Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center

In the process of reading a book about Harriet Tubman aloud to the children, I learned that she was from Cambridge, MD which is only an hour drive from our house. So much history is tucked away in this super rural town. This little field trip has been on my list for the last year and I finally made it happen. I didn't really make a well researched plan. We went to a museum in downtown Cambridge, but it was closed on Wednesdays and I knew I wanted to find this mural. I asked a local business owner and she pointed us to the wall behind her store.

The mural was finished just the week before we visited. I had seen a viral picture of it almost finished with a little girl putting her hand on Harriet Tubman's hand. I knew I wanted to find it. It's an amazing, beautiful piece of art.

The business owner also directed us to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center. It's 9 miles off the highway and you feel like you are in the middle of the nowhere, but it's so worth the drive. I expected something small and outdated, I guess. This presentation far exceeded my expectations.

The displays were multi media, engaging, poignant and sobering. There was no way that I could take in all the information, but even reading at children speed I was impacted.

There were a couple school field trips so we had an early lunch in the very nice picnic pavilion to beat the rush. Actually we were a school field trip too, but no one really knew that! Grandma and Renee were with us and that always makes the adventure extra fun! We walked around the grounds a bit and then headed over to Blackwater Nature Refuge.

We started on a hiking trail and soon realized we were going to be either eaten alive or carried off by mosquitoes so we turned around and did the driving trail. That was a much better decision.

We saw lots of turtles, a snake, and an osprey feeding her babies.

The day ended with Cook Out milkshakes which made my children very happy and maybe we convinced Renee that Cook Out milkshakes are ok. =)