It’s only a half mile but a steep 40 per cent grade makes it seem much longer.  After all the eating aboard the Disney Magic (www.disneycruise.com) as we cruise the Med, we’re glad for the exercise as we head to one of the most famous volcano craters in the world. Mt. Vesuvius.... 

 Imagine if you could only get into your office or house via toeholds carved into rock. Imagine cooking by tossing a hot rock into a waterproofed basket filled with stew fixings and grinding corn with a rock. Imagine living with your family in small stone rooms. Imagine no TV or video games to entertain the kids — just stories passed down from generation to generation.

 DAY FOUR – Little kids are everywhere--splashing in Mickey’s Ears in the Mickey Mouse head-shaped pool, getting chicken fingers and Pizza poolside, lining up to meet princesses.... 

 Finally, we’re off! The 32-foot Winnebago RV is stocked with every variety of food from Costco as well as toys, games, movies, pillows, sheets, towels, special “blankies,” and stuffed animals, along with two kids, 5 and 7, two parents and me.

 The kids are climbing up a 32 foot ladder, squeezing through a tunnel, walking in toe holds carved into the sandstone, learning all about archeology, Native American culture and ancient history as they go....

 Certainly tent camping was cheaper and many suggest that RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids....

 The Garlands were dedicated RVers long before they bought the park. They still meet up at campgrounds with California friends they met when Mary was in a Mom’s group. Many of today’s campgrounds, she adds, give you the option to tent camp, bring an RV or stay in a cabin....

 Had we been here in the 1800s, we would have been hunting whales rather than photographing them. Provincetown was a very busy whaling port. ....

 I smile thinking of that hot day at Disney World when my son and older daughter worked so hard to convince their little sister that she really was “grown up” enough (and tall enough) to ride Space Mountain. “So cool!” they told her. “Not too scary,” they promised.

There is a lot of history we learn on this small island. In fact, the entire island is a historic district designated as a National Historic Landmark and has more buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places than anywhere in Massachusetts, including Boston.