FamilyTravelgram

Your Next Family Vacation: Caneel Bay

2013-03-18T00:00:00-07:00

Caneel Bay, St Johns Virgin Islands

Once a favored getaway for Laurance Rockefeller and family, this 170-acre island paradise is tucked within the Virgin Islands National Park, a protection made possible by Rockefellar’s land donation to the government in 1956.

You'll come and go via a scenic ferry ride. During your stay, family travelers can hike park trails and swim, snorkel, dive, kayak and sail in the pristine waters of the resort’s bays and inlets.

Youngsters can enjoy a complimentary kids club experience while parents opt for tennis, relaxation on one of seven beaches or a massage in an open-air cabana. (Cary provided one of the best massages ever!) Local dive, kayak and naturalist tours are also available.

Plein aire art classes are also available for the creatively inclined.

Contact: 340-776-6111; www.RosewoodResorts.com/en/caneelbay

If Not Now?

2013-02-28T00:00:00-07:00

Need we say more?

Farm Stay Style

2013-02-26T00:00:00-07:00

Fresh air. Dirty hands.

Consider a farm stay?

Readers Share Favorite Beaches

2013-02-24T00:00:00-07:00

Grab the sunscreen. Gather the towels and beach books. Yes, it's goodbye snow. And, hello warm, sandy beaches. As readers share their favorite beaches, get ready to choose from this list or share your own special spots.

1. Club Med, Punta Cana. Dominican Republic.

“There was something about relaxing on that beautiful stretch of white sand beach with the coconut palms swaying in the breeze. I think about it all the time,” muses Dayton, Ohio-based Diana Duncan. Her two children loved the children’s club that included a slew of age appropriate activities.

Diana and her husband Matt took to the trapeze, learning circus skills, when not kayaking, playing tennis or building sand castles on the beach with the kids. “My only regret,” admits Duncan, “is that I ate way too much of their famous white chocolate bread!”

Contact: www.clubmed.us

2. Bal Harbour, FL.

Susan and Rich Andrews have been traveling to South Florida every year for decades. “Our long time family favorite is Bal Harbour because there is something for everyone.”

A luxurious seaside enclave, families take to the wide open beaches, walking paths and chic but comfortable ambience. Upscale restaurants and shopping abound. The Bal Harbour Kids Beach Camp is a collaborative partnership with the Miami Children’s Museum, and available to guests of both the Sea View Hotel and ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa, as well as village residents and their guests. Children have the opportunity to paint, learn about international cuisine, music and how to grow a garden.

Contact: www.balharbourflorida.com

3. Sag Harbor, NY.

“My favorite beach is still my home town stretch of sand here on Long Island,” explained Sharon Elizabeth. “The beaches on the east end of Long Island are some of the most magnificent in the world. My favorite is Sagg Beach, near Sagaponack.”

According to Elizabeth, Sagg Beach is pristine, wide and a great place for family picnics and relaxing days playing in the surf. Located near the historic whaling port of Sag Harbor, the area, widely known as “The Hamptons”, offers plenty of water-related recreation as well as top-notch dining, museums, parks and bike paths.

Contact: www.SagHarborGuide.com; www.sagharborchamber.com/beaches.

4. Destin, FL. –

When I was a child, we spent many a holiday on the white beaches of Destin and my memories are so wonderful,” explains Mary Ellis, who makes her home in Milwaukee, WI.

“As a result I was quick to take my own three children to this pristine location where there is so much for families to do! Between snorkeling, hiking, diving and just relaxing on the 24 miles of powder-soft white beaches, our family vacation never seems quite long enough,” says Ellis.

Contact: www.destin-fwb.com/Beaches/

Cannon Beach, OR

Maxie Wade has long enjoyed flying kites with her kids on this wide beach on the north coast of Oregon where gulls float overhead and bon-fires melt s’mores and keep the sea breeze chill at bay. Cold water temperatures mean swimmers may only get ankle deep. Rather, families gather to collect shells, explore tide pools, watch storms roll in or stroll the day away enjoying the salt air. Just off shore and towering 235 feet over the beach, Haystack Rock is home to nesting seabirds. It is one of the largest sea stacks on America’s Pacific Coast.

Contact: www.cannonbeach.org.

The Right Direction

2013-02-19T00:00:00-07:00

Where are you headed?

Families Helping Families

2013-02-17T00:00:00-07:00

Volunteer vacations enable parents to model their most deeply held values while demonstrating compassion for others who share our place on the planet. Develop new talents, brush off rusty skills and make a difference as a family.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

I-to-I .

Choose from volunteer experiences in India, Costa Rica, Thailand and other destinations where sustainable, locally run community, environmental and educational projects will expand your family’s view of the world. Trained travel advisors share information about each country and specific projects to insure a suitable match. Find a trip working with kids, the environment or wildlife that will blend well with the ages, interests and levels of experience within your family group. Contact: 800-985-4852; www.i-to-i.com.

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Cortez, CO.

Channel the Indiana Jones vibe and assist professional archeologists on excavation sites and in the lab as the quest to uncover mysteries surrounding the ancient Anasazi and Pueblo cultures continues. Ask about Family Archeology Weeks during which kids learn to make fire and sharpen skills needed for fieldwork. Pair your volunteer experience with one of a handful of educational adventure trips offered in the region by the same outfit. Contact: 800-422-8975; www.crowcanyon.org

Crooked Trails.

Learn about community-based tourism through this cross-cultural exchange that includes home-stays, family-style meals, exploration, adventure and time with locals in indigenous communities. Your trip will be fully-supported by a North American guide but you and your family members will have plenty of time to engage in service activities that range from building schools to assisting with the need of the moment in Peru, Guatamala, Kenya, India and beyond. Create a custom trip or join a scheduled outing. Contact: 206-383-9828 www.crookedtrails.com.

You might also enjoy this teen's tale about her family's volunteer vacation.

Ten Romantic Ways To Enjoy San Francisco

2013-01-28T00:00:00-07:00

Getting away without the kids? Consider San Francisco!

Ten Romantic Things To Do In San Francisco

Walk, bike, run or skip across the Golden Gate Bridge
Enjoy a California Twilight Cruise aboard Red and White Fleet
Share a hot fudge Sundae at world famous Ghirardelli chocolate
Pack a picnic lunch and bring it on board a rented boat at Golden Gate Park’s Stow Lake
Stroll through the Conservatory of Flowers
Enjoy a decadent dinner at Hubert Keller’s Fleur de Lys
Top off the evening with one of Bubble Lounge’s 300+ Champagnes/sparkling wines
Climb half way to the stars aboard one of the city’s iconic cable cars
Steal a kiss atop the Filbert Steps before joining the crowd at Coit Tower to view panoramic views of the bay
Fly a kite together at Chrissy Field and enjoy views of the Golden Gate Bridge

The Inaugural Poem

2013-01-21T00:00:00-07:00

Those of us who love words were thrilled a poet was asked to participate in the Inaugural ceremonies. Richard Blanco became the fifth poet to read at a Presidential inauguration. Reports emphasized he was the youngest, first Latino, openly gay poet to act as an inaugural poet.

The new poem he wrote for the occasion, “One Today,” garnered warm words from President Obama. Here’s the text:

One Today

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper—
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives—
to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

All of us as vital as the one light we move through,

the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:

equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,

the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me—in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn’t give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country—all of us—
facing the stars
hope—a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it—together.

Your Next Family Vacation: Fairmont Scottsdale

2013-01-16T00:00:00-07:00

With the magnificent McDowell Mountains as a backdrop, families relish this oasis in the desert.

By day, keep cool within the 6000 square foot Sonoran Splash complex, featuring a zero deck area for the youngest set. Kids wade right into the water, just like at the beach.

Nearby a large sandbox with Tonka trucks and a bounty of beach toys beckon, keeping the kids entertained. Have fun slipping down two of Arizona’s largest slides.

Expect two dazzling TPC golf courses, when you check in to this Scottsdale resort tucked in the middle of a world-renowned golf destination. One call to the Golf Concierge can put you and your family members on the first tee in no time. You can test your skills against the greats of golf on the same course that hosts the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Come nightfall, enjoy dive-in movies from deck chairs or while floating on your raft. With plenty of golf in the area, world-class shopping and culinary options in every direction, you'll relish being a sun-kissed snowbird.

Contact: 1(866) 540-4495; www.Fairmont.com; www.ScottsdalePrincess.com.

Your Next Family Vacation: Ski Beaver Creek

2013-01-08T10:24:12-07:00

Hit the slopes in Beavercreek where every generation of your family will have a grand time.

Kids reign supreme in this Rocky Mountain resort where plenty of ski-in, ski-out lodging simplifies the ground game.

Consider the Osprey where the closest chair is a mere 26 paces from the door. The popular ski-school offers programs for kids of all ages. A magic carpet and junior-sized gondola make it easy for newbies to practice their skills on the slopes. New this year is Ski Girls Rock, inspired by Olympian Lindsey Vonn and designed to instill confidence in girls seven to 16 through sports.

Apres-ski, access family-friendly music, complimentary warm chocolate chip cookies and the chance to take a few spins around the Village ice skating rink. Don't miss the Buckaroo Bonanza Bunch, a children’s theater story time at The Ranch. This complimentary, fun, and Wild West-themed theater group puts on a quick-paced show ideal for ages 3-6.

Contact: www.Beavercreek.com.

Water: One Drop At A Time

2012-12-06T00:00:00-07:00

I don’t know why knowledge of this problem eluded me for so long. But I distinctly remember the moment, more than a decade ago, when it came front and center.

You might think I was deep in the African bush.

I was sitting in a coffee shop in Bozeman, Mt. when a young man shared with me his passion for raising money to help others have access to safe and clean water.

“Water?"I recall asking. I’d helped raise money for food, clothes, schools, books and medicine in the past.

But water? Truthfully, I am embarrassed to admit I hadn’t really thought about it.

And, you know how when you learn a new word, suddenly that letter combo seems to pop up everywhere? Well that is how it was for water.

In short order I learned that more than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related causes. Nearly all deaths, 99 percent, occur in the developing world – in places like Haiti.

And that lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children at a rate equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.

Now I can hardly fathom that of the 60 million people added to the world's towns and cities every year, most move to informal settlements (i.e. slums) with no sanitation facilities. And women and girls spend the most time collecting water.

In today’s world, how is it possible that 780 million people lack access to an improved water source; approximately one in nine people.

I now understand that the water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

The next time you take a shower consider that an American taking a five-minute rinse-off uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day.

Then consider that 2.5 times more people lack water than live in the United States.

And what does this say about our culture?

More people have a mobile phone than a toilet.

So recently I raised some money for Water.org. (co-founded by Matt Damon) And you can too.

Even if it is only ….one drop at a time.

PS: And if this water crisis was not on your radar before, just know, that now you are in the global loop when it comes to this five letter word.

Your Next Family Vacation: Curtain Bluff

2012-11-29T00:00:00-07:00

Ready to relax? Maybe unplug?

Visit this laid back, but luxurious, family-owned resort in Antigua for an all-inclusive experience that includes extensive water sports including water skiing, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, paddle-boating, tennis, yoga, and sailing.

As the kids burn off energy after another delicious meal, relax in a hammock you’ll find tucked within the palm trees. Spend an afternoon at the spa where open air massages provide a perfect end to a sports-filled day.

Contact: 888-289-9898; www.CurtainBluff.com

What's On Your Bucket LIst?

2012-11-19T00:00:00-07:00

Does your family have a bucket list?

Before you get busy creating a list of destinations, consider these questions first.

Virginia's Lincoln Movie Trail

2012-11-16T00:00:00-07:00

Movie magic and travel combine for family fun in Virginia with The Lincoln Movie Trail.

“LINCOLN,” directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, was shot in its entirety in Virginia at sites in Richmond and Petersburg.

The state tourism office has created a self-guided trail and interactive Web site to help your family’s movie and history buffs visit the actual film locations as well as restaurants, bars and shops that were favorites of the stars and crew.

The trail experience includes special “LINCOLN” movie tours by Segway, trolley and guided walking tours.You can also stay at The Jefferson Hotel and dine at the same restaurants as the “LINCOLN” stars.

Visit www.Virginia.org/LINCOLN to learn more about The Lincoln Movie trail.