Thinking outside the box, or, in this case, the classroom ...

Last week, the kids and I tagged along with Ed on one of his business trips. Over four days, we trekked over 1600 miles, stopping in St. Louis, Memphis, and Huntsville. While Ed visited colleagues and clients, the kids and I had a blast, seeing and exploring all sorts of new things. This is one of the reasons I love homeschooling. We have the freedom to go with Ed when he travels, and we don’t have to worry about the school district’s calendar. Don’t worry, though, there were lots of learning opportunities while we were with him. They may not always be in the form of a textbook or workbooks, but the lessons are plentiful.
 

In St. Louis, we explored the streets of Old St. Charles, which is always fun, stopping by Riverside Sweets to sample their homemade fudge. The kids also marveled at the Gateway Arch. They were amazed by its height. The monument is truly an extraordinary feat of engineering. Architects are the dreamers, but Engineers make that dream a reality. OK, yes, I’m a little prejudiced. I am married to a Professional Engineer. However, the story of how the arch was designed and built is really incredible, and someone had to figure out how to make that arch soar 630 feet in the air and not fall down. Go Engineers!

In Memphis, we took advantage of their downtown trolley system, grabbing daily passes for a mere $3.50 each. We spent the whole afternoon taking in the city’s sights. We met 91 year old Blues Legend, Clyde Hopkins. We listened to his music, talked to him, and he even gave the kids pointers on singing the blues and dancing. He also directed us to the best place to eat on Beale Street. I know it was just his opinion, but we wholeheartedly agreed. The Voodoo Chicken and BBQ were amazing at The King’s Palace Café. We had a lot of fun at A. Schwab, the only remaining original business on Beale Street. It was established by Abraham Schwab in 1876, and their motto is, “If you can't find it at A. Schwab, you're probably better off without it!" They have a huge selection of hats to try on and we laughed so hard we almost cried as we played in them. The store also has a museum, giving us a look at the store, street, and town’s history. We finished our day in Memphis at the Lorraine Hotel area, paying our respects to Dr. Martin Luther King and others involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

On the following day, we left Ed to call on a customer and drove a couple hours over to Huntsville, visiting the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (Home of Space Camp!). Yeah, it was that exciting!! It is heralded as “one of the most comprehensive U.S. manned space flight hardware museums in the world”, and it certainly does not disappoint! There were plenty of exhibits and hands-on experiments to please my inquisitive, budding engineers. We took advantage of the special Black Hole exhibit, making space badges to record all the work they did from the activities. Grace’s name was Astro Joker, and Phillip’s name was Techno Scout. When they inserted their badge at a specific activity, their work is saved. Later, you can visit a website that shows all your work, plus has more things for you to do. Very cool! All the museum exhibits were INCREDIBLE, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the activities. However, I think the biggest highlight for them was walking around the Rocket and Shuttle Parks outside and taking in the Saturn V housed inside the Davidson Center. The sheer size of the rockets and equipment is amazing! It was a wonderful afternoon, even though it started raining while we were there. If you ever travel that way and you have some space fanatics with you, please make this one of your stops!

Our last stop wasn’t planned, but I think it was one of the best we made. As I was saying earlier, it began raining while we were in Huntsville. By the time we left, it was around 5 in the afternoon and pouring. We were planning on driving back to join Ed, but the weather had other ideas. We ended up stopping in Cullman for the night. When we were looking for a map of the area, we found a pamphlet on a nearby attraction, the Ava Maria Grotto. I really had thought we’d get on the road early, so I didn’t think too much of it. The next day, however, started out foggy and Ed told us to wait for it to clear off before we started. The kids were raring to go, so we decided to check out the grotto before we left town. What a gem! Here's a description from their website:

It’s “known throughout the world as Jerusalem in Miniature, and is a beautifully landscaped, four-acre park designed to provide a natural setting for the 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous historic buildings and shrines of the world. The masterpieces of stone and concrete are the lifetime work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard Abbey. Begun as a hobby, with various materials he could find, and infinite patience and a remarkable sense of symmetry and proportion, Brother Joseph re-created some of the greatest edifices of all time.” –avamariagrotto.com

I don’t have the words to explain how remarkable this place is! We saw amazing things around every corner. The miniature buildings are incredible, but then you look a little closer and realize how very special they are because you start to notice all the different materials Brother Joseph used to build his creations. You might find a button, a marble, a pottery shard, a brooch, a unique shell, or a pocket watch. It’s absolutely remarkable. Besides the grotto, there is a lovely pathway you can go down, lined with benches and the Stations of the Cross. At the end of the path is a small cemetary and chapel. It's both peaceful and beautiful.

So, yes, last week we weren’t at home in the classroom doing school, but, don’t worry, we were learning plenty of new things. At the same time, we were making memories that we'll treasure for the rest of our lives. The classroom doesn’t have to be inside. Learning doesn’t have to be from a book or a workbook. It can happen anywhere. You just have to take the time to notice!