Capitol achievement—Local youth completes goal of visiting all 50 state capitols

by Beth Kraft

At 15 years old, Nick Nelson has visited more U.S. states than most people do in an entire lifetime. Not only that, but the Mondovi High School student has stopped at all 50 state capitols and completed the daunting task in just eight years.

“It was actually an afterthought,” said Sheila Nelson, Nick’s mom, as to how the quest got started.

The Nelson family visited Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2006 when Nick was eight and just kept going, ending in Madison with a stop at their home state’s capitol this past August.

Nick was able to name all of the state capitols and repeat facts about each state when he was just five years old.

At age six he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive disorder that causes muscle degeneration. Though he uses a wheelchair to get around, parents John and Sheila Nelson saw no reason why their son’s mobility challenges should prevent him from seeing every single one of the state capitols he was so interested in.

Fifty states and thousands of highway miles later, Nick has crossed all of the nation’s capitols off his hit list and made lasting memories about each one.

Since that initial trip to Hawaii, the Nelsons have made a point to make a loop through a section of the country each summer, catching 4-6 state capitols during each trip. Nick, his parents, and younger sister Emily, 9, covered over 24,000 miles during their travels to state capitols alone—all without a single breakdown.

That total doesn’t count all of the other stops and detours the family made to see various other landmarks around the nation, notes Sheila, or air travel.

“We have lots of friends all over the United States, so we get to catch up and visit while we’re there,” Sheila said.

John is a now-retired Marine Corps warrant officer, achieving grade CW04 status at the time of his retirement in 2008 after 26 years of service. Nick accompanied his father to Phoenix over Memorial Day weekend that year for John’s retirement ceremony, after which the state capitol initiative kicked into high gear when the duo spent 10 days traveling around out West.

Since then, the family made it a mission to hit several state capitols each year while also mixing in stops at other historic places and landmarks. To document their travels, the family made a photo album and scrapbook including each state, featuring pictures of “Welcome to” state signs and of each capitol building taken at various angles.

“It’s pretty cool because not a lot of people can say they visited all of them,” said Emily Nelson of the achievement.

Nick also indicated he was proud to have visited every single capitol in the U.S., but it hadn’t quite sunk in that he has accomplished the task.

“You have this build-up—this goal we’re going to do,” Sheila elaborated. “It was bittersweet.”

Governor’s welcome

Out of all the states and capitols they visited, Nick and Emily both agreed their favorite one was Wisconsin’s, where they finished their journey on Aug. 15.

“It had a lot of history about Wisconsin,” said Nick.

“It was our last state and it was our home state,” added Emily. “It was pretty cool inside.”

Prior to their trip to Madison, the family sent an email to Governor Scott Walker’s office explaining their quest, receiving a quick answer.

“Within an hour they had responded,” said Sheila.

Plans were made for Gov. Walker to personally meet with the Nelsons in Madison to help mark their last capitol.

“The kids thought it was special,” Sheila said.

The family had the opportunity to meet Gov. Walker and received a special tour of his home, including a discussion about the Governor’s collection of Civil War artifacts—items that were of particular interest to Nick.

Gov. Walker even pointed out the capitol building and UW-Madison campus, both viewable from the home’s backyard, Nick remembered.

“I thought that was really cool,” he said. “He was really down-to-earth.”

“He could have had an aide or somebody take us around, but he did it himself,” remarked Sheila.

Aside from Wisconsin, visiting Alaska’s capitol building in Juneau in 2012 was another favorite.

It used to house a post office, Nick noted.

For that trip, the Nelsons flew to Anchorage before continuing on to Juneau. While in Alaska, the family also spent time at Denali National Park and visited a glacier.

“We tried to do something in each of the states,” Sheila said.

Other memorable stops during their travels included visits to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Cowboy Stadium in Texas, the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center in New York, and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, to name just a few. 

Their trip to Washington D.C. in 2011 also included visits to attractions like the National Mall, the Smithsonian Institute, and the White House in addition to the nation’s capitol building.

Architecture 101

The Nelsons also took note of how different some state capitol buildings were from others along the way. Many of the older structures placed an emphasis on elaborate architecture while others were relatively unremarkable.

Sheila said she couldn’t believe it when the family’s GPS indicated they had arrived at the capitol building in North Dakota. All they could see was an ordinary office building, which indeed turned out to be the capitol in Bismarck.

“That was kind of strange,” she said.

Florida’s capitol building in Tallahassee also stood out, the family agreed. The structure was made out of concrete and doubles as a hurricane shelter.

A big difference in foot traffic from one city to the next was also noted. Lansing, Michigan, had the most laid-back capitol while those in larger cities drew big crowds. Some buildings even had high security protocol with metal detectors.

However, at each of the capitol buildings the family toured, at least one thing was constant—accessibility.

Due to their age some structures were not particularly wheelchair-friendly with dozens of steps, but Sheila says staff actions helped everything run smoothly.

“The people that worked there would always go out of their way to make sure [Nick] would get in,” she said.

Ocean-oriented places like Emily’s favorite stops—Daytona and Clearwater, Florida—even had special wheelchairs to allow Nick to access the beaches.

“Now they can both say they had their feet in the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico,” Sheila said proudly.

Military ties

Another big part of the Nelsons’ journeys incorporated their strong military background.

In addition to hitting a few state capitols in the Northeast during the summer of 2013, Nick and his family also crossed off Louisiana and Mississippi while John attended a military reunion in New Orleans.

Visits to various military bases were also part of their travels. Nick and Emily even received helicopter tours on several occasions.

“They got to see a lot of different equipment that a lot of kids don’t get to see,” said Sheila.

While the Nelsons will no doubt continue to vacation around the country to keep in touch with their military friends, you have to wonder what, if any, places they have yet to cover having visited all 50 states.

Sheila said the family would like to revisit northern California to where Nick was born in San Clemente and make a side-trip for Emily to Phoenix—the lone state capitol remaining on her list.

“We plan on hitting the ‘Four Corners,’” Sheila said. “We’ve been there, but not as a family.”

Nick also expressed interest in visiting the capitol of Puerto Rico, considered a U.S. territory. Grinning, he and Emily joked that visiting all of the world’s capitols should be their next goal.

For most, traversing the globe would seem an impossible challenge but this family of seasoned travelers has already proven that just about anything is possible.