National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredricksburg, TX

One highlight of our past winter’s trip ended up being a stop we made in Fredricksburg, Texas. While the girls and I shopped and caught up on the laundry, all 7 of my guys hit what would end up being one of their favorite stops on our entire trip – The National Museum of the Pacific War (also on location is The Admiral Nimitz Museum). The museum is set-up so that when you enter, you receive a map that takes you through the entire museum, which is set up to chronologically follow the events as they happened in the war. This really helped my younger boys to understand how the war progressed instead of knowing about bits and pieces but not really where they fit into the entire campaign.

Based on the events of WWII, there was so much to see, read about, and do, that the guys ended up spending 2 days touring the grounds! The museum is very professionally done, with lots of media and hand-on activities like touch screens; I have one son who is REALLY into touch screens :). Hallways that surround you with moving pictures while you walk along, short films and footage through-out, and even a outdoor battlefield where they occasionally hold reenactments (which we didn’t know about and missed by 2 days!!!). And though the museum had great activities for all ages, it also did an incredible job of showing respect for the sacrifices that our soldiers made during WWII. One of the places that my boys spent the most time was reading the names on the wall dedicated to the recipients of the Medal of Honor, and also a wall covered with plaques about ships that served in the war, which was located outdoors in a beautiful garden donated by the people of Japan and named the Garden of Peace.

The Admiral Nimitz Museum and The National Museum of the Pacific War are great stops for those of us, of any age, with a historical appreciation. One of the best parts of the museum is that your ticket is good for both museums, and for 2 days! This was really nice for the younger boys; they could split it up between two days and not get burned out on info, and it was also great for my bigger boys (this includes DH) since one day would definitely not have been long enough for them! Even now, 5 months later and at the end of our travels for the winter, the guys were still reminiscing about their incredible visit to The National Museum of the Pacific War. This is one stop that we absolutely will repeat.