DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS
I just got back from two entirely different kinds of destinations that are winners for entirely different kinds of families.
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When Life Interferes With a Planned Celebration
Life has a way of changing planned celebrations. Jean Anne McKiernan and Richard Sandano were planning a big Brooklyn, N.Y., wedding when they discovered—very happily—they were going to have a baby.
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It pays to ask
I’ve been saying for months that in this economy, we should ask for what else the hotel/resort/ cruiseline can do for us–a better room, resort credits, free food. But until last week, I hadn’t thought about that in the context of a family emergency. I found myself handling flights and hotels for family converging in Illinois after my 90-year-old mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital and then died.
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Sailing Home from Bermuda
Life is too short to waste a minute, I think. We say goodbye to Bermuda and Hamilton’s Town Hall (click image to enlarge) DAY 5—I wake up on board Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas
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Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Travel Diaries
High Tea at the Hamilton Fairmont Hotel
We learn it is the only place—and the place—for a traditional English Tea. In the 1840s, Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, wanted a snack for tea and thinly sliced bread and butter.
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To San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences, the Greenest Museum in the Country
In the year since it has re opened, the Cal Academy has emerged as the city’s top cultural tourist attraction, drawing more visitors than Alcatraz Kids get up close and personal with specimens at the Academy of Sciences
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Beach Vacations | Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Travel Diaries
The rain stops in Bermuda
Not sunny, but not raining. Just 66,000 people live on this pristine island—actually a series of about 360 small coral island, which is part of the British Commonwealth. Yes, we see businessmen wearing Bermuda shorts, knee-high socks, and shirts and ties to work. Hedges are manicured and lawns mowed. Houses are painted a rainbow of colors—bright orange, green and blue, pastel pinks and yellows.
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Cruising when the sun doesn’t shine
It’s not the weather we imagined on our trip to Bermuda. The seas are rocking. It’s pouring and the waves are high. We get sprayed standing on our little balcony.
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A cruise to Bermuda with old family friends
The cruise was long planned and then a week before tragedy stuck…
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To Yosemite National Park
I smile remembering two other kids about the same age who were equally proud of themselves for making it to the top of Vernal Fall, also their first “big hike” in Yosemite.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
A visit to California wine country
We drive to Healdsburg, a small picturesque town where, around the Plaza Park square, are tasting rooms, restaurants, antique shops, and more. My 23 year old daughter Reggie is excited because she scores a cast iron frying pan for $15. I’m excited because it is a perfect sunny fall day and I’m spending it with my husband and daughter.
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A quick trip to Yosemite National Park
DAY 4 — Five year old Rivers Klopson is turning cartwheels on the rocks next to Yosemite’s famous Vernal Falls. It’s sunny and everyone sitting on the rocks is admiring the rushing falls and congratulating themselves at the end of a rigorous 3 mile hike up slick stone steps, getting splashed by the waterfall, to…
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To the historic ships in SF where Reggie works
Here’s the chance to give your kids a lesson — without them even realizing it — in San Francisco’s seafaring past and the people who made their lives sailing in and out of San Francisco Bay, hauling lumber, canned fruit and more. Five vessels — the Alma, Balclutha, Eureka, Hercules and C.A. Thayer are designated National Historic Landmarks.
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Learning About African-American History at Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg explores the lives and complexities of free and enslaved blacks during the Revolutionary Era, highlighting personal and unified contributions, sacrifices and decisions made by 19th-century blacks in securing their freedom
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At the Cal Academy of Sciences
We’re at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco which in the year since it has reopened has emerged as San Francisco’s top cultural tourist attraction, drawing more visitors than even Alcatraz.
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Visting San Francisco with my grown up daughter
The Hotel San Francisco atop Nob Hill was getting ready for its grand opening when the city suffered its devastating earthquake April 18, 1906. The hotel survived and a year later, opened, celebrating the city’s renewal. The hotel has hosted celebrities and presidents. Tony Bennett first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco “here.
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Meeting Some Ghosts
Seen any ghosts lately? Now’s your chance. Time travel back to the 18th century where you can get up close and personal with pirates and ghosts at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
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Thanks for the Memories, Gus!
Yesterday was a very sad day in our house. We had to say goodbye to our 11-year-old Lab Gus who had developed a very aggressive and painful bone cancer.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
To an Exotic Place That Loves Kids!
Who says kids and romance don’t go together? Even in a place as famous for honeymoons as Bora Bora, families’ rule, especially as Air Tahiti Nui continues to offer kids free deals on flights. There are also great hotel deals
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A Drive Down Memory Lane
Five years ago, we visited Colorado Springs for our oldest daughter’s freshman Parent Weekend at Colorado College. We brought 13-year-old Melanie–not a happy camper that weekend to have all the attention focused on her older sister–and stayed at the iconic and sprawling Broadmoor resort.
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Getting Up-close and Personal with Animals at Zoos and Aquariums in the Fall
It helps to have the kids read up on the animals before you go, as long as it’s fun and doesn’t turn into something “completely boring and educational!”
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When Everyone Else is Back in School
So what if you’re toting a stroller and diaper bag or home-school assignments, while everyone else is waiting for the school bus and arranging car pools
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
New York — a foodie paradise
It’s impossible to go hungry in New York—not with vendors selling hot dogs, pretzels, kabobs and more on every corner. It’s also impossible to get bored eating in New York, whether you want to head to China Town or Ninth Avenue for good ethnic eats, great burgers, pasta, pizza or more gourmet fare.
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Central Park through a preschooler’s eyes
We saw the penguins and the puffins, the sea lions and polar bears Ida and Gus, the Red Pandas and the Snow Monkeys. The Snow Leopards — new to the zoo — seemed to be hiding. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which oversees The Central Park Zoo as well as the Bronx Zoo and others in NYC (www.wcs.org), is a leader in the care and conservation of these creatures.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
A few days in New York with a preschooler
This is my four year-old cousin Hannah Sitzman’s first Broadway production and she loves every minute of it — from the costumes and sets to the music to the black tee shirt which spells out “Shrek” in pink sparkly letters. I especially loved the magic of the costumes.
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Taking the Kids — To College
Like the 3 million other families taking freshman to school this year, I knew the weekend would be stressful, not to mention an emotional rollercoaster
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Meeting Some Bears in Alaska
It appears we’ve picked the perfect time to visit. Vermillion, who’s called Verm, explains there are more bears than there have been in years, including three sets of triplets and three sets of twins all born this spring
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Taking the Kids — And Myself to a Spa
My mom never took me to a spa — I don’t think she’s ever been to one herself — but I’ve taken my wilderness-loving daughters to spas from the Caribbean to Colorado, from Arizona to Austria
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To Mexico Where You’ll Find Great Deals
Whether you want adventures with your kids, want to learn about endangered sea turtles or if you simply want to hit the beach, there’s no better time to visit Mexico.
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On an ‘uncruise’ Alaskan sea adventure
Unlike the big cruise ships, we can take our time in Glacier Bay, which offers 3.3 million acres of glaciers that calve right in front of us
