The Road Less Traveled: A Mini Adventure in Chillicothe

It has been a crazy busy past two weeks. Last night was the first time I slept for more than seven hours straight. During these past fourteen days, my son and I have went on quite a few mini adventures. These mini adventures have succeeded in reminding me of what kids really need.

As a teacher, I see many kids come back from summer break having backslid. Their eyes are glazed over from starting at a screen for fourteen hours a day. They haven’t read anything besides Facebook all summer. They have had little contact or real conversation with adults.

Parents appear exhausted with their children’s behavior. They express their need for school to start back up via memes on social media.

But, I, I for one, love summer with my son. This past Saturday, we spent the day out and about and learning. We started the day with a trip to Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio. There, my son ran alongside the ancient effigy mound. He learned about the Adena culture. We happened to arrive on a day they were having a special event. My son’s eyes lit up as he gazed at snakes and listened to an Ohio Wildlife officer discuss the native turtles and tortoises. After an hour, the whole family left with more knowledge and an irreplaceable life experience. The total cost of stop one was eight dollars for parking.

Our next stop is possibly Chillicothe’s best hidden gem, Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. This may have been the highlight of the day. We only went to the Mound City location, but I believe their are two other locations that you can visit. At Mound City, we were welcomed by a park ranger who showed us to a mini theatre where we watched a mini documentary on the Hopewell culture. IT WAS GREAT. By great, I mean, my husband may be getting the full length documentary for his birthday. After the movie, we toured their mini museum which displayed many items that were found on the site. Then, we toured the Mound City Burial Grounds. There is really no words to describe that. Best part, this experience cost a grand total of zero dollars. My son has not stopped talking about this park. He learned so much. There is something to be said for walking along side 2000 year old burial mounds. Sitting at home in front of an Xbox could have not given my son that experience nor taught him as much as he learned in two hours at a National Park.

The last stop of the day was Chillicothe’s own Tecumseh! This was the priciest stop at almost 100 dollars total (tickets and intermission snacks). But, we were able to watch the drama centering around the life of Tecumseh. It was a great show. This is a play that I firmly believe everyone should see at least once in their life. The drama was also a great way to culminate a day of exploring Indian culture in Ohio. Not only did we learn about Tecumseh and the Shawnee, but I found out that the Sciotio Society is putting on two FREE Shakespeare Plays (The Tempest and Macbeth) through their Shakespeare on the Sugarloaf initiative. Guess where the son of this excited English teacher is going this summer?

In one day, we spent a mere one hundred dollars to walk along earthen works and ancient burial grounds, to learn of the culture of the Hopewell, Adena, and Shawnee. We soaked in the sunshine and fresh air. All of our curiosities were heighten. We walked and laughed and made plans to visit more sites in the future.

It seems as if a majority of parents let their children lay around and watch tv. What children need most is not another day of immediate gratification. They don’t need a day at the amusement park or anywhere with fast and easy fun. They need nature and adventure.  They need to spend quality time with their families that doesn’t involve staring at a screen. As a teacher, I often hear how the schools don’t teach the important stuff. Take your summer and teach your children what you want them to learn. My son could not have learned in the way he did last Saturday sitting in a classroom. I am grateful for the opportunity to share these experiences with him. I wish fervently that more parents would feel the same.

So get out there. Have fun. Take your child on an adventure. Teach them the important stuff.