Many single parent families will be driving around the USA this summer. Here are a few day or weekend sightseeing suggestions for our Midwest friends:

MILWAUKEE

Milwaukee's motto is "The Genuine American City". For those who don't know it well, the city has MUCH to offer beyond its famous brewers. The city publishes a wonderful Web site at http://www.milwaukee.org

The Milwaukee Public Museum displays some very educational exhibits chock full of information. See dinosaurs, bugs and butterflies (the latter are live!) and rainforests. Little kids will be particularly thrilled with the walk through butterfly room where you are closely surrounded by numerous butterflies of many colors. The museum's Web site can be found at http://www.mpm.edu

In the same building is an IMAX cinema and Discovery World, a get-your-hands-into-it museum. http://www.discoveryworld.org Discovery World is designed for kids 11-17 and contains exhibits ranging from engineering, art, theatre, science, communications and entrepreneurship.

If you liked the Milwaukee Public Museum, of if your family just likes bugs & butterflies, we recommend you read with your children a wonderful book called "Let's Get Buggy" by Troy Corley aka The Buggiest Mom. Easy to read and well organized, "Let's Get Buggy" is a family guide to insect zoos and butterfly houses across the U.S.A. Visit Corley's Web site at http://www.letsgobuggy.com/

For the big kids, consider taking a tour of the Harley-Davidson plant. The tour begins in the theater with a brief video on Motor Company history. Then it's on to the factory floor. The tour is a bit technical, but this is what teenage boy's dreams are made of (or in my family's case, my daughter's.) CALL AHEAD to find out the times of the tours 877-883-1450. Kids under 12 are not allowed on the factory floor. Info about the tours

Milwaukee is right on Lake Michigan, so if it is a nice day, take a stroll (or a drive) along the waterfront. Pass by the Milwaukee Art Museum, with a new wing built like a sailing ship. The view is spectacular! The museum's Web site is http://www.mam.org .

Of course, any write-up on Milwaukee would be incomplete if one failed to mention the brewers. Many are available for tours, including Miller Brewing Company 414-931-2337, Sprecher Brewing 414-964-2739 and Lakefront Brewery 414-372-8800.

PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh is the home of Carnegie University, which provides many wonderful museums. A good resource for things to do in Pittsburgh is http://pittsburgh.about.com . Here is just a small sample of what Pittsburgh has to offer.

If your kids are below the age of 13, your first stop should be the Carnegie Science Center. They have some great exhibits and shows. The little ones will love Grossology, which shows how all our gross parts work with whimsical displays. Learn all about the science of food in the Kitchen Theater. For the big kids (and the small ones, too), try SportsWorks, where you can race against Jackie Joyner-Kersee (she beat my kids), play virtual volley ball (my daughter beat my son) or for the less athletically inclined try your hand at being a sports medicine surgeon. Visit the Carnegie Science Center museum site: http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.com

For bird lovers try the National Aviary (http://www.aviary.org). The Aviary offers some 500 exotic birds in their natural habitats. You can also get up-close-and-personal with the Aviary's new baby African Penguin "Stanley".

For teens and college age kids, try the ever-hip Andy Warhol Museum. Explore screen prints of Mao and Marilyn or become mesmerized in a room with silver pillow clouds floating around you. (Our favorite.) More detail can be found at http://www.warhol.org/.

DETROIT

The City's University Cultural District offers four wonderful museums all within walking distance of one another:
The Detroit Institute of the Arts http://www.dia.org
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History http://www.maah-detroit.org/
Detroit Historical Museum http://www.DetroitHistorical.org
The New Detroit Science Center http://www.ScienceDetroit.org

Consider planning your trip around one of the many free music festivals that Motown has to offer. Find a listing on Detroit's tourism bureau's Web site http://www.VisitDetroit.com. The next one is Downtown Hoedown from May 16-18 for country music fans. Don't forget to drive the Grand Boulevard where Motown was born with stars like Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

Motor heads can consider a visit to nearby Dearborn, home of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. http://www.hfmgv.org/ The latter is worth an extended visit. Many of the buildings of the village are staffed with folk in period costumes. The village houses Thomas Edison's laboratory, Henry Ford's birthplace and the Wright brothers' cycle workshop. (Greenfield reopens in June.) Consider a visit to nearby Ford Wyoming Drive-In, with a whopping nine movie screens. (313) 846-6910

My son has always been fascinated by moving conveyances, so I would be remiss not to point out Detroit's People Mover. The city's elevated transit system, which provides a nice tour of the city. See http://www.thepeoplemover.com

(Special note, if you are considering going into Canada with a minor child, please see our documentation section before doing so.

For other destination ideas, please refer to our destinations section.

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