For those who can afford luxe on the slopes, tt doesn’t get any better than the ski-in, ski-out Montage (with its own Compass Sports rental shop and ski valet where they buckle and unbuckle your boots) and Deer Valley
Here as well as at neighboring Deer Valley –which led the industry in providing good mountain eats—we’re seeing ever better food with an emphasis on what is locally sourced.
Flanders teaches women’s ski workshops at Canyons—I thoroughly enjoyed one a few years ago—but now has a new mission—to convince women they need to make that time, no matter what else is going on in their lives.
It’s only 10 a.m. but I feel like we’ve been going all day. That’s because we left our hotel Tierra Atacama before dawn—I’d never seen such bright stars across the desert sky—on our way to the highest geyser field in the world—El Tatio Geisers at 14,190 feet!
Not just any giant Buddha but the Tian Tan Buddha, the world’s largest outdoor sitting Buddha — some 98 feet tall and weighing 250 tons, his humongous right hand raised to deliver a blessing to all.
It’s no secret that the snowsports industry wants to encourage more minorities to hit the slopes. But that’s not easy with lift tickets costing over $90 at many places, not to mention all the gear that’s needed. (Even long underwear and the right socks can be expensive.)
Yes, we get reserved parking at the airport. No, we’re not VIPs or parkers with special needs.
We’re talking about Lower Manhattan — specifically the area south of Chambers Street that’s surrounded by water on three sides. In 2011, a record 9.8 million tourists visited Lower Manhattan — 800,000 more than the previous year.
When we suggest stopping for some soup, Mel sees her opening to leave us. “I have a PB&J in my pocket,” she says, “I want to keep skiing!” …So much for family time.
Family ski trips can be a lot of work, especially for moms-all the schlepping, all the shopping for groceries and cooking. Certainly moms deserve some “me” time on ski trips and there’s no better place than a spa like this to enjoy that.
The glitterati of the day came from around the country for the opening on Thanksgiving eve 1889. The hot and cold running water, flush toilets and electric lights were the ultimate in luxury for a town used to icy outhouses and miner’s camps.
When our non-stop flight on American Airlines made an unscheduled stop because the pilot found out he was not qualified to land at our destination, it raised all sorts of questions.
There are options for First Tracks every morning, but on Wednesdays for $25 you are treated to this sumptuous spread and then the chance to ski down the mountain any way you like,
Years ago, they drove 18 hours from Texas, staying in the cheapest place they could find, eating greasy burgers and paying just $25 for lift tickets. Now they’re back in Aspen with their kids.
The highlight—after the snowshoe in the wilderness–is the food—Pine Creek Smoked trout, … Colorado elk bratwurst, a smoked trout melt on sourdough and buffalo tenderloin..
Incredible! Just in the past two years Snowmass Mountain in Colorado, famous for its ski slopes, has become the site of one of the largest finds of Ice Age animals on the planet.
You’re never too old to take the kids. And they’re not too old for a trip with mom and dad. Sometimes, that can include a trip down memory lane—on snow.
Turns out, my dad was right. Aspen and neighboring Snowmass — where we spent the first three nights — lived up to the old man’s hype. And then some.
Skiing these days isn’t only about skiing with an ever growing array of spa services, including a growing number for teens and younger children like at the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek. Take your pick of massages, scrubs, wraps and more.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention we’re less than a year away from Dec. 21, 2012, the date the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar forecasts will signal the end of all humanity. But experts aren’t convinced and I’m not worried.
She could have arranged to take her girls to the slopes and not gotten on skis. It had to have been scary her first time out. But she was game to try.
I’m just thankful to share this spectacular adventure in paradise with my husband and kids. It’s terrific — and rare — when you can find something you all enjoy, especially as the kids grow older
At the inaugural FamilyTravelConference held recently at the Omni Berkshire Place in NYC, attendees said they wished hotels and resorts would take a page from cruise lines and offer more activities for tweens and teens.
The good news is it’s not too late to plan a spring getaway (check the rest of my website for ideas) whether you’ve got just a few days or an entire week to spend and there’s still time to find a great deal.
The thing about Orlando is no matter how often you visit, there is always something new. That’s why Orlando became the first city in the country to welcome more than 50 million visitors last year—some 54 million to be exact!
It is important to keep in perspective that the Concordia disaster was by all accounts an aberration in an industry that prides itself on its safety record. Between 2005 and 2010, cruise lines carried nearly 100 million passengers with a total of 16 deaths…
I was thinking about that Snow Walk the other night when Mel called from college to report giddily that she’d spent the weekend on a back-country skiing trip that “was harder than anything I’ve done on skis.”
I love traveling with my children, their pals and various other pint-sized relatives. I do it all the time. But there’s something deliciously decadent about an adult-only trip, whether you manage just a night away in a nearby hotel or a trip of a lifetime.
Every one of our boys parents are immigrants—from Africa, Mexico, Jamaica and Trinidad, from other places. They learned that had they been immigrants in the 1870s living here, they would have worked 10 hours a day rather than go to school…
Some of my friends thought I was nuts. When I won a weekend stay at the Hilton New York’s five-bedroom penthouse, I invited along seven teenagers to share the fun at New York’s largest hotel.
Guest blogger Kasey Austin writes that her “earliest memories go way back to Alaska, everything from ice fishing with my dad to spending time at a remote fly-in camp and hiking trails frequented by moose and other larger than life critters!”
The best part: There is no one telling us what time we have to eat dinner or even where we are going next. Welcome to the alternative to mega cruise ships and fancy resorts.
“This is a place for adventures,” says General Manager Martin Smith, who says the key is organizing your stay—with the resort staff help.
Snorkel, sail, windsurf or kayak?
We’re at the Bitter End Yacht Club on the island of Virgin Gorda which has been a haven for sailors and yachters for years.
This island—just 3 miles wide at its widest point—is famous for its lobsters that many fisherman here catch by free diving as deep as 60 feet. Sailors like us (we’ve been sailing around the BVI on a Moorings charter Catamaran) make the trip here for the lobsters as well as the spectacular wind-swept beaches.
The President should be applauded for taking executive action to initiate these visa reforms, which should lead to more jobs in the United States.
The advantage here—besides the privacy and the chance to putter in the kitchen yourself—is that you aren’t paying $5 each time a child wants a virgin colada or $15 for the real thing.
I can’t believe I’m here. Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbor watches as I try to follow William Ng, a 75-year-old Tai Chi master, as he introduces about 20 of us to the ancient art of Tai Chi or “shadow boxing.”
Today we are all diving as a family. The Wreck of the Rhone is just off Salt Island in two big pieces 60 to 80 feet down, but there are many smaller pieces.
“That’s part of the adventure,” says my 25 year old daughter Reggie. “It’s not like we’re at a fancy resort where everything is being done for us.”
When it came time to decide on a family trip for my far flung gang—the first time we’d all be together in more than a year—sailing, with some diving included, was everyone’s top pick.
In the coming months, we’ll be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Pundits and experts will be talking about how far we’ve come in cruise safety since then. Clearly the Concordia shows we still have a long way to go.
Reggie and I are already imagining our next dive back home in the much colder, kelp-forested waters of Monterey, California — just a couple hours away from our domicile in San Francisco.
A winter foray to Boston — whether you are touring colleges (there are more than 100 campuses in Massachusetts) or just looking for a winter getaway — is a good place to start, especially with the reopening this past December after a multimillion-dollar restoration of The African Meeting House.
After a frenetic week reporting—not to mention serious jet lag—I figured there couldn’t be a better way to while away my last morning before my return flight than experiencing the Mira Hotel’s spa.
Geologists still argue today how these columns were formed some 140 million years ago. What is known is that a huge amount of volcanic ash and lava spewed forth with the volcano ultimately collapsing and forming a caldera.
We stroll out on historic Blake Pier –the roof is more than a century old and was moved here in 2004–and watch the bobbing rowboats, the traditional Chinese Junk that serves as a harbor cruise and the wind surfers out on a Sunday.
In Amsterdam, everyone seems young, fit and, most important to the teens, hip and there’s the appropriate mix of culture, history and quirkiness
This isn’t just any Buddha but the largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the Po Lin Monastery on the island of Lantau. The Monastery was established in 1906—some 100 monks hidden from the tourists still live here
My daughter Mel, who has just arrived from Thailand, pronounces things here more expensive yet clearly there are bargains to be had—but you have to bargain as the merchants raise the prices expecting you to bargain