Travel and ideas for specific destinations such as cities, countries, parks, or areas of interest
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
“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
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.
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.
I’m soaking in Steamboat’s famous Strawberry Park Hot Springs in a natural pool that is about 105 degrees surrounded by mountains and snow covered trees. There are two other pools that we sample—one that is 101 and one at 75 degrees is downright freezing. Some hardy souls are rolling in the snow and jumping back in.
DAY 2 — “If you have good coaching, skiing is effortless. You just need to use the equipment properly,” says my 72-year-old instructor IJ Fisher, a former Christmas Tree farm owner and ski patroller from the East Coast who followed his kids here in Steamboat, Co
It’s our annual family reunion on snow—11 of us this trip from five to 60–something and we’ve gathered in Steamboat, CO known for having more Olympians—79, including 17 this year—than any other American town and just as important to thousands of American families, pioneering kids-ski-free—some 27 years ago.
Talk about being a 21st-century pioneer. Jenny and Aaron Brill are raising the only infant in a tiny Colorado town, a town located more than 9,000 feet above sea level that offers heart-stopping mountain views in every direction and more than 400 inches of snow a year. And despite the economy, they’re making their dreams come true — and a lot of skiers happy in the process.