God Speed Major Garay
Whether facing a deployment or just trying to make vacation memories, this village is a terrific place to start. Lanier Motes, who orchestrates the events here at Sandestin, explains there is something going on every holiday
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To a Ranch in Winter
Vista Verde Ranch , 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs on some 560 pristine acres at 7,800 feet above sea level, is a place to literally slow down and enjoy the scenery from the back of a horse or on snowshoes or backcountry skis away from crowds and cars
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Tennis anyone?
This program—you’ll find others around the country—is part of an effort designed by the U.S. Tennis Association to get more kids involved in the sport. They play with smaller rackets and on smaller courts. “It’s hand eye coordination, exercise, being outdoors,” Petty says, and the kids are learning a lifelong sport.
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In memory of Shannon, please ‘get swabbed’
I love to see people live their dreams whether on vacation or at home. But sometimes, that dream is all too fleeting. All 11-year-old Shannon Tavarez wanted to do was perform on stage. She beat out hundreds of children in an open audition to win the role of Nala in The Lion King on Broadway.
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Get your own Santa visit at Sandestin
If you are staying at the resort, you can arrange to have Santa come to your condo or cottage—gift in hand (he presented me with a soft stuffed lamb complete with a tag that reads “To Eileen from Santa”) and read a holiday story to the kids
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Four Days at Sandestin Resort
Welcome to Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, FL on the Gulf Coast about halfway between Pensacola and Panama City. You’re just a little more than four hours from Atlanta or Birmingham; five from New Orleans and eight from Dallas.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
To the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park
We’re riding in a truck on a photo caravan into the heart of the large animal enclosures, which means, as we bump along, we get up close to not only the rhinos (Southern white, as well as greater one-horned) but also the giraffes (try feeding leaves to two giraffes at once!), Springbok, Cape buffalo, ostrich, Defassa Waterbuck, zebras and more.
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What to do when you lose your passport while traveling abroad
I’m still not sure where or how it happened that day in Florence. Our passports were securely in my purse but that evening, the leather envelope I carried them in was gon
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To Kauai — Now the Adventure Isle
We’ve driven to the end of Kuhio Highway on the North Shore of Kauai to Ke’e beach — past some of the most luxuriant plants I’ve ever seen. Spectacular beaches abound here on Kauai, including Lumahai beach where Mitzi Gaynor “washed that man right out of her hair” for the filming of “South Pacific.” There’s also the town of Hanalei of “Puff the Magic Dragon” fame
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Are you ready for ghosts and goblins?
This year, there are thousands of haunted attractions around the country to choose from that offer chills and thrills for most of the fall. Even Broadway is getting in on the act
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To Steamboat Springs
The story goes that in the early 1800s a French trapper heard a noisy hot spring that reminded him of a steamboat. When the railroad was built in 1908, the formations around the spring were changed and the chugging sound was lost. Still, the name stuck.
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How to survive and have fun on college tours with your kids
Anyone who has ever toured colleges with a high school student — and I was on my third round that Boston weekend — knows that’s no small feat. I’ve driven four hours to have my son refuse to get out of the car because he didn’t like the look of the campus
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Meeting Up with Some Ghosts and Goblins
Halloween is no longer just about trick or treating in the neighborhood. That’s old school — apparently. Instead, you can take your pick of zoos, museums, theme parks, campgrounds, big cities, small ones — all of which have Halloween doings guaranteed to scare the teens and plenty of benign “spooky” fun for the littlest ghosts and goblins.
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Tonight we’re going to watch the flamingos in the sunset!
The Atacama region (less than two hours flight from Santiago) is one of the most visited in Chile and it is easy to see why — the spectacular desert landscape, the chance to hike to an ancient village, taste a llama kebob (you’ll see them everywhere here), hike to the top of a volcano at 18,000 feet or to the highest geyser field in the world — El Tatio Geisers at 14,190 feet — and visit unique nature reserves like this.
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When grownups go out to play in the fall
Fall is an ideal time for some “me” and “us” time. “Prices are generally less expensive than the summer months,” says Travelocity.com’s Genevieve Brown. “And since most families are wrapped up with school activities, you’re not likely to encounter a lot of kids at your destination.”
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A place that mixes kids and adults seamlessly
“You do something and the next day you want to do It again because it was so fun,” says Zach. With other friends, they made a human pyramid while moms played tennis, headed out in kayaks and to water-ski, hunt for frogs, and watch a movie while their parents linger guilt-free over dinner. “We eat and then run off,” Zach says.
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MAKING SURE MOM GETS A BREAK TOO IN SNOWY CLIMES
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, on line at theme parks and at ski resort lifts that family vacations are really no vacations at all for them, especially when young kids are part of the equation.
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A lakeside resort in Maine with that old feel
I didn’t have to shop, cook or do the dishes or even crack the lobsters. Welcome to Migis Lodge. In a local Native American language Migis means “Place to Steal Away and Rest,” says Tim Porta, who is the second generation to run the place—his 29-year-old son Jed the third generation.
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Three late summer days in New England
The resort—built on 700 acres—includes 77 cabins that were built before the 1940s. The same families have been coming for generations for the same illusive qualities that first brought families here more than a century ago—the lake front, the chance to be together whether reading a book, playing croquet on the lawn or going out in a sail boat or kayak
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Plenty to do (and eat) on a day at sea with Disney
DAY THREE — Our first day at sea and there is so much to do! We can go to a lecture about Malta where we will be tomorrow, play Bingo or go to a cooking demonstration, learn napkin folding or Origami.
