All Things Travel Podcast

Most Patriotic and Historical U.S. Travel Destinations

• Ryan Hedstrom & Julie Shaffer • Season 1 • Episode 220

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Ryan and Julie discuss top patriotic and historical travel destinations in the United States, sharing personal experiences and tips for visiting these iconic American sites.


  1. Washington D.C.
  • Many attractions are free, including Smithsonian museums and monuments
  • Need reservations for some sites like Capitol tours
  • Great public transportation system
  • Very hot in summer
  1. Philadelphia, PA
  • Home to Independence National Historical Park, Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin Museum
  • More walkable than D.C.
  • Reading Market recommended for food
  1. New York City
  • Historical sites from colonial era through present day
  • Recommended: Tenement Museum for immigrant history
  • Balance historical sites with other NYC attractions
  1. Boston, MA
  • Freedom Trail highlights Revolutionary War sites
  • Very walkable city
  • Great starting point for New England tour
  1. Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial
  • Iconic monuments in South Dakota
  • Gateway to exploring national parks in western U.S.
  1. Colonial Williamsburg
  • Immersive historical reenactment experience
  • Can be combined with Busch Gardens theme park
  1. Gettysburg and other Civil War sites
  • Interactive experiences bring history to life



Travel Planning Tips:

  • Work with travel advisors to create custom itineraries
  • Consider guided tours for historical destinations
  • Balance historical sites with other attractions

Contact Info: Julie@CreatingMagicVacations.com Ryan@CreatingMagicVacations.com

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Ryan:

Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Tomorrow is July 4th in the United States. In honor of that, we wanted to highlight some of the most patriotic and historical U. S. travel destinations. Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. I'm your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And she's a Disney loving, Maryland mom of three, and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel. So Julie, when you think about the upcoming holiday in the United States, July 4th we obviously know we have a lot of international listeners. But, we're celebrating the 4th of July here in the United States tomorrow. What's a memorable 4th of July, either specifically or in general, for you?

Julie:

My family, I've talked about this before. We have a beach house in Ocean City, Maryland, which is about three hours from where I am. The beach house was my grandparents house. So they lived there my whole life. We went down a lot during the summer and I used to work at the beach during the summers as well. I liked to be there for the 4th of

Ryan:

Yeah, that just was kind of synonymous for you with that

Julie:

Yeah, a lot of people in my area, you go to the beach for the 4th of July because the fireworks are so good. Where they set the fireworks are off at the park down there is like 3 streets away from my grandparents house. And my grandparents house is across from the water. So it's like their house, their driveway, the street, and then the bulkhead in the water. They have a clear view, like the fireworks are right over the water, right in front of their house. so I just have a lot of, a lot of really great memories of sitting outside on their driveway with them. Putting the chairs out in the morning to save the spots and all that kind of stuff. I always remember being there for the 4th of July. The past couple of years I've been home, in our town, there's like a big parade but we don't really do that because it's so, it's so hot, it's just too hot.

Ryan:

So I remember this would have been back in 2001. I had finished up grad school and graduated from Boston University and my parents came out at the beginning of July and to help pack me up and then move me back to the Midwest because I was moving to Michigan and we went to Cape Cod and we did Boston y things. And then on the 4th, we actually took a blanket down and picnicked and listened to the pops on the 4th of July. And that was, that was such a unique experience I remember growing up watching that on TV, with the symphony orchestra and the fireworks and everything. So to be there that day, kind of in the bustle of it was just really cool.

Julie:

Yeah, that's awesome. That's very cool. I mean, in the US, it's a very fun holiday. People celebrate, like, so much. We have, like, fireworks going off, like, all the time. I'm

Ryan:

Yeah, we've already, we've already had fireworks starting around my house.

Julie:

exactly. Exactly. So as a young parent, it's not my favorite holiday, but it's fine. It's

Ryan:

It'll,

Julie:

would love

Ryan:

it'll get more fun.

Julie:

Right. I would love to go to Disney for the fourth because their fireworks would be very cool, but it'd be too hot. I

Ryan:

about some of our favorites and also places that we've booked for folks having to do with patriotic U. S. and historical travel. I'm really excited to talk about these places, Julie. I've been to most of them and have some personal experience, but I do want to remind folks before we talk about that, that last week we talked all about your family's recent trip to Beaches, Turks, and Caicos, and boy did you make us really want to book a trip there. So hey

Julie:

hope so.

Ryan:

go back and check that episode out if you haven't.

Julie:

And don't forget to connect with us on our new Facebook page, All Things Travel Podcast. We're going to talk about six or seven places that we recommend if you are into exploring history of the U. S. and ways to celebrate the nation. But we're not going to go through specific like vendors, right? Right. We said, we we've talked about these vendors in the past,

Ryan:

Yeah, so we've talked about Adventures by Disney. We've talked about American Tours International. Next week we're going to hear all about Kensington. All of these companies that we work with have tours for most of these places. So if one of these strikes your fancy as far as historical and patriotic travel, hook up with us so we can match you with the right tour for you.

Julie:

Obviously the first place that we had recommend would be Washington DC, right? That's

Ryan:

I

Julie:

where everything culminates.

Ryan:

love Washington DC. I've been there multiple times. I was actually just there with my kids last summer. My daughter was looking at a few colleges there. I just planned an amazing Washington DC trip for a family this past spring break. This has so much bang for your buck, Julie, because so much of the attractions that you want to see in Washington DC are what?

Julie:

They're free.

Ryan:

are free. And so, what I would say is make sure that you don't have to get reservations. For instance, with the Capitol, or maybe touring the White House, if you want to see a specific area of the archives, you do need to get a reservation. And that's often through the Park Service. But Smithsonian Museums Tons of monuments everything that you're thinking of right now as we say, Washington, D. C Nine out of ten of them are completely free.

Julie:

Yeah. And that's really great. I would say though, balance out your trip a little bit, right? Do some historical stuff and then go do some of the really fun stuff. They have concerts around there all the time. There's

Ryan:

I love the I love the waterfront I love the waterfront area. Yeah.

Julie:

There in hockey season, a Capitals game is a lovely experience.

Ryan:

it's really It's really I mean Washington DC once you start to research it for a trip There's a lot more there than you think like you said anything from professional sports to museums to arts to just Fun places to see and not just historical museums. One of my kids favorite places to go was actually the Spy Museum, so that's not free. But man, that's really cool. A couple years ago, several travel advisors, including our agency owners We were at the journalism museum as part of a conference there and so you saw part of the berlin wall and you saw all these these things having to do with journalism and media and it was It's just a really great trip. The one thing I will say about washington dc A tip is it's very hot because of where it is located obviously in the united states and you

Julie:

Well, in the summer, it's very

Ryan:

Correct, correct, and you walk a lot In Washington DC to counteract that though their public transportation system is really really good. So First and foremost, we have to say Washington DC, right? Followed by before Washington DC the capital of the country Philadelphia pennsylvania

Julie:

Yeah. Mm

Ryan:

nothing historical in philadelphia. Is there julie?

Julie:

mm. Not at all. Just fun stuff. Yeah,

Ryan:

talking before the show that this is kind of your backyard as far as taking

Julie:

and it's just,

Ryan:

different

Julie:

it's so funny because a lot of the destinations that are on our list today, we took field trips too. We took a field trip to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and the Ben Franklin Museum and all those kinds of things. And same for DC, we took field trips down to DC to see things. We were really fortunate that it's Literally in our backyard. I was in Philly last weekend. Not for any of these things, but

Ryan:

Well in philadelphia, obviously you have the independence national historical park and again people don't think about the fact that this is actually part of the park service as far as getting information and seeing stuff about that You have the liberty bell for sure. You have the benjamin franklin museum, but you know It's a really cool city to see because you see the history and the architecture you see the history and Everything having to do with those, early days of the united states and philadelphia I would throw an honorable mention in here. That's not patriotic and historical, but I love redding market That's not going to surprise you at

Julie:

Oh, that's where I was

Ryan:

just love I mean, it's a giant food court It's a giant food

Julie:

Market.

Ryan:

Those are the types of places. I really feel like I get to To know the city, right?

Julie:

Reading Market is pretty centrally located. In center city of Philadelphia. If we are going up there for whatever reason, usually it's like a concert or a show of some sort. That's where we're saying is center city and we're eating at Reading market. So yeah, I literally was next door to that last week. That's a really fun place to be. And that's the one cool thing about Philadelphia. Like DC is very spread out, right? The museums are really big. The monuments are really big. The national mall is very big. Philadelphia is a little easier to walk around. Things are a little closer together. That's kind of nice

Ryan:

We're talking about philadelphia now in a few minutes. We're going to talk about boston, that's the advantage of those historical cities because they were designed When you were walking when you were on horses and those cities weren't spread out

Julie:

absolutely. Wow. What a good tip. What

Ryan:

So, when we talk about Philadelphia, Julie, any little must dos or things that you can think of having been there that has to do with this idea of U. S. historical travel?

Julie:

The Benjamin Franklin Museum and his house, that's a really cool site to see. When I was a kid, that was a place that I really liked to go but there's also some really awesome spots in Philly. If you're families, they have some great children's museums and they usually have some really great shows that you can go see. So again, just kind of balancing that trip out with a little history and a little fun.

Ryan:

I love that idea, and I think so far, both D. C. and Philadelphia, and really any of the cities we're going to talk about today, fit that 100%. The third one we're going to talk about today is New York City. And obviously, there are so many iconic New York City landmarks. You've got the Brooklyn Bridge, you've obviously got the Statue of Liberty, the skyline that you're thinking of, 9 11, you've got Central Park, but People don't really think about New York City as a early American settlement. They don't think of New York City when it was New Amsterdam and the beginning of the revolution, because right after Bunker Hill, you had the battle in New York City. And so there is this really colonial. History in New York City if that's really what you're looking for you know spoiler watch national treasure and you'll see what I mean. But But there really is this so New York City, I love for this idea julie because you can start at the beginning in the united states and see a slice of america All the way up to present day One of the places that I absolutely love i've been there twice is the tenement museum In New York City. The Tenement Museum is a non profit, and they have purchased an old tenement building, and they basically have different apartments that they have restored to the style of the day. So you can sign up for different tours. I've done two different tours, where basically it will tell you, okay you know if you were in New York City in 1916 and you were a Russian Jewish family, this is the living conditions that you would be in. If you were a butcher or a tavern owner, in the 1890s, this is what your space would look like. This is what and it's not just Theoretical these are the people that lived here. We know this about them. It is Fascinating. I've I've gone as an adult. I've gone as a dad with my kids Highly highly recommend it is really really cool. Especially I would say like junior high and on I think they would get little kids. It would be a little too history for them, but I love the tenement museum so much to do in new york city having to do with patriotic and and historical travel for sure,

Julie:

Yeah. That's a really fun one. And like you said, not really one that I would have thought of for New York City. When I think of New York City, I think of like Times Square and shopping and shows. So that's great to have that other side

Ryan:

It's perfect for your balance, right? We we do this part, today then tomorrow we're going to walk the high line We do this part today and then we're going to go to a broadway show or we're going to go out to brunch and then walk Through central park, you can do so much in that city

Julie:

and I would definitely say that if you aren't planning a trip to New York City or interested in planning one Definitely come up with a loose itinerary of like these are the two things we're going to do today because it is Overwhelming with how much you can do.

Ryan:

yes, especially with New York City. I like your two things idea because It gives you a guide but also gives you space Right i'm not going to feel like I have to do everything today I'm going to focus on these two things i'm going to leave space for window shopping I'm going to leave space for exploring a park that I find all that stuff

Julie:

Yeah, absolutely.

Ryan:

Before we move on with our next destinations julie I want to talk about where in the world does all things travel?

Julie:

All right.

Ryan:

So a new destination that just popped up and I mean just popped up because earlier today I looked at new destinations and this one wasn't on the list And then I looked again right before we recorded and it was there at the top. It is Waterloo, Ontario Which is considered the greater toronto area. Have you been to toronto? Julie,

Julie:

I haven't. I haven't. I would like to go.

Ryan:

It is such a cool city because it's a mix of the north american and european Influences, so there's very much parts that feel Much like the u. s. And then there's parts that kind of have influences from english and from french and I just absolutely love it So there's so many places to meet our listener in toronto and we'll outerloo specifically. I just want to say thank you so much for reaching out You We love to know I I think it's a little ironic that I chose an international destination on the day we talk About historical u. s. Travel, but hey, you know our friends to the north I was up last week in detroit for a travel agent thing and you could literally look across the river and see ontario So, you know, we're not that far away julie So i'm so glad that you are listening to us up in waterloo Reach out to me or Julie, either via Facebook or email.'cause I would love to send a thank you gift to Waterloo, Ontario for being a listener. This next one's my favorite. Alright. I mentioned Boston for grad school. I love Boston so much, and obviously there is. Patriotic and historical sites galore when it comes to Boston. One of the first things that I did with my parents when we were visiting the school to see if I wanted to go there was doing the Freedom Trail. And the Freedom Trail is amazing. It goes around to all of the impactful places during the Revolution. So you see anything from Faneuil Hall, To the harbor, to where the Boston Tea Party was, to the tavern, where the Sons of Liberty would plan their next adventures you go to Old North Church, where Paul Revere rode by to make his announcement of the British invasion. It's so cool. And, just like Philadelphia, the city is so walkable, to be honest when I lived there sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday morning I would just walk it because it was such a cool area of the city and it was good exercise, right? And so it's just it was just a lot of fun And one of the coolest parts Julie is to walk by the cemetery and seeing all of those Founding Fathers kind of the revolutionary greatest hits if you will being all buried right there

Julie:

Wow.

Ryan:

It's really neat. I love Boston so much. Obviously then you can expand head out to to bunker hill and all those places. I will say to 1 of the things I like about Boston is. I feel like if, if your focus is on history, in two, three days you can really hit the highlights and feel like you get to see it, and then what a great jumping off point for a New England tour, right? Rent a

Julie:

That would be so cool.

Ryan:

yeah, rent a car, get in the train. Head on up to do some leaf peeping head on up for some lobster and if you really want to get ambitious Why not go up through New Hampshire and Vermont up to Maine and in the trip in Montreal? That's what I think you should do

Julie:

Oh, wow. That's Ryan's next trip. He's

Ryan:

that. There you go. I like that. I like that idea. Boston is the top of my list for this type of travel.

Julie:

Boston is definitely a city we really want to go to. We are kind of in like that weird spot where it's drivable, but like it's a far drive. So it's always something that's like. Oh, we should do Boston, but do we want to drive that far? I don't know.

Ryan:

right, right

Julie:

We will get there one day. We will probably get there for a Red Sox game

Ryan:

Well, hey, you know, when I lived there, when I lived there, Julie, I don't know if you knew this about me but obviously Boston University is real close to Fenway Park, and my building was actually the Sitco sign.

Julie:

my god.

Ryan:

I could, on a clear day in the summer, I could have my windows open, and if I was watching a Red Sox game on TV, if there was a big play or a home run, I'd put the TV on mute, and you could hear it in the background.

Julie:

No way. Oh, that's so cool.

Ryan:

I loved living there as a grad student because it was such a fun city I didn't love living there as a grad student because I didn't have any money

Julie:

That's hilarious. I love that for you.

Ryan:

All right, where are we headed next julie,

Julie:

We are going to go over to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial and talk about some of the national parks out towards the west.

Ryan:

What an amazing thing Historical site and really when you think of monuments in the United States Mount Rushmore in South Dakota's Black Hills the 60 foot faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln stand 500 feet tall And then just 17 miles away you have the Crazy Horse Memorial And so what an awesome way to see a part of the United States You But also then a jumping off point for seeing what I consider As much historical and patriotic travel as anything we're talking about today Heading into the national parks and just exploring the beautiful united states and I i'll tell you I haven't done much of this especially in that part of the united states and I would really I'm, not a big road trip guy, but coming from the midwest. I I could see doing this. In fact mike reed who's been on the show several times from minneapolis. He was really twisting my arm To do a road trip out to the national parks and mount rushmore this past year But the dates just didn't work for me. But what an amazing place to see in in our country julie

Julie:

That would be great. It's definitely high on my list and we've highlighted a lot of the national parks in the past.

Ryan:

So colonial williamsburg makes the list. Here's my thing with a place like Colonial Williamsburg. I used to love as a kid going to these reenactment places you're thinking of Mount Vernon. You're thinking of some of the Civil War sites. It's really cool I will say and this is my opinion. It's pretty touristy

Julie:

is so touristy

Ryan:

think you're going to get the same experience even going to a Boston or Philadelphia that you're going to get at Colonial Williamsburg. But if you want to learn about the history and kind of visualize it as you're learning, I think Colonial Williamsburg is a really good place to do that. And for, a family combining that with Bush Gardens, that might be a way to go.

Julie:

well and Colonial Williamsburg to me compared to the other places we've talked about is a little more involved. You're involved in the experiences. You're experiencing what it was like to live in colonial times. Like they have the reenactments, they have all sorts of things where they have like a blacksmith and you like go into their shop and see what they do. Like they're really putting

Ryan:

right. The glass blowing and kind of all that stuff. Yeah.

Julie:

Yeah, as opposed to these other sites where it's like you're going to the museums and seeing the historical site Williamsburg Like you're at the historical site and you're in the historical site and I think that's kind of cool We have done Williamsburg many times. I remember going as a kid and Stephen and I actually went to We've been to Bush Gardens maybe two or three times. We went there a lot when I was in PT school, cause we were a little closer to Williamsburg than where we are right now. It's a very easy to navigate area and it's very easily done in a weekend.

Ryan:

Very good. Now, one of the parts of history we haven't talked about yet, Julie, to wrap up our list is the Civil War. And I know one place that you really like with the Civil War is Gettysburg. I've been to Antietam and I've been to a couple other sites when I had family living out in Maryland. But why does Gettysburg make the list for you?

Julie:

So it's pretty close to me. It's up in Pennsylvania, and that was a place that we went to a couple of times as a kid, because it's easy to get to for us. And it's kind of like Williamsburg where they have a lot of the interactive stuff, which makes it a little more fun for kids when they can experience that. When we were in school, we had to learn, things like the Gettysburg Address so it was something that to easily relate to, but it's not that stuffy museum experience that kids may not enjoy. It's, it's more interactive. So I like that

Ryan:

Yeah, I like the places that we're talking about today where they bring it to life, right? Where you can see it in different ways other than just here's a plaque, read it and reflect.

Julie:

And reflect, as opposed to here is your uniform, go fight and then reflect.

Ryan:

We work with a lot of folks that can develop tours around these spots, or we can help you create your own vacation to a place. I've done Boston, I've done New York city, I've done Washington, DC, and Julie's done the same. We can help you with that either as a family or Or put you with a company that will create a tour or a really good experience around that So julie as we wrap up, what's a patriotic site that you want to see? That is either on this list or something else.

Julie:

So I'm going to give you two answers here. I'm going to say, I really would love to go to Boston and do a day of history, like a day of food touring. And then, end it with a Red Sox game when they're playing the Orioles. Like that would be a great weekend away for me. My kids would not enjoy it. My husband would enjoy that. But

Ryan:

heritage heading up to the north end for a nice dinner heading to mike's pastries Just Oh, it would just be an amazing trip for you.

Julie:

realistically, I think Colonial Williamsburg would be a hit for my family in a few years. We love theme parks. Obviously we'd love Disney World and Busch Gardens is a very clean, very clean. So I could very easily see doing a day there with my kids doing the history stuff one day, Busch Gardens the second day and making a nice little trip out of it.

Ryan:

That sounds great. And since you gave two, I'll give two as well. And I said this a little earlier, I really want to spend some time over the next season of my life here hitting the national parks. That's something like I feel like I need to do. So, Is that heading out west? Is that heading to Mount Rushmore? There's certainly ones that I want to see and experience. My daughter, this is the second one, my daughter is going to school starting next year in Pennsylvania. And so that will pull me a little more over your way. Maybe I can combine visits with her, to some of these sites. I definitely need to get back to Philadelphia. I was talking to somebody about Philadelphia. The other day and it's been over 20 years since I've been there getting out there again Seeing some of those sites again kind of a different light right 20 years later Really really excites me

Julie:

You want to plan a trip to an amazing destination, but don't know how to get started. As your travel advisors, we will work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away so you can focus on the fun and creating memories. You can reach out to us at Julie at CreatingMagicVacations. com.

Ryan:

Or Ryan at CreatingMagicVacations. com. We forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel when Julie and I discuss what to do with three vacation days and the perimeters to the trip were chosen by you, our Facebook followers.

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Julie Shaffer

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Ryan Hedstrom

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