Midwest Region
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Iowa
- Visited: Effigy Mounds National Monument
- Visited: Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
Illinois
- Visited: Lincoln Home National Historic Site
- Visited: Pullman National Monument
Indiana
- Visited: George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
- Visited: Indiana Dunes National Park
- Visited: Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
Kansas
- Visited: Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
- Visited: Fort Larned National Historic Site
- Visited: Fort Scott National Historic Site
- Visited: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
- Visited: Nicodemus National Historic Site
Michigan
- Not yet: Isle Royale National Park
- Visited: Keweenaw National Historical Park
- Visited: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
- Not yet: River Raisin National Battlefield Park
- Visited: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Minnesota
- Visited: Grand Portage National Historical Site
- Visited: Mississippi National River & Recreation Area
- Visited: Pipestone National Monument
- Visited: Voyageurs National Park
Missouri
- Visited: George Washington Carver National Monument
- Visited: Harry S Truman National Historic Site
- Visited: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
- Visited: Ozark National Scenic Riverways
- Visited: Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
- Visited: Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield
Nebraska
- Visited: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
- Visited: Homestead National Historical Park
- Not yet: Missouri National Recreational River
- Visited: Niobrara National Scenic River
- Visited: Scotts Bluff National Monument
- Visited: Pony Express National Historic Trail
Ohio
- Not yet: Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
- Not yet: Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Visited: Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
- Visited: First Ladies National Historic Site
- Visited: Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
- Visited: James A. Garfield National Historic Site
- Visited: Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memorial
- Visited: William Howard Taft National Historic Site
Wisconsin
- Visited: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
- Not yet: St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
Recent Posts
First Ladies National Historic Site
Another solo road trip brought me to the First Ladies National Historic Site. Housed in this historic mansion, the site tells a story of the influence, leadership and sacrifices of the women who stood beside the presidents of the United States. The National Historic Site was established in 2000 when President Bill Clinton signed it into the […]
Keweenaw National Park
Traveling through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with Erin was one of those special road trips that remains long after the journey ends. The Upper Peninsula feels like a world apart from the rest of Michigan. As we explored the region, I was especially drawn to the story of the people who came here seeking opportunity. The history […]
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
While many people associate the story of flight with Kitty Hawk, it was here in Dayton that the real work of invention took place. The famous flight may have occurred on the sandy dunes of North Carolina, but the ideas, experiments, calculations and engineering that made it possible were born in Ohio. The Dayton Aviation Heritage National […]
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
Driving from the Chicago area after a weekend seminar, I found myself discovering one of the lesser-known sites in the National Park System: George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes. Before this visit, I knew almost nothing about the history connected to George Rogers Clark or the important role Vincennes played during the American Revolution. The memorial is a massive […]
Nicodemus National Historic Site
I have traveled to many of our smaller National Park sites alone. Many of them require long drives across isolated roads where there is not much else to see along the way. But for me, the destinations are always worth it. When we were driving across Kansas towards Colorado, I asked Marty to take a detour […]
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
The rolling grasses and soft morning mist of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, one of the rarest landscapes remaining in North America. The preserve protects a small surviving piece of the vast tallgrass prairie that once stretched across millions of acres from Texas north into Canada. Today, less than four percent of that original prairie ecosystem still exists. The Flint Hills became one […]
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Scott National Historic Site preserves one of the most important frontier military posts in the American Midwest. The historic buildings, parade grounds and officers’ quarters bring visitors back to a time when the western frontier was rapidly expanding and the United States was struggling with issues that would eventually lead to the Civil War. Fort Scott […]
Gateway Arch National Park / Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
This is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis that rises 630 feet into the sky. Its stainless-steel curve is striking as it frames the city behind it and reflects the light that changes with the time of day. This monument is a symbol. It represents the westward expansion of the United States, marking St. Louis as […]
Grand Portage National Historical Site
This is Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota, a place that tells the story of movement, trade and connection across a vast landscape. I explored much of Minnesota on solo road trips, and it is a beautiful state with miles between sites, long stretch of road. Each destination is chosen with intention, like Grand Portage. Grand Portage […]
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Traveling into the Ozarks of Missouri, I came to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, a place defined not by mountains or monuments, but my water. Here the landscape is shaped by two rivers: The Current River and the Jacks Fork River, both fed by some of the largest natural springs in the country. The water is clear, […]
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
At the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, I saw not just the resting place of a president, but also the beginning of his life. Located in the small town of West Branch, Iowa, the site preserves the humble Quaker community where Herbert Hoover was born in 1874. Hoover’s grave site one a quiet hillside overlooking […]
George Washington Carver National Monument
The George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri, honors the life of a man born into slavery who would become one of the most respected agricultural scientists and educators in American history. Visiting this site is about a beginning. George Washington Carver was born in the early 1860s on a small farm owned by […]
