Lots of choices for lodging in Lake Placid
DAY 3 — There is every variety of place to stay in Lake Placid from B&Bs, motels, condos and houses, and even luxe resorts.
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Taking the Kids – To Clean Beaches and Avoiding the Oil
As vacation season gets into high gear — with officials yet to figure out how to stem the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in the worst oil spill in U.S history — families who planned to head to the Gulf Coast are worried too about clean beach waters — as are those who count on their business.
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Learn Winter Olympic history at Lake Placid
You can learn a little, or a lot, of Olympic history in Lake Placid at the Olympic Center.
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A weekend in dog-friendly Lake Placid, NY
The water is cold in Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, NY but that’s not keeping the kids—or hardy parents out. The little ones are splashing at the water’s edge while older ones are out in kayaks , rowboats and paddle boats. Our pup is eyeing them all curiously. “It’s got everything you want with little kids,” said Jim Carroll, vacationing here with his wife and two daughters
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To the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
We’re at Hall of Human Origins, the newest exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, now celebrating its centennial year. (It’s the most visited of the 19 Smithsonian museums with 7.4 million visitors last year!) It’s the most visited museum in the country and has the most visited science museum in the world. It’s easy to see why. Even kids who profess to “hate science” can’t help but love this 21st-century museum.
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Taking the Kids To Cooking School
I am standing in a Mexican kitchen on a picturesque Ranch outside of Oaxaca city kneading dough that will become mini tortillas. I’ve already grilled the cactus that will be a part of the topping for these mini tortillas called Memelas
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See you in Times Square
I’m in a darkened Broadway theater watching the new Tony-nominated musical “Memphis” (nominated for eight awards!), which tells the story of what happens in the segregated South when a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun, played by Chad Kimball, falls for “Negro” music and a terrifically talented black singer named Felicia Farrell, played by Montego Glover
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Putting on the Ritz in Orlando
As Orlando gears up for the much-anticipated opening in June of Universal’s “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” — 20 acres within Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventures — keep in mind there are plenty of options to stay — some 115,000 hotel rooms, including more than two-dozen new hotels, including the brand-new Holiday Inn Club Vacations Orlando.
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Giving Mom the Best Mother’s Day Present She’s Ever Had
We moms all know the dirty little secret of family vacations. No, I’m not talking about the piles of laundry when we get home, though that’s certainly no fun. I’m talking about how moms whisper on the beach, around the pool and on line at theme parks that family vacations are really no vacations at all for them, especially when young kids are part of the equation..
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What Parents Say About Family Vacations
You need a vacation now more than ever, and you shouldn’t feel the least bit guilty. In fact, you’ve got lots of company, according to a new family-travel poll for which I partnered with Travelocity.com.
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Celebrate Earth Day with little things that make a difference
It is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and the travel industry’s websites are falling all over each other to tell you what they are doing to be green and how we can all travel greener. But really, it is little things — like carrying reusable water bottles or hanging up towels after you use them that can help make difference
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A Stop at the Jewish Museum to see Curious George
Who says you have to spend hours in a museum? Sometimes, even an hour is enough—especially with kids. While in Manhattan, I stopped in late in the afternoon at The Jewish Museum especially to see one exhibit—Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey.
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A visit to NYC and Broadway
Spend some time in New York City — there are a lot of fabulous new productions on Broadway this year, including “Memphis” and “The Addams Family.”
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Touring Rome When All Doesn’t Go as Planned
The alarm doesn’t go off.Forget about our plan to leisurely stroll through Rome’s famous Borghese Gardens to get to the Borghese Gallery in time for our reservation to see the fabulous collections of paintings, sculptures, mosaics and bas-reliefs from the 15th to 18th centuries. Reservations typically are needed at this small gem of a museum.
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Traveling Greener as We Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
Little things really make a difference.That’s why on vacation, just like at home, we should all do our part to protect the environment. It’s as simple as turning off the lights and AC when you leave.
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Being a Princess for a Day at Disney World
I forgot my tiara and kept misplacing my wand. After all, it’s not easy being a modern-day Disney princess. You need to keep that tiara firmly on your head; you need to be kind to everyone — even annoying younger siblings.
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TO BERMUDA
The iconic pink Fairmont Hamilton Princess with spectacular gardens that overlook the water and well-stocked Koi ponds is THE place for a traditional English Tea in the oh-so-British-feeling Bermuda.
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Opting for luxe beyond the parks of Orlando
AAH… I’m in the midst of possibly the best massage I’ve ever had at Orlando Grand Lakes Ritz Carlton Spa—thanks to the feet of the massage therapist, who happens to be a former paratrooper, he tells me!
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In and around Disney’s Grand Floridian
So how would a princess ask for a piece of cake? The half dozen or so princesses in training, their tiaras on their heads are listening attentively. “Ahem, Madame Chef, May I have a piece of cake,” Rose Petal (who apparently was a rose in the palace garden and then magically became a princess so she could be Aurora’s friend) instructs them
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Back to Disney World with the princesses
It’s hard work being a princess. You need to know how to curtsey and wave. You need to be kind to everyone—even annoying younger siblings. You need to wear fancy dresses and tiaras.
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To a Place American Families Haven’t Yet Discovered
In a desert oasis beside a roaring river, the handsome young Chilean reaches for my hand to help me over the rocks. He smiles. “Gracias,” I say. It’s not a dream. The long-haired, 29-year-old Chileano is Max Vera, our guide on a challenging uphill hike along the canyon floor. We scramble over rocks strewn along a sandy trail, large “fox tails” and cacti that are 12 feet high with needles so sharp that local Indian women use them to sew and knit. We’re in the Atacama Desert in South America, walking along the River Puritama. Our goal: seven pools of hot springs.
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Skiing Vail Mountain in one day!
Finally. I get to relax. After the extended family heads back to Denver and Connecticut, after my college freshman daughter and her friends head back to school, my husband and I head to Vail where we check in to the Arrabelle at Vail Square–a beautiful boutique hotel celebrating its second anniversary.
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To a Totally Kidcentric and Affordable Ski Resort This Spring
Sorry, Cinderella. Five-year-old Hannah Sitzman has forsaken all things princess to be a Winter Queen, she announces as she makes her way to the huge ice throne in a castle at the top of a ski mountain that took more than 75 tons of snow and two full weeks to build.
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Our family takes over Keystone mountain
DAY 8 — Yes, a ski trip can work whether you are five, 19 or 60-at least for our family, at least at Keystone Resort that is the most economical and most kid-centric of Vail’s Colorado resorts.
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No shortage of things to do at Vista Verde
DAY 6 — Ever since they were a young married couple in Indianapolis, Peggy and Jerry Throgmartin talked about buying a ranch. “This is my husband’s dream since he was seven, said Peggy Throgmartin. It took till the couple was in their fifties to make it happen—here at Vista Verde Ranch
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To Vista Verde Ranch near Steamboat
Our 2010 Colorado winter adventure continues. DAY 5 — Think four wheel drive. Think four wheel drive on skis. I’m in the back country of the Vista Verde Ranch—some 560 pristine snow covered acres at 7800 feet above altitude—trying my hand at back country skiing.
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A day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
The centerpiece of Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey Bay, CA is the massive Monterey Bay Aquarium . It’s an incredible structure which includes some of the largest fish tanks in the world and some of the most elusive creatures in our oceans
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Fishing in Alaska
“The fish must hate us,” moans 13-year-old Miles Singer. We are on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska with one of the river’s best guides, Steve Fickes, who jokes that he’s been guiding “ever since I got my accounting degree” — more than two decades ago.It’s like Grand Central Station on the Kenai this morning
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Taking the Kids — On Spring Break
Who says college kids have all the fun? I’ve spent spring breaks hunting for the “perfect” Sand Dollar on a Sanibel Island beach, watching major leaguers at spring training games, along with my little leaguers, and exploring the Grand Canyon with a couple of young hikers who were thrilled to become Junior Rangers.
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Steamboat is most definitely kid-centric
DAY 4 — It’s just after 9 a.m. and the spanking new Kids Vacation Center at Steamboat—it has doubled in size this year—is in full swing.
