Adventure Starts Here.
Every journey brings you closer to new places, to people you love, to family, and to yourself. Let’s make your next escape unforgettable.
This past weekend, I sat on the National Mall facing the Capitol in Washington, DC as Michelle Obama extolled the new graduates of George Washington University to broaden their horizons through travel abroad, working to help those less fortunate wherever they go.
I’m in a darkened Broadway theater watching the new Tony-nominated musical “Memphis” (nominated for eight awards!), which tells the story of what happens in the segregated South when a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun, played by Chad Kimball, falls for “Negro” music and a terrifically talented black singer named Felicia Farrell, played by Montego Glover
It took me years to get our three kids out of our bed, whether at home or in a hotel. Now just as the last one has left for college, we’ve got a new puppy who likes nothing more than snuggling up between us–that’s when she’s not chewing the computer wires under my desk or snacking on my newest shoes that I mistakenly left on the floor.
As Orlando gears up for the much-anticipated opening in June of Universal’s “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” — 20 acres within Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventures — keep in mind there are plenty of options to stay — some 115,000 hotel rooms, including more than two-dozen new hotels, including the brand-new Holiday Inn Club Vacations Orlando.
No, it’s not the piles of laundry when you get home. It’s that moms rarely get a break. On vacation, just like at home, they’re the activities directors, psychologists, chefs and medics, among other tasks and all in unfamiliar turf.
We moms all know the dirty little secret of family vacations. No, I’m not talking about the piles of laundry when we get home, though that’s certainly no fun. I’m talking about how moms whisper on the beach, around the pool and on line at theme parks that family vacations are really no vacations at all for them, especially when young kids are part of the equation..
Taking the Kids recently teamed up with Travelocity in a poll about the importance of family vacations and together time. Here are some of the key findings.
You need a vacation now more than ever, and you shouldn’t feel the least bit guilty. In fact, you’ve got lots of company, according to a new family-travel poll for which I partnered with Travelocity.com.
It is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and the travel industry’s websites are falling all over each other to tell you what they are doing to be green and how we can all travel greener. But really, it is little things — like carrying reusable water bottles or hanging up towels after you use them that can help make difference
Who says you have to spend hours in a museum? Sometimes, even an hour is enough—especially with kids. While in Manhattan, I stopped in late in the afternoon at The Jewish Museum especially to see one exhibit—Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey.
Spend some time in New York City — there are a lot of fabulous new productions on Broadway this year, including “Memphis” and “The Addams Family.”
Of all the things that could disrupt travel, volcano ash is at the bottom of the list. If you’re stranded here… visit a nearby national park or historic monument. Entrance fees are waived this week and there are all sorts of special activities.
The alarm doesn’t go off.Forget about our plan to leisurely stroll through Rome’s famous Borghese Gardens to get to the Borghese Gallery in time for our reservation to see the fabulous collections of paintings, sculptures, mosaics and bas-reliefs from the 15th to 18th centuries. Reservations typically are needed at this small gem of a museum.
Little things really make a difference.That’s why on vacation, just like at home, we should all do our part to protect the environment. It’s as simple as turning off the lights and AC when you leave.
The Associated Press reports that two more glaciers have recently disappeared from Glacier National Park in Montana. That’s so sad. I have very fond memories of our trip there in 1994 when the kids were still little.
So now Spirit Air is going to charge us for carry-on bags–as much as $45 a bag. In some cases, that might be nearly as much as a ticket might cost. It’s crazy!
The kids assume mom and dad have “no life” when they aren’t around but that is SO NOT TRUE. This past weekend, when we found ourselves kid-less on a beautiful spring Saturday, we hopped in our Subaru for an unplanned adventure in the countryside about an hour from our home in Connecticut..
My nearly 3-year-old son Matt was methodically smashing coconuts on the stone terrace next to the pool of our rented villa in St. Martin early in the morning just under the window where my sister and brother-in-law — still kid-less — were trying to sleep. We thought it was hilarious; they weren’t amused. My parents just wanted to enjoy the sunshine and the grandkids — Matt and his baby sister, Reggie.
So how does it feel that your kids are better traveled than you ever were?
According to a new Family Travel Survey from TripAdvisor , 75 per cent of travelers’ children have visited more than six states, compared to just 37% of their parents by the same age
I forgot my tiara and kept misplacing my wand. After all, it’s not easy being a modern-day Disney princess. You need to keep that tiara firmly on your head; you need to be kind to everyone — even annoying younger siblings.
Finally! And just in time for summer vacations–June 18 to be exact–Universal Orlando says that the much-anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open.
Since it started as a low-fare carrier at Kennedy International Airport a decade ago, JetBlue has called itself “New York’s hometown airline.” However, it almost decamped to Orlando. Thanks for staying Jet Blue!
This week, Disney announced that although it is only March, they have already given out the million free tickets promised to those who participated in the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” in partnership with the Hands On Network and designed to encourage families to give back to their communities through volunteer service.
The iconic pink Fairmont Hamilton Princess with spectacular gardens that overlook the water and well-stocked Koi ponds is THE place for a traditional English Tea in the oh-so-British-feeling Bermuda.
AAH… I’m in the midst of possibly the best massage I’ve ever had at Orlando Grand Lakes Ritz Carlton Spa—thanks to the feet of the massage therapist, who happens to be a former paratrooper, he tells me!
So how would a princess ask for a piece of cake? The half dozen or so princesses in training, their tiaras on their heads are listening attentively. “Ahem, Madame Chef, May I have a piece of cake,” Rose Petal (who apparently was a rose in the palace garden and then magically became a princess so she could be Aurora’s friend) instructs them
It’s hard work being a princess. You need to know how to curtsey and wave. You need to be kind to everyone—even annoying younger siblings. You need to wear fancy dresses and tiaras.
In a desert oasis beside a roaring river, the handsome young Chilean reaches for my hand to help me over the rocks. He smiles. “Gracias,” I say. It’s not a dream. The long-haired, 29-year-old Chileano is Max Vera, our guide on a challenging uphill hike along the canyon floor. We scramble over rocks strewn along a sandy trail, large “fox tails” and cacti that are 12 feet high with needles so sharp that local Indian women use them to sew and knit. We’re in the Atacama Desert in South America, walking along the River Puritama. Our goal: seven pools of hot springs.
Finally. I get to relax. After the extended family heads back to Denver and Connecticut, after my college freshman daughter and her friends head back to school, my husband and I head to Vail where we check in to the Arrabelle at Vail Square–a beautiful boutique hotel celebrating its second anniversary.
Sorry, Cinderella. Five-year-old Hannah Sitzman has forsaken all things princess to be a Winter Queen, she announces as she makes her way to the huge ice throne in a castle at the top of a ski mountain that took more than 75 tons of snow and two full weeks to build.
DAY 8 — Yes, a ski trip can work whether you are five, 19 or 60-at least for our family, at least at Keystone Resort that is the most economical and most kid-centric of Vail’s Colorado resorts.
DAY 6 — Ever since they were a young married couple in Indianapolis, Peggy and Jerry Throgmartin talked about buying a ranch. “This is my husband’s dream since he was seven, said Peggy Throgmartin. It took till the couple was in their fifties to make it happen—here at Vista Verde Ranch
Our 2010 Colorado winter adventure continues. DAY 5 — Think four wheel drive. Think four wheel drive on skis. I’m in the back country of the Vista Verde Ranch—some 560 pristine snow covered acres at 7800 feet above altitude—trying my hand at back country skiing.
The centerpiece of Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey Bay, CA is the massive Monterey Bay Aquarium . It’s an incredible structure which includes some of the largest fish tanks in the world and some of the most elusive creatures in our oceans
“The fish must hate us,” moans 13-year-old Miles Singer. We are on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska with one of the river’s best guides, Steve Fickes, who jokes that he’s been guiding “ever since I got my accounting degree” — more than two decades ago.It’s like Grand Central Station on the Kenai this morning
Here on the East Coast we’re in the midst of another big snow storm which means that air travel will be a mess–even if you aren’t going anywhere near New York or Boston.
Who says college kids have all the fun? I’ve spent spring breaks hunting for the “perfect” Sand Dollar on a Sanibel Island beach, watching major leaguers at spring training games, along with my little leaguers, and exploring the Grand Canyon with a couple of young hikers who were thrilled to become Junior Rangers.
DAY 4 — It’s just after 9 a.m. and the spanking new Kids Vacation Center at Steamboat—it has doubled in size this year—is in full swing.
I’m soaking in Steamboat’s famous Strawberry Park Hot Springs in a natural pool that is about 105 degrees surrounded by mountains and snow covered trees. There are two other pools that we sample—one that is 101 and one at 75 degrees is downright freezing. Some hardy souls are rolling in the snow and jumping back in.
DAY 2 — “If you have good coaching, skiing is effortless. You just need to use the equipment properly,” says my 72-year-old instructor IJ Fisher, a former Christmas Tree farm owner and ski patroller from the East Coast who followed his kids here in Steamboat, Co
It’s our annual family reunion on snow—11 of us this trip from five to 60–something and we’ve gathered in Steamboat, CO known for having more Olympians—79, including 17 this year—than any other American town and just as important to thousands of American families, pioneering kids-ski-free—some 27 years ago.
Talk about being a 21st-century pioneer. Jenny and Aaron Brill are raising the only infant in a tiny Colorado town, a town located more than 9,000 feet above sea level that offers heart-stopping mountain views in every direction and more than 400 inches of snow a year. And despite the economy, they’re making their dreams come true — and a lot of skiers happy in the process.
Weather permitting (there’s a new snowstorm bearing down on the Northeast today), I’m heading off to Colorado for a two-week swing that will take me to four family-friendly resorts in Colorado.
This quaint little ski area in the Green Mountains near Burlington, VT., is known for its hospitality and public service – hosting both the Burton’s great Chill Organization as well as the Vermont Adaptive Sports program
Such a tough decision! Should I stay stretched out on my lounge chair, waiting for the smiling beach boy named Ben Pierre to bring me a frothy concoction or make my way across the white sandy beach for a dip in the clear, turquoise water? Maybe I should go to the infinity pool — 7,000 square feet lined with blue mosaic — where the chairs are set right in the water.
The next time your kids are making you wonder why you left home with them, think of Terrie Easton. The Burlington, VT mom has eight-year-old twin boys one of whom has been diagnosed with autism; the other with a variety of cognitive and emotional disorders that present special challenges.
After braving the rain all week in San Francisco, my boyfriend, a friend, and I decided that a trip up to Lake Tahoe for the weekend would be a must—especially considering that the area had received 79” of snow in the last five days that we had been soaked in the rain. We left the city before dawn Saturday morning and made it to the mountain in time to ski some fresh powder in the first sunshine Tahoe had seen in a week.
This past weekend at Bolton Valley, VT I got to meet some dedicated volunteers from two terrific organizations who make snowsports part of kids’ lives who otherwise would never get to the slopes and in the process, change their lives forever.
It’s cold, dark and the snow is dumping, but that doesn’t stop thousands of locals and their kids from turning out at Park City Mountain Resort to cheer on snowboarding superstars Shaun White and Hannah Teter, as well as other world-class athletes as they strut their stuff under the lights in their final competition before the 2010 Olympic U.S. snowboarding team was announced.
It’s cold and the snow is dumping but that doesn’t stop hundreds of locals from turning out to cheer on the Snowboarders in their final comp before the U.S. Olympic Team is named. “It’s fun family time,” says Dan Kemp, with his wife and two young daughters.
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