Rachel Ray eat your heart out! $40 a day is nothin’ compared to a day trip for families of 3 & 4 (minus the Poppas this time,) going out for a day of fun. Here are the guidelines for our day trips: it must be under $50 for the trip ( including gas and food,) and the destination should be within 2-3 hours driving distance.
The Summer sun just calls to me and makes me want to be outside and explore. With that in mind, we set out to explore our “twin city” Council Bluffs Iowa. Now I just want to point out, that if I can find fun things to do in IOWA, you can find fun things to do were you live; it just takes a little time, planning and research.
We knew for our first trip we couldn’t go too far away from home, so Council Bluffs Iowa was the natural choice. It’s only 30 minutes away, yet we’ve never explored it. We began our search with travel guide books from the library for the state of Iowa. Just type in “Travel Guide” and your state into Amazon.com and you will find a wealth of resources.
Our first stop was an oddball historical site- The Squirrel Cage Jail. I’m sure you’re wondering what could possibly be interesting about an old jail. Well, besides having all sorts of historical features like an old fashioned kitchen, did we forget to mention it is also supposed to be haunted? This certainly got my kiddos’ attention. I will say that this place was very creepy, not so much from the haunted factor, but because it was utterly depressing to see the way these prisoners lived. I might not have minded it if the jail held hardened criminals, but we learned back in the day that you could earn 10 days in this tiny jail for bouncing a $1.50 check. It was one of the strangest places we’ve visited, but it will always stick in my memory.
Because we planned ahead, our adventure stops were all close together. We walked to our next stop, Bayliss Park. This was Ducky’s favorite and a group favorite as well. This picturesque park has beautiful sculpture fountains, adorable giant squirrel (well giant for a squirrel) sculptures and a spray ground for the kids to run through. During the Summer, they host movies and music in this park. Can’t wait to go back for that!
Next was Rails West Railroad Museum. This was my favorite. They had so many fun historical artifacts, along with a large model train that the kids all got a chance to “drive”-- bells and whistle blowing included. We learned that back in the day there were separate entrances for men and women because men could be counted on to smoke, swear and spit. This would clearly be too much for the ladies to handle and the men couldn’t handle the ladies’ need to breast feed. So, they just made them be separate. Outside of the museum they had several rail cars for the kids to explore. We even got to see a real train go right past the depot as it would have back in the day. IT WAS LOUD! We were also treated to a scavenger hunt through the miniature town replica. Once the kids found all the “sites”, they received a pencil prize. You wouldn’t think that would excite them much, but it did. This taught me an important lesson about planning day trips: just because something sounds boring to me, doesn’t mean it will be, and it doesn’t mean the kids will think it’s boring. Give things a chance!
Now it was time for some serious outdoor fun. We had heard tell of a park designed by children called Dream Playground, and the best part was that it was right next to a beach. So we stopped at the park first, where the kids enjoyed chasing butterflies, (yes we brought our nets) playing chimes, swinging and climbing everything they could. As a parent, I thought the park could have been kept up a little better, but I’ll just come better prepared with seating and sanitizer next time.
We didn’t stay long, because once the kids knew that swimming would be involved, it was all that they could think of. So, we walked over to Lake Manawa beach. They had a great concession stand with bathrooms as the entrance. Once you got inside, you saw playground equipment, volleyball nets, tether ball, heard music playing from the speakers, and of course, saw the beach. What a wonderful summer picture. The kids dived in and we had to drag them out when it was time to go. On the parent front it was a little disappointing that smoking was allowed on the beach. But, we were outside so we just worked around it. Also, don’t forget your baby powder to help get off the sand. They thankfully do have a wash off station by the concession stand, so you can rinse-off on your way out. The beach was my favorite part, even though I had a toddler determined to eat the sand and drink the lake water, blech! I just love being on the water, out in the sun.
We were exhausted and running late as we made our way home, but the day was a success. We both beat our budget goals for the Day.
· Ducky’s expenses included : gas, snacks, museum entrance, beach entrance and an innertube at the beach = $40.50 for 3 people.
· Clucky’s expenses included: gas, snacks, museum entrance, beach entrance = $31.25 for 4 people
We hope we inspired you to get out and visit those places you’ve always wanted to see, but just never got around to it. You can do it AND you can do it on a budget. It just takes a little time, planning and research. Where will your first day trip be?
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