Celebrating with the little general in Corsica
The Disney Magic is at Ajaccio Corsica on Napoleon Bonaparte’s Birthday- August 15. So there will be fireworks, music and plenty of celebrating.
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Fall is a great time to visit the Smithsonian Museums
Where else can you hold a hissing cockroach, hang on to a “shooting star” (actually a 4.5 billion year old meteorite), use real bones to solve a mystery CSI-style or, as I did, see what you’d look like as an early human
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Pasta making in Tuscany
We’re at a restored picture-perfect farmhouse up in the hills of Lucca on the vineyard and olive groves that are owned by Piero Tartagini and Francesca Pardini, taking a cooking lesson from Zeela Rubenstein and her husband Mauro Gehigani
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A massive kitchen at sea: Disney Magic
The 120 cooks, 48 stewards and 10 storekeepers on board the Disney Magic aim to make sure you’re not. How much weight you’ll gain is another story.
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Gladiators, churches and fountains – a day in Rome
Everyone is watching. We’re in the ancient Coliseum in Rome but these gladiators won’t fight to the death, thank goodness. They’re not slaves or prisoners of war.
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Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii
It’s only a half mile but a steep 40 per cent grade makes it seem much longer. After all the eating aboard the Disney Magic (www.disneycruise.com) as we cruise the Med, we’re glad for the exercise as we head to one of the most famous volcano craters in the world. Mt. Vesuvius.
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Who says Disney cruises aren’t for adults?
DAY SEVEN – Disney for adults. It’s all how you shake the cocktail. Who says Disney Cruises are just for kids?
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Touring the Big Apple with Big Apple Greeters (it’s free!)
Everyone visiting NewYork for the first time needs a friend like Coreen Bourke. The lifetime New Yorker and retired phone company administrator was our designated Big Apple Greeter (www.bigapplegreeter.org), volunteering her time to show visitors like us the New York neighborhoods she knows so well. It’s a free service underwritten by generous donors.
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Belly dancers and couscous — a day in Tunisia
DAY SIX It’s all about the swish of your hips. We’re at Douar Laroussi about an hour from where the Disney Magic is anchored this morning in Tunis, Tunisia in North Africa.
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Exploring Malta and its rich history
DAY FIVE – We’re in Malta, so where are the Knights? The city of Valetta, Malta’s capitol, was built by the Knights of St. John who came here in 1530 to protect the pilgrims.
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Mesa Verde — a different kind of national park
Imagine if you could only get into your office or house via toeholds carved into rock. Imagine cooking by tossing a hot rock into a waterproofed basket filled with stew fixings and grinding corn with a rock. Imagine living with your family in small stone rooms. Imagine no TV or video games to entertain the kids — just stories passed down from generation to generation
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Families explain why they explore with the Mouse
DAY FOUR – Little kids are everywhere–splashing in Mickey’s Ears in the Mickey Mouse head-shaped pool, getting chicken fingers and Pizza poolside, lining up to meet princesses.
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Cruising with Disney isn’t just for little kids, teens declare
(DAY TWO) — Teen attack! It is 10:30 p.m. Saturday night and The Stack at the top of the ship is packed with 100 teens and their three energetic counselors the kids are from all over the world though the majority are Americans.
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On a tour of the Med with Adventures by Disney
My mission: To see if the Disney Cruise Line can do as good a job for teens as they do for younger kids. Can they make cities like Florence and Rome interesting to kids who prefer malls to museums?
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Who says Disney cruises are for little kids?
It is 10:30 p.m. on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise and The teen club, appropriately named “The Stack” on deck 10 of the Disney Magic is packed with 100 teens and their three energetic counselors.
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Taking the Kids, and the doggie, to Nantucket
Nantucket — the only place in America that has the same name for the island, the county and the town — does have a well-deserved reputation for being preppy. “It is the only place you can wear pink pants and get away with it,”says one local.
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RVing in Colorado
Finally, we’re off! The 32-foot Winnebago RV is stocked with every variety of food from Costco as well as toys, games, movies, pillows, sheets, towels, special “blankies,” and stuffed animals, along with two kids, 5 and 7, two parents and me.
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RVING with KIDS
Camping purists—like my wilderness-loving daughters—would turn up their noses at this, but with two young kids, we’re glad for the space, the AC, the beds, the fridge, running water and shower, and when it rains, not being in a soggy tent.
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RVing to Mesa Verde — the kids are fascinated
The kids are climbing up a 32 foot ladder, squeezing through a tunnel, walking in toe holds carved into the sandstone, learning all about archeology, Native American culture and ancient history as they go
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Time Traveling Back in History in Boston
Travel back to the 18th century and you can even ask a British Regular, famous for their red coats, what it was like to serve so far from home where everyone seemed to hate them. (Not so much different from today, is it?) Watch the Regulars’ Changing of the Guard at the site of their original garrison at Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
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RVing and camping — finding togetherness
Certainly tent camping was cheaper and many suggest that RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids.
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The joys of RVing — economical and fun!
The Garlands were dedicated RVers long before they bought the park. They still meet up at campgrounds with California friends they met when Mary was in a Mom’s group. Many of today’s campgrounds, she adds, give you the option to tent camp, bring an RV or stay in a cabin
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The Obamas and mother daughter trips
For once, Michelle Obama isn’t creating a trend. She’s doing what’s trendy. I’m talking about her mother-daughter trip to Spain this week with Sasha while Malia is at sleep away camp.
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On the road in a fabulous RV in Colorado
We’re OFF! A 32-foot RV stocked with food from Costco, toys, movies, two kids aged five and eight, two parents and me. The family is my cousins the SItzmans, who live in Denver. We’re off on a weeklong RV trip across Southwestern Colorado in a home away from home from Winnebago
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To New York City for the First Time
Big Apple Greeters — it seems such a simple idea – to connect locals enthusiastic about their city to first-time visitors or those simply visiting from elsewhere. Now, because of the economic crisis, the nonprofit organization has found itself in a financial crunch of its own and must come up with $300,000 in new funding by the fall if they are to continue. (Are you listening major travel companies?)
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How Harry Potter has changed teens’ wake up times
Thanks, Harry. Suddenly, teens, college students and even twenty somethings who aren’t big fans of family vacations much less getting out of bed early are standing in line before 9 a.m. with their parents, positively giddy with excitement
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If you thought you could get away without buying your baby a plane seat, think again
For years, everyone from the FAA to the American Academy of Pediatrics has been saying that young children are safest when restrained in a safety seat on board an airplane
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Aboard the Megaship Norwegian Epic
SPLAT! The water balloons pop on cue. The music is loud and energetic, with Nickelodeon dancers dressed in orange and green — down to their plastic orange-and-green Crocs — spurring on the crowd, some of whom came dripping wet from the waterslides, including the Epic Plunge, the biggest waterslide at sea, just for the chance
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Sometimes the best vacation experiences are free
Since New York started this program in 1992, the Big Apple Greeters have squired around 95,000 visitors from around the world and have a cadre of more than 300 Greeters who range from 20-somethings to those in their eighties who share a passion for New York that they want to pass on to you.
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To Provincetown — Not Just for Gay and Lesbian Couples
Had we been here in the 1800s, we would have been hunting whales rather than photographing them. Provincetown was a very busy whaling port.
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Keeping your cool
Especially when it’s hot—as it has been unbearably so on the East Coast—and especially on vacation, it can be tough to keep your cool. The kids are going to bicker and complain just like at home, even though you are spending $$$$ for hotels, meals and souvenirs, not to mention entertainment.
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The Secret to Getting Teens Up Early on Vacation — Take Them to Harry Potter
Thanks, Harry. Suddenly, young people, who wouldn’t spend much vacation time with their folks, much less get out of bed this early if they didn’t have to, think family vacations are fun again, especially when mom and dad or grandpa pay for the trip and pop for $100 wizarding robes (yes, despite the 90-degree Florida heat, fans traipsed around the park in the floor-length robes, wearing Hogwarts ties as belts) or $30 wands.
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On Norwegian’s new megaship Epic
The kids can’t wait. We’re aboard Norwegians new megaship Epic (153,000 tons!) that has forged a partnership with Nickelodeon that means kids—and their parents-have the chance to get slimed, get up close and personal with SpongeBob, Patrick Star, Dora the Explorer, Diego and Jimmy Neutron at breakfast or “meet and greets.”.
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Taking the Kids to a Theme Park This Summer
I smile thinking of that hot day at Disney World when my son and older daughter worked so hard to convince their little sister that she really was “grown up” enough (and tall enough) to ride Space Mountain. “So cool!” they told her. “Not too scary,” they promised.
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Day Two in Provincetown — kids in discovery mode
We’ve started off on a morning walk on our second day in Provincetown and about a mile from town. We come across an inn at the top of a hill so striking we have to stop for a look. Land’s End Inn is not only spectacular with amazing ocean views but kid friendly too with a pile of kids’ games.
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Two days in Provincetown MA and some whale watching
Had this been the 18th Century, we would have been hunting whales from Provincetown, MA, especially after the whales’ oil and bone
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Not even for a minute!
On one of the hottest days of the year so far, the Department of Transportation reminds us that hyperthermia caused by kids being left unsupervised in cars kills at least 27 children every year. That makes it the number one non-crash vehicle-related cause of death for of our nation’s kids.
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Day Two at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
”The wand learns from the wizard and the wizard from the wand,” the Wandkeeper tells us, standing behind the counter in the small room that is lined floor to ceiling with shelves packed with wands in all kinds of boxes.
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Two days at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The much anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter has just opened and even the most avid fans who planned their trip to Orlando around the new attractions seem unprepared for the crowds. But that doesn’t stop the fun.
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To the Caribbean in Summer
Finally, a Caribbean beach that’s everything a Caribbean beach should be – quaint, with hammocks strung from palm trees, crystal-clear water perfect for snorkeling, white sand, a first-rate beach bar and enough water toys to keep the kids happy (banana boat ride anybody?)
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Lots of great food on Nantucket Island
Yum! We’re at American Seasons run by husband and wife team Michael LaScola and Orela Murphy-LaScola, who juggle the restaurant with being parents to their toddler.
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Nantucket, once the world’s whaling capital
There is a lot of history we learn on this small island. In fact, the entire island is a historic district designated as a National Historic Landmark and has more buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places than anywhere in Massachusetts, including Boston.
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A getaway to Nantucket Island
It’s that perfect beach day… blue skies, warm but not too hot. Colored umbrellas dot the Nantucket beach. Kids play on boogie boards while smaller ones build sand forts until… the two pups discover each other.
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Good idea, Mrs Obama!
With the First Lady’s help, the National Park Service is kicking off a Let’s Move Outside Junior Ranger Program in 20 national parks—all part of Michelle Obama’s nationwide campaign to end childhood obesity
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To Lake Placid, an Old-Fashioned Vacation Destination
No one cares that the water is cold. The kids splash at the lake’s edge, play on the small sand beach as older, daring ones splash in the water and peddle kayaks, rowboats and paddleboats. Our pup eyes them all curiously
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To California Wine Country
If you think Wine Country — especially Sonoma County — is just for grown-ups (at least those over 21) think again. There are plenty of places to bike, hike and kayak on the Russian River.
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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
