Dover, Delaware: Kid-friendly getaway

The Delaware Agriculture Museum and Village (www.agriculturalmuseum.org) has a farmhouse-themed play area where kids can pretend to milk a cow. Outside, they can meet other barnyard animals.

Learn where the phrase “put a sock in it” came from at the Johnson Victrola Museum. Dozens of the wind-up machines are cranked up and play 78 RPM classics.

At the Air Mobility Command Museum (www.amcmuseum.org) at Dover Air Force Base, kids can explore an old control tower while listening to live transmissions as planes take off and land. The jet that served as Air Force Two until 2011 is on display. The air base is open for tours the third Saturday of every month.

Outside, visitors can explore Delaware’s coastal marshland at St Jones Reserve. At the education center, there’s the chance to meet a camera-hogging Diamondback turtle and Stanley the Sturgeon. A two-mile nature walk goes through the tidal marshes – look for raccoon tracks on the boardwalk and deer in the brush.

Dover’s governmental hub forms Heritage Park, a “museum without boundaries.” The daily free walking tours are filled with history from 1777 to the present day delivered by costumed guides. The restored buildings on Loockerman Street are at the center of Dover’s commercial district and you’ll find lots of restaurants and shops here. Delaware has no sales tax, so souvenirs are a bargain.

related: Mush! Dogsledding in Vermont

The Schwartz Center (www.schwartzcenter.com) features performances for kids in February and March, including “Charlotte’s Web” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ballet. The Biggs Museum of American Art (www.biggsmuseum.org) has a creativity crafts and dress-up room. Or strap on roller skates or roller blades at the Dover Skating Center (www.doverskate.com).

Both www.visitdover.com and www.visitdelaware.com have online guides for hotels, dining and other needs.

For more travel tips on visiting Delaware, and other destinations, go to www.insightguides.com.