Shelter-at-Home Staycation Ideas

Spring Break 2020 is here. Time off to rest and relax. Time to have some adventures! However, much of the United States is under shelter-at-home provisions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Looking for some staycation ideas? Here are some ideas for how to have a virtual spring break to make the best of this situation. 

Winchester Mystery House – Free Video Access Tour until April 7

Located in San Jose, California, the Winchester Mystery House has been open to the public since 1923. Originally an eight-room farmhouse, Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester bought the house and 40-acre property in 1886. Over the next 30 years, Sarah rebuilt and expanded the house into a 160-room mansion. The cost, in 1923, was approximately $5 million. 

History

Sarah was the widow of William Wirt Winchester and heiress to a large portion of the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune. She believed that she must continue construction to satisfy the ghosts and spirits of people who had lost their lives from Winchester firearms. The renovation finally stopped when Sarah passed away on September 5, 1922.

Even before Sarah’s passing, there were rumors of a “mystery house” being built by an eccentric and wealthy woman. Sarah was a woman ahead of her time. She was a woman of independence, ambition, and courage who lives on in legend. The Winchester Mystery House today covers an area of 24,000 square feet. The mansion is world-renowned for its innovations and many design curiosities. Some oddities include a staircase to the ceiling and a door to nowhere. Since 1923, over 12 million guests have visited the Winchester Mystery House. In addition, it is repeatedly named a top destination in travel guides.

Virtual Visits

Although currently closed to the public during the pandemic, the Winchester Mystery House welcomes guests to experience the mansion’s wonders and mysteries from the comfort of their homes. A free Video Access Tour of the Winchester Mystery House is offered now until April 7, 2020. Be sure to also check out the mansion’s online photo gallery. Discounted ticket vouchers for a future visit are available online. Vouchers purchased now are good through May 1, 2021! In addition, the Winchester Mystery House has an online store.

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave, Carlsbad Cavern. Even though the cavern and visitor center are temporarily closed, you can go underground from the comfort of your couch! According to Travel + Leisure, “this virtual tour of the Carlsbad Caverns will entertain you (and your kids) for hours.”

Since we cannot physically go there this spring break, join the video virtual tour with a park ranger. On the tour, you can choose to experience the caves like the bats who fly inside the caverns at night and learn about echolocation. On the virtual tour, you can also discover some of the hidden caverns and treasures for yourself since at least some of the tour is interactive. 

Broadway Musicals & Shows

The website BroadwayWorld has made a list of musicals and shows that you can watch from home. This is a great option for spring break this year. There are over 150 must-watch titles that can be viewed online via Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BroadwayHD, or Prime Video. These online streaming channels typically require a paid subscription, rental fees, or membership. However, when you’re staying-at-home for long periods of time, it may be a worthwhile investment.

Netflix offers Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, Shrek the Musical, and many other titles. On Hulu, titles include The Phantom of the Opera, The Prince of Egypt, and The Road to El Dorado. Some of the offerings on Disney+ include Aladdin (both 1992 and 2019 versions), Into the Woods, Newsies: The Broadway Musical, The Sound of Music, and many other classic Disney stories.

BroadwayHD requires a membership and offers classic Broadway musicals like 42^nd Street, Bye Bye Birdie, Carousel, Gypsy, Les Miserables, and Oklahoma! Rounding out the list of are the shows on Prime Video. Even with an Amazon Prime account, some of the titles listed must be rented or purchased. Prime Video offers shows like Chicago, Enchanted, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and the King and I. Of all the online channels mentioned in this BroadwayWorld list, the offerings from BroadwayHD and Amazon Prime seem to be the most comprehensive. 

Palace of Versailles / Chateau de Versailles

The Palace of Versailles, a former French royal residence and the center of government, is located about 10 miles west-southwest of Paris. Now a national landmark, the estate is another place offering a free virtual tour. Take this opportunity to stroll through the Hall of Mirrors and many more impressive rooms from the comfort of your own home. 

There are several virtual exhibitions available through the official website, including virtual tours of the Hall of Mirrors inside the palace and the Queen’s Hamlet, which was a retreat in the Trianon Gardens. If you have a virtual reality headset, you may want to immerse yourself in “The Palace is Yours” experience.

Harry Potter Escape Room – Visit Hogwarts from Home

If you’re a fan of Harry Potter books and movies, here’s your chance to visit Hogwarts from home. Created by staff at the Peters Township Public Library in McMurray, PA, you can complete the Harry Potter Escape Room by yourself or with your family while you shelter-at-home. 

To participate, all you need is an internet connection and a browser. The escape room can be opened on any device that can access the web. If you’d like to know more about this virtual experience, check out the post on the blog Kids Activities.

Caution: Participating in this Harry Potter Escape Room may prompt having a Harry Potter movie marathon.

Calendar of Virtual Field Trips for Families (March – May 2020) 

If you’re still looking for virtual staycation ideas for spring break, check out this Google Docs calendar of virtual field trip destinations. The calendar is filled with a links to zoos and aquariums, museums, national parks, and more! Follow the suggested schedule or choose your own virtual daily adventures.

Here’s a sample of some of the places in this calendar:

Zoos, Aquariums & Animals:

San Diego Zoo; Monterey Bay Aquarium (Live Animal Cams); Georgia Aquarium (Live Webcams); St. Louis Aquarium Galleries; Smithsonian’s National Zoo (webcams); Polar Bears in the Tundra

Farms & Nature: 

Canadian Egg Farm; Canadian Apple Orchard; Visit a Dairy Farm – Undeniably Dairy; Borneo – The Symphony of the Rain Forest

Museums & Theatre:

The Louvre in France – Egyptian Antiquities, The Apollo Gallery, History of the Louvre; Guggenheim Museum, New York; J. Paul Getty Museum, California; The National Gallery, United Kingdom; Van Gogh Museum, Netherlands; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea; Celebrate 400 Years of Shakespeare

Children’s Museums:

Boston Children’s Museum; Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (Museum at Home Videos)

U.S. National Parks:

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah; Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida; Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii; Yosemite National Park, California; Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Travel Destinations:

The Great Lakes; Ellis Island, New York; Colonial Williamsburg (webcams); The Great Wall of China

Careers:

Tour of a Pharmaceutical Lab – How Science Powers Us; STEM Careers: Improving Animal Health; Technology in Agriculture – Feeding the Growing Globe; Stanley Black & Decker Makerspace; Careers that Count with the NBA; Dig into Mining; Powering the Planet – Renewable Energy

Space & Astronomy:

Mars (NASA & Google); Hubble Control Center (Lobby & NASA Operations Room); Johnson Space Center – Visit and Meet Boeing employees (Future U); Space Shuttle Discovery; Star Atlas – Explore over 60,000 stars

Whatever you choose to do during your virtual spring break, may you and yours stay healthy and safe. 

Have you visited any of these places in real life? Which of these virtual spring break ideas are you wanting to try? Looking forward to hearing from you in the comments! Be sure to follow my Facebook page for mini posts.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”