Travel ideas and destinations that are close to home.
DAY TWO — It’s barely 9 a.m. and kids are in full vacation mode, playing water basketball, floating in the lazy river, zipping down the…
DAY ONE — It’s a trip down memory lane — literally, for my husband at least. We’ve flown down to Austin, TX where he was…
We screeched to a halt along the side of the road in Grand Teton National Park. Reggie, 8, was equally mesmerized but 3-year-old Melanie couldn’t quite grasp that we were in the moose’s house — and it wasn’t a zoo. I still smile years later when I think about the kids’ excitement. Forget the Kodak moments. The chance to share something new together — something you’d never see or do at home — is what makes those indelible family vacation memories that last forever.
Free gas anyone? Not quite. But the higher gas prices go — and the more we rethink summer vacation plans as a result — the more hotels, resorts, cities and towns across the country are rolling out the welcome mat with rebates and credits all designed to help fill your gas tank and ease the sticker shock that comes with it, as the price of gas climbs to $4.07 a gallon on average. That is $1.09 a gallon more than a year ago, according to AAA.
No one likes to talk about it but every year, nationwide, an estimated 8,000 children ages 14 and under are treated in emergency rooms for injuries involving thrill rides at amusement parks and traveling carnivals; in an average year, three or four die, reports Safe Kids USA
For one thing, I didn’t think the 3-year-old and her 5-year-old brother were misbehaving. True, a glass of milk got spilled and they were (somewhat) noisy and jumped around a bit, picking up crayons that had dropped on the floor. But so were a lot of the other kids at The Flying Fish, the noisy, bustling Orlando restaurant.
There are 36 water slides, six rivers and lagoons, white sandy beaches and two terrific kids’ water play areas. Let’s not forget the animals — Commerson’s Dolphins (take the “Dolphin Plunge” down 250 feet of clear tubes, through their habitat), Macaws, and colorful African Cichlids, which, for the uninitiated, are colorful fish found in freshwater lakes and rivers in Africa, Central and South America, among other far-flung places.)
Just as we’re all planning summer getaways, gas prices go through the roof, the dollar is so weak against the British pound and the Euro that trips to Great Britain and Europe seem out of reach, and the pundits suggest the economy is going to get worse. And, as if to make us even more frustrated, this month airlines will begin charging you for checking a second bag.
Welcome to Krustyland! Where we join the Simpsons — yes those Springfield Simpsons of TV and movie fame — in Krusty the Clown’s crazy cartoon world, a theme park within a theme park. Talk about make-believe — and incredible technology – as we’re swept along, flying, bumping and crashing through the attractions, just opened at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando.
DAY ONE — It’s 3 p.m. and the pool at Disney’s Boardwalk resort in Orlando is packed with parents and kids, including a lot of…