Staying healthy right now away from home
The swine flu news is making us nervous — very nervous — just when millions of us are planning our much-needed summer vacations. But that doesn’t mean we should grab the kids and huddle under the covers.
-
-
On the old-fashioned train to the Grand Canyon
It’s that rare vacation moment when everyone is happy at the same time. And all it took was an old-fashioned train in a remote Arizona town and a singing cowboy leading the kids in a spirited rendition of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
-
Becoming Junior Rangers in the National Parks
Everyone who sees the kids with the badges prominently displayed on their shirts are effusive in their praise, which makes the kids all the more pleased with themselves.
-
To Innsbruck and beyond
Who says kids will be bored in Europe? Not in Austria. There’s plenty of culture and history — kids can dress up as royals, in fact, at the Schonbrunn Palace
-
LAST DAY IN ARIZONA — Meet Lance, Bailey and Sonora
DAY SIX (April 4, 2009) — Lance is a Hawk, Bailey a turkey vulture and Sonora a two year-old Bald Eagle. The kids’ eyes are…
-
HARD AT WORK ON VACATION AT CAMP HYATT
DAY FIVE (At the Hyatt Scottsdale) — The kids are hard at work — on vacation. They are crafting elaborate sand creations at the small…
-
SWEARING IN THE NEW JUNIOR RANGERS
“This is Grand Canyon National Park, not Jurassic park,” she says, holding up a plastic dinosaur. “This is the closest you’ll get to a dinosaur!”
We’re about to go on a ranger — led fossil hunt and there are thousands of fossils to be found, she tells the crowd that includes at least two dozen kids. But there are no dinosaur bones here — these fossils are a lot older! -
AT THE GRAND CANYON
I look around and see all kinds of families — from around the world here to experience what is widely considered one of the wonders of the world. It was set aside as a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and became a national park in 1919. It remains one of the most visited parks.
-
ON THE TRAIN TO THE GRAND CANYON
Today, the train once again carries more than 200,000 passengers to the Canyon 60 miles and 2.5 hours from Williams. Some will return the same afternoon. My cousins — -Jayme and Mike Sitzman and Ethan, 6, and Hannah,4, and I have decided to overnight at the canyon so we have more time to “explore,” as Ethan says.
-
DAY ONE OF A TRIP TO THE GRAND CANYON
DAY ONE (Tuesday, March 31, 2009) — The Purple People Eater; Qutie (well it’s a four year old’s turn); Rhinoceros; Tickle Monster… by the time…
-
Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
THE FUN NEVER STOPS IN PARK CITY
Take your pick — you can ride a lift up the chairlift at any of Park City’s three resorts and go mountain biking or hiking. Deer Valley alone has a mountain bike school as well as 50 dedicated trails. There are mid-mountain hiking trails that connect the resorts and the Olympic Park — 27 miles! –where incidentally locals turn out in force on Saturday afternoons to watch Ski jumpers practice their jumps, landing in a pool at the bottom.
-
Teaching kids about food along the way in San Francisco
The beautifully restored Ferry Building Marketplace, built in 1898, is a must see for foodies of all ages.
-
A TOUR OF PARK CITY MOUNTAIN
DAY TWO — It’s the last weekend in March and we’re knee-deep in fresh powder. Park City Mountain Resort got something like 18 fresh inches…
-
THREE DAYS IN AND AROUND PARK CITY, UTAH
DAY ONE (March 27, 2009) == MMM… maybe we should skip straight to desert. There’s not one but three kinds of chocolate fondue — white…
-
DAY IN INNSBRUCK AND AT SWAROVSKI KRISTALLWELTEN
Here there literally is a crystal wonderland — a labyrinth created by international artists that use crystal as an art form in 14 Chambers of Wonder, with paintings, sculptures and installations. We loved Jim Whiting’s Mechanical Theater with the dancing pants and the man’s torso that comes apart to reveal his insides that are all glittering crystals.
-
A WALK IN THE WOODS
I decide I want to see what else this tiny resort village has to offer so I decide to go on a walk in the woods with engaging ski pro Alois Gstrein, who was raised here on a farm and has lived here all his life, now with his wife and new baby. His entire family – parents, two brothers, two sisters — all live here.
-
SITTING IN THE ALPINE SUN
DAY 4 — The sky is post card blue. The Alps look like they are covered in marshmallow fluff with Oreo crumbles underneath. We’re sitting…
-
We ski through a tunnel from Jiefenbach to Rettenbach
Did I mention our Austrian ski guide Bernhardt Kneissl who has been teaching and guiding here for 43 years — since he was 17? He doesn’t speak much English and my daughter Mel and I no German, so it makes for an interesting day.
-
A WATER PARK FOR GROWN UPS
The kids seemed to love that you swim in a lazy river from indoor pools to the outside, jump out, run outside for two seconds and then jump into one of these huge heated pools on stilts — with salt water, one with whirlpool and massage and blessedly warm. Inside kids and their parents are playing in the expansive pools under the waterfall and in the kids’ pool that is shaped like a Noah’s Ark
-
A SKI TRIP IN THE AUSTRIAN ALPS
When my 18 year old daughter Melanie and I were touring Austria last summer, she begged me to bring her skiing this winter — her last before she leaves for college.So in the true spirit of let kids lead the way, here we are, about an hour from Innsbuck and just a couple of hours drive from Munich or Zurich.
-
To the Colorado slopes — and getting the most bang for your buck
Cheap eats and other bargains are especially appreciated in ski country this season — even here in tony Aspen and a few hours away at Vail’s Beaver Creek Resort
-
Beach Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
A STOP AT GREAT STIRRUP BAY, BAHAMAS
Kids are snorkeling in the turquoise clear water while parents catch some rays. There’s a beach volleyball game in full swing and a barbeque going. Bahamian music is playing and the Bahama Mamas are flowing.
-
Backyard Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Travel Diaries
A SHORE EXCURSION TO THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
The last time I was here — more than 15 years ago — we were vacationing in Orlando and came over to watch a Space Shuttle launch. Ironically. A launch is scheduled — a night launch — for next week, we’re told, though that can change.
-
A Weekend Getaway to Squaw Valley, U.S.A.
For a weekend retreat away from the bustling city of San Francisco, Squaw Valley was the perfect destination. The ski mountain is close enough to the city, about a three-hour drive, to wake up early and make it from the city to the mountain still in time for a full day of skiing, and some après skiing fun.
-
Going on spring break
Some almost canceled their plans this year, but they decided to go because of the opportunity for badly needed family time
-
At Snowmass: SO MANY CHOICES FOR THE SWEET TOOTH
I can’t think of a better place than The Sweet Life for the bottom of a family mountain like Snowmass, by far the largest of Aspen’s four mountains and family-central with the year-old Treehouse Adventure Center that is ski school central for young kids. Jen Hayes opened her second The Sweet life (the first is in Telluride) in Snowmass’s new Base Village and it’s not only perfect for this mountain but for this economy.
-
Snowshoeing at Snowmass
“The whole idea is to educate the public about the environment so they get out and love it and want to protect it,” he says. Kids as young as seven can join one of these gentle tours. “If you can walk you can do this tour,” Carter says, but he adds if you have younger kids you can call and arrange a special tour.
-
Snowmass — family ski heaven
We have moved over to the new base area at Snowmass, the largest of Aspen’s four mountains and the one known as the family mountain (though my 17 year-old discovered plenty of extreme terrain too). There is a vertical drop of over 4,400 feet and 3,132 acres of terrain — attracting more skiers than Aspen’s three other mountains combined.
-
Aspen in the recession — there are pluses
Yes, like every other resort in the country, business is down in America’s most famous ski town. The mountains aren’t crowded and you don’t seem to see as many flashy ski outfits either. It’s easier to get dinner reservations or a table when you want one.
-
HOW PARENTS MANAGE TO TAKE KIDS SKIING IN A DIFFICULT ECONOMY
It’s lunch time at Beaver Creek Resort’s main mountain restaurant Spruce Saddle Lodge and the place is packed with families. You wouldn’t know there is a recession going on — until you start talking to people, like I did, table hopping
-
A VERY GREEN SKI RESORT
I feel like a crazy person! We’re 12 in our gang, ranging from a four year-old to two twenty somethings and a grandma who just turned 60. If you think getting your kids out the door to school or day care in the morning is tough, imagine getting them geared up for a day on the snow!
-
A new style all-inclusive resort on Mexico’s Riviera Maya
My mission: To see if a vacation with active teens and young adults can be successful at an all-inclusive resort. Conclusion: “yes”
-
SIX LITTLE SKIERS ALL IN A ROW
Beaver Creek is a Vail Resort — about 10 minutes from famous Vail in fact — but it is a parallel universe. Even on a busy weekend, it is not crowded. The resort is known for its stellar learning terrain, kids’ school and green easy trails at the top of the mountain, though there is plenty of extreme terrain too.
-
To the Mohonk Mountain House
There it is, right in front of us, a castle, a sprawling, Victorian castle, just a couple of hours north of New York City.
-
To Stowe Vermont and elsewhere in snow country
I’ve forsaken the slopes today, as terrific as they are at the brand-new Spruce Peak base area at Stowe Mountain Resort. I’m snowshoeing at the nearby Trapp Family Lodge
-
To Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca is in the southeastern part of Mexico and we’ve come here for a few days of cultural immersion after a week lazing on the beach
-
A lesson in Mexican cooking on our last day in Oaxaca
Welcome to Seasons of My Heart Cooking School ) that is run by well-known chef Susana Trilling, an American from Philadelphia who fell in love with Mexico on vacation more than 20 years ago and has lived here most of the time since, raising her two kids here.
-
An ancient way of making pottery and a unique wood carver
Talk about loving your work. Eighty-eight year old Dona Sophia Reyes is a potter who works seven days a week and hasn’t had a day off since she was eight, she tells us when she welcomes us into her studio and home in San Bartelo Coyotepec, a village about 25 minutes from Oaxaca City.
-
An adventure through the Oaxacan countryside
We are on our bikes riding on dirt roads passing alfalfa and corn fields, passing locals hauling alfalfa by donkey carts. It is day two of a trip to Oaxaca in Central Mexico that Austin Lehman Adventures (www.austinlehman.com) has arranged for our family.
-
On to Oaxaca and the tasty grasshoppers
It tastes kind of like bacon and is seasoned with chile and salt. Not bad! We are walking through a market in Oaxaca City where we’ve arrived just this afternoon to spend a few days touring this cultural center on a trip organized for us by Austin Lehman Adventures. Locals are selling the “chapulines” — there are big piles of them! Cheap too — just 3 pesos for a bag (about 40 cents).
-
A smaller resort just down the beach with a different feel
DAY 7 – I’m perched in a wooden tree house — the most comfortable I’ve ever seen — on a double mattress overlooking the turquoise…
-
How to cope with another relaxing day on the beach
It’s 7:15 am and I snag the last “beach bed” at the pool area closest to our room at the Azul Sensatori Hotel (www.karismahotels.com) south of Cancun. You can see why they are in demand — comfy oversized mattresses that are covered.
-
To the theater — in NYC and elsewhere
Despite the economy — or maybe because of it — there’s no better time for families to check out The Great White Way
-
Beach Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Travel Diaries
An up-close look at the Azul Sensatori near Cancun
This might be the best kids’ club I’ve seen. Certainly one of the best-thanks to partnerships with My Gym and Fisher Price at the Karisma Azul Sensatori resort just south of Cancun (www.karismahotels.com). There is a big play room complete with trampoline and balls to jump in.
-
In Mexico, the future of family travel?
I think I’ve seen the future of family travel. It’s called Azul Fives and it’s about a half hour south of we’re staying just outside of Playa del Carmen. Originally, we were supposed to stay here — I liked the location (plenty of action in town for the young adults, Mayan ruins a short drive away, good diving and snorkeling right from the resort).
-
Dance lessons, Spanish lessons or yoga?
I walk down the beach. A toddler is snoozing in the spacious covered “beach bed;” a grandfather is playing cards with his granddaughter; a dad is tossing a football along the beach with his sons. There is a beach volleyball game going on at one end of the beach and a kids’ soccer game at the other.
-
A vacation on the Mexican Riviera
My mission: seeing if a vacation with teens and young adults can be successful at an all-inclusive resort. When they were younger, I liked all-inclusives for the organized kids’ activities that gave parents a break and the fact that I didn’t have to pay $4 every time they wanted a soft drink.
-
Planning a family reunion in tough times
I’ve met families who have gathered in Orlando and in the Galapagos Islands… celebrating 75th birthdays and 50th anniversaries, graduations, survival from serious illness and simple family togetherness
-
IT’S ABOUT THE MEMORIES!
Remember that the next time you’re tempted to scold your impossible, uncooperative preschooler in the middle of Walt Disney World, peck away on your BlackBerry poolside, instead of jumping in and playing Marco Polo with the kids, or disown your teen who refuses to leave her hotel room, yet complains of being bored.
-
A Visit to the San Francisco Museums
For those of you who have to touch – just have to – San Francisco’s Exploratorium is a must-experience educational hot spot. Upon entering the cavernous space reminiscent of a large train terminal, one is greeted with hundreds of learning stations and interactive exhibits cleverly organized by topic: electricity, sound, and many, many more that we lacked the time to see (we recommend committing at least half the day, or making two or more visits to the Exploratorium in order to take in the full experience).
