MN History Tour

Some MN History Sites are open year round, but may are only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. If you have school age kids, your kids have probably gone on a field trip to at least one of the 26 sites around the state.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I like a good deal. If you are going to put the MNHS sites on your to do list, Become a member then visit as many as you can in the next year to get the most for your money. 

Once a year in the winter when no one is thinking about going to the mostly closed sites, they offer a fantastic Groupon deal. Throughout the year they have discounts for teachers, veterans, and seniors, and they have membership levels to fit the needs of your family

When you visit the State Capitol contact your local representatives to let them know, I'm not promising anything, but my group got to sit in the Legislative chambers for an hour asking questions and learning directly from our Congresswoman and Senator!

Oliver Kelley farm is great any time of the year, but we like the busyness of spring and fall on the farm. Alexander Ramsey and James J. Hill Houses are amazing at Christmas time.

My absolute favorite was Historic Forestville on the 4th of July. We made a weekend of it and camped nearby. MNHS goes all out for Independence Day. I'm talking red, white, and blue bunting all over town, a brass band, baseball game with period costumes and rules, a pie eating contest, 3 legged races, watermelon, singing patriotic hymns with the "towns people", and my personal favorite a recitation of the Declaration of Independence by the town vicar.

I admit that I geek out a lot, but that day invoked patriotism more than any other Independence Day I've celebrated. No fireworks, or BBQ on the beach can fully encapsulate the optimism and sense of community and purpose the way that did. Yes, the recitation got long. But the cheering and booing during the highs and lows gave a sense of exactly what it means to be an American.

We as a nation would do well to think on this declaration. 

"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind ... We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes..."

-Excerpt from US Declaration of Independence

** I may get paid for links that you click on this blog. Any posts that include free or discounted services or product in exchange for reviewing are plainly stated within the post.