Month: May 2006

Categories
Europe

Paris….And I’m NOT Posting Because of “The Da Vinci Code.”

L'Arc de Triomphe, Paris (Scarborough photo)Now look, really, I just had some good Paris info links piling up and it seemed a shame to let all of that guidance go to waste.

The fact that every media outlet under the sun is running around looking at the shark-jumped “Da Vinci Code” movie and book locations is irrelevant to my blog’s editorial timing. I would never do something so cheesy as to time a post to a currently popular topic….or point out that one of my most popular posts is “Paris with Kids: The Louvre.”

Would I?

Oh well, if you’re thinking about a trip to the City of Light, for whatever reason, here are some helpful tips I’ve collected:

** To get you started by overwhelming you, from Time Out we have 50 Things to do in Paris (not all of them related to family travel, either, like #7 “Drink Till Dawn” or the erotic museum in #17.)

** All right, all right, it’s a family gig, so here’s the Washington Post’s “Paris with Kids,” a very useful compendium of ideas and tips. The most important one is to see the Eiffel Tower at night (or “Eyfee Towee” as my son called it. Awww.)

I also recommend, as the author does, a stop at Laduree for the fluffy-crunchy-light macaroon cookies. She and her son tried the pistachio and rose ones; so did we and they were great. Also a good sneaky way to teach children’s finicky palates to try new things.

Google Earth checks out the Eiffel Tower (courtesy Google Earth and thanks to Jaunted for the idea.)

** Where to sleep? The UK’s Telegraph gives you Paris lodging options.

** How about those eats? A Parisian local gives it up for Budget Travel readers; all of her favorite markets, restaurants, bistros and food halls. While we’re at it, here are some bistro behavior tips so you won’t be surprised and offended that the waiters really are sometimes a bit snotty (but harmless.)

As a family we found Paris quite accessible, even with my abysmal French, and not as absurdly pricey as London. People were friendly and helpful, and even when waiters ignored us we had almost expected it anyway. I don’t want to tar them all with the same brush; many were chipper and brought our food quickly and with a smile.

No matter what, French hot chocolate and croissants for breakfast can’t be beat.

Notre Dame, Paris (Scarborough photo) Point Zero, Paris (Scarborough photo)

Update 8 October 2006: Here’s a nice piece in the San Antonio Express-News about travel to Paris with a 12-year-old.

Update 23 January 2007: From the travel section of the UK’s Guardian Unlimited, some more lodging ideas (I’ve seen many of these same hotels pop up in “Secret Hotels of Paris” sorts of articles.) Don’t focus on the price so much as the location and atmosphere, because with kids in tow you’ll pay more to get a big-enough room.

Categories
Latin America

Pay a Visit to Panama.

My last visit to Panama was as a married and still child-free person, but I was there without my husband.

I did have plenty of company; a few hundred shipmates with me aboard my US Navy Fleet oiler, going through the Panama Canal and stopping for a port visit in the capital, Panama City.

LT Scarborough sails the Panama Canal, October 1991 (Scarborough photo)

I thought fondly of that trip as I read this San Francisco Chronicle article on the country’s lowlands (the Canal, wonderful rainforests and Panama City) and the highlands (the Volcan Baru National Park and coffee plantations.)

Now it’s obvious that I simply must travel to Panama with my whole family (and this time I won’t have to wear khaki or stand watch on the ship.)

Categories
USA

Family Road Trip and Memorial Day Travel: Time’s A’Wasting.

Roadside Fruit Stand, Crystal River, Florida (Scarborough photo)If you’re like me, the weeks simply vaporize into some sort of alternate universe, leaving the real world an unplanned organizational wasteland.

Sorry travelers; for the US readers the Memorial Day weekend May 27-28 is fast approaching.

Do you have a plan? Stay local? Short/long road trip? Fly somewhere?

Time for family travel planning link-o-rama….

First up (to get you in the official road trippin’ mood) is Rolf Potts interviewing Jamie Jensen, the author of the great guidebook “Road Trip USA” about the “Allure of the American Road Trip.” Makes me want to go get into the car despite gas prices. For more ideas, check out Jensen’s book and Web site.

Here are some good suggestions for drives in the Western US.

When you’re cruising the byways and getting hungry, always check out Roadfood for local, sometimes offbeat places to eat. Teresa Plowright at About’s Travel With Kids site has links to steer you to places where kids eat free.

If you’re a BBQ fanatic like me, you’ll enjoy this USA Today article on 10 places to get the good meaty stuff across the USA. (My personal fave, not listed, is Iron Works BBQ in Austin, TX.)

At a loss for ideas? Frommer’s has a few in their list of unique summer festivals (Georgia’s Summer Redneck Games vs Charleston’s Spoleto; they’ve got you covered.) About’s Travel With Kids has a ton of ideas and links tied to Memorial Day.

Combine adventure/outdoors travel with an urban setting — Smarter Travel shows you how & where. Close to my neck of the woods in North Florida is the Florida Folk Festival, headlined this year by Rosanne Cash.

Sing Along at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame (Scarborough photo)

And (have mercy!) if you insist on visiting hot, muggy Orlando this time of year and taking the kids to Disney World, Fodor’s offers a Survival Guide here and some more tips here.

The park is too big to wander through without a plan unless you want to lose your mind.

Remember, park in the morning, hang out at the hotel pool in the afternoon, more park at night. My pick for the least-crazed-with-crowds park is MGM Studios. For me, the one to minimize/avoid is Magic Kingdom; just a freakin’ madhouse.

Finally, when you’re planning a hotel stay, consider one with a large water-play area for everyone to cool down; this article profiles a few.

Have a terrific time, and afterwards come back here to the Family Travel blog to tell us how it went!

Categories
Asia

And Now For Something Different….in Asia Travel.

I’d like to take a minute to highlight a few places in Asia that I’d like to visit (with or without kids) so that you can also put on your dreaming caps.

First, here’s a link from the always-interesting Global Voices Online (a compendium of bloggers from all over the world; great new perspectives.)  Their blogger “Our Man in Hanoi” has some interesting observations and tips for first-timers to Vietnam.

Second, Ruth Schaffer over at Let’s Visit Asia shares a cool link she found at Gecko Travel: 5 Must-Visit Places in Asia.  Neither one of us has been to any of the places listed and we’re salivating!

Finally, let’s talk about the rather grueling process of getting to Asia from North America, especially with those itchy kids. This USA Today article gives a run-down on direct flight options that don’t include journey-lengthening plane changes. What a concept; fly directly to the country you want to visit.

Don’t forget that once you get to Asia, you can overcome the “tyranny of distance” by using some of the new budget carriers that are springing up.  Nothing is as well-established yet as Europe’s ubiquitous Ryanair or EasyJet, but if you cruise around the helpful site Which Budget you will see lots of airline options: Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, Tiger Airways….oh, heck, just look at this comprehensive list, or over here, to see what’s in the air in Asia.

Categories
Tips

Keeping Fit (Body and Brain) as a Parent

This week, the Work at Home Mom Bloggers ask, “how to best keep fit physically, mentally and emotionally as a parent?”  I could also add, “how do you keep fit while you travel?”

Let’s see: 

1) Best intentions. Check.

2) Some idea of how to eat in a healthy way and exercise since I spent over 20 years on active duty adhering to U.S. Navy height/weight and physical fitness standards. Check.

3) The knowledge of impending doom; i.e., Bathing Suit Season Is Coming, and it comes even faster here in warm, sunny Florida. Check.

4) The Desperate Housewives and others show that you need not be an overweight, raggedy-looking loser the minute you turn 40. Check.

5)  Follow-through.  Whoops.

I know exactly what I need to do, I’m just not doing it.

(“It’s the blog’s fault.  I’m a blog slave; can’t stop working to work out.”)

Nope, sorry, the answer is to get my head out of the feed bag and my butt out the door to exercise.  That’s it.  Stop eating crap and work out every day.  It’s not the carbs, it’s not my metabolism, it’s not the stress, it’s not my genes, it is my own self-discipline.

When it’s important enough to me, I’ll do it.  After I’ve been doing it awhile, it’ll also be a habit, which is even better. Ain’t gotta like it, just gotta do it.

Ever read Stephen Covey’s book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People?”  Author and organizer Kathy Paauw does a good job of laying out Covey’s Quadrants; how we divide up our time in her article “Capturing That Illusive Thing Called Time.”

Are you doing the right things, or just worrying about doing things right?

It’s tough to keep fit while you travel, so don’t plan any big training sessions, just hold what you have.  Walk everywhere, find hotels with workout rooms, take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, drink plenty of water. Check out USA Track & Field’s “America’s Running Routes” for a quick run on the road.

Don’t snarf down dessert and booze with every dinner just because “you’re on vacation.”  And watch the buffets; I always overdo those.

Maybe now that I’ve pontificated about fitness I’ll go get some.

Categories
USA

Hey Mom; Four Places For Us To Go.

Yes, yes, Mother’s Day is coming up. 

It’s not that I don’t adore my mother, it just seems that the avalanche of emails and ads are constructed to make me feel that I’m a bad kid if I don’t go buy, buy, buy something for Mom.  Because “she deserves it.” 

AACCKK….she deserves love, honor and respect every day, not a pair of earrings or candy or “herbal slippers” once a year.

OK, enough rant, here’s a quick link to Budget Travel for four U.S. places for daughters to visit with Mom:  Charleston, Sedona, San Diego and New York City.

The thing is, you could recycle these and go see them next month for Father’s Day, with Dad.  Or, pick a place about 2 hours from your house that you two have been meaning to check out, and enjoy a little mini road trip together.

Lots more memories than earrings, I guarantee it.

Categories
Florida

Cayo Hueso: melting-pot wonders of Key West Florida.

Blowing a Conch Shell in Key West (Scarborough photo)Yes, I know that Cayo Hueso really means “Isle of Bones” in Spanish, but can I help it if the nickname still ends up on T-shirts sold all over Duval Street?

But here’s the surprise; you can enjoy family travel to the infamous margarita-sodden island at the end of the world. Just be prepared to explain some, ahem, possibly odd sightings.

It’s still a gay mecca and holding pen for various bizarre characters, but the town is also lively and fun; there’s a real sense of escapism (especially after you’ve made the drive all the way down the Keys to get to it.)

Although I am officially a Conch (one who is born in Key West) I was really only a temporary resident when my parents were stationed there with the Navy, and we moved when I was three.

Mom still talks about living through the Cuban Missile Crisis, with possible annihilation coming from only 90 miles away.

Having lived the peripatetic Navy life on active duty myself, I must say that when I visited Key West it was very strange for me to stand in the town where I was born; don’t get to do that very often.

On recent visits to the island, I’ve stayed at the vintage Crowne Plaza La Concha and the Key West Bed & Breakfast (the Popular House.) Both were fine for families, although older kids might appreciate/enjoy the B&B’s more authentic atmosphere, and good breakfasts plus free bikes to ride around town.

There are resorts and hotels near the water, but they’ll cost you, and Key West is not really a beachy place anyway. For the good stuff you need to go back up Highway 1 to Bahia Honda State Park and maybe try to snag one of its popular camping spots.

The whole family will enjoy the hokey-but-thorough Conch Train Tour, but hit it in the morning for cooler breezes and smaller crowds. After the tour, you’ll know where to return later on bike. Spare yourself the headaches of driving & parking here; the main attractions lie within a few square miles.

Kid-friendly places to visit include the live-action fun at the Shipwreck Historeum, the small Aquarium, Mallory Square festivities at sunset and treasures at Mel Fisher’s Maritime Museum. There are also local sailing trips and day trips to the nearby Dry Tortugas.

Older kids who are writers or history buffs, or must live with annoying parents who are, might like Hemingway’s House or President Truman’s Little White House.

For eats, I recommend these: try the Cuban sandwiches at the (no kidding) M&M Laundry on White Street. Clean clothes and good chow at the same time, and not a tourist in sight. There’s good Cuban ropa vieja and lots of families at Jose’s Cantina on White Street. Another mellow place is Pepe’s Cafe on Caroline, with all sorts of food including BBQ. Blue Heaven, mentioned in the Chicago Tribune article, is yummy as well.

You can get a smoothie and do some Internet surfing upstairs at the Waterfront Market on William Street. Speaking of getting on the ‘net, I also enjoyed the Coffee Plantation on Caroline Street for a cuppa Joe, good snacks and some free WiFi if you buy a little something.

Florida Souvenir Tea Towels at a Flea Market (Scarborough photo)

Yes, if you get into the crush on Duval Street for very long, your kids will perhaps run into loud drunks — either local ones or visitors from the monster cruise ships that pull in. Most are obnoxious but harmless, like some of the crude T-shirts that are all over the shops. That’s not why you came here, so stroll the side streets, don’t bother the chickens, and enjoy yourself in the Southernmost City in the U.S.

(P.S. When you drive up or down Highway 1 through the Keys, fortify yourself. There’s Key Lime pie at Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen in Key Largo, Mile Marker 99.4 bayside, and also good food at 7 Mile Grill on Marathon, Mile Marker 45 oceanside. If you’re dozy while driving, perk up at Leigh Ann’s Coffee House, Mile Marker 50.5 oceanside, or Baby’s Coffee at Mile Marker 15 oceanside.)

Update 31 May 2006: Found an interesting link about Key West’s “Pirate Soul” museum.

Update 28 December 2006: Here’s a “Road Trip” article from Budget Travel Online about the wondrous drive down the Overseas Highway to Key West.

Update 13 February 2007: Concierge.com, the site for Conde Nast Traveler magazine, has this page devoted to tips for seeing Key West.

Categories
Europe UK

Travel Planning for a Trip to Britain (including links for Scotland, Ireland and Wales.)

Here are some quick links from the UK’s Times Online for planning a trip to Britain:

**  Renting a cottage in the UK (self-catering)

**  Ideas for travel to Ireland

**  Tips for travel to Scotland

**  What about Wales?

And then since you gotta eat, Jaunted gives us links to the best places to eat in Britain, including those for kids.

 

Categories
Tips

Family Travel Ideas for Summer 2006.

The UK’s Times Online has some great travel ideas for this summer; there is one section specifically focused on families but many of the others could also work for your kids.  The articles understandably focus mostly on destinations in Europe, but there are some other places featured as well.

If that’s not enough for your planning, the Times also lists their pick of the 100 best travel Web sites, again with a Euro-centric view but that helps to unearth sites that North Americans might miss.  Some other great family travel links are on the Transitions Abroad Web site.

Closer to the USA, the Chicago Tribune has a run-down on activities at our national parks. If you’re more metro, the Trib also has general must-see tips for “8 Great American Cities” plus an overview of fun stuff for kids in “6 Cities Provide Family Fun.”

If you’re flying, though, you may want to note the article in USA Today about a summer “baggage handling meltdown” because of over-crowded skies and security personnel shortages.  For gosh sakes, try to pack light and always carry basic toiletries like toothbrushes and maybe one change of clothes in your carry-on, in case that checked suitcase doesn’t arrive when you do.

Categories
New York City USA

New York City & Kids: Where to Stay? What to Eat?

There is so much to do in this city and its boroughs that you can return again and again, in different seasons, to check things out. Paying for it, however, is another matter.

Talk about Mission Impossible; the Washington Post Travel folks set out to give us some Manhattan hotels for under $200 a night (and yes, that’s considered a bargain rate in this upper strata of lodging prices.)

Meantime, one of my favorite travel guides, the Time Out series, gives us a long list of kid-friendly places to dine in NYC.

If you want to take your family to the Big Apple, check out their ideas.

Update 28 May 2006: The Washington Post readers submitted their own recommendations for pleasant and inexpensive NYC hotels.

Update 3 June 2006: A quick tip from Jaunted about visiting the Top of the Rock, especially if you want to see the NYC skyline with the Empire State Building in it (which of course you can’t do if you are at the top of the Empire State….)