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Things to do, places to go 12.13.2007

This week I’ve included some limited-time travel offers in the Thursday roundup of events around the globe:

**  The Chicago Tribune/Baltimore Sun has a dandy list of travel packages with good prices for this time of year, including family-friendly ones in Hershey, PA and the Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia.

**  San Francisco is magical in any month, but right now Travelzoo highlights a hotel deal in the center of the action: the Sir Francis Drake Hotel right on Union Square.  Want more “brrrrr?”  Travelzoo also found a bargain rate at the Quebec Ice Hotel.

**  Even in the midst of ski season you can find decent prices, and Budget Travel has 11 ski deals from California to New Hampshire.

**  There’s a special package geared to families at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa on the Santa Ana Pueblo (near Albuquerque NM.)

**  In London there two winter goodies this weekend:  the Frost Fair of winter fun along the Thames on Bankside (husky dog sledding, a children’s illuminated parade and family events at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater,) and the Spitalfields Winter Festival in London’s East End.

**  In Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo shines brightly with thousands of lights during ZooLights.

**  How about an outdoor ice rink in….Charlotte, North Carolina? Yes, it’s Holiday on Ice in a park in uptown Charlotte.

**  In Budapest, Hungary, Christmas music pours from the Matthias Church on 15 December.

**  New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine features Paul Winter’s Winter Solstice Celebration concerts December 13-15 (and on National Public Radio.)  This year the show “will showcase music from two new albums, and present special guests Native American singer/drummer/flutist John-Carlos Perea, and Brazilian singer/guitarist Renato Braz.” 

**  This weekend is the lighted Christmas Boat Parade in Newport Beach, CA and another one on Sunday, Dec 16th in San Diego harbor.

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Things to do, places to go 12.6.2007

Welcome to our Thursday rundown of what’s going on around the world. 

Many or even most of these events may not be located in your hometown, but I still think it’s fun to see what’s hopping on the planet, and if you notice something that sounds like fun for your family, you can make plans for next year.

Coming up this weekend/soon:

  • One of a Kind craft/art show and sale, Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, Dec 6-9.
  • The First Friday art gallery stroll (plus street musicians) in Old City Philadelphia PA is going to be particularly festive this time of year. 5-9 pm Dec 7th.
  • Feel festive at the Wassail Weekend in picturesque Woodstock VT Dec 7-9.
  • The elephant’s story is set to music: London’s Babar Family Concert Dec 8th.
  • Dance to the music at southeast Asia’s largest dance music festival, the ZoukOut Dance Festival on Sentosa Island in Singapore Dec 8th. 
  • Enjoy a Christmas market, Italian style at The Christmas Country market in medieval Sant’Agata Feltria Dec 8th.
  • My own hometown of Austin TX offers the Trail of Lights in downtown’s Zilker Park; a mile-long lighted wonderland from 9-23 December.
  • It’s the off-season, so grab major savings this time of year in thrifty New England at the Freeport, ME outlet mall stores, then investigate some local vodka makers.  There are winter packages in Newport, RI as well that would work for teens (hat tip to Smarter Travel.)

Coming up later this month or in early 2008:

  • San Francisco Bay Area women who blog, don’t miss the BlogHer Very Merry Holiday Meetup next Thursday, December 13th at Cafe Royale in San Francisco, 5:30-8:00 pm.  It’s free but you do need to RSVP.
  • The spectacular Winterfest Boat Parade (with lighted boats sailing the Intracoastal Waterway) is held in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Dec 15th.
  • The three-day Trongsa festival of mask dances is held in Bhutan December 18-20, 2007.
  • Celebrate Twelfth Night on London’s Bankside near the restored Globe Theater, music, theater and merriment on January 6th 2008.
  • The Holiday Train Show in the New York Botanical Gardens ends January 13, 2008. From the Web site, “model trains and trolleys zip along over bridges and on winding tracks past scaled replicas of New York landmarks….favorites are the Empire State Building, Little Red Lighthouse, Brooklyn Bridge, and the borough’s own Yankee Stadium.”
  • The World Buskers Festival (ten days of dynamic street performances) is held in Christchurch, New Zealand January 17-27 2008.
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Things to do, places to go 11.29.2007

Welcome to the first iteration of the regular Thursday Family Travel feature “Things to Do & Places to Go.” I plan to run this weekly, as a worldwide overview of family-friendly events in the near term, and then some a few months down the road.

This time of year, there’s so much going on that I had to pare it down to this weekend and then a little of early January.

Coming up this weekend/soon:

  • It’s almost the end of whale-watching season in Hermanus near Cape Town, South Africa.
  • Welcome the holiday season in Houston, Texas with choirs, fireworks and a tree-lighting. November 30, 2007. Here are some more tree-lighting events.
  • Admire the luminaria displays starting this weekend, through December, at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Enjoy an ethnic holiday festival with examples of Christmas cheer from around the world, at the Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha, Nebraska. November 30, 2007.
  • It’s an Old-Fashioned Cowboy Christmas in Medora, North Dakota. November 30-December 1, 2007.
  • See Santa Claus at Germany’s biggest theme park, Europapark (near Rust in Freiburg, close to the French border) on December 1, 2007. We visited Europapark and loved it; check out my FT post on European theme parks.
  • Marching down Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach, VA, it’s the Hometown Holiday Parade on December 1, 2007.
  • There’s a lighted boat parade sponsored by the Fell’s Point Yacht Club in Baltimore, Maryland’s Inner Harbor, December 1, 2007.
  • The San Diego, CA Maritime Museum has a Family Fun Day this weekend, getting underway December 2, 2007.
  • Celebrate Saint Barbara Day in Bulgaria (she’s the saint who protects children from disease.) December 4, 2007.

Coming up in early 2008:

  • New Year’s Day Polar Bear swims are always a hoot (my brave husband did one at Easton’s Beach in Newport, RI one year.) Check out the Coney Island, NY plunge.
  • Three Kings Day Parade and concert events, January 4 & January 6, 2008, sponsored by El Museo Del Barrio, New York.
  • The Winter Flower and Train Show ends January 6, 2008 in Chicago IL.
  • Prague Winter Festival, Czech Republic, January 2-7, 2008. Classical music, opera and ballet in ornate venues. Includes Bambini di Praga children’s choir.
  • Illawarra Folk Festival, Bulli, New South Wales, Australia, January 17-20, 2008. More than 400 folk performers and 150 events, including a children’s festival.
  • Shindig Set Dance Festival, Tralee, Ireland, January 18-20, 2008. Great Irish music, storytelling, singing, Guinness and workshops for dancers.

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The OC? Nah, San Diego is the Best of Southern California.

Some might disagree with me, but for family travel in the southern part of the Golden State, I vote for San Diego. 

There’s beach and surfer action, the world-class Balboa Park and Zoo, nautical fun at the waterfront Embarcadero, maybe a dip down into Mexico, the sweeping ocean view as you drive over the bridge to Coronado, primo weather all the time….how can you lose?  Grownups and older kids will enjoy the revitalized downtown Gaslamp Quarter and upscale, gorgeous places like La Jolla and Del Mar just up the coast.

For ideas on things to do with kids, check out this guide to the city from Smarter Travel, plus an itinerary for a San Diego getaway on James Trotta’s blog “Travel Plan Ideas.”  The Webby-winning folks over at GoCityKids have some tips as well. 

One thing to remember; I just assumed that since so much of surfer culture got its start in SOCAL (Southern California) oceans, the water must be nice and warm.  Um, nope. It’s a pretty bracing temperature, even at the height of Endless Summer.