A great field trip day

We had just a fabulous day --- it was a field trip day. Amazingly I didn't get very many to sign up for this event but the smaller number was nice. It was more personal and it was not overwhelming. Some of my events have gotten so large it can be a lot of work!! This one was really much easier and my kids just loved the day. They loved that one of their favorite homeschooling families joined us last minute on this field trip. This family has 4 kids where we have 3 --- but interestingly they have a child same grade/age as all of mine. They just slipped an extra one in there!! So there is a friend for each of my kids. And all their kids are just so nice and wonderful. I think it made the field trip all that much more special - when there are great friends along to share the day!!

Here was our day:

9-10:30 Milton house tour

11:00 - 12:30 play at park and eat lunch

1:00 - 2:30 tour of Lincoln Tallman house

3:00 - 4:00 tour of Janesville Gazette. 

Then head home. 

Milton house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. It was run by a family that were strongly abolitionist. It is the only station on the Underground Railroad that was actually underground. The family ran a traveler's inn and therefore they couldn't trust that all those visiting their house wouldn't turn them in to authorities. They built a tunnel underground connecting the inn to the family house / outdoor kitchen. It was the family home until they added on to the inn - adding an area for the family to live. Then it was the outdoor kitchen. 

Walking through the tunnel was really shocking. It has been enlarged but still it seemed sooooo small when we walked through. If there were slave catchers in the area, the runaway slaves would hide in the tunnel until they left. That would mean remaining in the tunnel for several hours. The tunnel has walls now but at the time in the 1800's it was all dirt - dirt walls and floor. When it rained it would be wet down in the tunnel. It really gave us a feeling for how horrible it was for the slaves. 

The Lincoln Tallman House was considered a 'rich mansion' for the 1850's in Wisconsin. It gave us a view of how the upper rich in society in the 1850's - 1890's would have lived. Fascinating history. It was the place Abraham Lincoln stayed when he came to Wisconsin to campaign for President. Lots of great history and over 70% of the furnishing in the house are from the Tallman family. So it was really very authentic. 

Then lastly we toured the Janesville Gazette --- a newspaper. What a great tour!! They actually run the presses during the evening so the building was empty at the time we toured. But we got to walk up to all the machines and our guide told us how the process worked. It was a great tour and the kids just loved it. 

I have to confess that one of the highlights for the kids ---- was ---- drum roll ---- the scheduled time at the park!!! While they did enjoy the whole day --- having scheduled time to 'play' was just so fabulous to them. Kids!!!