Eileen interviewed by Boston Globe on family trips making lifetime memories
Eileen is interviewed by the Boston Globe on how family trips make for lifetime memories.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Taking the Kids Blogs
How to save time and avoid stress at the theme parks
I had another ace up my sleeve. We’d arranged a VIP tour guide for part of the day. Our guide could lead the way, taking us through the park in a way that we would maximize our time, answering the most arcane questions, knowing where the bathrooms were and having ponchos on hand for the water rides.
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A fun-filled day at the Harvard museum in Cambridge, MA
While most in the crowd continue toward Brattle Street, Alex and I turn right on Peabody and head toward the gates of Harvard Yard. We’re on our way to the Harvard Museum of Natural History located on Harvard’s picturesque campus at 26 Oxford Street. Founded in 1998, the museum is the most frequently visited attraction at the university.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
To Boston’s children’s museum celebrating 100 years of the power of play
When the kids lead the way, we’re guaranteed smiles rather than whines. And there’s no better place to let kids lead the way and to see the power of play in action than at the Boston Children’s Museum, which is celebrating its centennial this month on the South Boston Waterfront.
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Interacting with sharks at the New England Aquarium
Do you know the difference between a seal and a sea lion? The nine and 10 year-olds attending the New England Aquarium’s summer Harbor Discoveries Camps enlightened me. “Sea lions can walk but seals can’t,” said nine year-old Sydney, adding that seals just have a hole where their ears are while sea lions have an external flap.
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Combining 17th and 21st Centuries in lodging in historic Boston
Boston is the kind of city where you can stay in historic hotels—the famous Fairmont Copley Place and Omni Parker House both are over 100 years old—or sleek new hotels like The Revere.
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Kids and families at the site of the Boston Tea Party
It may be 90 degrees but we’re making believe it’s December—and we’ve time traveled back to 1773 –December 16, 1773 to be precise. We’re part of the night that literally changed the course of American history—The Boston Tea Party, of course. Welcome to the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
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“The Power of Play” at Boston Children’s Museum
The kids at the huge waterfront museum were too busy having fun—from the toddlers in the PlaySpace wheeling mini grocery carts to the grade schoolers making their way up the soaring three story climbing structure. That’s the point as the museum celebrates it’s centennial.
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An unexpected find in Indianapolis – a foodie’s paradise
But what I didn’t expect to find on my visit to Indianapolis was a place of second and third acts in life—successful second and third acts. Local farmers markets (there’s one just outside the door certain days of the week) and city markets like this give you a chance to meet locals wherever you are vacationing.
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An old-fashioned family getaway in Maine
Maine is the kind of place for an old-fashioned family vacation with the chance to learn something new, whether you’re going fishing, stand-up paddle-boarding for the first time or maybe learning how to catch — and eat a lobster.
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USA Today on whether hotels are family-friendly; Eileen quoted
Eileen in quoted in USA Today column on how family-friendly some hotels are or are not.
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Tragedy on a Texas roller-coaster a reminder to practice theme park safety
It’s important to remember that as awful as the roller-coaster accident at Six Flags Over Texas was, fatalities or even injuries are not common on theme park rides. According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the chance of being seriously injured on a ride at a fixed-site park in the United States is one in 24 million; only 61 of the 1,415 ride-related injuries –less than 5 per cent required overnight hospital treatment.
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Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
What to do when it rains on your family’s long-awaited vacation
Sometimes when the weather interferes with your plans, it’s best to move on to Plan B. Rain has sent us racing to the nearest B-and-B when we were camping in New Hampshire. (A hot shower never felt so good!) We literally flew to Oahu when the forecast was better there than the continued wet weather we were experiencing on Kauai.
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Remembering a special small cruise in Alaska’s Inside Passage
I understand why the Native Tlingits called glaciers “white thunder.” We see harbor seals lounging on chunks of blue ice in the water. The glacier looks like blue cotton candy with chocolate sprinkles.
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Eileen talks about a family RV camping trip on Foxnews.com
Eileen discusses the merits of a camping trip in a Recreational Vehicle on Foxnews.com
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Water sports, bike riding and bringing home the lobsters in Maine
Food, of course, is a big part of vacation and that’s certainly the case in Maine famous for its no-frills lobster “shacks” where you can get lobster rolls—lobster salad sandwiches typically served on a hot dog bun to restaurants in Portland, about 20 miles from here, known for serving food that have just come from local farms.
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Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Teaching a kid to fish with a “Wicked Tuna” star in Kennebunkport ME
“Sometimes the girls have more patience,” acknowledges Capt Bruce Hebert, known for his stint on the National Geographic Channel’s Wicked Tuna reality show but here in Kennebunkport for his Libreti Rose II fishing charters that cater to families and is named for his wife and three daughters—Lisa, Brie, Tiara and Rose.
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Visiting kids should meet local kids
Wherever you go this summer, encourage your kids to chat up local kids, join a pick-up soccer game in a city park or play in a playground or on the beach. They’ll go home with an entirely different perspective. I met these Bahamian kids at the Abaco Beach Resort where they’ve signed on to be Bahamas Buddies
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Three days in the Kennebunks (ME) over the Fourth of July holiday
It’s July 4th night and everyone is in vacation mode after a long day on the beach with teens setting off sparklers, parents nursing a beer or a glass of wine and everyone, for the moment, feeling all is well in the world, especially here in Maine where locals have been welcoming vacationers for generations—including the Bush family.
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Eileen on Rudy Maxa radio show – not too late for summer vacay plans
Eileen discusses why it’s not too late to book a great summer vacation on Rudy Maxa’s weekly syndicated radio travel show.
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A summer day well spent at Denver’s Elitch Gardens
A day at a theme park like Elitch Gardens is about more than having fun, we discover. It’s about facing disappointment when we lose at an arcade game and it rains when we want sun. It’s about riding that first thrill ride and recognizing when it may be too much thrill for a little girl (or a grown up).
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Eileen is quoted in Parents Magazine article
Eileen is quoted in a Parents Magazine article on family-friendly doings in Orlando, Washington DC and Chicago.
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Good news: hotel industry is waking up to healthier kids menus
In the past year, a growing number of hotel chains have revamped their kids’ menus to make them healthier with less fat and sugar as well as prepared with locally sourced foods. It’s terrific to see a travel industry contest that actually focuses on something families care about—healthier and better children’s menus–rather than giving them another toy or backpack they don’t need or want.
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Nantucket island, once the whaling capital of the world
This small island — just 14 miles East to West and 3.5 miles north to south — is so pretty with its weathered gray shingle houses, roses climbing white picket fences and cobblestone streets in Nantucket town. There are more than 800 pre-Civil War houses on the island, which shares the name with a county and a town — the only place in the country that all three have the same name.
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Eileen offers best bets for families and kids visiting Baltimore
Eileen offers best bets for families and kids visiting Baltimore in Have Family Will Travel by Four Seasons.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Lady Liberty is reopening July 4 after cleanup from Hurricane Sandy
Wow! Even the most jaded teen or tween can’t help but be impressed gazing up at The Statue of Liberty, reopening July 4 for the first time since Liberty Island was seriously damaged and closed last fall in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
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Activities for kids abound in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit has plenty of kid-friendly activities too! If you or your kids are history buffs, the Ford Museum and Greenfield Village are perfect destinations. The Ford Museum has an impressive collection of artifacts, including the first Mustang ever made, the car in which JFK was assassinated, the chair Lincoln was seated in when he was shot, and the bus that Rosa Parks rode.
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Eileen reports on How to Make the Most of Summer in the Bahamas on Foxnews.com
Eileen reports on How to Make the Most of Summer in the Bahamas on Foxnews.com
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Two days discovering Michigan
Ann Arbor is full of wonderful and unique food. The day opened at Zola, originally started as a small Turkish gem, which still sticks to its roots. Usually, I love sticking to my roots, treating myself to blintz and crepes for breakfast, but the waiter convinced me to try an artichoke omelet with plenty of veggies and hearty flavor.
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All of us want the same thing from family travel – a vacation and memories
Wherever you go this summer, all of us want the same thing: The chance to relax and make happy memories, Vacation memories, families say, not only last a lifetime but are among the most important they have, helping them to get through the tough times. Just thinking about the vacation ahead can put the fun back in everyday life, Disney Consumer Insight Team’s Amy Foster told the attendees at the First TMS Family Travel Summit in Orlando. “Fun is not frivolous,” she said. “Fun is precious.”
