Anita-
 
There are so many historic sites, areas, and districts that it is
overwhelming!  I can only offer some interesting things to see from my
recent time there-
 
Just out of Baltimore about 1 hour is the area of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Besides the fact that this area is the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch (which
of course, means German) country, there are a number of very interesting
sites to see on the way North
 
1.  The Ephrata Cloister in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.  This cloister was a
quasi-religious, co-ed cloister from the 1600s and was run by a mystic
cult-type leader of German background.  The cloister was a very important
area in local history and is the home of such important things as the
largest printing operation in Colonial America.  Steve Warfel, Curator of
Archaeology at the Penna State Museum, has been digging the site for some
time and the finds are really helping to reinterpret the site.  Guided
tours are available, although I am not sure if the digging will still be
on going during your travels.  The highlights include sacred and mystic
architecture and landscape, revising historic ideas of religious dietary
constraints, ethnicity, life in the 1600s...  If you want to try to contact
Steve, send me a private note and I will email you his snail mail address.
 
2.  The Hanns Herr House in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Ever hear of Herr
Potato Chips or Pretzels?   The ancestors of the Herr family were
important pioneers in the Lancaster area.  The house of Hanns Christian
Herr served as a meeting place, house of worship, and farmstead.  It is a
wonderful example of medieval Germanic Architecture and the grounds
contain a number of interesting exhibits and buildings dealing with the
Mennonite experience and early Pennsylvania history, material culture, and
life.  The directors name is Doug Nyce, and he is a very friendly person.
The museum gives guided tours of the house and self-guided of the grounds
and other exhibits.  Like the Cloister in Ephrata, there are grounds that
your young one can explore and some guided tours to balance this with.
 
3.  The Penna State Museum in Harrisburg is one of the best state museums
I have been in.  The archaeology and industrial history displays are
excellent.
 
4.  I have visited the Rockford Plantation of Lancaster as well.  It is a
georgian manner, built by Edward Hand, George Washington's surgeon during
the Rev. war.  What makes this place interesting is that Hand used
material culture to put up a facade of wealth and prestige- and I think
that it was a hollow show.  He went broke by the time that he died and the
material culture of the house, as reconstructed from his probate, shows
how people can use stuff to build the image that they present to the world
in a very intentional way.  In addition, the Hand family has a checkered
experience during this time, including suicide and other family
secrets!  This site is a great contrast with the Herr House.
 
I am out of time for now, but of course there is the Aquarium in
Baltimore, several museums in Philly and Boston, the
Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm in Newbury, Mass (about 1 hour north from
Boston) where Mary Beaudry has been working for years, the Museums of New
York....
 
Have fun...
Tim Scarlett