We have a fantastic history museum in our city. Many old homes and business buildings have been moved to a single site over the years, and now it is an open park with lovely landscaping and an eclectic collection of architecture. Most of the buildings have been restored, or are in the process of being restored. Then they are open to the public on a rotating basis when they have docents to occupy them during open hours.
K LOVES history, so this is one of her favorite places to visit. Ever since she read Running Out of Time she has dreamed of living or working in a museum like this. So she has been begging us to take her on a weekend when some of the buildings are open.
This weekend, we got to go inside the schoolhouse and practice writing our names on slates, while the docent told us about student life in a one-room schoolhouse of the 1880's. We also got to see the print shop, and the docent there told us all about the various printing presses of the last 2 centuries. He also printed a proof copy of K's name, which she has carefully pinned to her bulletin board. He was really informative and interesting - I didn't know much about printing presses before, and certainly hadn't seen them in action! We rode the trolley, and K got to ring the bell and set the brakes. The elderly gentleman who run the trolleys clearly love to tinker with them and talk about them! They took us into the trolley barn after the ride and pointed out some neat features of the old trolleys - like a child scoop! Seriously! If a child fell before the trolley, it triggered a scoop to fall down and pick up the child and keep him safe until the trolley stopped! There were also some old-fashioned cars in the trolley barn. I was impressed by the first electric car from the early 1900's. Not only did it run on rechargeable batteries, but it also had a steering wheel in the backseat for TRUE backseat driving. It was ahead of its time....
It was a fun, FREE outing for the afternoon. Now K wants to become a docent there :-) I think she should be an model child in the schoolhouse.
K LOVES history, so this is one of her favorite places to visit. Ever since she read Running Out of Time she has dreamed of living or working in a museum like this. So she has been begging us to take her on a weekend when some of the buildings are open.
This weekend, we got to go inside the schoolhouse and practice writing our names on slates, while the docent told us about student life in a one-room schoolhouse of the 1880's. We also got to see the print shop, and the docent there told us all about the various printing presses of the last 2 centuries. He also printed a proof copy of K's name, which she has carefully pinned to her bulletin board. He was really informative and interesting - I didn't know much about printing presses before, and certainly hadn't seen them in action! We rode the trolley, and K got to ring the bell and set the brakes. The elderly gentleman who run the trolleys clearly love to tinker with them and talk about them! They took us into the trolley barn after the ride and pointed out some neat features of the old trolleys - like a child scoop! Seriously! If a child fell before the trolley, it triggered a scoop to fall down and pick up the child and keep him safe until the trolley stopped! There were also some old-fashioned cars in the trolley barn. I was impressed by the first electric car from the early 1900's. Not only did it run on rechargeable batteries, but it also had a steering wheel in the backseat for TRUE backseat driving. It was ahead of its time....
It was a fun, FREE outing for the afternoon. Now K wants to become a docent there :-) I think she should be an model child in the schoolhouse.
3 comments:
K is looks a lot like you these days.
That book looks very interesting. Did B turn her on to that sci-fi?
That sounds like a very cool museum. You should dress K in a period costume and ask them to let her be a model child. I like that idea!
K and I both really liked that book. B is constantly trying to get her into sci-fi/fantasy, and they have read the Hobbit together, but I was the one who found Running out of Time. It came in one of my Scholastic orders by accident when I was teaching middle school. I wanted to read it before I put it on the shelf for my students, and I got so engrossed that I stayed up late to finish reading it. Her other stuff is darker and more teen-oriented, but this was a great one for K.
I'm seriously thinking about applying for K and I to be docents together. I could be the teacher and she the student? She could talk and I'd just supervise. I think it could be fun!
She is so cute in her glasses.
The glasses remind me of Ami's blue ones when she wears them.
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