Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens is every bit as beautiful as I remembered. I lived nearby as a teenager, but I haven't been back there for way too many years, so recently, on a visit to see family, we stopped by.

I am amazed that at this time of year, just a couple of weeks ago, the gardens were so lush.

This waterfall caught me by surprise.

The conservatories are my favorite part. They look like postcards. My photo doesn't do it justice, but trust me.

I foolishly tried to get the kids to pose for a photo.

I'm pretty sure Rapunzel lives here. But really, it's a chimes tower built by Pierre duPont. The carrilon was replaced with electronic chimes in 1956, but with the 2001 rennovation authentic chimes were re-installed. The carrilon rings every 15 minutes, from 9:00 - 5:00.

The vegetable garden is one of my favorite places, if for no other reason than walking through a garden like this reminds me how beautiful the most practical of plants can be. Swiss chard is tucked in everywhere, part function, part beauty. I need to stop planting Swiss Chard in rows.

As we headed to the gates, my kids weren't quite ready to go, so we stopped by the rose garden. There is a topiary pruned into the shape of a chicken. What more could we ask for?

The kids also tried to figure out exactly which rose smelled the best. I think it was this one.

 

Longwood Gardens
1001 Longwood Road
Kennett Square, PA 19348

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Our Trip to Dutch Wonderland

Dutch Wonderland is one of those authentic amusement parks that I just can't help but love. There is a history here that goes back to 1963, when potato farmer, Earl Clark started the place.

Our first stop was the carousel. A classic.

Admission to the park includes most, but not all, of the activities along the way. Pony rides, photos, games and a few other things cost extra. Fortunately, all of the rides are included, which means they can go round and round on their favorites all day long.

Throughout the park, there are small moments where you can find the original displays, perfectly preserved and featuring little bits of Amish life. I'm so glad they have kept them. Where else can you pose with a giant pretzel anyway?

Or peek into an Amish house?

The target audience here skews young. 3-12. This may not be the place to bring your teens, but for my kids, ages 6, 6, and 12, it was perfect. The biggest roller coaster, Kingdom Coaster, is manageable for my youngest, and plenty of fun for my oldest. Honestly, I was shocked that my youngest two loved it so much. Apparently, they have a wild side that I didn't know about. Hands were in the air. Screaming.

And since there is rarely a picture of me in this blog, here I am, self-photographed, on the Kingdom Coaster. Hello.

  

But back to the point. There are places here where you can find the original stuff. And my favorite older attraction, is an incredibly simple ride.

I'm not giving away the surprise. But I will tell you this — the ride has been here since 1964, and it's the most low-tech ride in the park. Sometimes simple just works.

 

There was some silliness along the way...

and a driving lesson.

After we had played for a while, we headed to the water section of the park, Duke's Lagoon. The kids splashed and played and cooled down.

Then we headed back for still more rides.

 

All in all, a wonderful day. 

 

1-866-386-2839

Dutch Wonderland
2249 Lincoln Highway East
Lancaster, PA 17602

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Exploring Caverns at the Crystal Grottoes

The area surrounding our campsite offers lots to do for families. My very favorite place we stopped was the Crystal Grottoes, a cavern that has been owned by the same family for 3 generations and offers daily tours. We pulled up to a picturesque old storefront. Cows were grazing across a stream. While we waited for our tour to begin, the kids were completely entertained by the small trickle of water that flowed from the building into the nearby stream.

When it was time for the tour, we filed down a narrow staircase into what would normally be a basement. Instead, we found ourselves standing in a cave. Our tour guide was amazing. He switched effortlessly between scientific discussions about geology, to telling us which rock formations looked like a king, or an alligator, or an elephant...

He explained how the caverns were discovered in 1920, and how they have been digging it out ever since, bucket at a time, sometimes with shovels, but just as often by hand. Yesterday alone they removed 25 buckets full of dirt and clay, to expose still more formations.

We learned about the critters that live down here too, but they were hiding. There are a few bats, frogs, and lizards. But the thing that astounded me the most is a honeysuckle root that our guide points out. It has burrowed 70 feet underground.

My cave explorers look happy, don't they? We wandered from room to room, down windy hallways that were fortunately quite well lit. On this particular day (after an amazingly hard rain) it was a little wet down there. One room is under water, but the rest we can get too quite easily. We traveled to a final depth of about 80 feet underground. It was cool, and quiet, and peaceful. After a while, I had no idea where we were. Our tour guide pointed us to different paths, where he tells us it's about a 6 hour trek back. No thanks. We'll stick with the tour.

 

240-217-7623

Crystal Grottoes Caverns
19821 Shepherdstown Pike
Boonsboro, MD 21713

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Treehouse Campground

In general, we like our creature comforts, but we decided to ditch technology recently and do a little camping. Alright, I admit I brought my ipad... and my cell phone... and my GPS... and my camera. But in all honesty the ipad was mostly used to read Grimm's Fairy Tales so that doesn't count, right? I have excuses to cover the rest, but I won't bother.

The point is, it was just our family, with no distractions, for two nights of relative calm.

The Treehouse Campground covers all levels of campers, from people who want a tent-site, to fully enclosed cottages with wood stoves. We chose a cottage and I was so, so glad we did. The first night it poured rain. Torrential downpour. Since the campground is on the side of a steep hill, the pathways turned into waterfalls. The power went out, which didn't matter much, except that the bath house was not an option for a while, but hey, that's what happens when you are camping. Despite the mini-monsoon we were cozy and warm in our cottage, reading stories and making dinner. There was even an impromptu shadow puppet show.

Is that an amazing monster, or what?

The next day, we woke up to sunshine and bright skies, a lovely reward.

Looking around the campground there are some great options of places to stay. And I hope we will be back soon.

Magnolia, our cottage (left) was one of the most highly appointed. I really wanted to peek into Blackbird (right), because it had a tree growing right through the middle.

After a well-deserved greasy breakfast, we headed out to explore the area. I'll post more on that later.

301-432-5585

Treehouse Camp
at Maple Tree Campground
20716 Townsend Road
Rohrersville, MD 21779

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The Maryland Zoo at Baltimore

One of our last hurrahs of summer was to take the kids to the Maryland Zoo. The day was perfect. The crowd surprisingly light. And I can't quite figure out why we don't do this more often. Everyone knows what the Maryland Zoo is all about, so I won't dwell on all the great animals or lovely paths to stroll on, just a few quick comments on how to get in and out and leave without tears.

• Always take the tram down (and back up) the hill. The walk is long, and little feet will need to save their energy.
  
  
• Always pack a lunch. There are plenty of shady picnic tables, and it will leave more time for hanging out with the animals.
  
  
• Stop to feed the giraffes. Totally worth the $2 to have a giraffe lick your fingers.
  
  
• Wait... for the polar bear. He does an amazing back float/swim back maneuver, again, and again, and again. On a day full of nice surprises, he was the perfect finale.

 

 

410-369-7102

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
Druid Hill Park
Baltimore, MD 21217
(Please note: They do not have a street address)

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Sculpture Exhibition at Evergreen

 

We were feeling rather genteel, as we strolled along the grounds of Evergreen, a Gilded Age mansion on Charles Street. And hey, that's quite an accomplishment with our entourage of kids in tow. The Evergreen's new exhibit Simultaneous Presence explores the work of 10 sculptors. Each was asked to explore the "simultaneous presence of past and present." It's a theme that works very well here. The Evergreen mansion is quite an impressive backdrop, and you can't ignore the mix of past and present here, so why not embrace it.

Throughout the Italian style gardens are plenty of ivy covered walls, water fountains, and open spaces to explore. The exhibit is free, and on view throughout the museum grounds. It runs through September 26, 2010, Tuesday - Sunday, 9am - 5pm. Admission to the museum is additional.

410-516-0341

Evergreen
4545 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21210

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