A smaller resort just down the beach with a different feel
DAY 7 – I’m perched in a wooden tree house — the most comfortable I’ve ever seen — on a double mattress overlooking the turquoise…
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In Mexico, the future of family travel?
I think I’ve seen the future of family travel. It’s called Azul Fives and it’s about a half hour south of we’re staying just outside of Playa del Carmen. Originally, we were supposed to stay here — I liked the location (plenty of action in town for the young adults, Mayan ruins a short drive away, good diving and snorkeling right from the resort).
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A vacation on the Mexican Riviera
My mission: seeing if a vacation with teens and young adults can be successful at an all-inclusive resort. When they were younger, I liked all-inclusives for the organized kids’ activities that gave parents a break and the fact that I didn’t have to pay $4 every time they wanted a soft drink.
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At Mohonk, the spa gathers its own witch hazel
It must be the witch hazel. My daughter Mel and I had the best facials we’d ever had at Mohonk Mountain House (www.mohonk.com). The Mohonk-…
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A trip to a castle — Mohonk Mountain House
I love castles. I’ve stayed at a centuries-old castle turned bed and breakfast in Wales and visited castles wherever I go — France, England, Austria…
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A BFF weekend at Turnberry Isle
I’m not a golfer — I never have golfed, in fact, though my two friends, Sue Tober and Elise Carlton, do. Christina Trammell, the resort’s director of golf is very patient. I’m pleased I can even hit the ball! One person in the clinic has just finished up two full days of lessons with Christina.
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Hitting the slopes without busting the budget
Eleven-year-old Nate Gourd, an avid snowboarder from Manchester, Vt., couldn’t agree more. “You feel like you’re flying when you come down the mountain,” he says, adding that kids “definitely should wear helmets.” Meet Vermont’s vice presidents of fun. Bridget — who says she’s always waiting at the bottom of the mountain for her “slowpoke” family
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Understanding where the food comes from
Ever seen a cranberry bean? I’ve never seen so much luscious produce in one place — heirloom tomatoes, white peaches, plums, big and tiny grapes, almonds and walnuts, various varieties of chili peppers…eggplants, potatoes…welcome to The Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market .
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TO AMSTERDAM
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services I’ve found vacation nirvana for teenagers and it’s a place parents will like just as much as teens do….
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A trip to Costa Rica designed for teens and tweens (and one little sister)
After a morning of white-water rafting (and plenty of water fights) on Costa Rica’s Sarapiqui River, and a first-rate burrito lunch made by our raft guides at the river’s edge, we stop in the small town of Horquetas, about 10 minutes from where we are staying to visit an elementary school. Some 270 kids attend the ill-equipped school, which is so overcrowded that children must attend split sessions. The students mug for our cameras and giggle.
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In Prague — the Paris of the East
Another day, another church. We’re all excited to explore Prague, which many now call The Paris of the East. It’s crowded with tourists on this brilliant summer day. Prague, of course, is the capital of the Czech Republic and has been an intersection of continental merchant routes for centuries.
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The Disney guides make all the difference
No matter how interesting the places, how scenic the terrain, touring is exhausting — especially with kids. That’s why the parents in our group so appreciate our Adventures by Disney guides who are always there to offer a bottle of water, a snack, even an activity or movie on the bus to keep the kids amused.
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The trip is alive with the sound of music as we approach Salzburg
Lunch will be on a cruise down the Danube that will take us about 35 miles, from Durnstein to Melk. The villages are postcard-pretty, especially on a sunny day. The parents are pleased that the guides invite them to enjoy the views on the top deck while they entertain the kids elsewhere.
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TO AUSTIN, TEXAS
All around Lost Pines were other families determined not to miss one second of vacation fun — floating in the lazy river, watching the kids on the water slide or in the baby pool, saddling up for horseback rides or bike rides around the extensive property (405 acres and an adjoining 1,100-acre nature park!), playing “golf” with preschoolers on the lawn and watching them on the playground nearby.
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Fun in the Texas Lost Pines Country
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…
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A Trip Down Memory Lane in Austin, TX
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…
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A hiking trip to Italy with a (mostly) grown daughter
We’re hiking high above Positano along Italy’s famous Amalfi Coast in the Lattari Mountains. This trail is less than three miles, but the elevation is steep and it’s the toughest hike the Backroads hiking group, which includes by daughter Reggie and me, has attempted on this the fifth day of our trip. Reg is at the front of the pack; I’m in the back.
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EATING SMART AT DISNEY WORLD
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.
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A couple of train rides and a great seafood dinner in Sorrento
The only bad part of our journey: an uncomfortable hour-long ride on a packed train from Naples to Sorrento — 34 stops, most of which we spent standing. I see why it’s important to pack light when traveling by train in Europe. The train to Sorrento is local and cheap — just a few Euros for the two of us — and reminded me of the NYC subway during rush hour, though it was early afternoon.
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Touring Rome and Vatican City on our own
The alarm doesn’t go off. Despite the directions and our plan to walk through the Borghese Gardens to the Borghese Gallery, with its fabulous collections of paintings, sculptures, mosaics and bas-reliefs, mainly from 15th to 18th Centuries. We have a reservation — apparently reservations are needed at this small gem of a museum.
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A trip to Italy with my college graduate
When we arrive in Rome at noon the next day, a driver arranged by Jill Kammer, who with her husband Leon runs www.italy-accom.com was waiting for us. I know we could have grabbed a taxi or much cheaper, the train into Rome, but after a long flight, a little luxury was in order, I figured, especially when arriving in a city I don’t know well.
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TO UNIVERSAL ORLANDO
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.
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Disney’s private island and our last night on the cruise
The sky is blue, the water clear turquoise. We step off the Disney Wonder onto kids vacation heaven — a great big beach, a play structure anchored in the water. Machines dispensing all the ice cream and pop parents will let the kids have (as well as fresh fruit).
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TO SEATTLE
So what if it rains a lot in Seattle. As long as you’ve got good rain gear, you won’t care, especially when there’s so much to do and see. Where else can you take the kids to see guys throwing raw fish, introduce them to ferries (yes, parents commute to work via ferry) take a turn on a sailboat, learn all about rock music, science fiction and the creatures who inhabit the sea in this part of the world.
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FINDING THE KID-FRIENDLY LAS VEGAS
Cheap hotels, every kind of food you can imagine. Plenty of sizzle, spectacle, first-rate theatrical productions, giant red rocks for climbing and water playgrounds.
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Plenty to see while helping rebuild New Orleans
Whether you are splitting your time between a volunteer project, there is lot for a family to see and do in and around New Orleans
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It’s New Orleans — LET’S EAT!
I think New Orleans is a great city to encourage kids to sample food they might not have tried before (Turtle Soup, or fried alligator anyone?) Every restaurant has its own version of gumbo, the rich seafood stew. But there are also plenty of places to get a burger, pasta or chicken fingers. Here’s just a sampling of the good eats I enjoyed in my few days in New Orleans recently. And I certainly left my diet at home (unfortunately).
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A LAST-MINUTE SPRING BREAK
What are you waiting for? Spring Break is looming and you haven’t planned a getaway. We’re not talking a Big Trip — a cruise, for example, or an adventure trip to Costa Rica, though, according to Travelzoo.com, there are good last-minute deals to be had in Costa Rica.
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You can have fun and help out in New Orleans
I just got back from New Orleans and it was packed with spring breakers. They were doing their share of drinking on Bourbon Street but they were also doing their share of helping to clear debris and build houses in neighborhoods that still have not rebounded nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina.
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Park City in the Summer and Winter
The Utah Olympic Park was the venue for Nordic jumping, bobsled, luge and skeleton events during the 2002 Winter Olympics here. Today, world class athletes train here — you may see them if you visit Tuesday through Saturday. They train in summer as well as winter. Today the Park also continues to serve as a year-round competition site.
