Genealogy travel in 2014 and open weekends for seminars

I just returned from a long trip that was mostly business related but I also enjoyed a few days in the warm sun of Arizona. The four days there went by too fast and I returned to snowy and cold Minnesota. I was in many states on this driving trip: Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. Each state has its own beauty and I reveled in it as I traveled.

As of today, the rest of 2014 will take me to Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, and Texas plus many other states via live webinars.

I have several large projects that need completion so I turned down some seminar invitations for this spring. I do have open weekends this fall and next winter and spring if your society is in need of a speaker. Just send me an inquiry via PaulaStuartWarren at gmail dot com. I can send your program chair all the details via email.

Vacation on a budget

Are you getting some "wish you were here" postcards or watching your neighbors hook up the boat and trailer and feeling like you are missing out on some vacation time? Many genealogists interpret vacation as going somewhere to research, attend a conference or institute or order a bunch of birth and death certificates. How about a few ideas for something to do that is different from your everyday life and yet have a history, genealogy, technology, or family connection? I recently received a post card from Germany where my oldest granddaughter was on an exchange program. It's not possible budget or time wise for me to go to Germany so I will be taking the three youngest grandchildren to visit Germany in Minnesota -- New Ulm in Brown County.

• Are any area cemeteries or historical societies sponsoring cemetery history walks?
• Check to see what computer related classes might be offered a public library.
• Is there a museum that is only open in the summer?
• In Litchfield, Connecticut, the historical society is offering historical walking tours http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2011/07/05/news/doc4e13e01056fef255876732.txt
• Attend the August Swiss Wine Festival in Vevay, Indiana http://www.swisswinefestival.org/
•  Be part of Irish Fest in Milwaukee http://www.irishfest.com/ 

To find more opportunities, check out city, county, and state tourism sites. 

What I did on my summer vacation . . .

Do you remember that annual school writing assignment each September? I am challenging you with such an assignment. As you travel for genealogical education, research in libraries, courthouse, historical societies and archives, and to walk the streets where you ancestors lived, make notes for your paper to turn in. Of course I would be thrilled to post your assignment result here on my blog, but maybe one of the genealogical societies of which you are a member might like to publish your assignment in their blog, newsletter, or quarterly. It's a great way to share experiences with each other. It might make a good presentation for a fall meeting of your society.

Tell others about topics such as these:

• Does the research place and/or city have a website and what helpful info is found online
• What other prep did you do before your trip
• Do you live in the town where you did the research or learned more about the place? Share that experience too.
• What was the parking like at the place? Did you take public transportation?
• What were the hours of the research place?