Tag: MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP

Explore 5 States in 6 Days: A Complete Itinerary for West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and DC

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date March 29, 2025
No Comments on Explore 5 States in 6 Days: A Complete Itinerary for West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and DC

Crossing New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland off of our list of places we've been!

On our quest to visit all 50 states, we embarked on a road trip that would take us to 5 states and Washington, DC. Over 6 days we visited West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, DC while hugging the Mason-Dixon Line.

Fun Fact: The Mason-Dixon Line separates 4 states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia. It later became known as the border between the Southern slave states and the Northern free states.

All five states would be new destinations for the kids, and New Jersey and Delaware were new for me. We tacked on a day in DC since it’s the kids favorite city (so far!).

Our itinerary has all of the elements of an epic family road trip:

Adventure
Rollercoasters
Waterslides
History
Culture

Seriously, what more could you want?

How We Ended Up Visiting These States

Each year we gift the kids a trip as part of their Christmas gift. On January 1st, we randomly select the name of a state the kids haven’t visited and plan a trip to that destination. For this trip, the kids pulled West Virginia.

Our family of 5 took a road trip from Florida up to West Virginia. Since we were already in the area, it only made sense for us to visit a few other neighboring states so we could add them to the list of states we’ve visited.

Using the strategy outlined in the post above, our itinerary quickly began to take shape, and Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, DC were added to our trip.

Day One- Davis, West Virginia

After a long drive from Florida to West Virginia, it was time for a bunch of Florida kids to experience some snow! The first stop on our road trip was Blackwater Falls State Park, home to the longest sled run on the East Coast.

The park has a conveyor belt, called the Magic Carpet, that carries passengers to the top of a hill. From there, it’s a quick 1/4-mile descent to the bottom. What an adventure! Smiley, Stinky, and I had so much fun! Scoop and Ashley didn’t love it, but they took advantage of the hot cocoa bar and fire while we went sledding.

West Virginia is known for having wooden “Almost Heaven” swings (pictured left) that are sprinkled throughout the state. We hiked the short, but icy, trail that led to the swing and the gorgeous Blackwater Falls.

Next, we went back to the Canaan Valley Resort. There was plenty of snow on the ground and the kids were dying to go sledding again. Lucky for them, we brought along a set of roll-up sleds. They spent hours zooming down the hills surrounding the resort.

Even Scoop had fun this go around! What a great way to kick off our epic winter road trip!

Dining: Canaan Valley Resort, Mama Mia Pie & Pasta
Lodging: Canaan Valley Resort

Day Two- Gettysburg & Hershey, Pennsylvania

We got up early and made the 3-hour trek to Gettysburg. Not only are we trying to visit all 50 states, but we’re also trying to hit up as many National Park Sites as possible.

Gettysburg was the site of the bloodiest battle in US History. The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War between July 1 and July 3, 1863, where an estimated 50,000 people lost their lives. The battle is considered the turning point of the Civil War- where the odds turned from being in favor of the Confederacy to favoring the Union forces.

While we were at the Gettysburg National Military Park we:

Visited the Museum and Visitor Center
Paid our respects at the National Cemetery
Saw where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address
Saw the battlefield

About a mile away from the famous battlefield is another National Park Site- the Eisenhower National Historic Site. This was the home of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his wife, Mamie. The home was closed for tours during our visit (tours are seasonal), but we were able to explore the grounds. It was nice having the whole place to ourselves.

While we could have spent longer exploring Gettysburg, we had more fun on the agenda for the day so drove an hour to Hershey.

Our final stop of the day was Hersheypark. Our daughter is a total theme park junkie, so I knew we had to visit Hersheypark, a place I visited when I was about her age. When you purchase a regular ticket to the park, you can preview the park the evening before your visit.

After checking in to our hotel, we told the kids we were going out to dinner and surprised them with a nighttime visit to Hersheypark. They thought we were sneaking in (lol) so it made it EXTRA exciting for them.

Check out the video below for their adorable reactions!

Dining: The Chocolate Avenue Grill
Lodging: Holiday Inn Express, Harrisburg

Day Three- Hershey, Pennsylavania

Day three of our trip was all about Hersheypark! Since we visited during the winter months, and on a holiday, the park had limited hours. However, since we previewed the park the night before, we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything.

The park opened a little later that day, so we started our day at Chocolate World which is a large shop that had a few add-on experiences for visitors to enjoy. There’s also an eatery and a free ride that tells how chocolate was made, which we rode multiple times until the park opened.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the theme park. The kids had a blast on the rides! Unfortunately, the rollercoasters were all closed due to the cold temperatures, but we made the best of it!

Later in the day, we purchased tickets for the drive-thru light show. We slowly crept through the 2-mile trail of holiday lights.

Dining: Applebee’s
Lodging: Holiday Inn Express, Harrisburg

Day Four- Perryville, Maryland

The next morning was Christmas Day! We got up bright and early and drove about 90 minutes southeast to Perryville, Maryland.

Originally, I considered visiting Philadelphia after our time in Hershey, but with it being a holiday (and many places would be closed), I opted to add a day at the Great Wolf Lodge in Perryville, Maryland to our itinerary, instead. The Great Wolf Lodge is a massive, indoor waterpark and kid’s entertainment complex. They have an arcade, bowling alley, mini golf, ropes course, and much more. What better place to celebrate Christmas?

Sure, it was un-traditional, but the kids had an absolute blast, and in the end, that’s all that matters!

Day Five- Pennsville, New Jersey; New Castle, Delaware; and Baltimore, Maryland

With New Jersey and Delaware so close, we couldn’t NOT visit. I went back and forth between visiting Camden, New Jersey, and Pennsville, New Jersey before ultimately deciding on the latter. Although Camden had way more things to do, it was a little further away. Since we would be backtracking to Baltimore, timewise, it made more sense for us to go to Pennsville.

Pennsville is the home of Fort Mott, which is one of the very few things to do in this part of the state. Fortunately for us, we love a good fort so our kids were thrilled to check it out! Fort Mott is a post-Civil War outpost located on the Delaware River. There was plenty of signage for us to learn about the fort…mostly our kids just enjoyed running around with the muskets they bought in Gettysburg.

Afterward, we drove to New Castle, Delaware. Oh my gosh, ya’ll, it was the CUTEST colonial town! Our first stop was the New Castle Court House, which is part of the First State National Historical Park.

At the courthouse, we learned how Delaware declared independence from Pennsylvania and Great Britain and became the first state. We also learned about the famous Americans who once called New Castle their home.

Afterward, we strolled around the town making stops at the Historical Society, a colonial cemetery (Immanuel on the Green), the old pillory, and other key sites around the courthouse. I seriously could have spent an entire weekend checking out this charming town. It reminded me so much of Williamsburg, Virginia. I guess that just gives us a reason to return!

After a couple of hours in New Castle, we backtracked to Maryland. We took the Fort McHenry Tunnel (our kids’ first tunnel experience) and made a pitstop at Fort McHenry. Fort McHenry was the scene of one of the most influential battles in American History. The Battle of Baltimore was a conflict between the British and the Americans during the War of 1812. The battle was a turning point in the war. After the British invaded DC (and torched it!), they headed north to Baltimore.

The Brits pounded Fort McHenry for 25 hours, but the Americans were able to defend their brick fortress successfully. From this point on, the Americans had the upper hand during the war.

During the battle, Maryland native Francis Scott Key witnessed the chaos at the fort from afar. At dawn, he looked out and saw a large American Flag waving over the fort, which inspired him to write a poem that would later become our national anthem.

We really enjoyed the National Park’s Junior Ranger Program. It was a great way for the kids to learn what happened at Fort McHenry. They completed several different activities in an activity book and earned a Junior Ranger badge for their efforts.

By the time we finished with the fort, it was about 4 PM. We planned to check in to our hotel and walk around the Baltimore Harbor. However, after driving around, we realized that might not be the safest idea. We noticed an increase in police presence, including 2 armed guards at Chick-fil-A. It turns out, the harbor becomes a totally different place at night. We took our dinner to go and walked back to the hotel to hunker down for the evening.

Dining: Chick-fil-A
Lodging: Staybridge Suites- Baltimore Inner Harbor

Day Six- Washington, DC

On the final day of our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, we drove south to Washington, DC. DC is our kiddos’ favorite city to explore, so since we were in the area, we just HAD to make a pitstop.

On our last visit, we spent 4 days exploring the capital. This time, I wanted to hit some of the
sites we didn’t get to see last time.

We started our morning off at the National Museum of African American History and
Culture, one of the newest museums in DC. The museum’s collection focuses heavily on the
slave trade, the lives of slaves, the Reconstruction Era, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Learning about this part of our nation’s history was an extremely somber (but necessary)
experience.

From there, we headed to the National Mall, also known as America’s Front Yard. The National Mall has more than 100 monuments, memorials, and museums. We started at the far end of the Mall and worked our way back toward the National Museum of African American History and
Culture.

Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial. It was a cool spot to tie in our visit to this morning’s
museum and our time in Gettysburg (the monument has the Gettysburg address engraved in it).

From there, we made our way along the north side of the National Mall. We stopped by the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Gardens, Signers’ Memorial, and the
Lockkeeper’s House. Next, we cut across to the World War II Memorial before seeing the
Washington Monument.

Our last stop of the day was National Archives where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. Although we could
have easily popped next door to the National Museum of Natural History or the National
Museum of American History, we chose to get on the road instead. We knew traffic would be
heavy and our hotel was two hours south.

Free Family Road Trip Starter Kit

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Travel Bingo boards
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Planning an Epic Road Trip

Now that you’ve seen how we spent 6 days traveling through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and DC, we hope that we’ve inspired you to take your own road trip.

Here are some handy posts to help you start planning your own road trip!

Save a Pin & Start Planning Your Adventure!

For future reference, save our “Our 6-Day Itinerary for West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and DC.” Pin one of the images below to Pinterest. Read about how you can start your own 50 State Challenge! Go ahead and follow 5 Suitcases on Pinterest while you’re at it!

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Tags ITINERARY, MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP, ROAD TRIP, UNITED STATES, USA

Delaware National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores United States

How to Spend a Day in New Castle, Delaware

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date March 22, 2025
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The colonial architecture in New Castle, Delaware

When we visited New Castle, Delaware, I had very little expectations. In fact, we only visited to collect another stamp for our National Park Passport. To say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. The town of New Castle is incredibly charming and full of history and culture. In this post, we’ll outline how to spend a day in New Castle.

How to Spend a Day in New Castle

You’ll find that most things in New Castle don’t open until 10 AM, so sleep in and take your time getting ready this morning.

9:15- Snag a parking spot near the New Castle Courthouse. Start your morning off at the Dream Bakery for a delicious croissant, cinnamon roll, or breakfast pastry.

10:00- Tour the Amstel House Museum. When successful physician Dr. John Finney built this home in 1738, it was the largest and most elegant home in New Castle. George Washington and the Marquis de LaFayette attended a wedding here in 1784.

When the home was built, it looked out onto the New Castle Courthouse, which was a sign of Finney’s prestige within the community.

Attorney Nicholas Van Dyke Sr. rented the home from the family during the American Revolution. Van Dyke was a member of the Second Continental Congress, a signer of the Articles of Confederation, and Governor of Delaware. Many of the discussions about the formation of the state of Delaware (and even the United States itself!) happened in this house.

9:45- Visit The Green. This common area was likely used for markets during Colonial times. In 1809, a U.S. arsenal was added. Later in the century, a whipping post and pillory were installed near the courthouse.

10:00- Next, you’ll tour the New Castle Courthouse, constructed in 1732. The courthouse is where Delaware declared their independence from Pennsylvania and Great Britain. It was also the site of the trial that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

11:00- Walk along E. 3rd Street towards the Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green. You’ll pass the Rodney House (16 E. 3rd Street, built in 1831 by US Representative George Brydges Rodney), Wiley House (built in 1798 by lawyer John Wiley), Dutch House, and the Gas Lamp (the last original gas lamp).

11:15- Your next stop is the Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green, the oldest Anglican parish in Delaware. The church was been operating continuously since 1689.

The church suffered a fire in 1980 as a result of a nearby marsh fire. All that remained were the church’s masonry walls. The current structure is similar to the church that stood here in 1820.

If the church is unlocked, you are welcome to walk in.

Take time to visit the grave sites of parishioners from the 17th to 21st centuries. Several are from the Revolutionary War and were signers of the Declaration of Independence.

11:45- Stop by the New Castle Historical Society to learn more about the history of this colonial town. They offer a short (less than 10 minutes) video that summarizes the importance of New Castle and its role in our nation’s independence.

Walk down the cobblestoned Market Street. You’ll pass by a statue of the influential Quaker, William Penn. Penn was a writer, religious thinker, and the founder of Pennsylvania.

12:30- Make your way back to Delaware Street and enjoy a delicious lunch at Jessop’s Tavern & Colonial Restaurant. The pub dates back circa 1724 and is known for its servers doting period costumes.

1:30- Pass by William Penn’s 1682 landing spot and head up The Strand to Packet Alley. This alleyway was an important route for Northern and Southern states to communicate and was a hub for international trade. Many of history’s most famous figures (such as Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, Lord Ashburton, Louis Napoleon, Chief Osceola, and Chief Black Hawk) stopped here en route to other destinations such as Washington DC, and Baltimore.

Snap a selfie in front of the giant Ivory Soap mural.

2:00- Next, tour the Read House. The home was built in 1804 for George Read II, son of one of Delaware’s signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The 14,000-square-foot home is a National Landmark and is one of the best examples of domestic architecture from Philadelphia’s Federal Period. At the time of construction, it was the largest home in Delaware.

The home boasts an impressive garden that was laid out in the late 1840s by the home’s third owner, William Couper.

3:30- Slowly make your way from the Read House, up The Strand, and turn left on Harmony Street. Walk down Market Street or E. 3rd Street and admire the colonial architecture as you make your way back to your vehicle.

Save a Pin & Start Planning Your Adventure!

For future reference, be sure to save our “How to Spend a Day in New Castle, Delaware” Pin one of the images below to Pinterest. Go ahead and follow 5 Suitcases on Pinterest while you’re at it!

See how we squeezed in a visit to New Castle on a trip that hit up 3 states in one day! Learn more about the New Castle Court House and see all of the other cool places we visited on our Mason-Dixon Road Trip! See our full itinerary here.

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Tags DELAWARE, ITINERARY, MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP, UNITED STATES, USA

National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores United States Washington DC

5 Inspiring National Mall Monuments Every American Should See

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date March 15, 2025
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Can you believe there are more than 100 monuments and memorials at the National Mall in Washington, DC? The National Mall, known as “America’s Front Yard”, is a park in the heart of downtown DC. It is home to several museums, memorials, monuments, sculptures, and statues. The monuments and memorials along the National Mall honor former Presidents, Veterans, and people important to our nation’s history.

The National Mall receives more than 25 million visitors annually and spans from the United States Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. It also includes the White House, Ford’s Theater, and the parks along the Tidal Basin and Washington Channel.

The National Mall was originally drawn up by Pierre L’Enfant in 1791. He envisioned a 1 mile long garden-lined “grand avenue”, much like you would find in prominent European cities. In his plan, it was flanked by the Congress House (now the United States Capitol) and an equestrian statue of George Washington.

The Landmarks, Museums, Monuments, Memorials, and Features of the National Mall

National Museum of American History
National Museum of Natural History
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
West Building of the National Gallery of Art
East Building of the National Gallery of Art
National Museum of the American Indian
National Air and Space Museum
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Arts and Industries Building
Smithsonian Institution Building “The Castle”
Freer Gallery of Art
Arther M. Sackler Gallery
National Museum of African Art
Joseph Henry statue
Andrew Jackson Downing Urn
Smithsonian Carousel
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Library of Congress
United States Supreme Court
Jamie L. Whitten Building: U.S. Department of Agriculture Administration Building
United States Capitol
Union Square (Capitol Reflecting Pool & the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial)
Peace Monument
United States Botanic Garden
James A. Garfield Monument
Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
WWII Memorial
Washington Monument
American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial
Korean War Veterans Memorial
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Lockkeeper’s House, C&O Canal Extension
Constitution Gardens
Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
District of Columbia War Memorial
Sylvan Theater
George Mason Memorial
John Paul Jones Memorial
John Ericsson Memorial
The Arts of War and The Arts of Peace sculptures
Jefferson Pier
Tidal Basin paddle-boat dock
Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
Vietnam Women’s Memorial
Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument
Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site
Petersen House
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
National Park Service Stables
German-American Friendship Garden
A Prayer for the Nation Memorial

Our 5 Must-See National Monuments on the National Mall

I’ve spent countless hours walking up and down the National Mall, popping in and out of museums, visiting some of our nation’s most important buildings, and viewing the numerous monuments and memorials. Even after all of my visits to the capital city, these are the monuments that I never get enough of.

Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is located at the western end of the Mall. Each year, the monument sees more than 7 million visitors making it one of the most visited monuments in the United States. It honors one of America’s favorite presidents, Abraham Lincoln. The memorial features a massive sculptor of our tallest president and is inscribed with two of his most famous speeches: the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address.

The memorial was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”. The step where King stood during the March on Washington is marked so visitors can stand in the spot where King gave this iconic speech.

World War II Memorial

The World War II Memorial is centered between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The 56 granite pillars, adorned with bronze laurel wreaths, represent the 48 states (that were in the union in 1945), Washington DC, and the US territories. The pillars line an oval-shaped plaza and reflecting pool flanked by two triumphal arches.

The Freedom Wall, located on the western side of the plaza, is dotted with 4,048 gold stars. Each star represents 100 Americans who died in the war.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

One of the most underrated memorials is the Korean War Memorial. Perhaps it’s because, for many, this has become a forgotten war. The memorial, located just south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, memorializes those who served in the Korean War (1950—1953). It’s a showstopper. It includes 19 statues that depict soldiers in battle. The sculptures are gorgeous.

In 2022, the Wall of Remembrance, a series of long black granite slabs, was added. The slabs list the names of 36,634 Americans and 7,174 South Koreans who died under US Command. Unfortunately, due to errors in the list submitted by the Defense Department, the wall includes more than 1,000 spelling errors and lists 245 servicemen who did not die in the war. An additional 500 names should have been added but were not. Corrections are slated to take place soon.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

A massive granite statue called Stone of Hope stands tall at the center of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The memorial was inspired by a line from King’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech” where he said, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”

The memorial lines up with the Lincoln Memorial, the location of King’s 1963 speech. King was the first African American to be honored with a memorial at the National Mall, and only the fourth non-President to receive such an honor.

The memorial includes an Inscription Wall which has 14 quotes from King’s speeches. Take time to read his words of wisdom and reflect on how far America has come, and how far we still need to go.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

While other memorials and monuments on the National Mall are more elaborate, it is the simplicity of this memorial that makes it so remarkable. The memorial features two massive black granite walls that are engraved with the names of service members who died or went missing during their service in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. In total, there are 58,320 names listed.

There are directories of the names and their locations on podiums near the memorial. It is not uncommon to see people using a pencil and paper to create a rubbing of their relative’s names.

...Wait....What About the General?

You might be wondering why the Washington Monument didn’t make our list. In all honesty, it’s because that sucker is 555 feet high and can be seen from pretty much everywhere in this area. While visitors are able to ride to the top of the monument to witness sweeping views of the Mall, it’s incredibly difficult to get tickets.

Planning Your DC Trip

No lie…DC is my FAVORITE city on the planet! Despite making several trips, I’ve barely scratched the surface. There are so many incredible things to see and do in DC. We’ve compiled some of our favorites in our 4-Day DC Itinerary.

If you need tips on how to schedule a tour of the White House, Visiting DC with Kids, or Riding the Metro, we’ve got you covered! Check out our Ultimate Guide to the National Mall or 15 Must-See Places in Washington DC for more great things to do on your trip!

Junior Ranger Program

The Junior Ranger Program invites visitors to explore, learn about, and protect national parks. Participants complete activities in a special Junior Ranger booklet, then take an official pledge and receive a Junior Ranger badge or patch.

🗺️ How It Works

Visit a National Park
Head to a participating national park, monument, historic site, or recreation area. You can ask a ranger at the visitor center for a Junior Ranger activity book.
Complete Activities
Activities vary by location and are tailored to the park’s unique features. Common tasks include:
Meet a Park Ranger
After completing the booklet, kids (and adults!) show their work to a ranger. They may ask a few questions or have a quick chat.
Take the Junior Ranger Pledge
Participants promise to protect parks, learn about nature, and share what they’ve learned.
Earn a Badge or Patch
Every park has a unique Junior Ranger badge, making it a fun collectible!

Save a Pin & Start Planning Your Adventure!

For future reference, save our post “The 5 Most Incredible National Mall Monuments.”

While on our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, we also visited Gettysburg, the nearby Eisenhower National Historic Site, and Hersheypark.

Pin one of the images below to Pinterest. Go ahead and follow 5Suitcases on Pinterest while you’re at it!

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Tags MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP, NATIONAL PARK, UNITED STATES, USA, WASHINGTON DC

Maryland National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores United States

The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Fort McHenry with Kids: Fun for the Whole Family

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date March 8, 2025
No Comments on The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Fort McHenry with Kids: Fun for the Whole Family

Are anyone else’s kids completely obsessed with visiting forts? Our kids have visited forts up and down the eastern seaboard and throughout the Caribbean and let me tell you, they haven’t met a fort they didn’t like! When mapping out our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, I knew we had to add Fort McHenry to our itinerary.

Not only do the kids love forts, but they also collect National Park Passport stamps. Visiting the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine was a no-brainer!

I know what you’re thinking, “Okay, cool… your kids like forts. But what is there for them to do at a fort?” Believe it or not, there’s plenty for kids to do at forts. Here are our kids’ favorite things to do at Fort McHenry.

5 Things to do at Fort McHenry

Watch the Film

Your first stop at Fort McHenry should be the Visitor Center, where you can watch the film about the Battle of Baltimore. The entertaining 13-minute video is a great introduction to the Battle of Baltimore on September 13^th and 14^th, 1814. This famed battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, which would later become the National Anthem.

The must-see movie is free to watch and runs every 30 minutes. Even our kids, 7, 7, and 10 enjoyed the feature. Be sure to stick around for the impressive ending!

Visit the Museum

After watching the movie, spend time in the Visitors Center museum. They have a great collection of artifacts including models, weaponry, and uniforms from the War of 1812 to World War I.

Tour the Fort

The Star Fort is open daily from 9 am to 4:45. Admission is free for ages 15 and under, and $15 for ages 16 and up. Learn about the fort’s history from the War of 1812 through World War I. Visitors can walk through the buildings and bastions to see what life was like for American soldiers during this time. Our kids pretended to be soldiers and enjoyed popping in and out of the various rooms that were open to explore.

Become a Junior Ranger

The Junior Ranger program is a fantastic way for kids to learn about a National Park site. Children can complete a series of tasks to earn a Junior Ranger badge. These tasks can range from drawing a badge, word searches, BINGO, fill in the blanks, and locating facts about the site. The number of tasks required to collect the badge varies based on the location, so be sure to ask the Park Ranger for specific details.

Don’t be jealous, grownups can earn badges too! The Junior Ranger program is open to everyone!

Walk the Seawall Trail

Take time to walk the Seawall Trail and Ravelin Trail. The grounds that the fort was built on offer beautiful views of the Patapsco River and Baltimore Harbor. From the southern tip of the fort (and the Seawall Trail, you can see the now-collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Where is Fort McHenry located?

Physical Address:

2400 E Fort Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Read How We Visited 3 States in 1 Day! (Including a visit to Fort McHenry).

Other Cool Information

Distance From Major Cities

Washington, DC- 42 mi
Philadelphia, PA- 104 mi
New York City, NY- 190 mi
Pittsburgh, PA- 249 mi
Akron, OH- 375 mi
Buffalo, NY- 373mi
Cleveland, OH- 397 mi
Charlotte, NC- 443 mi

Distance from Nearby National Parks

Shenandoah National Park- 109 mi
New River Gorge National Park- 338 mi
Cuyahoga Valley National Park- 353 mi
Congaree National Park– 535 mi

National Parks Sites in Maryland

◽ Antietam National Battlefield
◽Appalachian Scenic Trail
◽Assateague Island National Seashore
◽Catoctin Mountain Park
◽ Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
◽Chesapeake Bay Watershed
◽Clara Barton National Historic Site
◽Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
◽Fort Washington Park
◽ George Washington Memorial Parkway
◽Greenbelt Park
◽Hampton National Historic Site
◽Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
◽Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
◽Monocacy National Battlefield
◽Piscataway Park
◽Thomas Stone National Historic Site
◽Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail

FAQ About Fort McHenry

Is Fort McHenry worth visiting?

Fort McHenry is an excellent place to learn about the War of 1812 and the Battle of Baltimore, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. The fort is well-preserved and certainly worth a visit.

How much time do you need at Fort McHenry?

Plan on spending at least an hour at the fort to really enjoy it.

Save a Pin & Start Planning Your Adventure

For future reference, save our post: “5 Things to Do in Gettysburg with Kids”. Get inspo for your next trip by browsing the Ultimate National Park Bucket List. Plan your trip around Free National Park Days and learn about The National Park’s Awesome Junior Ranger Program.

While on our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, we also visited the nearby Eisenhower National Historic Site and Hersheypark.

Pin one of the images below to Pinterest. Go ahead and follow 5Suitcases on Pinterest while you’re at it!

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Tags MARYLAND, MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP, NATIONAL PARK, UNITED STATES, USA

Delaware Itineraries Maryland National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores New Jersey United States

How We Easily Visited 3 States in 1 Day

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date February 22, 2025
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Over the years our kids have had countless hands-on experiences that have helped them learn more about themselves and the world around them. As they’ve gotten older, they’ve developed a love of traveling like mine. I thought setting a goal for them to visit all 50 states would be fun.

On January 1, 2024, we started a new family tradition. We placed the names of the states the kids have not been to into a hat and selected one at random. The kids chose West Virginia, so I planned a road trip to The Mountain State. One thing led to another, and other states got added to our itinerary.

That week we went sledding in West Virginia and visited Gettysburg, Eisenhower’s home, and Hersheypark in Pennsylvania before we made our way down to Maryland. That’s when things got WILD! We crossed off not one, not two, but three new states from our list in just one day!

To mark a state from our list, we have to do an activity there, so I took to Google Maps to map out our road trip. We knew, for sure, we would be at Great Wolf Lodge in Perryville, Maryland on Christmas Day. Once I realized how close we were to Delaware and New Jersey, it was game on!

Crossing 3 States Off of Our List in 1 Day!

Maryland

We began and ended our day in Maryland. We started in Perryville, Maryland where we celebrated Christmas Day at the Great Wolf Lodge.

New Jersey

I struggled to find anything on the NJ/DE border. I didn’t want to go as far north as Camden, and we had already hit up a theme park, so Diggerland was out. There’s the old Quaker Hancock House, but my kids will pick a fort over a historic home any day, so that left us one option: Fort Mott State Park.

Fort Mott is a post-Civil War defense system built to protect the Delaware River. The fort didn’t see much action, but troops were regularly stationed there.

The fort is still pretty much intact. You can see the old railyard, towers, and gunneries. The kids liked it way more than I thought they would- considering there’s not much to it. They had a blast pretending to be soldiers and firing off the guns they bought in Gettysburg.

Forts, for them, have always been an opportunity for them to stretch their legs, run around, and use their imagination.

Part of me wishes we went up to Camden, but I wanted to ensure we had time for what else was in store for us.

Delaware

Not only are we trying to visit all 50 states, but we’re also working towards visiting all of the National Park Sites…all 460+ of them! So, naturally, it only made sense for us to stop by the First State National Historical Park in Delaware. Delaware is small…but mighty! It was the first state to declare independence from Great Britain, which takes a lot of guts if you ask me!

The New Castle Court House is where Delaware declared its independence from Pennsylvania and Great Britain. The court hearing that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin also took place here. Since Smiley did a report on her last year, it made for the perfect stop.

When we got to the courthouse, we weren’t quite sure which door we were supposed to enter. The sign said it was open, but the front door was locked. After trying several doors, we finally found one that was open. We crept inside and found a ranger main courtroom. Startled, he asked us how we had gotten in there. Whoops! Apparently we broke in. The ranger backtracked to the door we entered, locked it, and came back to show us around. We learned all about the history of not only the courthouse and New Castle, but how Delaware became to be the first state. The ranger was super informative and really good about answering all of the kids’ questions…and boy, did they have a lot of them!

After our tour, we walked to the New Castle Historical Society to learn more about the town. Just around the corner, there was a neat little cemetery at Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green. We stopped by to see the graves of George Read (signer of the Declaration of Independence), and several Senators, Representatives, Governors, and Revolutionary War Patriots. Surprisingly, the kids enjoyed walking around the cemetery. They made up a game called “Find the Oldest Dead Person” and went from gravestone to gravestone in their quest to find the oldest.

Around town, we also visited the site of the gallows and jail and walked down the cobblestone streets surrounding William Penn’s statue.

Oh my gosh, ya’ll, I am so glad we stopped! The town of New Castle is so stinking cute like it could seriously be the set for a TV show (is it?). I could have easily spent a weekend exploring the town.

Maryland

With New Jersey and Delaware under our belts, it was time to head back to Maryland. I’m not quite sure spending Christmas Day at Great Wolf Lodge counts as doing something in Maryland 😂 so we headed back to Baltimore, for good measure.

On the way into the city, the kids had their first tunnel experience. We took the Fort McHenry Tunnel, which cuts through the Baltimore Harbor. To this day, they don’t believe that we were actually underwater 😂.

Our second National Park passport stamp of the day came from Fort McHenry…because you can never visit too many forts in one day! Fort McHenry had an incredible Visitor Center/Museum. We started our visit by watching the park’s film about the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The video was extremely well done and ended with the screen being raised into the ceiling, unveiling a spectacular view of the fort.

By the time it we left Fort McHenry, it was late afternoon, so we decided to check into our hotel. Our hotel was located near the Boston Harbor, a part of town with loads of things to do. We dropped off our bags and walked to Chick-fil-A to grab dinner. When we walked into the Chick-fil-A, we noticed there were 2 armed guards….in fact, there were armed guards in all of the shops and eateries in the area. After seeing that, we decided it would be best if we took our dinner back to the hotel and called it a night.

Baltimore can get sketchy after dark, and we’d rather be safe than sorry.

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Planning a Road Tip

Want to plan a killer road trip but you’re not quite sure where to start? We’ve mapped out our tried and true way of planning a road trip the whole family will enjoy!

In this post, we outline:

How to pick a destination
Our research tips
Budgeting
Lodging tips
Our road trip essentials

Read about how you can start your own 50 State Challenge!

Conclusion

Within a span of just a few hours, we drove from Maryland to New Jersey, to Delaware and back to Maryland! We visited two forts, got two National Park passport stamps, and learned about colonial history and the fight for independence. I’d say that was a pretty successful day!

Save a Pin & Start Planning Your Adventure

We visited these sites on our Mason-Dixon Road Trip. While we were in the area, we also stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Perryville, learned about the Battle of Gettysburg, visited President Eisenhower’s home, and visited our favorite city, Washington, DC.

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Tags DELAWARE, ITINERARY, MARYLAND, MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES, USA

Hersheypark Pennsylvania United States

The Best-Kept Secret About Hersheypark!

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date February 1, 2025
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You may know about our quest to visit all 50 states and our goal to see all of the National Parks, but did you know we’re also on a mission to visit as many theme parks as possible? Yeah, we didn’t either lol However, while we were on our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, I realized we’ve hit up a TON of theme parks. Over the last few years, we’ve hit up Disney World, Universal Orlando, Wild Adventures, SeaWorld, Legoland, and Peppa Pig Theme Park. On this trip, we added a new theme park to our list: Hersheypark.

Hersheypark is a candy-themed park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Yes, that Hershey. Believe it or not, the park opened in 1906! The founder of the Hershey, Milton S. Hershey, opened the park to create a green space for factory workers to unwind with their families. In 1908, a merry-go-round was installed. Shortly after, a carousel, roller coaster, and other rides were added. Soon, the park became a full-on theme park.

I first visited Hersheypark in the mid-90s (It blows my kid’s minds that I was alive in the 1900s) with my family. I remember loving it as a kid, so when I began mapping out our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, I knew we had to take the kids.

The Best Kept Secret About Hersheypark!

While researching the park, I came across a juicy little tidbit of info that blew my mind! Believe it or not, when you purchase a regular ticket to Hersheypark, you get instant access to preview the park the evening before. Whaaaaaatttt!?!?! Extra time in the park? Yes, please!

The hours of this preview window vary, so you’ll want to check out the official website near the time of your visit to confirm what they will be. Typically, you’ll get 1.5 to 2 hours to explore Hersheypark.

Once I found this out, I switched up our itinerary a little bit to make sure we were in Hershey in time to take advantage of this. We hit up Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site and high-tailed it to the land of chocolatey goodness.

After checking in to our hotel, we told the kids we were going out to eat and surprised them by taking them to Hersheypark for our preview. Our preview night was December 23rd, so it was during the holiday season. I expected it to be crowded, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The park was dead. We walked up to each ride and had 0 wait times! During our 90-minute preview, we rode at least a dozen rides. Anyone who visits theme parks will tell you, that’s quite impressive!

Our Hersheypark Experience

The next day, we got up to hit the park again. With the preview under our belt, we had a pretty good grasp of the park’s layout. The kids mapped out what rides they wanted to conquer again and couldn’t have been more excited about visiting the park.

Since we were visiting the park on Christmas Eve, the park had limited hours. The park opened at noon, but Hershey’s Chocolate World opened at 10 so we headed to the theme park to check that out. Hershey’s Chocolate World has shops, eateries, and add-on features. There is a free ride that takes you through the process of making chocolate, which we all enjoyed. We ended up doing it twice just to kill time. At the end of the ride, they give you a sample of Hershey’s chocolate, which my kids thought was pretty cool.

We spent some time in the shops before waiting at the park’s entrance for the park to open. In our experience, many parks will open a few minutes early… although there was an announcement that the park was ready for visitors, they didn’t open the gates until noon on the dot.

The park closed at 4 on the day of our visit, so we had 4 hours in the park. Despite this, we didn’t feel robbed of our time since we had the preview. Plus, we had another day of 0 lines, so we walked directly onto every ride, which was pretty amazing! If you visit any of the Florida theme parks around the holidays you’ll experience longer than normal wait times, so to have virtually no wait was remarkable.

One bummer was that several rides were not open due to the temperatures. Since it was so cold out, there were no roller coasters open (which is something we’ve experienced at other parks). As far as thrill rides are concerned, there were only 2 available: an indoor roller coaster, and a “baby roller coaster” as my kids called it. All the open rides were the type of rides you’d find at the fair, which was a bummer.

What to Pack with You for Hersheypark

Sunscreen
Water bottle
Towels/bathing suit (if visiting during the warm months when the waterpark is open)

What We Loved/Hated About the Park

The Sweet Stuff

We loved that the park had short wait times.
The park was decorated for the holidays and had the most incredible Santa. He even had his reindeer available for kids to visit (from a distance).
The park was clean and easy to navigate.
The park has an app that you can use to check wait times, order food, view maps, etc.
There are storage lockers available to rent for the day. This is handy if you don’t feel like toting around a backpack or bag of towels (if you’re hitting up the waterpark).
Rider swaps are available if needed. This is super handy if there isn’t one adult per child. You can ride the attraction with one kid while the other(s) stay with the operator. When you finish, you can swap out the kids and go on the ride again without having to wait in line.

The Bittersweet Stuff

The prices for adding on things like making your bar of chocolate were pretty expensive, especially when you have a larger family.
There were a lot of rides that our boys could ride, but our daughter couldn’t, and vice versa. There were very few rides that all 3 kids could ride together, which meant we often had to split up. It would have been nice if there were more rides that everyone could enjoy.
There were not a lot of rides that adults could ride on. The kids had to ride alone on most rides, which wasn’t an issue for our kids but I could see it being a problem for others.
Speaking of rides, there were some rides that the kids were permitted to ride during our preview, but not permitted to ride the next day. Although the kids were measured before each ride (which I totally get), not everyone was on the same page with who could ride.
There weren’t many food options when we visited. We saw evidence of several eateries around the park, but they were not open during our visit.

Save a Pin & Start Planning Your Adventure

For future reference, be sure to save our “Epic Guide to Hersheypark.” Pin one of the images below to Pinterest. Go ahead and follow 5 Suitcases on Pinterest while you’re at it!

While we were in Pennsylvania, we also visited Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site. Check out our YouTube Channel to watch more videos from our Mason-Dixon Road Trip or other theme parks.

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Tags HERSHEYPARK, MASON-DIXON ROAD TRIP, PENNSYLVANIA, THEME PARK, UNITED STATES, USA

National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores Pennsylvania United States

The Ultimate Guide to Visiting the Eisenhower National Historic Site

Post author By Elle MacRae
Post date January 25, 2025
No Comments on The Ultimate Guide to Visiting the Eisenhower National Historic Site

Presidential Bell at Eisenhower National Historic Site

Our quest to visit all of the National Park Sites brought us to the Eisenhower National Historic Site located about a mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park. Over the years, we’ve visited a handful of homes of former Presidents: Lincoln’s Birthplace, the home and high school of Jimmy Carter, and even the White House! It’s a pretty cool way to get a sense of who our nation’s leaders are, as real people.

Although there are tours offered sporadically at the farm, they were not offered during our stay. However, the grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset so we were still able to experience the farm.

The Eisenhower's in Gettysburg

Despite being born in Kansas, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, considered Gettysburg his home. In fact, the farm in Gettysburg is the only farm he and his wife Mamie owned.

Eisenhower first visited the town when he was a cadet at West Point. Three years later, he returned with his young wife to command Camp Colt, a training camp.

When World War II broke out, Eisenhower led the opening phases of the Italian campaign and the Allied invasion of Western Europe. When the war was over, he and Mamie purchased their Gettysburg farm.

The “run-down ” farm comprised of 189 acres and included 600 chickens, 25 cows, and several buildings. It offered the couple a private retreat when Eisenhower served as President he preferred it over Camp David.

Fun Fact: Eisenhower was the first US President to travel by helicopter. While it would take him 2 hours to drive from DC to Gettysburg, he could fly there in under an hour!

Did you know that the farm served as a temporary White House? IN 1955, Eisenhower suffered from a heart attack. Rather than recovering in Washington DC, he headed home to Pennsylvania.

Our Experience

When we pulled onto the property, it was a ghost town. We had the place all to ourselves! Without a map available, we were left to just wander around aimlessly. We visited the main home, the helicopter landing pad, and saw the guesthouse. I found the map (below) online after we returned from our trip. I had no idea there was a second farm that we could have explored!

Without a tour available, or even a ranger on site, we ended up missing out on a lot. We only saw about 1/4 of what the site had to offer. Everything was pretty much left up for us to interpret.

All that being said…it’s still pretty cool to have been able to visit the home of another president. The kids liked being able to peek in the windows of the garage and see the antique cars. They also enjoyed running around the fields, I think it was their way of decompressing after the heaviness of Gettysburg.

Things to Know Before Visiting Eisenhower National Historic Site

The Best Time to Visit Eisenhower National Historic Site

If you want to tour the home, visit the official website for dates and times that they are offered. The dates are pretty hit or miss.

Entrance Fees

Hey oh! Entrance to the Eisenhower farm is free! But, if you plan on visiting more National Parks over the course of a year, you may want to look into the America the Beautiful Pass (which can be purchased at most National Parks). The pass gets you into all National Parks, Forests, Monuments, and more.

Cell Service

We had full bars during our visit.

Have Your Pooch Tag Along

Ike and Mamie lived on a farm, so of course four-legged friends are allowed to visit! Pets must remain on a leash at all times and humans are responsible for cleaning up after their furry pals. Pets are not permitted in the home.

Where is Eisenhower National Historic Site located?

The physical address is:

250 Eisenhower Farm Rd, Gettysburg, PA

You may encounter an old Secret Service Hut and a “Private Road” sign. You can disregard these, as they are for historical purposes only.