How much time: To really explore the museum, I would budget two hours. There’s a lot to see and read. You don’t want to rush through the thoughtfully curated exhibits.

My favorites: I love the Queens of the Heartland exhibit at NAAMCC. It features stories of 30 Ohio African American women who played a significant role in the Suffrage and Civil Rights Movements. It’s a really powerful and—thanks to the gorgeous portraits of each woman by artist Nichole Washington—joyful experience

I also enjoyed exploring the African Art: Form, Function and Fraught Histories exhibit, which presents the relationship between the aesthetic and cultural functions of African art objects and the historical context of their global influence. The exhibition addresses modern questions of cultural appropriation, representation, and repatriation. Using the museum’s extensive African Art collection, Wright State University graduate students in Public History assisted the NAAMCC curatorial staff with its creation. The exhibit really made me think about African art in a new way.

Truda's Tips: If you love historical markers, Wilberforce is the place for you! There are 10 markers in and around Wilberforce, both in the town and on the campus of Central State University. You can get more information at remarkableohio.org.

Kid Friendly? Absolutely: At NAAMCC, the curators draw on the Ohio Education Standards in their content and then have a few tricks up their sleeves to make the exhibits engaging to kids. For example, the design of the Queens of the Heartland exhibit was inspired by social media: the panels look like Instagram selfies, each movement is represented by a custom emoji and the quotes are represented as tweets. In the African Americans Fighting for a Double Victory exhibit, younger kids can dress up in the uniforms of different wartime occupations, learn about rationing and take selfies with protest signs. And the African Art: Form, Function and Fraught Histories exhibit includes music and the opportunity to try your hand at weaving. The museum is also very conducive to strollers and the bathroom is easily accessible. Additionally, there are lots of places to sit and rest when little legs get tired.

Lunch: Lunch is a very important part of any good road trip! We decided to try out the Sunrise Café, a beloved fixture of nearby downtown Yellow Springs. We arrived around 11 a.m. thinking that we would miss the breakfast and lunch crowds. We were dead wrong. The place was packed. We lucked into a table and had a delightful meal. The menu is huge and has a variety of breakfast favorites, sandwiches, salads and entrees.

We all decided to get breakfast. Two of us had the Sunrise Omelet with mushrooms and Amish cheddar cheese, along with sides of homemade English muffins and the local buffalo sausage. Other coworkers had the Greek Omelet and the gingerbread pancake. We all thoroughly enjoyed the food and the cozy atmosphere, as well as the great coffee. We found free on-street parking on Xenia Ave. I almost had to get out and have a coworker parallel park for me, but I found a spot I could pull into at the last minute.

I would highly recommend giving yourself enough time to explore walkable Yellow Springs. It’s a lovely community with lots of shops and restaurants, perfect for a day-trip all on its own.

On our way out of town, we stopped by Young’s Jersey Dairy. If you haven’t been to Young’s before, be sure to make it a priority when you’re in the area. Their ice cream is spectacular. I’m partial to the chocolate peanut butter, but I’ve never had a bad flavor. I had hyped Young’s up to my coworkers and they all agreed I had not oversold it.  If you’re looking for more than ice cream, Young’s has putt-putt golf, barn tours, batting cages, a full restaurant menu and more (check their website for opening dates and times). Honestly, it’s a destination in itself.

For more information: To learn more about the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, you can visit our website or call the site directly at 800.752.2603 ext. 0. The NAAMCC is open Wed.- Sat. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Want to make a day of it? Discover everything Yellow Springs and Greene County have to offer. It’s also a short 30-minute drive to the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton or 40 minutes to Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve in Oregonia, both of which are Ohio History Connection sites.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free general admission to the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center and the rest of the historic sites and museums in our network. Visit ohiohistory.org/join for more details!