Month: August 2008

Categories
Blog

South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, travel blogging and you

South by Southwest banner, Austin Convention Center (Scarborough photo)One of the biggest creative blowouts of the year is down the road from me in Austin, Texas: South by Southwest (SXSW.) It’s actually a three-parter conference of Interactive, Film and Music.

The organizers describe the Interactive portion as a conference for “the brightest minds in emerging technology,” including bloggers.

Hey, that’s me!  (Well, the blogger part – I dunno about the “brightest minds” part.)

This will be my third consecutive SXSWi coming up March 13-17, 2009; I would not miss it.

Technology is changing the world too much, including the travel world, for anyone to remain intimidated by the pocket-protector crowd….and as far as I’ve been able to tell, there’s never been a single pocket protector around, just a lot of interesting, fun people with glowing laptops and iPhones.

I have a blast when I attend  –  who knew that so much of Interactive is panels about blogging, podcasting and online media? As a writer and Web 2.0 geek, I’m in heaven.

This year, I’ve proposed a panel on travel blogging for SXSWi 2009, and I’d like to request your assistance in commenting and voting, because this process closes after tomorrow, August 29th.

The “Panel Picker” lets possible SXSWi attendees indicate which panels really interest them, and that weighs heavily into whether a panel is ultimately scheduled for the conference.

If you’re thinking about infiltrating SXSWi (and there’s something there for everyone, with 1,300 panel proposals) or are simply a travel blogging enthusiast, then I would request that you complete the quick/free registration process and please vote for my proposed panel:

Blog Highways: Travel Blogging for the Wanderer

Either as a speaker or audience member, I still plan to attend and get my geek on.  Thanks so much for your support!

Categories
Tips

Aaarrgh, where did summer go?

D'oh! I forgot to travel! (courtesy kjarrett at Flickr Creative Commons)It’s embarrassing to be a travel writer who forgets to travel.

I looked up this morning and school was starting; where did the summer go?

We took a short road trip to Houston, and the kids visited the nearby Schlitterbahn water park a couple of times, but that was about it.

What’s up with that?

I didn’t have plans for anything elaborate this summer, not with gas at $4/gallon and air travel such a misery, but I did intend to take a series of short one- or two-night family road trips.

As my teen would say….FAIL.

Still, I’ve been at this travel business for awhile, and I’ve learned that the vast majority of the planet will still be there when I get around to getting into the car or onto a plane.

Summer is beastly hot anyway, at least here in my home state of Texas, so another way to look at it is that the best season for travel is coming up right now.

Plan now for fall travel

Every year at about this time, it dawns on me that I should get ahead of the game for fall family travel.

When the kids come home with those enormous mounds of paper from their school, pull out the 2008-2009 school calendar and starting noting holiday/teacher workday dates (or look it up on the school Web site, of course.) Get those puppies down on your family calendar NOW, and start planning some short weekend fall getaways.

If your school observes Columbus Day, (October 13th this year) that’s an oft-forgotten holiday that’s good for a short trip.

Veterans Day in November works well, too; perhaps visit a nearby battlefield or historic fort?

It’s certainly not too late to lock in some Thanksgiving or even Christmas plans right now, because I assure you, airfare is only going to go up. Book now.

Get out of town, or out of the country, for Thanksgiving

Sometimes, holidays are even better when your family can enjoy them away from home.

Continue reading “Aaarrgh, where did summer go?”

Categories
New York City USA

More than NYC: family travel in New York

Fort Ticonderoga reenactors (courtesy Slabcity Gang at Flickr CC)

While researching 20 different educational and family-friendly New York attractions for a recent article on Education.com, my toughest challenge was ensuring that I cast a wide net beyond New York City.

Here are three highlights from outside the five boroughs:

  • Women’s Rights National Historic Park – In Seneca Falls, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (who also raised seven children) and four other women organized the first women’s rights convention in July 1848, using Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence as a model for their Declaration of Sentiments. Convention Days special events are held each July. The organizers were also abolitionists and one of their houses was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Visit the National Women’s Hall of Fame in downtown Seneca Falls; it celebrates a wide variety of accomplished women throughout history.
  • Rochester – Trade, industry and the opening of the Erie Canal put Rochester on the map. Frederick Douglass is buried here; George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Company and Susan B. Anthony both lived in the city and their homes are National Historic Landmarks. The Eastman House is also a museum of photography and film. The Genesee Country Village and living history museum bring the 19th century to life, and kids love the place that celebrates them: the Strong National Museum of Play, which features interactive games, a massive collection of historic toys and a Butterfly Garden.
  • Chautauqua Institution – Long recognized as a wonderful opportunity for adult summer education, renewal, recreation and fine arts in a lakeside setting, the Chautauqua also offers an activity-packed Children’s School (ages 3-5,) Group One for rising first graders, the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs for ages 7-15 and a Youth Activity Center for preteens and teens. Family entertainment and a Young Reader’s book club patterned after the venerable Institution adult book club round out the offerings, so that no one is bored.

Take a look at the rest of the article right here:  Family Fun and Learning in New York.

Categories
Blog USA

Scooping up ideas for you at Travel Media Showcase

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (courtesy fotobydave at Flickr CC)

I wanted to let my readers know that I was accepted to attend the September 2008 Travel Media Showcase conference as a journalist. The chance to make lots of travel-related contacts there means more opportunities for me to learn about and visit places for the Family Travel blog.

There is a selection process for TMS journalists and travel publications to ensure a good mix of first-time and previous attendees, across a spectrum of travel writing, both in print and online.  I’m looking forward to seeing lots of fellow travel writers, like the Traveling Mamas, folks from the new planning site TravelMuse, representatives from Smarter Travel and Budget Travel, editors from Education.com and CHOW.com and Tim Leffel, author of World’s Cheapest Destinations and my editor at the Perceptive Travel blog.

Our schedule of events includes various receptions, familiarization tours around Kansas City (the host city) and many appointments with representatives from Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus and tourism offices from around the world.

I’m looking forward to it!

Related posts:

Categories
Tips

Travel with kids to Iowa

Iowa State Marble Magnets (courtesy bubblecup.etsy.com on Flickr’s Creative Commons)

(This is a guest post by new blogger Jessica O’Riley at the Iowa Tourism Office – give some travel love to the Midwest!)

With a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old at home, family-friendly attractions are high on my list of vacation locations. Luckily, our home state of Iowa is filled with many options that don’t break the bank.

Some suggestions for you:

National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque: The new “Venom” exhibit features colorful and venomous creatures including spiders, jellyfish, bugs, scorpions, poison dart frogs, snakes, lizards and fish. Visitors can zoom in on the animals with a special camera and crawl through a rattlesnake exhibit that gets them a “prey’s-eye view” of a rattlesnake. Wildlife eco cruises run through October.

Phelps Youth Pavilion in Waterloo:  The Waterloo Center for the Arts launches a world of wonder, discovery and learning. Kids can “ride” a tractor through a Grant Wood painting, travel back in time with a time machine, perform on stage and learn about creativity in other cultures.

This just opened in early April and we visited during the second weekend. My kids spent about three hours exploring the museum – especially enjoying the dress up and stage area – and I actually had to tear them away from the exhibits when it was time to leave.

Dress-up play, Phelps Youth Pavilion, Waterloo, Iowa (courtesy Jessica O’Riley)

King’s Pointe Resort in Storm Lake: Cutting-edge water slide technology takes this water park to a whole new level. At the top of the Discovery Plunge slide, riders can select one of eight adventure themes – including storms, sea creatures, hot air balloons and sharks – and experience it on their descent, complete with sights and sounds.

Honey Creek Resort State Park in Centerville: Iowa’s first destination state park is set to open this September. When completed, the park will include a 100+ room lodge, outdoor patio, indoor water park, conference center, 18-hole golf course and outdoor recreational opportunities along the shores of Lake Rathbun.

Matchstick Marvels in Gladbrook: Local resident and artist Pat Acton has glued more than three million matchsticks together to create detailed works of art ranging from the U.S. Capitol to Pinocchio. His version of [Harry Potter’s] Hogwarts was purchased by a museum in Spain. Ripley’s Believe it or Not has also purchased several of his models. He is currently working on Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings; it should be completed in 2009.

Fun City in Burlington: This ultra family-friendly destination includes an indoor/outdoor water park, 24 lanes of bowling, electric indoor go-karts, arcade, laser tag, restaurants and a hotel all under one roof. We visited in February 2007 so just did the indoor water park. There are lots of slides for little kids, a dump bucket and even a climbing wall. My son especially enjoyed the indoor go-karts as he was tall enough to drive his own. They also have two-seater carts so those not tall enough to drive on their own can ride with Mom or Dad. The kids have been talking about going back since we left. We’re heading back down yet this summer to do the outdoor water park.

Having the hotel connected makes it easy to take a break from all the activities and rest. You’ll want to make time to get away to visit Burlington’s most famous landmark – Snake Alley, dubbed “The Crookedest Street in the World” according to Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Water park play at Fun City, Burlington, Iowa (courtesy Jessica O’Riley)

Ice Cream Capital of the World, aka LeMars: More ice cream is made in LeMars by a single company (Wells Dairy, makers of Blue Bunny ice cream) than anywhere else in the world.

And it’s never too early for ice cream – early morning visitors to the 1920s-themed ice cream parlor can enjoy cinnamon rolls topped with icing made from melted ice cream.

Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad in Boone: This tourist line railroad travels 15-miles round trip through the beautiful Des Moines River Valley and crosses two great bridges. Special kid-friendly rides include a Day out with Thomas (September), pumpkin express (October) and Santa Express (December). Santa Express riders, encouraged to wear their pajamas, are served hot chocolate and cookies and receive a silver bell.

We took our son to the Day out with Thomas before our daughter was born and he really enjoyed it. In addition to the train ride, they had inflatables, a large Thomas the Train set for kids to play with and photo opportunities with Thomas.

Our Iowa-based guest poster, Jessica O’Riley.

Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City: Experience a day soldiering with explorers Lewis & Clark. This one-of-a-kind interactive museum includes twelve-foot-tall murals, twice-lifesize bronze monuments to the captains and their dogs, keelboat theater and interpretive displays.

(Thanks very much to Jessica and the Iowa Tourism Office for sharing family-friendly Iowa insights and photos.)

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