The Best Tour in Every State, Part 2

This is the second part in my series about the best tour I've taken in every state. I recommend starting with the first post, which provides important background information, including my definition of a tour. 

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Hawaii

The best tour I've taken in Hawaii was The Best of Hilo. Highlights of the tour included the Tropical Botanical Garden, Rainbow Falls, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory, Volcanoes National Park, and walking through a lava tube. It was fantastic.

Idaho

I've been to Idaho seven times in the last ten years to visit my family, so you'd think I would have taken at least one tour. Nope. While we've done a lot of fun activities in Idaho, none of them were tours. The closest to a tour would be the World Center for Birds of Prey, where we watched docents and staff give presentations. 

Illinois

The best tour I've taken in Illinois was by the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Co. We had a fantastic guide who took us to all the best places in Chicago and taught us so much about the history, geography, and culture of the city. 

Indiana

The best tour we took in Indiana was Indy Fun Trolley Tours. Our guide went above and beyond, teaching us everything there is to know about Indianapolis - not just the history and points of interest, but restaurant recommendations, great stores, and even where to get the best donuts in each side of town. 

Iowa

The best tour I've taken in Iowa was a guided tour of the State Capitol. By being with a guide, we were able to go places that self-guided visitors can't go, including up a circular staircase to the dome. We had a great guide who told us so much about both the building itself and those who have worked there over the years. 

Kansas

The best tour I've taken in Kansas was the Dome Tour of the Capitol building in Topeka. Not only was it interesting and informative, but it was quite a workout!

Kentucky

It was really, really hard to pick a favorite tour in Kentucky, as we have taken quite a few excellent ones. Ultimately, I had to pick the guided tour of Churchill Downs as the best. We learned all about the history of the track, the Derby race itself, and the various winners. The highlight was going onto the track and standing in the winner's circle.  

Louisiana

Picking the best tour in Louisiana was very difficult. We had several outstanding tours, but I think I have to pick the guided tour at Mardi Gras World as my favorite. I loved the behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into making all the incredible Mardi Gras floats, and particularly enjoyed seeing the artists at work. Trying authentic King Cake for the first time made the tour even more fun and memorable.

Maine

The best tour I've taken in Maine was a guided walk at Acadia National Park and Cadillac Mountain. It was absolutely beautiful and our guide was excellent. It was exciting seeing a variety of animals and experiencing multiple biomes during a relatively short walk at Acadia. The views from Cadillac Mountain were stunning. 

Maryland

The best tour we took in Maryland was the guided walking tour at the United States Naval Academy. We learned so much about the Academy and what student life is like. So interesting and a really different college experience than the one I had!

I'll be back on Monday with the best tours I've taken in the next ten states. 

The Best Tour in Every State, Part 1

Yelp recently published an article called The Best Tour in Every State. To find their winners, they identified businesses in the Tours category, then ranked them based on the total volume and ratings of reviews. The list is interesting and there are plenty of tours on it that I would enjoy. Others, not so much. (There are three alligator tours on the list and two of them mention "hold" or "hands-on" which are major red flags.) Boats are a common theme, but there are plenty of tours for those who want to stay on dry land. Almost every tour is guided, but they did include a self-guided tour on the list. A few are seasonal - you won't be taking a snowmobile tour in the summer, nor doing whitewater trips in snowy states in the winter. Anyway, it's an interesting list.

One of the neatest things about having been to all 50 states is that I can make lists like this too. But first I had to decide what the definition of a tour is. Obviously, when you get onto a bus, boat, train, wagon, etc. and someone drives you around telling you about stuff, that's a tour. If you're on a Segway (ugh), bike, scooter, or just walking and there's someone leading the way and telling you about stuff, that's a tour. If you put on headphones and move from one location to another as directed by the narration, that's a tour. It's still a tour if the narration starts when you press a button, or if you just read signs that take you from the first stop to the next. Basically, a tour involves being told where to start and where to go next, with factual information conveyed along the way. If you can wander around and look at what interests you with no obligatory path, maybe skipping some items, maybe returning to something... that's not a tour. So I don't consider most museum visits to be tours. Likewise, a bus, boat, or train ride is not a tour if there isn't a narration component along the way. 

With my definition in place, let's look at the first ten states. If you click on the name of the state at the beginning of each entry, it will take you to a list of all the activities we've done in that state. The link within the text will take you to the narrative about the specific tour I've named the best. 

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Alabama

The best tour that Steve, Trevor, and I took in Alabama was at Oak Mountain State Park. It was absolutely fantastic. Oak Mountain is gorgeous, even in the middle of the winter. I can only imagine it would be stunning in other seasons. You can find ranger-guided tours and educational programs at the Treetop Nature Trail, the Alabama Wildlife Center, the Oak Mountain Interpretative Center, and more. 

Alaska

We've done so many incredible tours in Alaska that it's really hard to pick a favorite. But I'm going to give that honor to the Musher's Camp Tour and Sled Dog Experience that we did in Skagway. It was so much fun and such an iconic Alaska experience. That was before I was blogging about travel, so there's no post to link to. But here's a picture of us with one of the dogs who pulled our sled.

Arizona

The best tour I've taken in Arizona was by Rising Phoenix Tours. I learned so much about the past and present of Phoenix and what makes it unique. In addition to seeing the sights, we also stopped at a bunch of creative businesses. (It was during an AFCI-sponsored trip, so Steve and Trevor weren't with me for this tour.)

Arkansas

The best tour we took in Arkansas was at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. Actually, it is one of the best tours I've taken anywhere, in my entire life. Ranger Rebecca did an amazing job bringing the history to life. This tour was one of the highlights not only of this particular trip, but of our entire time visiting all 50 states. 

California

This one is really tough. I've taken dozens, if not hundreds, of tours during my 53 years in California. I've done city tours, food tours, gold mine tours, boat tours (traveling on rivers, lakes, and the ocean, as well as tours of stationary historic boats), cave tours, redwoods tours, butterfly tours... the list goes on and on. I've toured the Jelly Belly Factory at least a dozen times. There are so many outstanding tours I could name and I hate picking one since it means leaving others out. But pick I must. Probably due to the recency effect, I'm going to select the Warner Bros Studio Tour as the best tour I've taken in California. 

Colorado

This is an easy one. The best tour I've taken in Colorado is the Celestial Seasonings Tea Tour. I've taken the tour twice and loved it both times. It is so interesting seeing all the raw ingredients and learning how they are transformed into products ready to ship. My favorite part of the tour is the Mint Room, where mint explodes at your senses in the very best of ways.

Connecticut

We spent a full day in Connecticut doing a lot of fun things... but none of them were tours. My favorite non-tour activity was going to the Pez Visitor Center. 

Delaware

The best (only) tour we took in Delaware was a docent-guided tour of the Old State House. We enjoy taking guided tours of current and former Capitol buildings when we can, but the timing doesn't always work out. Fortunately, it did in Delaware. 

Florida

I've been to Florida at least 7 times, but I can only remember a single tour I've taken there. I was about 13 when we took a bus tour at Kennedy Space Center. On account of it being the only tour I've taken in Florida, it is now officially my favorite. I don't have a photo from our visit, so I'm using one of the media photos from their website. I don't remember it looking like this in the mid-80's, but it might have. I really don't remember much about it at all. 

Georgia

My favorite tour in Georgia was the 5-hour Atlanta City Bus Tour. Our guide was fantastic and we learned so much about the history and culture of Atlanta. Highlights of the tour included Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park, the Atlanta Beltline, Ponce City Market, and much more. 

That's the end of Part 1, Alabama through Georgia. I'll be back tomorrow with Part 2, Hawaii through Maryland!

Creative Ideas for Decorating Easter Eggs

Here's the roundup with all of my animal/character ideas for decorating Easter eggs. All of the tutorials are now linked on my Easter Crafts page.  

Which egg is your favorite? Do you have requests for decorated eggs you want me to make in the future? Let me know in the comments!

Toucan Easter Egg

This is my final decorated Easter egg for this year. It's a toucan. Specifically, it's a toco toucan, the largest species of toucan. Endemic to South America, toco toucans live in semi-open habitats at altitudes up to 5740 feet (in contrast to other toucans, who prefer closed-canopy forests). They feed mainly on fruit. They are a least-concern species, still plentiful in the wild. And they're really fun use as inspiration for a decorated egg. Affiliate links below. 

Toucan Easter Egg

Materials:

• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (black, green)
• cardboard tube
• scissors
• white cardstock
• ink pads (yellow, orange)
• blending brushes
• Sharpie (black)
• googly eye
• felt (green)
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the egg black, leaving a rounded cone-shaped area white. 

Cut a ring from the cardboard tube. Paint it green. 

Cut a beak from cardstock. Use the blending brushes to add orange ink to the bottom of the beak and yellow ink to the top. Without adding extra ink to the brush, color the white area of the egg, just where the eye will go. Use a Sharpie to color the end of the beak black. 

Cut leaves from green felt and glue them to the cardboard tube ring. Glue the googly eye and beak in place. When the glue is dry, place the toucan amongst the leaves. 

Koala Easter Egg

If you're looking for a really easy Easter egg to decorate, go for this koala. This is about as easy as it gets. And it's so cute! Affiliate links below. 

Koala Easter Egg

Materials:

• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (grey)
• Sharpie (black)
• grey felt
• scissors
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the egg grey. When the paint is dry, draw the koala's eyes, nose, and mouth with the Sharpie. Cut a pair of ears from grey felt. Glue them in place. 

Charlie Brown Easter Egg

When I was brainstorming all these Easter eggs, the Round-Headed Kid seemed like an obvious choice.  I'm a huge Peanuts fan and have always loved Good ol' Charlie Brown. Speaking of which, can you name another fictional character that has as many nicknames as he does? Peppermint Patty calls him Chuck, Marcie calls him Charles (technically, Charlie is the nickname and Charles is his given name), and Lucy and Violet regularly call him Blockhead. Sally calls him Big Brother. Charlie Brown introduced himself as Brownie Charles to Peggy Jean, which is what she calls him. There are probably others. 

Anyway, this Charlie Brown egg is really quick and easy to decorate. Other than drying time for the paint, it only takes about five minutes to do. This post contains affiliate links. 

Charlie Brown Easter Egg

Materials:

• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• Folk Art acrylic paint (Linen, Daffodil Yellow)
• Sharpie (black)

Steps: 

Paint the pointy end of the egg with Daffodil Yellow and the round end of the egg with Linen. When the paint is dry, use a Sharpie to draw Charlie Brown's eyes, nose, mouth, and hair squiggle. Draw a line separating his head from his shirt. Add two triangles for the shirt collar and finish with the iconic zigzag. 

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I have two more decorated eggs to share. Rather than wait until 2026, I'm going to share them next week, even though Easter will have passed. For all who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful Easter.

Rocket Ship Easter Egg

Part of my goal while decorating all these Easter eggs was to use different materials besides traditional dye. Today's Rocket Ship Easter Egg uses paint, pens, and craft foam. Affiliate links below. 

 

Rocket Ship Easter Egg

Materials:

• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• acrylic paint (red, black)
• Sharpies (blue, silver)
• craft foam
• scissors
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the pointy end of the egg red. Add a black porthole on one of the sides. 

While the paint is drying, cut out three fins from red craft foam. Cut out yellow and orange craft foam flames. 

Use a silver Sharpie to trace along the outside edge of the porthole and around the edge of the nose cone. Add a blue accent stripe, if desired. 

Glue the three fins to the bottom of the egg. Hold them in place while they dry. If you position them correctly, the egg will stand on its own. 

Add the flames under the rocket. 

Hello Kitty Easter Egg

Any Hello Kitty fans? Hello Kitty (real name: Kitty White) is a British cat, created by a Japanese designer in 1974 for the Japanese company Sanrio. She lives her parents and twin sister, Mimmy. Oddly, this family of cats has a pet cat. Hello Kitty first appeared in the United States in March 1975. I was three at the time, which explains why I don't remember a world without Hello Kitty. 

All this to say, I made a Hello Kitty Easter egg and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Affiliate links below. 

 

Hello Kitty Easter Egg

Materials:

• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• cardboard tube
• felt (white, pink, lavender)
• scissors
• paint pen (black)
• black craft wire
• wire cutters
• craft glue

Steps: 

Cut a ring off the cardboard tube that is approximately 1.5" high. Then cut out the felt. You will need a pink rectangle that is the same height as the ring and the same length as the circumference. Cut three small scallops from that piece for the neck and sleeves. Use the pink scraps to cut two triangles and a square for the hair bow. Then cut a length of lavender felt for the shirt and two white ears. 

Glue the lavender rectangle behind the pink rectangle. Then glue the pink rectangle around the cardboard tube ring. Place the egg, rounded side up, into the ring. Use a black paint pen to draw Hello Kitty's eyes, nose, and buttons. Glue the ears and bow in place. 

Snip six short pieces of black wire for Hello Kitty's whiskers. I experimented with a lot of ways to attach them and finally found that the best way is to make a tiny bend at the end of each wire, apply glue, then hold it in place until the glue dries. This is tedious, but effective. Hot glue would be faster, but it would be visible when it dries. Superglue might be better. Faster, anyway. 

Oscar the Grouch Easter Egg

When I was making my panda Easter egg, I set it on top of a cardboard tube so it wouldn’t roll off the table. The shape reminded me of Oscar the Grouch in his garbage can. I’m a big fan of Sesame Street, so this was a really fun egg to decorate. Affiliate links below. 

Oscar the Grouch Easter Egg

Materials:

• acrylic paint (green, red, grey)
• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• cardboard tube
• chipboard
• scissors
• paint pens
• black ink pad
• craft glue

Steps: 

Draw Oscar's eyes on the egg. Paint the egg green, leaving the eyes white. (I didn't do this and had to put multiple coats of white paint over the green. Avoid that problem.) 

Cut a circle out of chipboard to make Oscar's trash can lid. Paint the lid and the cardboard tube grey. 

Use a black paint pen to draw Oscar's mouth and pupils. Use a brown paint pen to make his eyebrows. Use acrylic paint to add a tongue on the mouth. 

With a pencil, draw vertical lines on the trash can. Draw lines on the lid so that it looks like a cut pizza. Add a line down the center of Oscar's tongue. 

Rub a little bit of black ink onto a tissue or cotton ball. Rub it randomly on the trash can and lid so that it looks scuffed up. 

Place Oscar in his garbage can, then glue the lid to the back of his head. 

Panda Easter Egg

Dyeing Easter eggs is so much fun, but there are a lot of other ways to decorate eggs that are just as fun. I used a black paint pen to turn an egg into an adorable panda. Affiliate links below. 

 

Panda Easter Egg

Materials:

• green acrylic paint
• 1.5" clay pot
• round toothpicks
• white egg (raw, hardboiled, or empty)
• black paint pen
• felt (green and black)
• scissors
• craft glue

Steps: 

Paint the clay pot and the toothpicks green. Set them aside to dry. 

Put the egg onto something to stabilize it. (I used a ring cut from a cardboard tube.) Use the paint pen to draw the panda's eyes, nose, and mouth. 

Cut a pair of ears from black felt and set them aside. Cut 12 skinny leaves from green felt. 

When the paint is dry, glue the ears to the egg and the leaves to the toothpicks. Then glue the toothpicks to the clay pot. Rest the panda inside the pot. 

Religious Easter Crafts for Kids

For the past few days, I've been sharing ideas for Easter crafts that relate to the religious aspect of the holiday: Jesus' death and resurrection. Crafts like these are a lot less common than secular Easter crafts featuring jelly beans, bunnies, and chicks, so I put together a roundup to help parents and Sunday School teachers find project ideas for Lent and Easter. 

You can find all of these crafts (and more) on my Easter Crafts page. Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see all of the religious crafts grouped together. 

Tape-Resist Cross Easter Eggs

This fun Easter craft combines a more secular symbol of Easter (dyed eggs) with a religious symbol (a cross). They're really fun to make and something crafters of all ages will enjoy. Affiliate links below. 

Tape-Resist Cross Easter Eggs

Materials:

• white cardstock
• scissors
• 1/8" painter's tape
• ink pads
• blending brushes

Steps: 

Cut egg shapes out of cardstock. I made a pattern with scratch paper and then used that to cut out multiple eggs at once. 

Cut a strip of painter's tape about half the height of the egg and place it vertically on the egg. Cut a slightly shorter piece of tape to make the cross piece. Press firmly on both to make sure they are flush with the paper. 

Use blending brushes to add ink to the eggs, directly over the tops of the crosses. You can do a single color or blend lots of colors together. Don't leave white spaces or the tape-resist effect won't work as well. 

Peel up the tape and you should have perfectly white crosses on your colorful eggs. Enjoy!

Crown of Thorns Craft

I wish I could remember all the clever crafts I did in Sunday School during the 70's and early 80's. I had some really creative teachers. I vaguely remember a Play-Doh crown of thorns. My version is made with Model Magic. Affiliate links below. 

Crown of Thorns Craft

Materials: 

• Folk Art acrylic paint (brown)
• round toothpicks (approx. 18)
• wire cutters
• 1 oz. Model Magic (brown)

Steps: 

Begin by making a 'stain' for the toothpicks. Place a small amount of brown paint into an empty container. Add a few drops of water and stir until it is well-mixed. It should be thin, but heavily pigmented. Cut the toothpicks in half with the wire cutters and drop them into the stain. Swish them around so they're all covered. Set them aside. 

Knead the Model Magic. When it is soft, use about 1/8 to make a thin rope. Lay it in a circle on your work surface. Make another similarly-sized rope and wrap it around the first one. Continue to make ropes and add them to the previous ones. You're not going for a neat braid - you're aiming for a messy crown of thorns. 

When you are happy with the crown, remove the toothpicks from the paint and dry them with a paper towel. Insert them into the crown at different angles. 

I chose to display my finished crown with a Bible verse that references it: 

Matthew 27:29 ... and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Palm Sunday Craft for Kids

Palm Sunday has special meaning for me as a mom. When Trevor was little, Palm Sunday was his absolute favorite church service of the year. He loved proceeding into the sanctuary waving palm fronds, then spending the rest of the service weaving palms together. He would ask for months when "Pom" Sunday was coming. It was so cute. When it came time to choose a date for Trevor's confirmation, we chose Palm Sunday.    

I wish I had thought of today's craft 15 years ago or so. Trevor would have loved it. But hopefully there's another young child who loves Palm Sunday that will enjoy this craft. Affiliate links below. 

Palm Sunday Craft for Kids

Materials: 

• 10" craft sticks (2)
• 4.5" craft sticks (13)
• hot glue gun
• Folk Art acrylic paint (I used 'Clover')
• white cardstock
• black pen

Steps: 

While the glue gun is heating, arrange the small craft sticks on one of the large craft sticks to look like a palm frond. Leave enough space at the bottom so there is a "handle" to hold onto the palm. Glue each stick in place. 

Paint the palm frond green. While it is drying, learn about the word 'Hosanna.' 

Write 'Hosanna' on white cardstock and glue it to the second large craft stick. Now put your sign in one hand and your palm frond in the other and practice for Palm Sunday!

Fairfield in Full Bloom

I am a huge fan of public art. I love cities like Davis that have enough public art that you can make a day of seeing it all. The city we live in doesn’t have a lot of public art, but there is some. And now, we have a beautiful new mural highlighting everything that makes Fairfield special. 

The mural was a joint effort between Sustainable Solano, artist Sheree Rayford, and members of the community. Several months ago, a survey went out, asking residents to describe our town and the flowers that best represent it. Rayford used the results to design and paint the main portion of the mural. On March 22, there was a community event where we could add our handprints to the mural. 

I can’t believe I used my right hand. It’s like I don’t even know my own brand. Sigh. 

The community event was so much more than just handprints. There were stations to plant flowers to take home, to paint kindness rocks, and to learn about sustainability, just to name a few. Lunch was provided and it was a really festive and inclusive event. 

After all the handprints were in place, Rayford added the descriptive words. I love how the mural turned out. I’m so glad I was able to be a part of Fairfield becoming more beautiful. 

Brayden and Tulip Update

It has been a long, challenging process, but I'm happy to report that Brayden and Tulip have finally bonded! 

Things looked promising back in November when we brought Tulip home. Little did we know that it would take five months and an insane amount of work to bond these two. After a month of fights and little progress, we hired a professional bunny bonder. The rabbits made a small amount of progress, but not nearly as much as we'd hoped. Brayden was acting territorial and was clearly nervous around Tulip, frequently snapping at her; Tulip was acting bossy and would not respect Brayden's clues that he was upset. 

In February, we completely rearranged our furniture in hopes that changing the environment would eliminate Brayden's territorial behaviors and give us a fresh start. Each rabbit had their own large x-pen (16 square feet), which opened into a common play space. 

For two hours each morning and two hours each evening, I let them into the play space to interact. I followed them closely, petting them and soothing them as they approached each other, either cautiously (Brayden) or boisterously (Tulip). My attention was on them every second, because that's all it took for a scuffle to break out. Scuffles were fairly frequent at first, but true fights with fur flying were rare. Over the course of the bonding process, I broke up a total of four fights. (And I was bitten three times.) 

I really wanted this bond to work, so I kept at it. Each day, there was a little bit of progress, which is the only thing that kept me going. We expanded the play space and introduced new toys one at a time. Soon, I could trust both buns not to lunge at each other if I wasn't right there. That was a huge relief. 

As I continued to work with them, Brayden and Tulip were showing more and more signs that bonding was near. They wanted to be together and were approaching each other frequently. 

Up until this point, I had closed their individual cages when they came into the common play area, so that each had a "safe zone" that the other had never been in. Then one day, Tulip zipped into Brayden's cage before I could close it. She explored every inch as Brayden watched. He didn't seem to mind, so I let him into her cage. Same thing. He explored every inch and it didn't bother Tulip. From then on, I kept both cages open during playtime and continued to supervise closely. 

In mid-March, it clicked. The scuffles ended. Brayden started grooming Tulip, having accepted her as the dominant bun. And once he did that, she returned the grooming. I still supervised all their joint playtime just in case, but I could actually relax on the floor with a magazine instead of following them around constantly. Of course, if you put a magazine on the floor, you're going to have a bunny helper. Brayden was highly interested in this article about green foods - some of his favorites!

Another thing that happens when you're on the floor with rabbits - you become a jungle gym. 

As the weeks have passed, the buns are spending more time together and we're supervising less frequently. There have been no issues. They choose to spend most of their time near each other. We separate them when we leave the house and when we're sleeping, just in case. Eventually, that will change. Our plan is to increase their play area to include the entire living room and dining room and make sure that's ok. If it is, we'll put our dining room back together and they'll be together 24/7 as the true house rabbits they deserve to be.