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Fall, in fact, we discovered, is a terrific time to gather the grown gang in Colorado. The days are sunny — warm enough for stand-up paddle-boarding and kayaking — and the evenings crisp. There’s plenty to do, whether you want to browse in Aspen’s shops, peruse the Saturday farmer’s market, hike or bike or even attend a film festiva
Eileen is interviewed by ABC News’ Good Morning America on the recent announcement by an international airline to add nanny service to its flights.
With one night to stay in Rome, I didn’t want a hotel that was just a place to sleep. I didn’t want a hotel that was just convenient to the train station. I wanted a hotel that would be part of the experience. That’s why I chose the Grand Hotel de la Minerve that was a few steps from the Pantheon and a short walk to the Forum and Coliseum.
Thirty miles off the coast of Massachusetts, Nantucket is as famous for its more than 30 miles of bike trails around the island — you see adults and kids with bikes everywhere — as for its 80 miles of spectacular beaches.
Eileen posts on Have Family Will Travel — From Four Seasons on taking the kids on a learning vacation in New York.
Eileen is quoted an an expert in The Flipkey Blog on reducing the stress of traveling with kids.
If you go to Universal Studios in Hollywood, do like we did and get a Front of the Line pass, also referred to as a “Gate A” pass. These passes are really cool because they helped us to save time because it lets you skip to the front of the line for anything in the park. With the pass, we also had reserved seating at the shows like WaterWorld (a really cool action-packed stunt show with people on motorboats and JetSki’s.
Being in Rockford for a travel writers conference—Travel Media Showcase– and talking to a lot of people from Midwest cities and States—Peoria and St. Paul, the Quad Cities in Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa, Fort Wayne and Kansas City—made me realize once again how much the Midwest has to offer families.
The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) is celebrating its 45th anniversary and it is a great place to learn more about the spectacular environment here—and the creatures who call it home, whether you visit in summer, fall or winter.
“It’s about the experience,” says our guide Trevor Clapper from the Little Nell Adventure Shop, which offers trips that end in Basalt, about 20 miles downriver. Clapper says of everything people want to do in the summer or fall when they come to Aspen—off road jeep tours, guided hiking trips, white river rafting—fly fishing is the most popular.
In summer, it’s all about bikers, runners, walkers. Many people opt to bike from the trailhead in Aspen about 10 miles as far as Woody Creek Tavern; today we opt to go another 10 miles to visit the new Woody Creek Distillery—where vodka is being made from potatoes grown in Woody Creek.
The adults are busy catching up while the kids swim and play, but this isn’t any waterfront playground on a late summer day. This is a unique playground for penguins — “Antarctica: Empire of the Penguins” — the largest expansion ever at SeaWorld Orlando.
I spent all day in the kitchen—on vacation. But maybe because it was my choice and maybe because it’s a spectacular kitchen at a Portico Club house overlooking the mountains in Snowmass, CO, I didn’t mind a bit.
In fact, because the kitchen was so well equipped—and the house so spacious—we decided to host a barbeque for folks we know who live here and who always are hosting us when we visit.
Snowmass is a great family ski mountain—one of the biggest and best in the country, in fact. But a visit here—and to neighboring Aspen—is a treat any time of year. There’s hiking, biking (road biking and mountain biking), fly fishing, rafting… even a scenic helicopter tour.
We’re in one of the most amazing rental houses we’ve ever been privileged to visit—and we’ve been to a lot of places from houses in the Caribbean to ski condos in Colorado and Utah and Vermont to apartments in Paris and Rome.
I’d always wanted to do the famous hike between Crested Butte in Southwest Colorado and Aspen –12.2 miles along the West Maroon trail, crossing the Maroon Pass which is 12,500 feet high. And in the year since— as we get ready to meet up with family for a week at a Portico Club rental house in Snowmass, up the road from Aspen–I’ve thought a lot about that hike.
I like to see a resort get it right and, I think, the Whiteface Lodge does. The 94-suite resort is spread out over 40 acres reminiscent of the historic “camps” of the Adirondacks with rough-hewn logs, big stone fireplaces, oversized leather furniture and whimsical décor evoking the outdoors.
Fourteen year old Massou Traore spreads out her arms and looks skyward. She feels like she’s on top of the world.
Well, not quite. She’s 4,867 feet on top of New York State to be exact—on top of Whiteface Mountain. Pretty amazing to a kid from the Bronx.
You’ll be spending the Long Goodbye shuttling back and forth to stores crowded with other freshmen parents for “essentials” you didn’t bring from home. In our case, that included a tool kit needed to loft the beds in my daughter Mel’s dorm room so the girls had more floor space.
Inside the expansive Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY are interactive exhibits whether you want to open boxes of bones in the Naturalists Cabinet, mimic bird calls, take a stroll on the indoor Living River Trail past lakes, bogs, streams , rivers and waterfalls and forests to the summit of a high peak with more than 2,000 live creatures—frogs, fish and of course the Otters.
I like to see a resort get it right and I think The Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid, NY does. Sure the place is expensive—a two bedroom unit in peak season can be upwards of $900 a night—but I can’t even count all the activities that are included
All summer and into the fall, there are Soldier’s Life programs, family hands-on activities and Fife & Drum Corps performances. We’re immersed in the year 1755 when French soldiers began construction of the Fort, called Fort Carillon. Ticonderoga, we learn, in the Native language was “The place Between the Great Waters.”
Looking for a mind-boggling experience on a rainy day? The MIT Museum is just the place to visit. Tucked away at 265 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, this nifty museum offers a closer look at the technological wonders of science and engineering.
Eileen is interviewed by the Boston Globe on how family trips make for lifetime memories.
I had another ace up my sleeve. We’d arranged a VIP tour guide for part of the day. Our guide could lead the way, taking us through the park in a way that we would maximize our time, answering the most arcane questions, knowing where the bathrooms were and having ponchos on hand for the water rides.
While most in the crowd continue toward Brattle Street, Alex and I turn right on Peabody and head toward the gates of Harvard Yard. We’re on our way to the Harvard Museum of Natural History located on Harvard’s picturesque campus at 26 Oxford Street. Founded in 1998, the museum is the most frequently visited attraction at the university.
When the kids lead the way, we’re guaranteed smiles rather than whines. And there’s no better place to let kids lead the way and to see the power of play in action than at the Boston Children’s Museum, which is celebrating its centennial this month on the South Boston Waterfront.
Do you know the difference between a seal and a sea lion? The nine and 10 year-olds attending the New England Aquarium’s summer Harbor Discoveries Camps enlightened me. “Sea lions can walk but seals can’t,” said nine year-old Sydney, adding that seals just have a hole where their ears are while sea lions have an external flap.
Boston is the kind of city where you can stay in historic hotels—the famous Fairmont Copley Place and Omni Parker House both are over 100 years old—or sleek new hotels like The Revere.
It may be 90 degrees but we’re making believe it’s December—and we’ve time traveled back to 1773 –December 16, 1773 to be precise. We’re part of the night that literally changed the course of American history—The Boston Tea Party, of course. Welcome to the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
Browse through a selection of travel ideas for cities, countries, and unique regions that offer memorable experiences for every type of traveler.
Escape to the outdoors where lush parks, scenic trails, and serene natural retreats provide the space to relax, recharge, and experience the world in its purest form.
Every destination has its own flavor. Let the food take you on a journey through local traditions, and unforgettable meals.
