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
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Grandparents and Kids Take on the Big Apple with Elderhostel
Elderhostel is known for their affordable, educational programs for seniors. But what many don’t realize is that there are 200 different grandparent-grandchild programs with almost 400 departures
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Cheering on the humpback whales
“HONK! HONK!” They are really whales—eight to 10 of them right in front of the boat alternately spewing water high in the air, honking and “fluking”—diving for food and showing us their magnificent tails. We watch them “blow” spewing water high into the air. It’s fun to watch them!
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No better way to get the kids interested in nature
There are seven kids aged 11 to 16-six of them boys — in our group. And in Alaska, of course, we don’t let the rain stop us whether we’re kayaking to a glacier and ice caves, looking for bear on the beach or trying to track them as we bushwhack our way through old forest.
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No TV, no internet, so what?
“If I had it I’d be on it but I’m not really missing it,” said 15 year old Jake Blacutt. Instead, they’re playing marathon games of slapjack and hearts, making origami, and with the grown-ups — telephone charades. Seventeen year old Drew Redmond shows 13 year old Miles Singer card tricks. Eleven year old Charlotte doesn’t let the boys phase her. It is a lot easier, I think, for the kids to get to know one another without the distractions of TV, internet and video games.
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Snap…crackle…BOOM! Kayaking among glaciers and ice bergs
We are in the middle of Glacier Bay, paddling through the ice — big icebergs, little icebergs. One looks like an alligator. “I thought they were cool — they were so little on top and, oh wow — they were huge underneath,” said 14-year-old Xander Majercik.
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Sailing Around the Tahitian Islands
Tahiti is closer than many think — just a little over seven hours from Los Angeles, about two hours farther than Hawaii — and Air Tahiti Nui is encouraging more families to visit with kids-fly-free offers and discounted hotel rates.
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Learning how to kayak among ice bergs
“Our aim is to keep your wilderness experience from being impacted by the cruise ships,” says Kimber Owen, who found her way to her boat and Alaska from a Texas horse farm after she was widowed in her early forties. “It was too sad to stay,” she explained.
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To Glacier Bay on a converted WWII minesweeper
We’ve joined three other families — together we have seven kids ranging from one 11 year-old girl and six teenage boys — for a week-long cruise through the 300 square acre (the size of Connecticut!) Glacier Bay on the 12-passenger Sea Wolf — built in 1941 as a U.S. Navy Minesweeper
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Day 2 in Alaska — the joys of fishing
DAY 2 — “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 grand central on…
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Back the to the bush — Day One of a new Alaska adventure
DAY ONE (July 15, 2009) — Bears on the runway? “Routine,” says Gerry Winkler, the pilot of our six-passenger Cessna. Routine, that is, when you are going to land on the beach at an edge of the 4-million acre Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The area is a unique habitat close to succulent grasses…
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Weekly Column
On a Trip Down Memory Lane at Disneyland
Ignore those office emails, forget all about the economy and for an afternoon focus instead on what’s really important, especially on vacation — making memories with the kids at a place where you made your own childhood memories
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Seeing More Than the Typical Sites in NYC
Visitors to New York have their pick of world-class and iconic sites…But there is a lot more to New York than the tourist track
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
One last stop — and beautiful and historic island of Moorea
We hopped a short flight from Bora Bora to the French Polynesian island of Moorea that is spectacularly beautiful with its crystal clear lagoon and the green cliffs. This island is known less for its manicured resorts than for what there is to do here — taking a hike, passing by ancient marae (ancient temples excavated by archeologists), checking out the spinner dolphins and humpback whales, playing with the stingrays in the crystal clear water.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
The life aquatic on Bora Bora
We’re diving in an area called Muri Muri just north of the island of Bora Bora and nearly as soon as we get under the water, our dive master Benoit Gratas introduces us to a Hawksbill Sea Turtle (like Crush, the character in “Finding Nemo”), showing us how to feed him a piece of sea sponge. He’s so big — more than two feet in diameter.
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At the Four Seasons Bora Bora
I’m sitting in an over the water bungalow, the ceiling fan whirring, with a thatched roof and expansive deck with its own swimming dock and outdoor shower? Did I mention that gigantic tub big enough for two with views of the lagoon as well?
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Joining Forces on Vacation
Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s the need to reconnect with friends and family. At beach houses and on sailboats, city condos and mountain cabins, families and friends are joining forces on vacation
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Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Our last day on the catamaran with Turo
DAY 8 — Sad! It’s our last day on our Catamaran with our captain Turo Aritu, who for the past week has regaled the girls — and all of us — with his tales (mostly in French) of his four sons with four different women who now live around the world. He doesn’t believe in…
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Spa treatment day for the ladies on Bora Bora
DAY 7 — I’m face down on a massage table looking through glass at fish swimming in the lagoon as the Polynesian masseuse caresses me first with bags of seaweed and creams made from ground pearls and deep sea water. Click: PHOTO GALLERY Ahh,,, Ohhhh! Polynesian music is playing softly. Waves are lapping. Can it…
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At the Heiva Festival on Bora Bora
They look like they are hemming curtain rods. But actually, they are working with a kind of dried plant called Pandanus. We are again at the famous Polynesian Heiva festival that is held here in July. We first visited a Heiva on Raiatea and now on Bora Bora. Along with dancing and celebrating are competitions for dancing, canoe racing and this morning, thatch making.
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Another perfect sailing day and did we mention we caught a Mahi Mahi?
We’ve just caught a 16-pound Mahi Mahi! Amazing, we all agree. The line started to pull as we were sailing and all of a sudden our captain Turo and my husband Andy are right there, reeling in the gigantic fish. We can’t believe our luck! Turo tells us a fish this size would cost $70 or more in the local market.
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A tour of the Coral Garden with Turo as the pied piper
We are at a tiny motu or islet off the island of Taha’a called Tau Tau, in a famous snorkeling spot called The Coral Garden that is nothing like I’ve ever seen before, teeming with striped banner fish and Sergeant Majors, long skinny trumpet fish, iridescent parrotfish, triggerfish and more.
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Vanilla beans and black pearl farming on Taha’a
Hioe, an American educated nurse, now runs The Vanilla Valley (email: [email protected]) on the Tahitian Island of Taha’a. It was a plantation her grandfather first started, she explained, that had gotten neglected in her father’s day. “I took over eight years ago,” she says.
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We are underway! Sails billowing! Big sea swells! Big sea sickness
DAY 2 — The first morning we wake up on our boat! We eat some of the food we’d provisioned ahead- awesome croissants (this is French Polynesia, after all) crispy baguettes longer than my arm, giant green grapefruit called pamplemousse, sweet papaya and local yoghurts. Finally, we’re underway! Sails billowing, six foot swells! At first…
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Getting There | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Surviving (Maybe Even Enjoying!) a Road Trip
No matter how snazzy the car and how short (or long) the trip, the biggest challenge is keeping the kids amused along the way. And that’s clearly a challenge a lot of us will be facing this summer.
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Day One of a 12-day idyll through French Polynesia
DAY ONE (June 25, 2009) — Our captain is straight out of central casting — or a Gaugin painting. He’s tall with a big smile, a long mane of sun-bleached brown hair and tattoos that tell his family story. When he puts a garland of greens around his head, he looks all the more like…
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Travel Diaries
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE AT DISNEYLAND
The kids, three-D glasses on, are laughing at the Muppets very funny antics and all of the 3-D Special effects at the Muppet Show at Disney’s California Adventure. But these two kids aren’t four. They’re 18 — newly minted high school graduates. Yet they are having as much fun at California Adventure and later at the iconic Disneyland (which opened in 1955) as any kid.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Meeting Up with Shaun White at Skateboard Camp in the Cayman Islands
The 22-year-old champion skateboarder and snowboarder has come down to Grand Cayman, his parents and sister in tow, to inaugurate Skate Cayman
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Taking the kids camping
Often families say the things that went wrong on trips are as memorable as what went right and that’s certainly true when you are camping and so completely out of your comfort zone
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Learning New Tricks at Caribbean Resorts
This summer, whether you want to learn to dive with your tween or snorkel with your kindergartner, teach your grade-schooler to sail or fly on a trapeze, you’ll find plenty of opportunities at Caribbean resorts — at prices that are surprisingly affordable.
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A SNORKLERS AND STINGRAY-LOVERS PARADISE
DAY FOUR (June 14, 2009) — Ready to kiss a Stingray? Eight year old Timmy and 13 year old Miles Singer are game but 12 year old Max Weinberg takes a pass despite a lot of good natured ribbing — and an outright bribe from his buddy Miles. We’re at the Cayman Islands top attraction…
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SKATEBOARDING WITH A CHAMPION
Douglas Cameron, the Canadian who manages the park and oversees the camp — just in its second year — says it’s as much for local kids as visitors. It has 64,000 square feet of ledges, boxes, v-hips, banks and stairs and half pipes, which to the uninitiated look like a lot of hills built into the cement.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
CHECKING OUT THE BEACHES AND THE RESCUED IGUANAS
DAY THREE (June 13, 2009) — Finally, a Caribbean beach that’s everything a Caribbean beach should be — quaint, with hammocks strung in the palm trees. Crystal clear water perfect for snorkeling, white sand, a first rate beach bar (known for their mud slides) and enough water toys to keep the kids happy — banana…
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TO THE CAYMAN ISLANDS WITH TWO SKATEBOARDERS
The skate park is amazing — all kinds of dips, jumps — the boys got there around one and didn’t quit until it got dark just after 7 pm. (More about the camp tomorrow).
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Kansas City here we come
This summer, when we’re all watching our vacation budgets so carefully, let’s remember there is a lot to see and do wherever you live — and those cities — large and small — want and need your business as much as far flung destinations.
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To ski country in summer
Yes, ski resorts in summer. They might just be the best vacation value going in this summer of great vacation values. Ski instructors around the country whisper that they came to the mountains for the snow but stayed because of the glorious mountain summers.
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TO PRAGUE
Another day, another castle. But no one’s complaining. Not in Prague, which many now call The Paris of the East. It’s crowded with tourists on this brilliant summer day.
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Checking out 21st-century resort kids’ programs
Hyatt heralded the movement toward kid-friendly resorts 22 years ago when it started the Camp Hyatt program here… Today you’ll find innovative programs at resorts across the country and beyond
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LET’S CELEBRATE!
Birthday, anniversary, wedding, good report card, Mother’s Day, being back home safe after a military deployment … whatever you want to celebrate on your next vacation, you’ll not only get feted like a VIP but also save some significant bucks
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Staying healthy right now away from home
The swine flu news is making us nervous — very nervous — just when millions of us are planning our much-needed summer vacations. But that doesn’t mean we should grab the kids and huddle under the covers.
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On the old-fashioned train to the Grand Canyon
It’s that rare vacation moment when everyone is happy at the same time. And all it took was an old-fashioned train in a remote Arizona town and a singing cowboy leading the kids in a spirited rendition of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
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Becoming Junior Rangers in the National Parks
Everyone who sees the kids with the badges prominently displayed on their shirts are effusive in their praise, which makes the kids all the more pleased with themselves.
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To Innsbruck and beyond
Who says kids will be bored in Europe? Not in Austria. There’s plenty of culture and history — kids can dress up as royals, in fact, at the Schonbrunn Palace
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LAST DAY IN ARIZONA — Meet Lance, Bailey and Sonora
DAY SIX (April 4, 2009) — Lance is a Hawk, Bailey a turkey vulture and Sonora a two year-old Bald Eagle. The kids’ eyes are huge. Lance, Bailey and Sonora were all injured and nursed back to health by Liberty Wildlife, which for 25 years has been rehabilitating wildlife and teaching kids about these wonderful…
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HARD AT WORK ON VACATION AT CAMP HYATT
DAY FIVE (At the Hyatt Scottsdale) — The kids are hard at work — on vacation. They are crafting elaborate sand creations at the small sand beach that is poolside (well, at one of the nine pools) at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch. www.hyatt.com Parents are looking on as they…
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SWEARING IN THE NEW JUNIOR RANGERS
“This is Grand Canyon National Park, not Jurassic park,” she says, holding up a plastic dinosaur. “This is the closest you’ll get to a dinosaur!”
We’re about to go on a ranger — led fossil hunt and there are thousands of fossils to be found, she tells the crowd that includes at least two dozen kids. But there are no dinosaur bones here — these fossils are a lot older! -
AT THE GRAND CANYON
I look around and see all kinds of families — from around the world here to experience what is widely considered one of the wonders of the world. It was set aside as a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and became a national park in 1919. It remains one of the most visited parks.
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ON THE TRAIN TO THE GRAND CANYON
Today, the train once again carries more than 200,000 passengers to the Canyon 60 miles and 2.5 hours from Williams. Some will return the same afternoon. My cousins — -Jayme and Mike Sitzman and Ethan, 6, and Hannah,4, and I have decided to overnight at the canyon so we have more time to “explore,” as Ethan says.
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DAY ONE OF A TRIP TO THE GRAND CANYON
DAY ONE (Tuesday, March 31, 2009) — The Purple People Eater; Qutie (well it’s a four year old’s turn); Rhinoceros; Tickle Monster… by the time we get to Umbrella the kids’ interest in that old “I pack my grandmother’s trunk” road game is flagging. They quickly lost interest in Eye Spy and in counting trucks…
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
THE FUN NEVER STOPS IN PARK CITY
Take your pick — you can ride a lift up the chairlift at any of Park City’s three resorts and go mountain biking or hiking. Deer Valley alone has a mountain bike school as well as 50 dedicated trails. There are mid-mountain hiking trails that connect the resorts and the Olympic Park — 27 miles! –where incidentally locals turn out in force on Saturday afternoons to watch Ski jumpers practice their jumps, landing in a pool at the bottom.
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Teaching kids about food along the way in San Francisco
The beautifully restored Ferry Building Marketplace, built in 1898, is a must see for foodies of all ages.
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A TOUR OF PARK CITY MOUNTAIN
DAY TWO — It’s the last weekend in March and we’re knee-deep in fresh powder. Park City Mountain Resort got something like 18 fresh inches of snow in recent days and another storm is coming tonight. I’m here because my daughter Mel is competing in the Queen’s Cup, a girls’ ski competition. I’m glad for…
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THREE DAYS IN AND AROUND PARK CITY, UTAH
DAY ONE (March 27, 2009) == MMM… maybe we should skip straight to desert. There’s not one but three kinds of chocolate fondue — white chocolate Grand Marnier, caramel and dark chocolate with all kinds of fruit (apples, pineapple, giant strawberries), cookies (biscotti, chocolate chip or meringues anyone?), cake — all ideal for “dipping.” Then…
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On a cruise for the first time
More than 1.6 million kids cruised last year and that number continues to increase…
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DAY IN INNSBRUCK AND AT SWAROVSKI KRISTALLWELTEN
Here there literally is a crystal wonderland — a labyrinth created by international artists that use crystal as an art form in 14 Chambers of Wonder, with paintings, sculptures and installations. We loved Jim Whiting’s Mechanical Theater with the dancing pants and the man’s torso that comes apart to reveal his insides that are all glittering crystals.
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A WALK IN THE WOODS
I decide I want to see what else this tiny resort village has to offer so I decide to go on a walk in the woods with engaging ski pro Alois Gstrein, who was raised here on a farm and has lived here all his life, now with his wife and new baby. His entire family – parents, two brothers, two sisters — all live here.
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SITTING IN THE ALPINE SUN
DAY 4 — The sky is post card blue. The Alps look like they are covered in marshmallow fluff with Oreo crumbles underneath. We’re sitting in the sun staring at 21 glaciers eating Tyrolean specialties like Grostl (fried meat and potatoes topped with a fried egg), local dumplings made with ham spinach and cheese, homemade…
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We ski through a tunnel from Jiefenbach to Rettenbach
Did I mention our Austrian ski guide Bernhardt Kneissl who has been teaching and guiding here for 43 years — since he was 17? He doesn’t speak much English and my daughter Mel and I no German, so it makes for an interesting day.
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A WATER PARK FOR GROWN UPS
The kids seemed to love that you swim in a lazy river from indoor pools to the outside, jump out, run outside for two seconds and then jump into one of these huge heated pools on stilts — with salt water, one with whirlpool and massage and blessedly warm. Inside kids and their parents are playing in the expansive pools under the waterfall and in the kids’ pool that is shaped like a Noah’s Ark
