On day four, we left our cab­ins at Caddo River Ranch for the final time and headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas to see the his­toric bath houses and beau­ti­ful moun­tains and forests that sur­round the his­toric town.

Ford’s Theatre Society announced the spring and sum­mer 2010 sched­ule for its pop­u­lar History on Foot walk­ing tours, which are guided by actors play­ing char­ac­ters from Civil War Washington. The tours begin out­side of the his­toric Ford’s Theatre (511 10th Street NW) and con­tinue through down­town Washington, D.C. Beginning March 24, 2010, Ford’s will offer the assas­si­na­tion con­spir­acy walk­ing tour “Investigation: Detective McDevitt,” includ­ing two tours on April 15, the anniver­sary of Lincoln’s assas­si­na­tion. The pop­u­lar “A Free Black Woman: Elizabeth Keckly” tour will begin April 3, 2010, and con­tinue through August.

Dred Scott. George Washington Carver. Scott Joplin. Buck O’Neil. You might be famil­iar with the names, but have you been to the cour­t­house where Scott, a slave, sat after he suc­cess­fully sued to earn his free­dom? Have you walked the grounds where Carver devel­oped his love for agri­cul­ture? Can you hear the music play as you imag­ine Joplin sit­ting at his piano and com­pos­ing “The Entertainer” or pic­ture what O’Neil’s accom­mo­da­tions might have been like for road games? If you answered “no” to these ques­tions, it’s time for a visit to Missouri, a state rich in African-American cul­ture and a great loca­tion to learn about the peo­ple who strug­gled to gain free­dom, fought to make con­tri­bu­tions to soci­ety, put their own stamp on a gen­er­a­tion and sim­ply wanted to get in the game. The Old Courthouse in St. Louis, www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/och.htm plays an impor­tant role in the his­tory of African-Americans in Missouri and in American history.

Dred Scott. George Washington Carver. Scott Joplin. Buck O’Neil. You might be famil­iar with the names, but have you been to the cour­t­house where Scott, a slave, sat after he suc­cess­fully sued to earn his free­dom? Have you walked the grounds where Carver devel­oped his love for agri­cul­ture? Can you hear the music play as you imag­ine Joplin sit­ting at his piano and com­pos­ing “The Entertainer” or pic­ture what O’Neil’s accom­mo­da­tions might have been like for road games? If you answered “no” to these ques­tions, it’s time for a visit to Missouri, a state rich in African-American cul­ture and a great loca­tion to learn about the peo­ple who strug­gled to gain free­dom, fought to make con­tri­bu­tions to soci­ety, put their own stamp on a gen­er­a­tion and sim­ply wanted to get in the game. The Old Courthouse in St. Louis, www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/och.htm plays an impor­tant role in the his­tory of African-Americans in Missouri and in American history.

Couples look­ing for tem­per­ate win­ter weather can enjoy Colonial Williamsburg’s Winter Stories Package at the Williamsburg Lodge. Guests can immerse them­selves and engage in the true sto­ries of America’s first cit­i­zens and the trades they prac­ticed; walk the streets of the Historic Area; visit the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, shop at Merchants Square, and be pam­pered at the Spa.

John Hancock Observatory, con­sis­tently ranked as one of Chicago’s top attrac­tions, brings back the much antic­i­pated Winter Wonderland this year with a full sched­ule of jam-packed week­ends and new ways to help fam­i­lies save money with­out sac­ri­fic­ing fun. Families look­ing for budget-friendly ways to enjoy the hol­i­day sea­son with­out break­ing the bank will not want to miss this year’s cel­e­bra­tions at the Observatory, where Kids Go FREE and get a FREE pass to LEGOLAND Discovery Center every day with adult admis­sion, and fam­i­lies get a FREE photo with Santa every week­end. The best activ­i­ties of years past can only be out done by this year’s lineup through­out November and December.