Learning to cope with travel disappointments
It’s not irresponsible or shallow to be upset about your derailed vacation plans. Don’t minimize the kids’ disappointment either, the experts say.
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Traveling through the COVID-19 crisis
The coronavirus pandemic has derailed many upcoming family trips — everything from shipboard reunions to destination weddings to spring breaks. What to do?
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The civilized route to ski country: The Winter Park Express
There is a better way to go skiing — every Friday and Saturday, January-March, Amtrak offers the “Winter Park Express” from Denver’s Union Station to a platform just a short hike from Winter Park’s ski lifts.
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To Philadelphia and celebrating women during women’s history month
For 2020, Philadelphia has officially changed the city’s “City of Brotherly Love” moniker to the “City of Sisterly Love,” acknowledging that women of color were not fully enfranchised until the 1965 Voting Rights Act
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A Teen’s Perspective – The Perfect Teen Trip to Orlando & WDW Resorts
While family trips are a lot of fun, one-on-one time with only one parent and one child allows for really special time and bonding that often does not occur with a lot of family members around
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
Snow graffiti? Who knew? The kids program at Vista Verde Ranch
All you need is some snow and spray bottles with food coloring—blue, yellow, green, red, purple…
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
Back to Vista Verde Ranch – snowmobiles and more fun in the snow
Welcome to Vista Verde Ranch near the tiny Colorado town of Clark and about a 40-minute drive from Steamboat Springs-and a world away from the busy ski town where you have to jockey on the slopes for a place to sit at lunch time.
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Under the Devil’s Thumb, a guest ranch for XC, snowshoe and spa lovers
We see that giant snow-covered thumb as we are getting a Nordic classic ski lesson at Devil’s Thumb Ranch, a four-season resort on 6,500 pristine acres about 75 miles west of Denver and 15 miles from Winter Park and its famous downhill slope
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
Tweens Spill on Skiing in Vail and Beaver Creek
Local kids in Vail Valley say there’s so much to love about the area. Hear directly from kids themselves about their favorite ski runs, off slope activities and more!
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Fun in the snow off the slopes
Spring also is a great time to come to the slopes with plenty of sunshine, warmer temperatures and late season deals
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Weekly Column
Taking the Kids — on spring break
Spring break is such a good time to get away. Hopefully, your kids will have that same week off. And you may find it easier to escape for a week or a long weekend than in the middle of the summer when everyone wants to get away
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Woodward Copper — all year fun on the snow an hour from Denver
Just an hour from Denver at popular Copper Mountain, Woodward Copper is an innovative action sports center that offers year-round skiing and snowboarding
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Fitting your ski boot makes all the difference
Surefoot started in Park City UT and is now the world’s biggest ski boot specialty store company, with shops all over the US and Europe
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Celebrating Black History Month
African American History Month is celebrated with an ever-growing array of exhibits, festivals, discussions and performances around the country, including in locales and about topics you might not have considered
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Beyond the slopes of Beaver Creek, special treats for kids and grownups
I’m in the elevator at the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa in my hotel-issued robe heading downstairs to the Spa Anjali for a massage. Incidentally, the treatments are focused on three healing mountain traditions—the Rockies, Alps and Himalayas.
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Snow sports aren’t cheap, but they can last a lifetime
Snow sports “are something you can do together for a long, long time,” said Leary, who raised two kids in the Vail Valley and still skis with them
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Taking the Kids — on different kind of trip to Alaska
You can’t get much more remote — or farther away from cruise crowds than at Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, which opened 10 years ago — the first and only lodge in the national park and accessible only by a four-hour boat trip from Seward
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Beach Vacations | Best of Taking The Kids | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
To a special Jamaican villa
The experience, of course, is entirely different, as I discovered. Think being on a mega cruise ship with morning-till-night activities vs. your own private yacht with a staff to cater to every whim
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Food and dining in Vail CO meets everyone’s tastes
Food certainly has come a long way at ski resorts, including options for those who are Vegan, Vegetarian Gluten Free. But it is expensive
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
The right kind of family condo found! The Antlers at Vail
The condos here range from one to four bedrooms but they all are unique—the one bedroom we have, for example, has a separate alcove with two bunk beds—perfect for a young family.
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Backyard Vacations | Best of Taking The Kids | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Weekly Column
Seeing San Antonio like local families
At the state-of-the-art Naylor Family Dinosaur Gallery at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, where you can step inside a cast of an Alamosaurus footprint at The Dino Lab. What’s different from other dinosaur exhibits? This one is focused on ancient creatures that called Texas home, including ancient fish, turtle and, yes, a full-size Tyrannosaurus rex.
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Jamaican Villas with solid family ties
Adam’s Stewart’s family is now so big—seven siblings and 13 grandchildren—they spread out between two villas in Jamaica
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At this Jamaican villa you won’t go home disappointed
Villa rentals here and elsewhere in the Caribbean have become increasingly popular for extended families looking to get away together. The difference from other popular shared accommodations: A staff to see to your every need—and whim.
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When rain upends your plans on a cruise ship
Weather can derail the best-laid plans. We almost didn’t make it to San Diego and the Oosterdam before she sailed, in fact, because of canceled flights
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Beach Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
Camp for Special Needs Kids at Beaches Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Beaches Resorts became the first resort company in the world to attain advanced certified autism center
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In Jamaica, the story of Martha Brae and the Rio Mateberion
During the plantation and slavery era, the river was used to connect the sugar plantations in Trelawny to the port town of Falmouth–long bamboo rafts were used to float the sugar and other crops to the harbor and ocean-going vessels bound for Europe
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On an annual old girlfriends’ getaway – to a fab villa in Jamaica with our own butler and chef
Welcome to Sundown Villa in Discovery Bay, Jamaica right on the ocean. This five-bedroom house adjacent to another two-story four bedroom house, is owned by Gordon “Butch” Stewart, the founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts International.
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To a galaxy far, far away
Kevin Gerber isn’t even a “Star Wars” fan, but he had happily just spent $100 to build a droid with his 5-year-old son at Disney World’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’s Droid Depot
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Family fun central in winter at YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park CO
Named “Best Family Resort in America” by USA Today’s Reader’s Choice Awards, YMCA of the Rockies is Family Reunion Central
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The good eats on Holland America’s Oosterdam
If you’ve been aboard a cruise ship lately, you have probably noticed that fitness centers are getting larger while midnight buffets are disappearing
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Rain happens: Making the most of it on a cruise ship
Shore excursions typically go rain or shine — and it’s raining. Pouring actually. We had thought we would go explore before our Sunset Sail but it didn’t look like there would be much of a sunset
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On a winter adventure that won’t bust the budget
With our partners at Family Travel Forum, we have put together 20 Winter Adventures for 2020, whether you want some fun in the snow, in the sun or to in a new city together, regardless of age, physical ability level or budget.
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#BestTamalesEver? Try the sweet corn in Matazalan on a local food tour
We are in Mazatlan, Mexico, the second port on our New Years’ cruise aboard the Holland America Oosterdam and we have forsaken a cruise tour today to see the city with a local, through its food.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Taking the Kids Blogs
Are resorts boring? Some kids think so. This one begs to differ.
The day we were in Los Cabos, we visited Grand Velas—a luxe 307-suite all inclusive resort that also was at capacity with 800 guests, more than 300 of them children.
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Kids experience aboard Holland America Oosterdam
A new style Kids Club designed more for families to do activities together— everything from Fooseball to video games, old-fashioned board games to giant puzzle mazes
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On a cruise to Mexico – learning culinary arts, history and culture
This demonstration is part of a larger port-to-table initiative just started and being piloted on the Holland America Ooosterdam
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Need to be somewhere important? Go a day early
The ship was to leave port at 5 p.m. PST. We were supposed to arrive in San Diego on our morning flight at 10 a.m. PST. But we ended up getting re-routed to Sacramento
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#BROADMOOR = #BESTHOLIDAYBRUNCH; #BESTKIDSBUFFET
The Broadmoor Christmas brunch also takes tremendous effort. The denouement: The huge chocolate fountain just waiting for strawberries or marshmallows.
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On the newest, glitziest ship afloat
Welcome aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s new Encore — nearly 1,100 feet long and large enough to accommodate nearly 4,000 passengers and 1,735 crew.
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Rethinking holiday eats
Many families, it seems, are forgoing the traditional home-cooked holiday feast for a restaurant or, like Claridge, a different sort of family celebration. It may be the first year after a divorce or death in the family or simply the desire to do something different.
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Ski for Free? You bet in Pennsylvania this winter
With the The Snowpass program, The Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association (SkiPA) every fourth and fifth grader has the opportunity to ski or snowboard for free
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Sunday brunch at Safta: eclectic Middle-Eastern cuisine in Denver
Safta, from James Beard Award-winning Executive Chef / Partner Alon Shaya offers signature modern Israeli cuisine, combining the flavors of Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine, Bulgaria and Turkey
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Backyard Vacations | Best of Taking The Kids | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Volunteer & Service
San Antonio has a new kind of “Pearl”
Pearl is the new go-to area of San Antonio – a 22 acre mixed use space for housing, shopping, dining, a year-round farmer’s market, riverside amphitheater and the third campus of the Culinary Institute of America
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#BestFacialEver: The Lake Austin Spa
We left husbands, otherwise occupied at a college reunion in Austin, one recent afternoon for a getaway—via water taxi no less—to the Lake Austin Spa Resort,
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Fairmont dominates a hip new downtown Austin
We recently stayed at the year-old, 37-story Fairmont Austin, situated by the lush greenery of Palm Park and Waller Creek, with 1,048 rooms and 60 suites.
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In Denver: learning to make tamales for the holidays
Tamales are a traditional holiday treat in a lot of the American Southwest and South of the Border. I’ve loved them since I was a kid growing up in Texas. But I never knew how to make them.
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Families & Groups | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
A New Adventure: Re-Learning How to Scuba Dive in Belize
I had been to Belize once before on a venture grant from Colorado College six years ago when I last went scuba diving
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
Morgan’s Wonderland: An ‘Ultra-Accessible’ facility for people with special challenges
Morgan’s Wonderland is the very first theme park of its kind. The park has welcomed more than 1.6 million guests from all 50 states and 73 countries in its first decade
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To a snow resort without busting the budget
Whenever you want to ski or ride this winter you can hit the slopes on a budget — as long as you plan smart. Here’s how
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Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railroad
Eileen interviews Walt Disney World’s Imagineering Creative Director Kevin Rafferty, who is overseeing the development of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railroad, opening March 2020.
