The Force Awakens ahead of the movie at Disneyland
The Force Awakens at Disneyland today, just in time for the holidays –and of course the much-awaited Star Wars movie debuting Dec 18.
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To Montana, which offers outdoor fun all year
I love Yellowstone in winter — no crowds, lots of animals and the chance to see Old Faithful and other thermal features without any crowds. (Did you know Yellowstone has more thermal features than anywhere in the world — 10,000 bubbling mud pots, hot springs and geysers?) Honestly, we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
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Aboard the New Anthem of the Seas
Kids of all ages give high marks to Royal Caribbean’s second Quantum Class ship Anthem of the Seas which will be home-ported year round in Cape Liberty, NJ.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
So much invention in Seattle: Inspiration for Kids
The Museum of History and Industry, now in the historic Naval Reserve Armory at Lake Union Park, boasts the largest heritage organization in Washington State with nearly 4 million artifacts. It is a good place to start any family visit to Seattle.
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Baseball teaches an important American history lesson in Kansas City
They were among the best baseball players in the United States, traveling cross-country to play the game they loved before cheering fans. But they were often forced to sleep on their bus and eat peanut butter crackers.
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Ireland’s Ashford Castle: very popular with American families
Ashford Castle, in western Ireland on 350 acres along the shores of Lough Corrib and the River Cong, is famous for its fishing and falconry but if you’re a boy just staying in a bona-fide castle is the real attraction.
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To a Colorado resort that’s no longer hard to reach
Tiny Telluride is a popular place. Nestled in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, the mountain range has the highest concentration of 13,000 and 14,000 foot peaks in North America
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Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Time to celebrate Halloween everywhere all month
No, I’m not a little early, though Halloween is nearly a month away. That’s because everyone from hotels to theme park to attractions to campgrounds to museums now have special Halloween doings that typically go on all month long.
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A local tour of Seattle’s Pike Place Market
We’ve signed on for Seattle’s only chef-led tour of the market with Elizabeth McClure’ new company Eat Seattle Tours. She also does cooking classes in the Market’s Atrium Kitchen, shopping with the students first for ingredients .
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Hotels restaurants increasingly focusing on local food and healthy choices
It is Friday night in Seattle. But what’s interesting is the Sazerac with its distinctive chandeliers and hip-but-casual vibe and food best described as modern South meets Northwest is in Kimpton’s Monaco Hotel.
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Innovation on display at Seattle Museum
Seattle has always been a center of innovation and it’s on display at the Bezos Center of Innovation at the Museum of History and Industry. Did you know the Native Americans and traders invented a whole new language?
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Get away from electronics to a fall festival or pumpkin patch
Take advantage of the glorious fall weather wherever you live to get them away from electronics — you too — for a day or a weekend and head to a fall festival, an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch.
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A haunting visit to an elementary school in Hiroshima
I’ve got chills as Amber Whaley, 12, and her friend Miko Uno, 11, lead us into their elementary school’s basement. This was all that was all that remained of the Honkawa Elementary School when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima 70 years ago this past August 6.
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Mexico in the fall – special insights into culture and heritage
Visit Mexico during an annual festival and you will have special insight into the country’s cultural traditions and heritage. Mexico, of course, is a lot more than the sum of its beaches, as wonderful as they are.
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Getting out of the car at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Are you a windshield tourist? That’s what they call the many visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park who simply traverse the park’s famous 30-plus mile Newfound Gap Road through the park and don’t get out of the car much, if at all.
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Shopping in Tokyo’s ‘Kitchentown’
There’s shop after shop of kitchen wares—ceramic sake cups, wooden bowls for miso soup, colorful bowls for rice, all varieties of chop sticks and of course hand-made Japanese knives that will be engraved on the spot with your name in Japanese. And everything is a bargain!
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What for dinner in Tokyo? How about 14 courses, small but delicious?
If you think a 14-course dinner might be a little much to handle, come sample Chef Kenichiro Ooe’s fare at Kozue on the 40th floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo with stellar views of the city.
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Hiroshima school: memorial and symbol of peace
The Honkawa Elementary School is in the heart of Hiroshima and when the Atomic Bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, all but one of the 420 students and teachers perished. Today is a again a bustling school and a memorial to those who died.
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Finding real books and bookstores on your family trips
I know a lot of kids don’t even read “real” books anymore. Everyone is all about interactive books kids can read on tablets with all sorts of fun features. But there’s still something to be said for stopping in at a local bookstore — or a national park visitor center — and browsing their collection of children’s books.
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Exploring Japanese pop culture at the Manga Museum
These aren’t just any comics. These are the enormously popular and traditional Manga, the basis for Anime, at the Kyoto International Manga Museum which is run by Kyoto Seika University and the Kyoto City Government. The University teaches aspiring Manga artists and writers in its design and fine arts department.
