is not short of massive supermarkets and we had dinner in our cottage every night bar one, so the shops closing early is not a major problem. 

Chesil Beach 

[caption id="attachment_4505" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The stunning Chesil Beach[/caption]

After relaxing in the sand on Weymouth’s coastline we drove about twenty minutes to a completely different type of beach. Chesil beach is the largest tombolo in the UK and is 28 kilometres of pure pebbles which increase in size as you move across. The stretch is classified as a Heritage site so you are not allowed to take any rocks home with you although you can obviously pick them up. The sheer size of the beach was impressive and it was a beautiful to go and have a look at. There is a great exhibition about the beach inside the visitor centre with lots of things to touch and look at including fossils, animal bones and millions of years old rocks. For a free attraction I would definitely recommend going, if only to have a quick look. 

[caption id="attachment_4506" align="alignnone" width="900"] One of the exhibits at the Chesil Beach Visitor Centre[/caption]

Cycling 

The next day we set out on a cycling trip organised by Jurassic Trails. We got our bikes and helmets then proceeded to begin our journey down the many cycle lanes and general streets in the area. We got lost almost straight away, we’ll blame it on the lack of clear signs, and ended up following a route we made up using the map we were given. We then lost Dad and pulled over but ended up stumbling across a strange sculpture, so really Mum and I came out of the loss pretty well. It was fun and exhilarating cycling around Dorset, although my bottom and legs were aching by the end of it. Even after a lot of wrong turns and small pavements that we walked down with our bikes it was still a thoroughly enjoyable day and cycling up and down the seafront near Bowleaze was one of the highlights of the trip. Although this bears no relevance to this post you may be amused to read that we went cycling on the day of what I can only assume to be some sort of Dorset Marathon which brought the difficulty level up significantly when cycling down the lanes shared for both walking and biking. 

Hiring the bikes from Jurassic Trails cost £54 for the three of us and could be used for the whole day. We thought this was pretty good!

Windsurfing 

[caption id="attachment_4509" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert tries out windsurfing[/caption]

On our third day I went windsurfing at the Official Test Centre in Portland.  My only vaguely similar experience in my life was going Water-skiing in Greece three and a half years ago so I entered a complete beginner but came out, quoting the words of my instructor, “a natural”. I got the hang of it practically straight away; there was a secure position, a sailing position and the act of turning around. Once you learn those – which we did on the shore – the only difficulty is keeping your balance and not falling in. The two hour session went by quickly and I would definitely try it again – possibly in windier conditions than the test centre. The water is so shallow and the one time I fell, my feet touched the floor so there is no reason to be scared. The centre also teaches paddle boarding which is an easier water sport that you could attempt if you wanted. 

Robert's two-hour taster lesson was complimentary (lucky us!) but would have cost £49. The Official Test Centre is on Portland, just past Chesil Beach. Although they gifted us the session, they had no input into this blog post.

Castletown D-Day centre 

Earlier that day we visited the Castletown D-Day centre, an activity which my parents weren’t too scared to take part in. The museum was one of the best I’ve been to in a while, due to the fact that there were so many interactive things to do which seemed to be one of the things the owner had been really pushing for when building the centre.
There were tanks and army vehicles you could climb in and move, videos to watch, boards to read as well as proper army uniform and an array of guns that you could wear and pick up. Upstairs was a surprisingly creepy enemy bunker focusing on the Germans and their experience of D-Day, and a tea-room where we coincidentally saw the museum's owner who we had just been watching in the videos downstairs! The centre is only open between 10.30 – 3.30 but it was really fun and interesting, the staff really knew their stuff and it was a really nice place to go. We ended up spending a lot more time there than we had expected to.

The Castletown D Day Centre is situated in Portland, where thousands of American soldiers stayed before they left for France in 1944. It costs £7 for adults, £5 for 12-17 year olds and £4 for children. 

Natural Landscape 

[caption id="attachment_4511" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Lulworth Cove[/caption]

Throughout the holiday went to some beautiful places including Lulworth Cove – a stunning bay with about 100 places to get an ice-cream, Opa Church Cove, a small rocky area on Portland which was once used by smugglers, and the area around the Portland Bill Lighthouse – not to mention many other beautiful views and beaches that we visited. The most amazing place to see however was Durdle Door – a natural limestone arch in the sea.

[caption id="attachment_4512" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The stunning Durdle Door[/caption]

Although quite a long walk from the car park it was a beautiful sight and the rocky beach preceding it was a great place to swim, relax and stare in awe. There were so many places of natural beauty in Dorset and they made the holiday feel much more relaxed than constantly visiting museums and man-made attractions. 

Jurassic Coast 

[caption id="attachment_4513" align="alignnone" width="1200"] An ammonite (fossil) found on Charmouth Beach[/caption]

The most unique activity we participated in throughout the trip was definitely our fossil tour on the Jurassic Coast. Our tour guide Martin, from Jurassic Coast Guides, explained how different fossils are formed and helped us remember what they look like and how to spot them. After the talk, which lasted about an hour, and a toilet break which gladly lasted less than an hour, we set off down the coastline to find some fossils. Martin had explained the places with the best chance of finding a fossil but even before we got to them he had found a few which he let us “find” and keep after giving us the general area it was in. This stayed the case for the majority of the two hours we spent on the beach. Although grouped together, Mum, Dad and I found three, maybe four traces of fossilised creatures to Martin’s 20 or so more impressive ones. The whole experience was really interesting and fun and we came home with a bag full of 14 190 million year old rocks. If you are considering going fossil hunting, on the Jurassic Coast or elsewhere I would definitely recommend doing it as part of a tour or with someone experienced and we would have had no clue whatsoever if we had gone on our own. 

Private fossil hunting walk with Jurassic Coast Guides costs £100. We were fortunate enough to be given one for gree in order to write about. However, no one from the company has had any input into this piece, which is also our (particularly Robert's) opinions.

Dorset Adventure Park 

[caption id="attachment_4514" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Corfe Castle[/caption]

Our hour at Dorset Adventure Park felt much longer – it was one of the most fun activities of the holiday and Mum and Dad really enjoyed it as well even though they were in the water for most of it!  Everything is inflatable and if you only fall off you have to swim to nearest entry point or attempt to climb back on where someone pulls you up by the lifejacket.

Read more about our trip to this brilliant park and also nearby Corfe Castle in this post from Robert.

Sea life and adventure golf 

[caption id="attachment_4515" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Playing crazy golf![/caption]

We only spent an hour or so in Weymouth’s Sea Life as we saw all the different attractions and didn’t stick around at each for too long. However, for younger kids it looked like a great place to visit – there were at least five different schools visiting when we went. Our favourite bit was the “shipwreck” with lots of cool sea life to see inside: jellyfish, crabs and fish and we also liked seeing some otters being fed – one of the events that occur throughout the day. There were seals, sharks, turtles and penguins as well as lots more cool things to see for children to enjoy. We also visited the Pirate Adventure Golf just outside which was really fun. Beware though, we went in the morning around when it had just opened and it was extremely busy, meaning long waits to play the next hole. 

A Pirate Adventure Golf & Weymouth SEALIFE combi ticket (booked online) is Adult £24.95, Child (3-14) £20.95. We were lucky enough to be given these in order to write about them, but the organisation had no input into this blog post.

Overall I loved going to Dorset and is my favourite holiday in the UK in many years – if not my whole life. Coincidence that Jess didn’t come on this one! It was so nice not to go to a bustling city and just visit museums and theme parks – although I could’ve done with a few rides; instead there were beautiful coves and beaches and activities involving nature. On top of that there were so many delicious foods to sample, I’m pretty sure I had more ice-creams than days of the holiday! If you are thinking of going to a place in England I would wholeheartedly recommend Dorset as we spent a week there and there were still loads of things we didn’t do or visit. There are definitely enough things for adults, teenagers and children and I hope to go back again in the future." 

Disclosure: Visit Dorset helped us to plan our holiday, but had no input into this blog post. They have information for everything to do across the county.

Read more on family holidays in the UK: 

A family trip to Cornwall

What to do in beautiful Pembrokeshire

Why we loved Lincoln (and are sure you would too!)

Visiting the Eden Project, Cornwall

When we went to Cornwall, one place was top of the list to visit - the Eden Project, even though we weren't even sure exactly what it was.....

Jess, aged 14, writes: For such a large and famous destination, the Eden Project is quite difficult to describe. It consists of two large biomes which replicate the climates of the Mediterranean and the rainforest, an exhibition on dinosaurs, large gardens, lots of places to eat and drink, and a centre full of rides, such as a zip wire, giant swing, and a free fall. Even though everything was quite varied, we enjoyed all of it and had a fascinating and exciting day.

[caption id="attachment_2597" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The view of the biomes[/caption]

The Eden Project is so large that you have to take a bus from the car park to the centre. We quickly made our way to Hangloose, the location of the adventure park.

Robert, aged 11, says: I love adventure activities, so it sounded great to try out the fastest and longest zipwire in Britain. We prebooked the zipwire for me as it sounded the most fun, but I was horrified to find I was more than five kilos too light to go on it safely. Instead they offered me all the other activities to do instead of the zipwire, which just that shows how good it must have been. I decided to go on the The Drop and Big Air.

[caption id="attachment_2596" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert jumped on a beanbag from eight metres in the air![/caption]

First I went on Big Air, which was basically jumping onto an airbag. Firstly I had three goes jumping from about a metre up, this wasn't very thrilling but still vaguely fun. Then I got two goes at jumping on the airbag from eight metres up, I was really nervous. The few seconds you were falling were quite exhilarating but when you hit the bag it hurt your bum. Overall it was a bit like something you would do at a kids party.

[caption id="attachment_2598" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert jumped down from the top of the building[/caption]

Next I went on The Drop which I had been told was going to be very scary. They made me put on a harness before making me walk of the edge of the tower before they dropped me down. This was really disappointing as I didn't feel like I was falling at all and didn't get any exhilaration from the experience. The giant swing  which I now wished I picked looked really fun, although compared to the no time queuing for my activities you might have had to wait a long time to do that.

[caption id="attachment_2601" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The view when you walk into the rainforest biome[/caption]

Jess writes: Next, we made our way to the rainforest biome, which is the world's largest indoor rainforest. The biome covers three point nine acres, and is full of plants from rainforests across the world. I am very interested in geography and the world's countries , so I was really looking forward to finding out about rainforests, their climates, and the adaptations plants make to live there. I was also interested in seeing how the biome was made, and how they regulate the climate.

While the information certainly was good (and presented in a way that younger children could understand) it certainly wasn't at the level I hoped it would be, and I didn't learn anything. However, I may be being too harsh - mum and dad didn't know a lot of the information, and they found it interesting.

[caption id="attachment_2602" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert held a coco de mer seed[/caption]

The biome was full of plants, and I loved finding out about them. I would have liked more information about their adaptations and where they were from, but there were a lot of facts on hand and I was fascinated by everything. I especially enjoyed seeing an epiphyte, but wished that there were more. We encountered one member of staff who was talking about a specific plant, but I had too many questions in my head and promptly forgot all of them!

[caption id="attachment_2603" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We saw lots of cool plants inside the biomes[/caption]

We learnt about the food in Malaysia and walked around a typical hut before walking up the biome to a waterfall. We found some information about what it is like to work in the rainforest (it sounds amazing, but too hot for me), and walked up to the top of the biome and looked down at the plants and people. We had to queue to do this and it got very hot, so be warned, especially if you are with younger children.

[caption id="attachment_2604" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert at the top of the biome[/caption]

After walking down, we learnt about tropical fruits, chocolate, and the production of rubber products. We bought really good baobab smoothies, and marvelled at the incredible plants. The family was especially surprised by seeing how pineapples grow! We rushed out as it was very hot, but I had a marvellous time.

Next was lunch. There are many options for lunch at the Eden Project, and we decided to visit the burrito bar. My vegetable burrito was delicious, and the salad that went with it was gorgeous. Robert found it a bit too spicy, but we washed them down with lemonade.

[caption id="attachment_2605" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We loved the amazing models of dinosaurs.[/caption]

Robert says: At the time we went to the Eden Project the exhibition in the land, air and water tent was on dinosaurs. We went in and saw the most amazing models of the creatures, they moved and made sounds. I didn't learn much (probably because I ignored the boards full of information) but it was really cool.

Jess writes: The Mediterranean biome was our last destination. I was surprised to see that California and South Africa have Mediterranean climates, and was pleased to see some familiar plants from our holidays. The biome seemed smaller than the rainforest one, but it was really nicely done and it seemed as though we had been transported to the Med.

[caption id="attachment_2606" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Inside the Mediterranean biome.[/caption]

 

The Greek and Roman myths hung up across the biome were a really nice touch, and there was someone telling myths to a cluster of children in the centre. I enjoyed learning about the benefits of different variations of tomatoes and other plants, and really enjoyed the visit.

[caption id="attachment_2607" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We enjoyed some ice-cream after seeing the biomes.[/caption]

After our quick trip to the (excellent, huge) shop and walk through the beautiful gardens, we left the Eden Project. We all really enjoyed the day, and I thought that the biomes were incredible. While I would have liked more information, I'm sure I'll be able to find what I want online. I definitely would recommend a visit for the whole family, as there was so much to do, and we had a really great day.

Disclosure: We were fortunate enough to be given free entry to the Eden Project and to try out the rides at Hangloose in order to write about it. All our opinions, however, are our own and not influenced by this.
A package to do the Drop and Big Air costs  £18. Other pricing can be found here. A family ticket for the Eden Project (for two adults and two children) costs £62 if you book in advance.

Be warned that if you have small children, there is a lot of walking!

Please watch the video below to see more about our trip to Cornwall:

[kad_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oWmvduevzM" width=200 height=100 ]

More by me and Robert:

Taking a Tour Up Big Ben!

A Fascinating Day at the Newseum in Washington DC

 

Top museums in London – for kids! (by Robert)

It's the Easter holidays, so we'll be expecting lots of of visitors to our home town, London. Because of this, Robert decided to write a very helpful blog post...

"When you come to England’s capital you might find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of things to do and places to see. Visiting a museum must be one of the most popular days out in London so I thought that I’d make a list of my favourites. (Please note that this is not in any order)

[caption id="attachment_2349" align="alignnone" width="676"] Robert at the British Museum[/caption]

The British Museum

This is the most well known of the lot and for a good reason. Founded in 1753, the massive building has a section on every era of British history where you can learn loads and also have a look at the breathtaking objects that are displayed. It’s amazing for kids as well as adults as they always have many educational activities and workshops going on, plus you can get a backpack at reception on a particular era. This will include fun things to do and items to look out for in the display rooms. One of my oldest memories is going around with my dad in the Egyptian section looking at the mummies. The British museum is a fantastic museum where you can learn so much, not just about British history, but about the world.

The Science Museum 

This is probably the best museum for kids, I’ve been there so many times and it never gets boring. Filled with loads of science experiments to try out and activities to have a go at, this is the building that children love to go to. It so cleverly made that kids learn about science and don’t even realise it. There are so many interactive things to do, plus the normal facts and displays that you find in other museums. This is probably my favourite museum but parents, bring a book as you might be sitting down for a while your children are doing the experiments.

London Transport Museum

This is a fun museum that you only need a few hours to explore. The building is filled with the many vehicles that the public have used over the years and it is a quick but informative learning experience. There are quite a few interactive screens for the kids, plus you are allowed inside some of the vehicles like a double decker bus or a train carriage dating back over 100 years. It is a fun place to go and I especially liked the staff who dress up as old fashioned customers and speak to you in character. But I wouldn’t put it top of my list.

[caption id="attachment_2350" align="alignnone" width="1200"] First World War exhibition at the RAF Museum, pic courtesy of the museum[/caption]

RAF Museum and the Imperial War Museum

Both of these museums are fantastic places to go if you want to learn about soldiers, wars and fighting. Both display an enormous collection of old fighter planes and other cool objects, they have rides, simulating what it was like to be in a plane during an attack plus lots of other interactive activities to have a go on. They also explain about the two world wars in a way so that little kids can understand.  They are fun places to learn especially for adults but because there's so much to see at the Imperial War Museum, younger kids may get a bit bored there. The RAF museum (based in Hendon, North London) may be better for a younger age group.

Bank of England museum

This is lesser known than the others, but is a great building where you learn all about money in Britain and how it is made. You can explore the world of the pound and even try to lift up a real bar of gold. It is a really fun place to go with kids and once again you don’t really need the whole day to go there.

In this post I have listed a few of my favourite museums in London but there are so many more like the Natural History museum or one of my personal favourites (and if you want to travel  bit further afield) the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. I hope this has helped you if you are planning a trip to London, and if you are -  bring an umbrella.

All the museums mentioned above - bar the London Transport Museum - are free to enter, although extras (such as the IMAX cinema at the Science Museum) do cost money. The RAF Museum is free, but you'll have to pay to park in the car park! The London Transport museum costs £17.00 for adults and £14.50 for kids, but that gives you entry for a year.

Read my thoughts on the National Maritime Museum

Read mum's post on 5 free things to do in London!

 

Becoming Super Sleuths: A Visit to the Spy Museum in Washington DC

[caption id="attachment_1982" align="alignnone" width="940"] Killer lipstick courtesy of the KGB[/caption]

Jess, aged 13, writes: Over the half term, our family became spies at The International Spy Museum in Washington DC. As we had heard that this was the best museum in DC, we were really looking forward to visiting the museum and learning all about the world of spies. Our hopes were very high, and luckily, we were not disappointed! In fact, we all think that the Spy Museum is the best museum that we have ever visited...

Upon entry to the museum, we found ourselves in a room which had lots of different profiles on the walls. Our mission: assume one of the identities of these people, remember all the details about their personal life, and get them all correct when we were tested on them. I became Sandra Miller, a 62 year old female clothes store owner from Chatsworth, Illinois. While mum, Robert, and I had remembered all of the details about our characters, dad couldn't even remember his name (Dmitri Ivanov)!

Next, we watched a film, which told us all about what it takes to be a spy. It asked us if we were ready to become spies and sleuths, and we certainly were. We had our cover story memorised, and couldn't wait to go into action.

After the film ended, we found ourselves in a really large room, which was the main part of the museum. This was absolutely massive, and there was so much to see and do. First of all, we went through "border control", where we answered questions on the screen about our character. Some of the questions were about information that we had not been told, so we had to work hard to come up with the most believable answer. We all passed, and were given more information to memorise about the purpose of our visit, who we were meeting, and where we were going. This was lots of fun.

Mum, dad, Robert, and I all played a game where you had to assess if a situation was being monitored by a security system, hostile surveillance, or if you just happened to come across an unlucky break. We had to press the button we thought it was as quickly as we could, and Robert and I got very competitive! It was very exciting, and interesting to see how many obstacles a spy has to face to get around a place unnoticed.

We learnt about different spy techniques, such as swapping identical bags in a busy street, letting fellow spies know important information by leaving inconspicuous objects in public (such as gum or a cigarette packet), and leaving important documents in hidden places. We looked at pictures to try and find examples of these things, and mum and I spent a lot of time trying to find the right answers.

[caption id="attachment_1979" align="alignnone" width="940"] This object of destruction seemed very British[/caption]

There was so much to do that I really don't think I can list it all! Robert and I crawled through a ventilation shaft, and saw people standing around downstairs where we had been standing before. We learnt about how inventions in James Bond influenced real life spy tools, and saw the famous Kiss of Death lipstick-gun used by the KGB from the Cold War; it looked like something straight from a spy film! Other highlights were seeing a Bulgarian umbrella (just like the umbrella used by the KGB in 1978 to assassinate Georgi Markov with a poisoned pellet), and the postbox that notorious CIA double agent Aldrich Ames used to secretly communicate with the KGB. You can see some of these in the video we made of our trip in DC (below).

[kad_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW13vZlCLtM" width=200 height=100 ]

Another highlight was two videos showing how effective disguise can be. We were shown two people, and had to spot and arrest them when they were among other people. The first video we watched was set in an underground station, and we didn't manage to get the correct person the first time. We chose the right person the second time, but this was after clicking on every possible person and consequently arresting everyone in the station! This was amazing - the man we chose looked nothing like the man with the large brown beard that we were trying to find. Mum and I also enjoyed the video afterwards that showed us how these people had been made up to look entirely different. We must have spent over an hour in this room, watching videos, listening to audio clips, and being shocked and fascinated

Next, we walked through an exhibit all about spies and codebreaking in the olden times. We learnt about how it played a part in the American Civil War, and how Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote in code about her plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. We found out about spies in Berlin during the Cold War, and I was particularly fascinated by the story of Joan Pujol Garcia, a double agent for the Allies who gave Germany false information during World War II.

[caption id="attachment_1981" align="alignnone" width="940"] Jess passed the test with flying colours (unlike her parents!)[/caption]

When this exhibit was finished, we were tested again on our secret personas. While mum and dad failed completely and were caught, Robert got out of the country but "needed some extra training". I, on the other hand, passed with flying colours, and may have gloated a bit too much to the rest of the family...

The museum's temporary exhibition entitled: "Fifty Years of Bond Villains" was amazing. I loved watching the videos, and thought that the parallels between the first Bond film (Dr. No) and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 were astonishing. We saw lots of props from the Bond films, entered Blofeld's lair, and laughed at mum when she screamed (remarkably loudly) at a "shark" that came through a screen. There were lots of games to play, including defusing a "bomb" (only dad succeeded), holding onto a bar for as long as possible, and trying to stop your opponent from working out a secret code. This was brilliant, and I definitely want to see Spectre now!

[caption id="attachment_1980" align="alignnone" width="940"] Only Brian could safely defuse the bomb...[/caption]

One of my favourite parts of the museum was found in the James Bond exhibit. It was a collection of films, entitled "My Bond Moment". These were films narrated by retired spies, recalling times when they found themselves in a situation that could have been a scene in a 007 blockbuster. It was so interesting and unbelievable to think that they attempted these things, and mum had to drag me out afterwards. You can watch the videos here, and I highly recommend you do so.

We rushed through the end of the museum as we had to meet family, but it was still fascinating. The last part was centred around the 21st century, and we learnt about what would happen to America if the electric grids went down. Next came the massive shop which was packed with cool games and memorabilia, and before we knew it, it was time to go.

We must have spent over three and a half hours in the museum, and we definitely could have stayed for longer. I genuinely don't have a bad thing to say about it, as it was so unique, there was so much to do and see, and it was perfect for all the family. I thing that it is a must do if you are in Washington DC, and I would happily go back again!

Disclosure: The Spy Museum is free for under 6s and costs $14.95 for ages 7-11. Over 12s cost $21.95 each. We were fortunate to be gifted tickets in order to write about our experience. However, there was no input or suggestions about what we should write.

Read about our trip to Washington

We flew to Washington via First Class - read what it was like.

We love writing this blog as a family and would love it if you would please vote for us in the UK Blog Awards. You can vote up to December 19th 2016 and it literally only takes 30 seconds. Just follow this link. And thank you!!

Visiting A Pen Museum - A Weekend In Birmingham

Jess, who's 13, writes: Over the summer, dad and I visited Birmingham for a programming event I was taking part in, and found ourselves with some time to spare. We generally divided our time between walking around the shops in the Bullring shopping centre and watching TV in our hotel room, but decided that we needed to actually go somewhere and do something instead...

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Outside the Bullring Shopping Centre - just two minutes from our hotel![/caption]

We had been staying in the Birmingham Central Bull Ring Travelodge, and found it was perfect for our stay - it was spacious and quiet, and our rooms had everything needed for a short stay. To top it all off, the hotel was only a ten minute walk from our train station (Birmingham New Street) and was only a minute from the Bullring Shopping Centre. This meant that dad and I spent an awful lot of time drinking Starbucks, eating food from Wagamamas and going to cinemas! The breakfast wasn't lavish, but it did have everything needed and I do think that our hotel would be a great choice for families visiting Birmingham.

[caption id="attachment_1805" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Our Travelodge hotel room[/caption]

As dad and I decided that we couldn't just spend all of our free time shopping, I looked up local attractions and found a museum which intrigued me - a pen museum! Dad and I decided to walk over and take a look inside, and were pleasantly surprised. We must have spent around an hour in the museum, and learnt a lot.

[caption id="attachment_1808" align="alignnone" width="1200"] There were lots of authentic pens and advertisements to look at.[/caption]

During the 19th Century, 75 per cent of everything written in the world was with a "Birmingham" pen. Birmingham's factories were at the head of this trade until the invention of the biro and fountain pen in the 1950s. At one time, there were around 100 factories in the Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter! The development of the steel pen reduced the cost of writing and enabled the spread of literacy throughout the world.

The Pen Museum has the atmosphere of a Victorian pen factory and is "dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of [the pen] trade" It is fairly small (there are only two rooms) but there were lots of volunteers to explain different contraptions and to take us on a tour of the museum.

[caption id="attachment_1807" align="alignnone" width="1200"] People created displays of pen nibs like this one to enter into competitions[/caption]

Dad and I were taken around the museum with about ten other people, and the man who was taking us around was friendly and very funny. We were shown displays of pen nibs which were entered in competitions, strange inkwells shaped like animals, antique typewriters and very old telephone systems. I loved sitting down and trying my hand at calligraphy which I was terrible at; my hands were absolutely covered in navy ink within about two minutes...

[caption id="attachment_1806" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Writing with calligraphy pens was very difficult...[/caption]

I really enjoyed seeing how braille is printed onto paper. You write your name down and work out the corresponding numbers, and then you put a sheet through a machine and press onto these numbers. The paper comes out looking and feeling exactly like braille, which was really cool.

[caption id="attachment_1810" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Working out my name in Braille[/caption]

However, my highlight of our visit had to be making a pen nib using exactly the same machines that would have been used in Victorian times. We started with a sheet of metal, which we cut into the distinctive shape. To do this, I had to pull on the machine's handle really hard - it was incredible to think that the women working there had to make thousands a day!

[caption id="attachment_1809" align="alignnone" width="1200"] I loved using these machines to create authentic pen nibs![/caption]

After we pressed, curved, hardened, and slit the metal, Dad and I had successfully created a real pen nib. My arm was aching from how hard you had to pull the machines.

Overall, Dad and I do recommend The Pen Museum if you have a spare hour in Birmingham as everyone is lovely, there is lots to see and learn, and I really liked the interactive demonstrations. Who knew that pens were so interesting?!

Entry to The Pen Museum is £2.00 for adults and free from under-16s.

Disclosure: Jessica and Brian stayed at the Birmingham Central Bull Ring Travelodge on a complimentary basis, although the company had no input into this blog post. Family rooms now have separate space saving truckle beds, offering children their own individual bed and providing more space in the room. Plus kids eat free, including all you can eat breakfast. Rooms cost from £35 a night upwards.

Some other lovely museums which I've visited

A great visit to Weald and Downland 

Top Secret: a visit to Bletchley Park