Orson, I just don't think such a trip is necessary to provide a high quality education-- and though it certainly stands to engage the student, I'm not sure it would engage him more when he shows a strong interest already. Of course wealthy parents are able to fund more expensive learning opportunities such as museum trips than poor parents. Still, that doesn't mean that children of wealthy parents wind up learning more, having more drive to explore their chosen areas as adults, or being more successful just due to the extra expensive items. (The comparison would obviously be to children of parents who provide plenty of learning opportunities-- just not luxury items-- not disadvantaged children who aren't adequately provided for.)
I doubt the trip mentioned in the blog will make a real difference long term for that child. A fun, memorable trip is not an educational necessity, and seems more like a luxury item; I'd bet there are many successful researchers who didn't have such things growing up. There are so many high-quality learning materials available on TV and the internet these days, I really don't think your son will suffer without a cross-country museum trip. (This is assuming that the blog is not made by you about your own son-- nice find, ColinsMum. Hopefully this is all moot.)
As an example, Wren mentioned astrophysics. DS6 is interested in this, and while a planetarium trip would be fun and exciting (and we plan to go back in the next year or so at a local museum), he learns plenty from books, TV (we recently killed the cable but have OTA PBS, plus The Universe and some other things on optical discs), the web, and planetarium software on our PCs. I doubt that children growing up, say, 50-100 years ago-- including all of the world's leading physicists of those generations-- had it so good in terms of available information and the ability to engage in self-directed learning. Is it the same as talking to a real-live astrophysicist, or standing next to a real working large telescope? No, but if I had to pick one or the other, I'd pick the premade information, both canned and interactive, plus home science tools in a heartbeat; and I don't think I'm shorting him by not wracking my brain over getting him into more exciting learning opportunities at this stage.
ETA: I don't think it can be the same kid. You said your desired trip would cost $2,500, and that you wouldn't be able to go if you didn't find a grant or take a graveyard shift-- after the blogging mother had already gotten funds for the other trip, which cost less. Perhaps you got the idea from that blog? In any event, I think it does show that it's possible to do without saving up or working extra shifts.
And I'd be happy to learn that you got to take that trip; I just don't think you need to worry if you can't provide it, and I personally wouldn't work longer hours, on a budget, to spend thousands on the ability to browse one time a museum collection behind the scenes. If I have anything valuable to contribute, it's my opinion that it might not be as important long-term as you think, so you might be able to relax a bit. I salute you for caring so much about your son that you'd experience stress over this.
