National Constitution Center
Philadelphia
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia never wants to rewrite history, but they strive to rethink how people connect with it, particularly with the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
“We are all about making the Constitution really interesting and engaging, and it’s easy to do that,” said Kerry Sautner, the center’s vice president of visitor experience and education.
The center’s signature experience, “Freedom Rising,” is a 360-degree “audiovisual roller coaster,” she said. At the center of the circular multimedia theater, an actor recounts the triumphs and tragedies of the Constitution throughout its history. In “Signer’s Hall,” visitors can get up close to life-size bronze statues of the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution. “The Story of We the People” recounts the nation’s constitutional history through interactive exhibits and artifacts.
One of the most poignant moments for visitors is seeing a copy of the Declaration of Independence dating to the 1820s, one of the first public printings of the Constitution in a newspaper and an original Bill of Rights that was sent to the states to be ratified.
The center provides guided group tours, opens special exhibits every few months, and participates in a lot of area festivals and programming during the summer, Sautner said.
Colonial Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
As guests stroll the milelong Duke of Gloucester Street, they can watch a tinsmith, a wigmaker or a carpenter at work; stand aside as a horse-drawn carriage clops past; or chat with George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Colonial Williamsburg is a living re-creation of a real Revolutionary-era Virginia town where every building is either original or reconstructed on its original foundations.
“You’re really going to get that Colonial experience,” said Charles Efird, former manager of adult group tours.
Groups can participate in programs such as Cry Witch, an interactive witch trial where visitors have to decide the fate of an accused witch, or song-and-dance programs that feature baroque instruments or African-American themes. There’s also a daily reading of the Declaration of Independence, as well as firearms demonstrations and fife-and-drum-corps performances.
A guided three-hour group tour provides a general overview of key sites, such as the Governor’s Palace, the Capitol Building and the courthouse, and staff can customize tours based on groups’ interests, such as formal gardens or Washington’s life. Guests can stay in one of Colonial Williamsburg’s six hotels, either a modern hotel or an original tavern or gentry home in the historic area.
Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Indianapolis
“Children” may be in its name, but make no mistake: Adults like the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis as much as their kids and grandkids do. Sometimes, they even leave the kids at home, said Jeffrey Patchen, museum president and CEO.
Unlike many children’s museums that provide hands-on educational fun for kids, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is one of the few that collect and house artifacts. “Dinosphere” displays a large collection of dinosaur fossils, and professional paleontologists staff a lab where visitors can touch the femur of a Tyrannosaurus rex. In the “Power of Children” exhibit, guests can step into Anne Frank’s attic, Ruby Bridges’ classroom or Ryan White’s bedroom.
In the Treasures of the Earth gallery, archaeologists are working to conserve pieces of a 1725 Spanish galleon, and guests can learn calligraphy or play musical instruments, such as a guqin or an erhu, at the “Take Me There China” exhibit.
Special exhibits rotate every few months. Opening in August, “National Geographic Sacred Journeys” will focus on major religions around the world and will feature a Dead Sea scroll, a piece of the Wailing Wall and original X-rays of the Shroud of Turin.
The museum has a range of age-appropriate itineraries, from toddlers to adults, and after-hours programs can be scheduled for groups
