Tag: New York

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New York City USA

New York shopping at Forever 21

Forever 21 display in Union Square store New York CityIf you’ve never hit a Forever 21 clothing store, take your teen or tween and be prepared to pick from a huge, trendy and fun selection that is well-priced. There are men’s sections in the larger stores, but it is mostly a girl’s and women’s emporium.

I ended up in one in Manhattan (the Union Square store) when I realized that I wouldn’t have time to get back to my hotel and change clothes before a TBEX (travel blogger’s conference) party. I’d heard that Forever 21 was inexpensive, but I had zero confidence that they would carry anything that would interest a 49-year-old woman who usually prefers tailored, structured clothing.

Wow, I could hardly get myself out of there.

I ended up with some jewelry and two fun tops – I tossed on the white pearl-decorated one, along with some long necklaces, and was instantly party-ready.  The chance to shop and be girly (not a luxury that I allow myself much these days) was a heck of a lot more therapeutic than I’d expected, too.

The store inventory size is often overwhelming (as are the crowds and the very busy staff) and no one is claiming high quality levels for these clothes, but for me, a $15-20 cute top when I desperately needed one made it well worth picking through the racks.

After returning from New York, I gave my teen daughter a purple sparkly Forever 21 lariat necklace as a gift, and she said, “Oh, yes, they have one of those stores down at Austin’s The Domain shopping center. They have good stuff.”

Uh, oh, right in my backyard. This may create wallet problems.  🙂

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50 State Series New York City

Family travel in New York

My daughter with the cast for the Statue of Liberty's toe, New York City (photo by Sheila Scarborough)Every week until we run out of states, I plan to post about family-friendly vacation ideas, attractions and events in each one of the US states, taking input mostly from Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, I know how to search for travel ideas on a destination or attraction Web site, but a tweet or a Facebook Wall recommendation is a much more engaging and public way to spread the word.

Please don’t email suggestions to me; that’s nice but it is one-to-one communication. Tweet me and/or Facebook me, so that all of our networks can see what’s cool about your state.

We’re going in alphabetical order but started with the end, so our first state for the series was Wyoming, then we investigated Wisconsin, West Virginia,  Washington,  Virginia,  Vermont,  Utah, Texas,  Tennessee,  South Dakota,  South Carolina,  Rhode Island,  Pennsylvania,  Oregon, Oklahoma,  Ohio, North Dakota,  North Carolina and now we’re moving on to….New York!

Their state tourism organization is on Twitter at @I_LOVE_NY (New York City is @nycgo.) I found a New York economic development page on Facebook, but not an official state-sponsored one for travel/tourism (there are bunch of unofficial ones.) (Update – yay! – there is now an official New York State tourism Facebook Page.)

No blogs, nothing on Flickr, YouTube, etc. Frankly, I was surprised by this in such a hugely popular travel destination, but the person tweeting for New York is trying really hard, so it’s a start.

When I asked for ideas, here’s what came in….

Twitter Travel Tips for New York

***  From the Kelly Rabideau in New York State’s tourism office (she’s currently my fave @I_LOVE_NY tweeter)  —  We came up with a few hidden gems across the State and have listed them below.  If you were looking for just one…we would have to go with The Strong National Museum of Play [in Rochester.]  It is 100% kid/family friendly….100% fun…and considered a gem to all of New York State.

Others:   Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, the [world famous] Bronx Zoo,  Howe Caverns in Howes Cave and The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.  More travel ideas just for you right from the heart of New York State on our Web site’s Family Fun page.

***  From @decillis on Twitter  —  Uncle Sam’s Boat Tours in the 1000 Islands. Can’t go there w/o seeing Boldt Castle!

***  From Janet DeVito via @girlsgetaways on Twitter  —  Madame Tussauds (the wax museum – my kids always loved that; they get a kick out of taking photos)  How about a cruise sailing out of NYC – that is a great family trip!

***  From Anna Fader via @mommypoppins on Twitter  —  Family travel tip for NYC:  The Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Just re-opened with extremely cool exhibits, and it’s free!

***  From the Rochester NY tourism folks via @VisitRochester on Twitter  —  The Strong National Museum of Play just acquired Videotopia; now adults & kids can enjoy exploring play. With corn mazes, new exhibits at family museums, zoos & parks, fall is especially family-friendly in Rochester.  For more see this list of ideas.

***  From Sally Berry via @sallykberry on Twitter  —  I was at Videotopia at Strong Museum w/my college age kids last weekend – they LOVED it!

***  From Marci Diehl (and here’s her golf blog) via @writerdiehl on Twitter  —  My 4yr old grandson loves the Seneca Park Zoo’s play “medical center” in Rochester NY.  The Erie Canal Discovery Center in Lockport NY has one of the best interactive programs for all ages +VERY kid-friendly. For the best family-friendly + educational activities/ places in New York State visit the Erie Canal area.

Continue reading “Family travel in New York”

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Tips

What did 32,633 readers choose as the best in travel? Answers here.

This is the 21st year of the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, one of the year’s biggest events for the magazine (full results will be listed in the November print issue.) Readers gave collective feedback on 9,168 hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines and car rental agencies.

Thanks to Consumer Travel Editor Wendy Perrin, I was flown to New York City (on JetBlue – hurray for seatback TV and satellite radio plus legroom!) to live-tweet the event on my Twitter stream (here are the awards-related tweets on Twitter’s search engine, using “#rca08” which is a “hashtag” used to track a single topic.)

Not all winners were announced at the ceremony (only those who were able to send representatives to the event) but here is the complete list of awardees by poll ranking and here they are on a Google Map. I’m confining this post to those announced the night of October 15, as I typed like a maniac and grappled with a few WiFi and power issues.  My blogging compadres from Jaunted were also there somewhere, but I missed them in the crush.

Since I’m interested in how tourism organizations use social media, I’ve also included URLs to any official blogs that I could find.

Cities

Islands

  • Best Caribbean/Atlantic island: Bermuda (other finalists were St. Barts and St. John.)
  • Best Pacific Island: Maui (other finalists were Kauai and Bora Bora.)

Hotels

  • Best US hotel: The Peninsula Chicago (other finalists were the Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, Amelia Island FL and the Stephanie Inn, Cannon Beach OR.)
  • Best Asian hotel: The Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan India (other finalists were the Peninsula Hong Kong and another Oberoi property, the Amarvilas in Agra, India.)

Resorts

  • Best Resort in Asia: Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai, Thailand (er, no, this is not really a camp for kids, and when I did a currency conversion of their rates from Thai baht into US dollars, I saw a figure of $2,152.89 per night, not including tax or tips. Wow.) Other finalists were the Four Seasons Bali at Sayan and the Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan.
  • Best Resort, Atlantic Ocean: The One&Only Ocean Club, Bahamas (with an annoying all-Flash Web site that drove me nuts auto-playing music and not providing distinct URLs for each property.) Other finalists include Pink Sands, Bermuda and The Reefs, Bermuda.
  • Best Resort, Mexico: A tie between the One&Only Palmilla and The Tides, Riviera Maya
     (the other finalist was the JW Marriott Resort and Spa in Cancun.)
  • Best Resort, Caribbean: The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman (other finalists were Curtain Bluff, Antigua and Petit St. Vincent Resort, Grenadines.)
  • Best Resort, Hawaii: The Four Seasons Maui at Wailea (other finalists were, um, two other Four Seasons properties….at this point I’m wondering, are there NO awesome places that aren’t chains? OK, it was the Four Seasons Hualalai on the Big Island and the Four Seasons Lana’i The Lodge at Koele.)

Continue reading “What did 32,633 readers choose as the best in travel? Answers here.”

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Blog New York City Podcasts USA

Audio post: impressions from a day in New York City

Some impressions and thoughts from a day of running around New York before I live-tweet the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards this evening.

Lesson for me: stop trying to do too much and you’ll have a better time as a traveler!

I’m going to have you click this URL link for my New York audio post, because (just like the last time I tried this) every time I try to embed the player, it plays someone else’s random audio post, and I never have time to get ahold of anyone at Utterli to say….FIX THAT!

Best wishes from NYC….

(Ignore the player below while I work with Utterli tech support)

(Update 2010 – unfortunately the Utterli service is now defunct, so the recording is gone.)

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Blog

Live, from New York, it’s Condé Nast Traveler!

CNTraveler Readers\' Choice AwardsYes, the annual Condé Nast Traveler 2008 Readers’ Choice Awards will be coming to you live from their big awards ceremony on the evening of October 15, because I’m going to be there to “live-tweet” the event on my Twitter stream.

That woman in evening attire at the New York Public Library XYZ swanky Manhattan venue (details to follow on ceremony location) who is supersonically typing on her laptop? That will be me.

Hopefully my Merlot and crudités won’t get dumped onto the keyboard.   🙂

I’ll be sending up-to-the-minute accounts of who won which award for hotels, cruise lines, airlines, islands and cities across the globe. I’ll tell you how the crowd is reacting, what the award winners say and any other fun tidbits that come across my radar.

Over 30,000 people vote in this survey, and I also plan to write a blog post about the woman behind the questions and the methodology used to determine the winners.  This isn’t that guy who won a fake wine award; this is a carefully vetted process with input from savvy readers.

Last year, for example, the readers of the magazine and Web site chose Sydney, Australia as their favorite city worldwide, and San Francisco as their favorite US city. Here’s some more of the 2007 list on BootsnAll’s Business Travel Logue.

I plan to do as many on-the-fly interviews as I can, with a focus on two areas:

  • The magazine is pretty upscale, and you know that’s not how I travel. How can a budget-minded person, especially with kids, take advantage of the companies and properties that are chosen as winners?  Is there room for us at the Gucci table?  I think there is, Wendy has convinced me that there is, and I’m going to find out how for you.
  • I’d like to know what the high-scoring companies are doing to establish a presence on the Web in social media. Do they blog? Are they on Twitter? Facebook?  Are their personnel on LinkedIn? How do they reach out to customers in a Web 2.0 manner?

I’m actually not the first to live-tweet for Traveler — that honor goes to my friend and fellow travel blogger Pam Mandel of Nerd’s Eye View, who did a fabulous job of live-tweeting the recent World Savers Congress (here are most of the posts that everyone tweeted to cover that event, so you can see what it looks like.)

See you in New York in October….

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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.

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New York City USA

You must take the A train in NYC

The A Train in motion (courtesy keithcarver at flickr CC)

Did you know that this year is the 75th anniversary of the world’s longest subway line and a New York City icon?

It’s the A train, and it takes you 31 miles from the northern part of Manhattan to Far Rockaway in Queens.

(I want us all to pause here and acknowledge that “Far Rockaway” is a really cool name for a place.)

Anyway, on one of my first trips to New York, I insisted on boarding the A train and humming a few bars of the Billy Strayhorn song made popular by jazz great Duke Ellington:

“You must take the A train, to go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem….”

There’s a lot of history right there; Sugar Hill Records was one of the first big rap labels.

Considering an NYC visit? Budget Travel has some great tips from an interview with Charlie Suisman of the ManhattanUsersGuide. There are also recent hotel and sightseeing tips for Brooklyn from the UK’s Observer.

Just remember to take a ride on the old gal and wish her a happy 75th birthday.

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New York City USA

New York City Update

Times Square NYC (courtesy Kaysha at Flickr Creative Commons)I’m sure that a lot of families are planning to travel with the kids to New York City this summer, although you might have a better time in the fall or around Christmas/New Years, when I think the city is at its most lively.

NYC and the boroughs are pretty hot and muggy in summer, and lots of the “natives” take extended vacations or have weekend houses, so you may meet more tourists than New Yorkers during parts of June/July/August.

Still, I have some good links for whenever you go.

My first suggestion is that you see what the locals have to say about things to do with kids, and start with Mommy Poppins. She is full of great suggestions for New York’s most interesting and educational places for families (and you know what a museum geek I am) with an eagle eye kept on the budget as well. How about freebies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Or free summer sports; many of her ideas are camps, which are good for locals but maybe not travelers, but there are other single-day ideas listed including a fishing tournament sponsored by Macy’s department store. Who knew?

I rarely find many family-oriented items in the hip urban blog Gridskipper, but they have a great list of free summer festivals in NYC. You may need to stand in line for tickets (tricky with young kids, I know) but if everything goes to bleep in a handbasket and you have to leave early, you’re not out any money.

Checking out Central Park is free, and a nice place to cool off.

Fodor’s Travel Wire found some NYC surprises that even the locals may have missed — I didn’t know that the city has water taxis, for example.

Where to stay is always a quandary; the UK’s Telegraph newspaper has some good (but somewhat pricey) tips for staying right in the heart of the action in Times Square.

I also got to thinking that visitors might be interested in staying across the Hudson River from Manhattan, so that you can park your car and leave it, take the train into downtown, and also have views of the skyline. I haven’t tried this personally, but a quick surf of TripAdvisor gave me this list of Jersey City hotels, and several reviewers mentioned Manhattan skyline views and easy walking distance to public transport.

Anyone tried this on the Brooklyn side? I bet it’s more expensive.

Finally, want to tack on a road trip? I was impressed with the Perrin Post’s detailed itinerary for a New York State Thruway trip north of the city.

Technorati tags: travel, family travel, New York, NYC

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New York City USA

Family Travel to New York City

Looking up at the Statue of Liberty (Scarborough photo)The Big Apple is one of my very favorite cities, and I’ve had a few good links laying around that I need to get out there for those who may be thinking of a trip to New York.

I’ve visited as a single person, as part of a couple and as a parent, and the place just never disappoints. It is truly an amazing town.

For a good overview of options, see Fodor’s 5 great itineraries for the city. If you just want the down-and-dirty:

** If you have time for one museum, take the kids to the Museum of Natural History (Ben Stiller’s fun new movie “Night at the Museum” is set there.) Want to throw in some art? My children liked the Guggenheim, mostly because of its cirucular ramps and neat architecture. Not sure they even remember the art works within!

Running around on Ellis Island (Scarborough photo)

** The Staten Island ferry gives great harbor views for 25 minutes for an unbeatable price: free.

** I think that for kids, the Statue of Liberty is actually more interesting when viewed from a distance out in the harbor, especially since you can’t climb up to the crown any more for security reasons (plus it can get really crowded.) Ellis Island is a worthwhile visit for older kids; my youngest mostly enjoyed running around on the grounds rather than looking at immigration exhibits.

** See a Broadway play. The spectacle is well worth the cost, especially if you luck into less expensive seats from the TKTS booth in Times Square or the lesser-known booth down at South Street Seaport. Frommer’s online has a comprehensive guide to maximizing the New York theater experience — click here. Try to see bustling, bright Times Square at night to complete your theater event.

Bronze casting of the Statue of Liberty's foot (Scarborough photo)

A new site on educational travel, Gifted Travel, has some unique ideas for avoiding New York tourist traps and finding alternatives to the “usual places.”

From a British perspective, here’s one father’s trip to NYC in the UK’s Times Online.

For some midwinter ideas about seeing the city without spending a fortune, here’s Newsweek’s “New York on the Cheap.”

How about something for kids who are budding foodies? Smarter Travel talks about a number of culinary destinations, but here is their take on New York for chowhounds.

Want to see something besides Manhattan? Cross over the iconic bridge into Brooklyn for all sorts of treats.

And finally, here’s Gotham with an 11-year-old, with all kinds of good ideas for those ‘tweens. Enjoy your visit!

Subway ride with toddler backpack (Scarborough photo)

Update 08 January 2007: Just came across some good hotel deals for families going to New York, courtesy of About.com Guide Teresa Plowright’s always-useful Travel with Kids site.

Update 23 January 2007: If you visit New York over the holidays, I have to absolutely agree with Wendy Perrin’s blog post on the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. My daughter and I loved it a few years back, but my son was too young to go. No problem; Dad gets to take now-old-enough son on our next NYC trip and it’s MY turn to ice skate at the Rockefeller Center rink under the giant tree!

Update 31 March 2007: Take a look at this fun video, 24 Hours in New York, from concierge.com (the umbrella Web site that includes Conde Nast Traveler magazine.)

Technorati tags: , travel, New York

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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….)