December 4, 2008
Kids vacations
NEW YORK: A mother-daughter spa treatment at Mohonk Mountain House
My daughter Rachel is 12 now and going through so many changes it can be hard to stay caught up. These days, we both find we crave more "special" time together, sharing more than just the daily round of violin practice, carpooling and field-trip permission slips.
NEW YORK: Binghamton is carousel capital of America
Most people would consider it foolish to drive three hours only to go round and round in circles once they arrive at their destination.
NEW YORK: In Corning, its OK to play with glass
As we walked into the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., we overheard a concerned mom tell her children, "Don't touch anything." Actually, children are encouraged to play with and, in one case, even break glass here.
NEW YORK: Small mountains where families can ski without crowds
When I grew up in upstate New York in the 1970s, there were a half-dozen ski areas within 30 to 40 minutes of home: everything from a rope tow in a cow pasture to fairly big places with multiple chairlifts.
NEW YORK: Niagara Falls at holiday time
Each year, millions of visitors flock to the famed Niagara Falls, where 20 percent of the world's fresh water plunges over a cliff created during the last ice age.
NEW JERSEY: Sesame Place, now with more Elmo
Call me Oscar the Grouch. I totally identified with this green sourpuss who made guest appearances at Elmo's World, the new attraction at Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa. Oscar isn't as friendly as Elmo, but he does have a soft spot. Oscar mellows when he is around his pet worm, Slimy.
NEW JERSEY: The shore at Wildwood takes you back to the '50s
Arriving in Wildwood, N.J., about three hours from New York, is like traveling back in time, a time before the permeation of fast-food restaurants and chain hotels.
NEW JERSEY: Hit the Cowtown Rodeo on Saturday night
Looking for something really different to do with the kids on a Saturday night - something you wouldn't have thought you could do within a thousand miles of New York? Well, partner, in that case just hitch up the old station wagon and mosey down the turnpike to New Jersey's very own Cowtown Rodeo, now in its 52nd season of authentic western thrills, spills, and equine excitement. The kids and you will both have a hat-waving, spur-shaking ball.
NEW JERSEY: Brunch with Bugs Bunny at Six Flags
When our 5-year-old first spotted Bugs Bunny, I could swear it was like my spotting one of The Beatles. For the 7-and-under set, having brunch with Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester, Tweety Bird and Foghorn Leghorn was sheer excitement.
PENNSYLVANIA: At home on a farm in Lancaster
While Lancaster County, Pa., is made up mostly of long, winding roads, lots of green space for cows to graze, plenty of barns and silos, and very little traffic, drivers do have to slow down for the Amish horse-drawn buggies on the road.
PENNSYLVANIA: Storytelling comes alive in Philadelphia
Sometimes it's hard to make 230-year-old history come alive for the under-10 set.
PENNSYLVANIA: Meet Mother Goose and Goldilocks at Story Book Forest
There are no massive roller-coasters, bumper cars or swings that spin visitors high in the air at this 17-acre attraction, tucked into the rolling mountains of Ligonier in western Pennsylvania. But you will find Mother Goose, Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood at Story Book Forest.
PENNSYLVANIA.: Hershey's Chocolate World is sweet
Every kiss has a story - and it's a tale that starts in the rain forests of Africa and Latin America and ends in a factory about two hours west of Philadelphia.
PENNSYLVANIA: Families who love trains should head to Strasburg
Vacations start the moment you set foot aboard a train - and an old-fashioned steam engine really brings out the romance of the rails.
MASSACHUSETTS: Rediscovering old Plimoth Plantation
At Thanksgiving, thoughts soon turn to the bountiful feast shared centuries ago by Pilgrims and Indians, and Plymouth, Mass., sails into full view.
MASSACHUSETTS: Back in time to Old Sturbridge Village
By 1935, the Wells brothers' collecting habits had caught up with them. Having filled more than 45 rooms with early New England treasures, such as hand-painted furniture, carved wood bowls, clocks, iron kettles, farming tools, butter churns, a patented portable washing machine, devices for crushing apples and breaking cheese curd, and everything that caught their fancy, the brothers, from Southbridge, Mass., decided to build a museum to house and share their finds.
RHODE ISLAND: A lighthouse where kids can sleep over
Kids of all ages love lighthouses, those romantic beacons of man's humanity to his fellow man, poised defiantly at the littoral edges of civilization.
Smuggler's Notch leads list of family ski resorts
As arguably the ultimate real estate, ski resorts are supremely susceptible to the rewards and liabilities of location, location location. Smugglers' Notch in northern Vermont certainly profits from its location more than it loses.
FLORIDA: Girls can let their hair down at Disney's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
A typical weekend afternoon, and there they are: A half-dozen or so females, seated at styling stations, their bodies covered by capes, having their hair done. But there is something different about this scene. These females aren't women or even teens. None of them, in fact, looks more than 6 or 7.
Nickelodeon lets you slime the folks in Orlando
Dozens of children chanted, "Slime! Slime! Slime!" Beside me sat another father and three children, all gooey from cream pies we had taken in the face. We awaited our final fate, a green liquid that sloshed overhead and then rained down on us.
VIRGINIA: Williamsburgh lodge thrills kids, tries parents
When my family was looking last summer for a pit stop between the vacation house we had rented in North Carolina and our home on Long Island, we decided to check out the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Va.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Who says learning on vacation can't be fun?
Make faces at the oh-so-cuddly panda cub or inspect a moon rock.
MARYLAND: Explore Baltimore's Inner Harbor
Only four hours by car from New York, Baltimore's Inner Harbor is a hub of activity that is well worth the visit.
MAINE: Learning to love Acadia
"Oh, joy." This -- delivered in a dead flat voice -- was my teenager's response to my announcement that we had picked out the day's hike, an easy trail that traced the rocky coastline of Maine's Acadia National Park, ending at Otter Cliff.
NEVADA: There's a lot more than gambling in Las Vegas
It's been a little more than a decade since some Las Vegas resorts tried to market themselves as family destinations. The emphasis on fun for kids has since given way to marketing dance clubs and $300 bottles of liquor to 20-somethings - not to mention selling golf resorts and celebrity chefs to 50-somethings. For a mother of two, the line "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" can only mean that you'd rather forget that your kid threw up on a thrill ride here.
CALIFORNIA: Celeb watching and theme parks in Los Angeles
My kids are New Yorkers, but their hearts are in Hollywood. They love Us Weekly magazine. They clamor to see new movies on opening day. And they know more about Gov. Schwarzenegger than they do about Mayor Bloomberg.
CALIFORNIA: Museums can be the ticket in Los Angeles
Here's a sampling of museums you and the kids could try in and around L.A. when you've had your fill of beaches and amusement parks.
MICHIGAN: Air Zoo is interactive science center
The Air Zoo, an aviation attraction in Kalamazoo, Mich., has opened an interactive, hands-on space-and-science center that features space-travel artifacts.
Kona is a haven for kids
The first time the Houskas vacationed at Kona Village on the Big Island of Hawaii, Judy Houska was pregnant with her first child. The next year, they celebrated Joe Houska's 40th birthday. Then it was Joe and Judy's 10th anniversary.
TAKING THE KIDS: Where babies are welcome
The Wisconsin innkeeper was not happy. He glared at my two adorable babies, who, fortunately, were too busy sucking their lollipops after the long drive to notice his distress.
FRANCE: Taking the baby to Paris
When we told friends we were going to Paris with our 1-year-old, they looked at us as if we were out of our minds.
BELIZE: Beaches, Mayan ruins highlight Central American trip
Like most young children, our 5-year-old twin daughters were fascinated by sharks. So my wife and I figured we'd have little trouble getting them into a speedboat from which they could lean over and see 10-foot nurse sharks circling lazily just below in the pale green tropical waters.
Dont forget new rules for passports
It used to be that you could just show a birth certificate in order to travel to the Caribbean or Canada. But since Jan. 23, 2007, everyone flying between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean or Bermuda must present a passport. That includes babies.
