Ben Franklin visits Myrtle Beach!

Name: Nina Borgman
Date: 3/9/13-3/14/13
Destination: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Latitude: 33.6890603
Longitude:-78.8866943
Round Trip:1785.7
Total Miles:3616.9

Ben Franklin and I left Wham on Wednesday afternoon and traveled to Cobden, IL where we packed up all of our things and got ready for our road trip. On Saturday, we went to Marion, IL to pick up our super cool travel device, a Toyota Prius. After we learned how to drive the car, Ben and I traveled to Sikeston, MO where we had hot "throwed rolls" at Lambert's Cafe! 

After dinner, we drove back to Carbondale, IL to make final preparations for our trip. We left Carbondale around midnight, and began our long voyage to Myrtle Beach, SC! We saw many things on the way, and even drove through a mountain!

It was pretty scary! 

After about 10 hours of driving, we finally made it to South Carolina!

 We found out that the dirt in South Carolina is red because there is an abundance of iron in the soil, and red dirt is common in the southern states! We were happy to make it to South Carolina, but we still had a long ways to go.

After 14 hours of driving, we finally made it to Myrtle Beach! Myrtle Beach was first settled in 1526 by a group of Spaniards from Hispaniola. In the late 1800's and early 1900's people began to vacation there, although houses and camps were few and far between.  The name "Myrtle Beach" was chosen in a name-the-town contest in 1900, and was named after the plant wax myrtle, which grows abundantly in the area. Myrtle Beach finally became a city in 1937, when the population reached 5,000. Myrtle Beach became a military town in the 1940's, until 1993 when the base was permanently closed. Today, Myrtle Beach is a popular vacation destination for Americans and Canadians alike, with a beautiful beach, and lots of family fun.

Some of the activities we did in Myrtle Beach included shopping, shell collecting, and eating LOTS of wonderful food. We stopped by Jimmy Buffet's famous restaurant Margaritaville.

Ben recommends the Lava Lava shrimp!

We also visited a place called Alligator Adventure where we saw many different animals including: alligators, crocodiles, snakes, lemurs, and tigers. Some other neat animals we saw were: albino alligators, a two headed turtle, an alligator born without a tail, and finally Utan, the largest alligator on exhibit in America!

Ben Franklin: Crocodile Dundee

All too soon, it was time to pack up our things, and head back home to Illinois. Ben and I stopped back in Cobden, IL to unpack, and then returned to Carbondale relaxed and ready to go back to school! Altogether, Ben and I spent over 30 hours driving in the car, and traveled 1785.7 miles!

Peter visits Tunica, Mississippi!

Name: Kelsie Coop
Date: 2/27/13-3/2/13
Destination: Tunica, Mississippi
Latitude: 34.84684
Longitude: -90.29403
Round Trip: 370.2 miles
Total Miles: 1,831.2 miles

Peter and I left Wham on Wednesday afternoon and traveled to Sparta, Illinois to spend the night at my house before our big trip! We relaxed and enjoyed watching the new episode of Duck Dynasty. After a restful night of sleep, Peter and I left bright and early Thursday morning with my family to head to Tunica, Mississippi. The four and a half hour car ride seemed to take forever! However, we were very excited when we saw the Mississippi state welcome sign! 

Mississippi was the twentieth state to enter the United States of America on December 10, 1817. The state capital is, and the nickname is the Magnolia State. Mississippi is well known for its major farming industries.

After we entered the state of Mississippi, it was not long before we reached our destination of the Gateway to the Blues Highway 61 Visitor Center. U.S. Highway 61 is known as the "blues highway." It rivaled Route 66 as the most famous road in the American music lore. Musicians such as Big Joe Williams, Eddie Shaw, James "Son" Thomas, and several others have recorded songs about Highway 61. Travel was been a popular theme in blues music because of the "get up and go" possibilities. Peter enjoyed touring the visitors center. He commented on how much character the building has and how it made him feel as if he traveled back in time! It was a cold and windy day, but Peter and I managed to snap a picture outside.

Peter and I did a little shopping at the outlet mall on our trip. We enjoyed sleeping in and relaxing during the short getaway. Late Saturday morning, we headed back to Sparta, Illinois. Peter was lucky, and he slept the entire drive home! 

After arriving in Sparta late Saturday afternoon, we ate dinner and grabbed one more quick picture before traveling back to Carbondale.

Peter had to stop and check out the Charter Oak School located right outside of Sparta in Randolph County. Charter Oak School is one of the few octagonal-shaped, one room school houses left in America. Classes were held in the building from 1873 to 1953. In 1970, the school became an official Illinois State Historical Site. Today, elementary students use the building for class field trips to experience how school was in the past.

After our stop at Charter Oak School, we returned back to Carbondale. Both Peter and I were exhausted from our trip! We traveled a total of 370.2 miles.

Ben Franklin's trip to St. Louis!

Name: Jenna Lisson

Date: 2/27/13-3/4/13

Destination: St. Louis, Missouri

Latitude:

Longitude:

Round Trip Miles: 362 miles

Total miles: 1,461 miles

Ben Franklin and I left Wham on a Wednesday afternoon. From there, we went to my house and had a slumber party Wednesday night. On Thursday, we went out to my Grandparents house on Lake Egypt in Goreville, Illinois. Ben Frankin said he didn't want to swim, but that he'd like to fish. He caught a small bass...talented dog. On Friday, we traveled from Goreville up to my hometown of Granite City, Ilinois. On Friday night, Ben Franklin went with me and my family to the St. Louis Science Center to see the Imax movie, Flight of the Butterflies. Ben Franklin loved it, he said that he bets he'll travel more miles than the annual butterfly migration during this project. That means Ben will have to travel more than 6,000 miles. 

The roots of the St. Louis Science Center date back to the mid-1850's. A group of wealthy businessmen founded the Academy of Science of St. Louis. This was a museum to display their collections of cultural and scientific items. Over time, this grew into a more formal museum...the St. Louis Science Center. 

Ben Franklin and I traveled a total distance of 362 miles.