Universal Orlando's new Superstar Parade attraction opened May 8

More than a dozen ferocious Nile alligators loll on the riverbank below the bridge where I’m standing. 

I should be terrified but I’m not. Maybe that’s because I’m at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom experiencing Wild Animal Trek, one of Disney’s roster of special VIP experiences.

Who doesn’t want to be treated like a VIP on vacation? We all do, of course, cutting lines, getting pampered, seeing what most tourists don’t. Orlando  offers plenty of VIP options for the entire family—assuming you’re willing to pay extra for the privilege, of course.

Join us to talk everything Orlando at a #TMOM Twitter Party  5/14, 9pET. Great prizes too!

Wild Animal Trek, for example, takes “adventurers,” just a dozen at a time, accompanied by two well-seasoned guides, on a bush walk and truck ride through the most remote areas of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. On our outing, a mama and baby rhino walked right in front of our truck and we saw a lion and lioness snoozing on a hilltop, not to mention the elephants, giraffes, antelopes, ostriches, gazelles, cheetahs, flamingos … Having been on safari in Africa, I really do feel I’m back there — or at least somewhere other than an Orlando theme park. That’s the idea, of course.

The price for the Africa Trek is nearly $200 –but a lot less than going to Africa!  And I like all the extras. Besides your trek, you receive a CD of photos, including plenty of the animals, your bush meal and a donation to support the threatened animal of your choice. 

Here are some other options::  

– Share a spa experience with your little princess—everything from facials at the Nickelodeon Family Suites to spa experiences for preschoolers at The Spa at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort   to special teen treatments and parent-teen massages at the Mandara Spa at Universal Orlando’s Portofino Bay Hotel and at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin.

–  Head  to  SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove where admission  is limited to 1,000 guests a day and includes a dolphin-swim interaction, the chance to hand-feed hundreds of tiny birds and for an extra-fee the chance to take an underwater walking tour wearing dive helmets for up-close encounters with rays and schools of tropical fish.  There is also trainer for a day programs. You can also sign up for an immersive animal connection experience at SeaWorld Orlando   where you can see where the injured sea animals are treated. Get up close with penguins, sea lions or dolphins.  Look for other exclusive experiences –even being a trainer for a day.

— Take a VIP Tour at Universal Orlando Resort and let your guide give you the 411 on all the attractions. Front-of-the-line access is also included. Did we mention the complimentary valet parking, the effortless character interaction (no waiting in long lines) and the discounts on souvenirs? (Check here for prices.)  If you stay at one of the three Universal Orlando hotels, your room card guarantees you front of the line access to most of the attractions.

 — Have lunch with an astronaut ($24.99 for adults; $15.99 for kids 3-11) at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (www.kennedyspacecnter.com).

— Get slimed  like a celebrity  at The Nickelodeon Suites Resort 

— Walt Disney World offers VIP Tours  which will enable you to hit the major attractions at all of the parks in one day with a guide who has a magic pass that enables you to head to the front of the line or go in the back entrances.  There are a variety of other special options from  going on a scavenger hunt through the Magic Kingdom on Disney’s Family Magic Tour  to a unique Richard Petty Speedway Challenge  to the chance to be transformed into a princess at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique  or a pirate.  Take your little princess to the Perfectly Princess Tea at the Grand Floridian Resort) where she’ll get princess lessons from resident Princess Aurora and a special princess doll.  

Orlando, after all, is the place to make dreams come true—yours as well as the kids.

Kayaking in Puerto Rico

It is pitch black.

Slowly, and carefully we are kayaking through red mangroves, trying to dodge the roots.

We’re headed to the Bioluminescent Bay Laguana Grande at Las Croabas, Fajardo in Puerto Rico—one of three on the island, I learn from our guide Joel from GSI Adventures.

The bay is home to a large colony—more than a million—of dinoflagellates that light up and produce the glowing waters that make the water glow when we paddle. We let water slide through our hands and it glows. Crazy!

But I’m not sharing this adventure with my kids or husband. I’m here with old friends—a girlfriends’ getaway.  Instead of giving mom flowers or a scarf this year, send her off on an adventure!  

Our kayak guides told us to follow the glow sticks. The glow sticks, in case you’re wondering, are looped onto each kayak and the back of the life jackets should anyone fall  in the water—as one man did, laughing as he was pulled out.

“So cool!” says my kayak partner Kate , who is here from Syracuse, NY to celebrate her mom ‘s  60^th Birthday and her sister ‘s 30^th. “Girl’s trip,” Kate said happily, adding they wouldn’t let their dad come.

We also meet Julie from Philadelphia and Bettina from Seattle—two moms who have been friends for years and indulge in an annual girl’s getaway. They got a great deal on Hotwire, they tell us, for a room at the luxe Conquistador Resort where we are also spending part of the weekend.

I’m here with two old friends for a girlfriends’ getaway too and we decide Puerto Rico is a good bet—easy to reach, no passports required and plenty to do (even a big outlet mall, if you are so inclined.)

But the thing about Puerto Rico is that there is so much more than beach and pools. Earlier, we’d explored El Yunque Rain Forest, the only rain forest in the U.S. National Forest System and a World Biosphere Reserve. 

There are something like 1,000 species of plants and animals (no poisonous snakes, we’re glad to hear) and lots of the Coqui, the tiny tree frogs with voices as large as opera singers where you hear them, especially at night and when it rains. Trivia for the kids:  they don’t drink water but soak it up through their skin. Eleven of the 16 species unique to Puerto Rico can be found in this rain forest along with 1,000 year old trees, plants with rainbow colored flowers, tropical birds including the endangered Puerto Rican Parrot. (Take the Big Tree Trail to La Mina Falls!)

There is so much history here too—especially in Old San Juan. We stop in at El Convento  that today is a unique boutique hotel but was a Carmelite Convent dating back to 1651. We’re across the street from the historic Cathedra (dating to the 16^th Century and the Western Hemisphere’s oldest), children’s museum and adjacent to the Plaza of the Nuns, the city’s second oldest park, as well as numerous restaurants and galleries.

We stroll over to “El Moro” fort where lots of families are outside flying kites, playing ball, picnicking. Spain built the fort over 250 years ago because Puerto Rico was the first major island with water, shelter and supplies that the ships came to en route to the Americas. The dee

After our kayak we are soaked and chilled but it was an adventure, though not for everyone.

After a  quick shower at our casita at the El Conquistador Resort which is right near where the kayak ended (The resort which is so big—700 rooms—that it can arrange all variety of activities right from here), we end our day  at a Puerto Rican restaurant Pasion por el Fogon which is well known for stellar local food.

We eat  Asopaito de Camarones – delicious delicate soup with rice, vegetables, cilantro and shrimp, fresh conch salad  Puerto Rican “caviar” which is fried plantain stuffed with Moreillas –blood sausage fresh snapper and Mofango which is green plantains fried and mashed, molded in a bowl and then stuffed with whatever you like- chicken, fish, seafood, in a  tomato based sauce. Delicious!

We drink their Sangria and toast old friends and new adventures.

Tim Ho Wan restaurant in Hong Kong

A prominent food magazine editor wrote recently about traveling to a far flung destination just for a great meal. I guess that’s a more common practice among foodies than you might think. I can relate.

Take my recent trip to Hong Kong. I can’t say food is what prompted me to fly 15 hours around the world.  But while I was there, I certainly was determined to eat my way through the amazing and varied cuisine.

Unfortunately, locals say it would take 50 years to sample all the restaurants in Hong Kong.

I’ve only got a few days and I’m determined to eat my way through this huge city.

Today, I’m the only Caucasian face in the jam-packed Tim Ho Wan that has the reputation for being the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. People come here for Dim Sum and are lined up waiting outside.

“We don’t like to make reservations in Hong Kong,” says my guide Wing Lau, who grew up in Hong Kong and has lived here her entire life. “Waiting is part of the experience. “We chat.”

This simple place with the paper place mats and a plastic jug of tea on the table and waiters rushing with the baked buns with BBQ pork that this place is famous for, the steamed fresh shrimp and pork dumplings, the noodles.. I learn only later that is a hot meal ticket because of the chef and the Michelin star.

There are tables of multi-generational families and tables of friends. This isn’t a place to linger—“We eat and we go,” says Lau.

She also says Dim Sum is something natives can’t live without and can’t really cook at home. Take the Glue rice dumpling—rice filled with shrimp, chicken and pork and then wrapped in a leaf and steamed. Delicious! There is a homemade “rice roll” that melts on the tongue but my favorite is the baked BBQ bun—so fresh, salty and sweet at once.

Everyone shares everything. We have tonic medlar and petal—kind of an orange yellow with seeds that I’m told are good for the eyes. This place serves Dim Sum from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. and is always busy – and incredibly cheap—the two of us eat until we can’t eat anymore for $14.

Later for lunch and dinner we sample diametrically different Hong Kong culinary experiences. For lunch, we head to a historic Chinese Heritage Building in Hong Kong that has been transformed from a turn of the century pawn shop to an oh-so-hip British restaurant called of course The Pawn where the menu changes daily and we feast on oysters flown in from Scotland, whole roast Dover sole with tarragon and dill breadcrumbs, honey glazed carrots and yummy fries with garlic mayo and finished with sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. Yummy and so very British though the crowd was mostly Asian.

For dinner, we took a culinary journey to Shanghai and one of Hong Kong’s most famous Shanghai style restaurants Xiao Nan Guo Premier (high up in a building on the Kowloon side) where we feast on three different kinds of soup (hot and sour, fish soup, steamed pork dumplings) that melt in your mouth,  sweet and sour spareribs, pickled cucumber drunken chicken served cold and marinated in sweet Chinese rice wine work fried huge prawns…spring rolls, wok fried rice cake…each  was elegantly displayed and oh-so-good.

Another day, we’ve gone Northeast from Kowloon into the outer territories  and are sitting outside at Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant in Sai Kung, a small city of about 150,000 people as dish after dish of fresh seafood is brought to our table—lobster on top of noodles, fried squid, abalone, steamed fish, stir fried crab with ginger and scallions.

The restaurant is packed because it is the weekend. Before we ate, we ogled some two dozen tanks of fresh fish and seafood—lobsters (some from as far as Boston, sad to say) scallops, big Conch, Long clams and pearl clams and sea urchins and varieties of lobsters I’ve never seen. Our feast is just roughly $22 each USA. We’re surprised to learn that the fish comes from so far away—Australia the UK, the USA  but with so many people living in Hong Kong and 2 million tourists a month from China, there simply aren’t enough fish in the sea here.

When people say they eat their way across Hong Kong, I understand it now. I ask our guide Wing Lau, if the Chinese tourists—millions every month–opt for Western cuisine  but she says not typically, in part because they don’t  have the patience for long drawn out meals.  “They’ll eat nine courses in an hour and a half,” she jokes.

Though still jet lagged after the 15-hour flight, I’m trying to get a sense of this amazing place—7 million people living in an area roughly half the size of Rhode Island packed with every variety of store and restaurants.

Green space in this crowded city is prized. We go to Nan Lian Garden in which I learn every hill, rock body of water, plant and timber structure was placed according to the methods of the ancient style of the Tang dynasty.  “We don’t have too many gardens,” she notes. “We do our gathering in restaurants.”

Wolde Kristos of Reliable Adventures Jamaica in Bluesfield Bay

Wolde Kristos is a man with a mission—and a vision.

He hopes to bring the sleepy tiny Jamaican town of Bluefields Bay into the 21^st Century—tourist wise.

But he’s not aiming to build a big hotel. Jamaica already has enough of those.  He wants to offer authentic experiences that at the same time will enable tourists to meet the locals, see the region’s birds, visit artisans and eat local food.  If successful, that will employ people who badly need work (40 percent of the women are unemployed and most men under employed).

The 40-year-old Kristos, the father of three and husband of a police officer explains, “We want to take on our own destiny, educate ourselves about the hospitality industry and create employment opportunities.”

He drives me up in to the Bluefields Mountain where ruins of century-old planters’ houses are adjacent to small villages inhabited by the descendents of the African slaves who worked the plantations here.

We are staying in one of the six sea side Bluefields Bay Villas, whose owners have made it a priority to give back to the community and encourage guests to do the same.

Kristos has been instrumental in creating a community center—the Peoples Community Association—that he hopes will be the hub of the movement. An outdoor market for artisans to showcase their carvings and paintings is scheduled to open next year; a group of women are working creating apron s and placemats.  “There are some of the loveliest people here,” he says.

We visit a local preschool where we bring markers, crayons and books from home. The children  couldn’t be more adorable and there are opportunities to volunteer here.

But tourists need to get the message that it is safe to venture out of their manicured hotels.   “You will really feel the love,” he promises, and here the crime rate is very low.  He introduces me to Jahealo Calvin Clunie who shows off his paintings and carvings and another artist Jerry McDonald, each of whom now showcases his work in a tiny shack by the side of the road.

“This is much safer than other parts of Jamaica,” Kristos says and it certainly feels that way with school kids waving as they head home for lunch. We are about 45 miles southwest of Montego Bay and 45 miles east of Negril.

In fact, my three girlfriends headed to Negril to play golf while I’m touring the local community.  There is the opportunity for bird watching tours (www.jamaicabirding.com), hikes in the mountain, the chance to visit locals for dinner, snorkel on the reef just off shore or go fishing. The six-mile long area of the bay here is now a protected fish sanctuary to keep it from being over fished.

Kristos believes there are many tourists who want to see more of Jamaica than the beaches and I think he’s right. He’d welcome tourists who want to spend a morning volunteering or giving a talk to the locals on business development or protecting their local environment.  “Our aim is to show people the real Jamaica.” Already he is working with the government—Reliable Adventures Jamaica, he says proudly, is 100 per cent community owned.

And he adds, tourism here goes way back—to when the Spanish and British planters invited their friends to sample their Caribbean lifestyle.

He introduces me to Omar Austin, who is famous for the jerk chicken he sells from a stand at the side of the road. He raises the chickens themselves, seasons them, makes the sauce and sells them at a stand by the side of the road. Delicious—and cheap –$4 for a quarter chicken.

But he won’t part with the recipe, he tells me.   On a good day, he sells 15 chickens he said, sometimes working from 10 am until 10 pm.  The chicken is yummy.

“People want to meet people when they travel to another country,” believes Kristos. “They want to learn about us.”   And the food.

Erica and Daniel Mueller loved to camp. Then they tried it with their two young kids.

“It took so much time to pack and unpack and we were spending all of our time doing that instead of relaxing,” said Erica Mueller, a Denver engineer.

“You could never clean up the tent,” added Daniel, also an engineer.

So the Denver couple bought a small RV.  I met them parked at the KOA campground outside of Ouray, Co. a couple of years ago next to a bubbling brook. Daniel Mueller was swinging in a hammock; Erica reading a magazine while four year old Sam and six year old Bella played.”

“I like having a place for everything,” said Erica. “It seemed like when we were tent camping we were always repacking and we could never seem to get organized.”

Many suggest that despite gas prices RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids.

Just as important, parents say, are the instant friends they and their kids make at campgrounds. That never happens in a hotel. Nor do you have to corral kids in restaurants; they can run around all they like after they are done eating at a campground.

Even better, they won’t be glued to electronics or TV. “They have to interact,” said Janelle Maland, from Missouri camping with her parents, siblings kids and nieces and nephews—13 of them in all to celebrate her parents 50th anniversary in a combination of tents, RV and campers. They’d gathered from Iowa, Missouri and Colorado. “Full frontal togetherness,” joked another mom in the group.  

Other families I met insist there is no better family time than the trips in their camper “The close quarters bring you closer together,” one dad said.  “At home we are all going in separate directions.”

Forget tent camping with kids who have serious allergies and asthma, another mom said.   A stove and electricity are key.  And then there’s the luxury of a shower. “Sun showers with cold water didn’t do it for little kids,” she laughed. Bathrooms too. It’s no fun to stumble out of the tent in the middle of the night looking for the bathroom for kids who have to go “NOW!”

“True camping with kids was more work than it was worth,” one Mom confessed.  “This is a compromise. It gets the kids away from TV and the computer and outdoors with a lot less work for us.”

That’s what we’re finding on our RV trip with my cousins and their two young kids in a Winnebago. Everything is an adventure for  then seven year old Ethan and five year old Hannah—the bunks with curtains they can close (and individual DVD players), the table where they can sit while we drive—albeit buckled into a seatbelt—that they can get themselves a snack or go to the bathroom, the campgrounds where they can play on the playground or tool around on their scooters.

When everyone got hungry, we pulled over and had a picnic. “So much easier than taking them to a restaurant,” said their mom Jayme. Healthier than fast food and cheaper too.  That night, we made burgers and brats for the family traveling in tandem—some in tents at the same camp ground, some at a hotel in town. We ended the night with smores—making one after another until the chocolate ran out.

Call me a wus but when it was time for bed, I was glad for the AC.

Evies polar bear with tongue out

The new Discovery Channel series Frozen Planet is reminding me of the exceptional trip to the Artic Circle last summer.   We were smack in the middle of a bustling fast food court—for Arctic animals. 

Aboard the Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Explorer, in the Arctic, we were at the north entrance of Wood fjord in the part of northern Spitsbergen that’s covered with what’s called “fast ice.”  

Naturalist Ian Bullock explains to me that there is an abundance food here.  Thus the Eider ducks, the walrus—yes we see a walrus!–the Minke whales and polar bears. So far this trip—and we’re only into day five—we’ve seen eight polar bears.  Expedition Leader Lisa Trotter makes a notch with a knife on the Bridge for each Polar Bear sighting.  The most she’s seen are 47. Imagine—seeing 47 polar bears in their natural habitat!  

I love that these very accomplished naturalists are so available—standing with us on deck to answer our most arcane questions, leading walks, driving us on zodiac cruises, giving talks about what we’ve seen at the end of every day. 

It’s drizzly and cold but no one on the deck is moving—not when a bear and her cub can be seen on the ice in the distance –and much closer through the scope, binoculars or the long camera lens they’ve got. We’re the guests here so we speak in whispers so as not to disturb the bears. Even the announcement for lunch is made with a steward holding up a big sign rather than over the PA system.   

“With 24 hours of daylight, nothing is really scheduled except meals,” said Trotter.  

“It’s exciting to see people so excited,” says geologist and naturalist Jason Kelley. “Every week you see new things through their eyes.” 

That’s especially true with kids on board. This week there are only two. Memo to parents: Check how many children are sailing if that is important to your child.  Henry Douglas, 12, is a veteran of other Lindblad trips, and is disappointed there aren’t more kids his age but insists he is sorely disappointed there aren’t others to pal around with. The staff is being exceedingly accommodating but, said his mom Lisa, that can’t make up for a gang his own age. 

The kids, Trotter says, get excited by different things than the adults—the chance to jump in the freezing polar water, for example, the sight of hundreds of birds on a cliff or the chance to learn to drive the zodiac. 

Nine year old Evie Plunkett had never seen a glacier before this trip and was lucky enough to have a guide who landed the zodiac so people could walk and touch the glacier. 

“The ice was a lot dirtier than I thought,” she reported.  Kids on board are being treated to behind-the scenes aspects of ship life—like seeing how the videographer works daily, hauling upwards of 25 pounds of gear,  shooting video to make a 30-minute movie of our voyage that guests can purchase at the end. Trotter explained to Evie that she shoots as much as 45 minutes a day to get just five minutes of edited video. Evie, of course, was most excited to see herself and her grandpa in the day’s edited shots. I was most interested to learn that each week’s video is completely unique—not shots, not even of the wildlife, are used if not from that particular week’s voyage.  

Meanwhile, I’m taking full advantage of the photo instructors on board to learn more about the Canon camera I’ve borrowed from B&H Photo in New York. No question is too stupid thankfully. The onboard photography experts take the time to look at your images and tell you how you could have better composed them or not under-exposed them. They’ve got a whole area set up where you can download photos and they can help you edit your images. Yes, that tiny bear can look as if it’s just yards away. The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know! 

The one thing this trip calls for is patience—lots of patience and much more to see wildlife than in other destinations like the Galapagos Islands or Antarctica where the wildlife is so much more abundant. 

“It takes some work to see the wildlife,” acknowledges expedition leader Lisa Trotter, who likens her job to being “an orchestra conductor and hope that by the end of trip, I’ve made a symphony for the guests.”   The fjords where we’re cruising today, we’re told, offer some of the most impressive scenery here, at the head is the Monacobreen glacier that was mapped by expeditions in 1906-07 organized by the Prince of Monaco. 

Life has slowed down on this ship with everything revolving around what we might see. There is only intermittent email so I find myself reaching for my Blackberry only to realize there is no point.  

We learn that two thirds of Svalbard Island is completely covered by snow and ice, though in the last few years the ice is retreating so fast that it left some beers trapped on land. 

There are some 2,300 to 2,600 polar bears in this region—it’s hard to believe how large they are—three times bigger than a lion! Their fur-covered paw can be up to 2 feet in diameter.  

Their life is about hunting for food, gaining weight and conserving energy.  

Unfortunately, I can totally relate, I think. I smile looking down at the giant footprints on the ice floe.    

Helping rangers raise the flag at Fort McHenry

By Meghan McCloskey, guest blogger

O Say Can You See the Sights of the War of 1812

Can you spot a star spangled banner? After visiting the sights along Maryland’s Spangled Banner Trail, you will learn to spot the 15-star and 15-stripe flag like the one that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that became our national anthem during the War of 1812. Massachusetts has the Freedom Trail, Pennsylvania has Gettysburg, Virginia has Williamsburg, but don’t forget the waters and shores of Maryland for easy access to historic treasures..  By land or by sea, discover why the often over-looked War of 1812 is often called the “Second War of Independence.”

The city of Baltimore was a natural target for the British in the War of 1812 due to its status as the nation’s third largest city, hub of shipbuilding and center for international trade, but today it remains Maryland’s cultural, culinary and financial capitol.  Old powerhouses, given a facelift by bold origami structures containing museums and restaurants reflect upon the slate blue water of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. This eclectic background to your visit can be appreciated from your window at Hyatt Regency Baltimore. The Inner Harbor will fill with a parade of international tall ships and naval vessels as Blue Angels fly over-head for the Star Spangled Sailabration, June 13-19.

Cruise the Inner Harbor to the spot where Francis Scott Key watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry from the deck of a ship and jotted down a few lines on an envelope when he saw the flag in the early morning’s light. Jump on the Banner Route of the free Charm City Circulator (starting in June) to visit Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, where brave Americans fought off the British invasion in a 25-hour barrage during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. Get there by 9:30 am to help the park rangers with the daunting task of raising a colossal American flag to the same staff that once held the original Star Spangled Banner over the land of the free.

Mary Pickersgill was contracted to design the Star Spangled Banner so large that the British would have no trouble seeing it – a magnificent 30-foot by 42-foot symbol of freedom. Take a tour of her home, The Flag House, and dress in 19^th century clothes to cook a dinner over a wood-burning stove and create your own flag as she did.  Become a historical sleuth to decipher what words Francis Scott Key scratched out on the original document of the National Anthem housed at the Maryland Historical Society.

Put on your eye patch and head to Fell’s Point for a bite to eat, once known to the British as the “nest of pirates” due to the number of privateers based in the area.  Everything from crab cakes to baklava has a touch of honey at the Greek-American fusion restaurant, Meli’s Bistro and Patisserie.  Watch your pizza be cooked in 90 seconds flat at local favorite, Chazz, owned by Oscar-nominated actor Chazz Paliminteri.

Take the Star Spangled Banner Trail south to Calvert County along the tranquil bank of the Patuxent River to Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum.  It’s hard to believe that this marine playground was once a war zone full of British vessels and American military during the Battle of St. Leonard Creek.  Imagine it as you take an interpretative hike along the river or see history being made as you watch archeologists uncover and preserve artifacts like mighty cannons behind the scenes at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. You can even discover your own artifact as you assist archeologists sift through dirt to unearth the secrets of the War of 1812.

Across the meandering river at Sotterley Plantation, you will see the contrast between the extravagant life of a wealthy landowner and the humble, floorless hut of the enslaved people dating back to 1703.  As historical actors lead you through the grounds, you’ll have the opportunity to step into the shoes of an enslaved person during the War of 1812, faced with the decision to leave the plantation and join the British naval fleets – a frightening choice that many people made. 

Dock your ship (or car) at The Back Creek Bistro at Calvert Marina in Solomons and try some local fare caught in the bay.  Marylanders say that Chesapeake Fried Oysters or Jumbo Lump Blue Crab cakes are always better doused with a heavy sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning. Hilton Garden Inn Solomons offers comfortable rooms with an expansive breakfast buffet, conveniently located for exploring Calvert County.

Finish your journey in Annapolis at the U.S. Naval Academy where midshipmen march along the cobblestone paths past stately mint green roofed halls in training to become our nation’s defenders and leaders. The U.S. Naval Academy Museum displays miniscule replicas of the ships of combat in 1812 and an important flag bearing the dying words of James Lawrence to his crew aboard the USS Chesapeake in battle with British HMS Shannon.  It reads, “Don’t Give up the Ship”, the Navy’s battle cry that inspired the privateers to secure victory during the war, the words that kept us free for the last 200 years.

The spectacular Atacama pools are a welcome sight after a three-hour trek

We’ve stopped in a native village called Machucha Town –at over 12,000 feet where local Atacamas stay while herding their llama. Today we don’t see llamas—just tourists—and a local man dishing up llama shish kebab while a woman fries llama empanadas inside. In case you are wondering, llama tastes like lamb

It’s only 10 a.m. but I feel like we’ve been going all day. That’s because we left our hotel Tierra Atacama before dawn—I’d never seen such bright stars across the desert sky—on our way to the highest geyser field in the world—El Tatio Geisers at 14,190 feet!  The field is only a little more than 60 miles from the town of San Pedro where we are staying but it takes us two hours on bumpy, sand roads to get there, even crossing a river (a shallow one) in one spot.

It’s worth it! This is a huge geyser field—close to four square miles with geysers hot springs where people are swimming, boiling mud pots and fumaroles. We see red, yellow and green in the water from iron, sulfur and copper. And unlike visiting Yellowstone, there are no barricades to keep you back. That can be a bad thing—people have died from falling in to the boiling water. But we get close enough to hear the water gurgle before it erupts in a high stream and to feel the steam on our faces.

What a fantastic sight! Dozens of fumaroles erupting steam with the Andes in the background.  We are close to the border of Bolivia and there are 60-65 geysers here. “New ones are appearing all the time,” says our guide Matilde Villardel.  She says locals dub them “baby geysers.”  (For more on our other adventures here hiking, soaking in hot springs, getting up close and personal with flamingos,   read my travel diaries.)

Pressure is built up underground and released through cracks in the earth’s crust.  And we walk around the area peering at the steaming vents, the bubbling water, waiting for one geyser to erupt which it does on schedule, every eight minutes, though not nearly so high as Old Faithful.

Sunrise here is spectacular–the mountains peachy, the steam slowly drifting upward.  No wonder tourists are eager to make the early morning trek here over some of the worst roads I’ve ever traveled. We come so early, our guide explains, because the geothermal activity slows down later in the day. In fact, by the time we leave—after a picnic breakfast overlooking the geysers—the activity seems to slow. 

We pass wild vicunas on our way back but no llamas. I was hoping to see a herd! 

This afternoon, we hope to spend some time in San Pedro, a sleepy town of just 4,000 that’s getting new life as a tourist destination but so far, retaining its charm in its sand streets, pedestrian walkways and open-air restaurants and bars fashioned from old store fronts. We ate a great meal at one favorite here last night called Café Adobe where an open round fire place in the idle of the room wards off the night desert chill. A local specialty, Lomo a lo Pobre, which is a hunk of meat served with two fried eggs on top and a huge portion of fries underneath.  The vegetarians in our crew opted for a Risotto that was equally good. 

For such a small town, there was a lot of action on the pedestrian main street Caracoles Street that runs for about five blocks, lines with tiny shops, and these old houses that have just in the past decade or so been turned into bars and restaurants,  busy with locals and tourists alike. 

That’s it for our Chile adventure – from the warm summer desert tomorrow we head back to the Northeast (me), California (Reggie and Dan) and Colorado (Mel). 

It’s freezing in most of the US we’ve heard.

Pond Skimming at Bolton Valley in Vermont

No one in Isaiah Nieves’ inner city neighborhood snowboards.  He  had never put on snowboarding gear and wasn’t sure how to lace up the boots.

But that didn’t dim the high school freshman’s enthusiasm for the new sport. “ It was so exciting and fun,” he said after his first weekend of lessons at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont.  “Being on those slopes made me feel alive,” he said.

That’s the idea, of course. But that Isaiah and five of his classmates—all from the inner city–even had the opportunity to experience a snowsport took a lot of teamwork.

It’s no secret that the snowsports industry wants to encourage more minorities to hit the slopes. But that’s not easy with lift tickets costing over $90 at many places, not to mention all the gear that’s needed.  (Even long underwear and the right socks can be expensive.)

That’s where this wonderful partnership that got Isaiah and his housemates to Bolton Valley came in. The boys—all identified as having potential for academic success in middle school –live in a group house in Westport, CT and attend Staples High School under the Auspices of A Better Chance   that sends inner city boys and girls to prep schools and suburban communities like ours around the country.

The Chill Foundation ,  was started by Burton founders and Vermonters Donner and Jake Carpenter here at Bolton Valley to get at risk kids out on the slopes—kids who live near the mountains but may never have seen them—and to use snowboarding to enforce positive life lessons.

These kids have been referred by local agencies, are bused to a mountain near where they live, outfitted from head to toe and taught to snowboard which becomes the vehicle to help them find success and ultimately build self esteem. 

Since starting at Bolton Valley—the resort has a strong commitment to giving back to its community—and  thanks to partnerships with ski resorts and private donations, the program has reached thousands of kids in a dozen North American cities and those as far away as Australia and Austria—some 1300 each ski season participate in the six-week program learning the rewards of perseverance, respect , responsibility for others and for their equipment, courage, and in the end, pride at what they have accomplished. 

Those are lessons we could all learn, of course, and vacation is a good time to reinforce them.   For many families, all it would take is a camping trip, a visit to another country to experience a different culture or to the ski slopes to get out of their comfort zone.

Our ABC boys, though, don’t often have the opportunity for such experiences.  That’s why we’re so fortunate that  for the past three years, Chill has graciously provided gear for our boys—everything from waterproof jackets and pants, gloves and helmets–while Bolton Valley donates rental equipment, lessons, rooms and even coupons for breakfast and lunch. Board members, including me and my husband, donated the weekend to drive and chaperone the boys.  SmartWool  sent long underwear and snowboarding socks this season and a popular local restaurant, The Reservoir  in Waterbury, VT covered the boys’ dinner, which they loved.

“I enjoyed the food and the resort itself,” said Luis Cruz, the other freshman I n the group. “I enjoyed learning for the first time and then jumping into the hot tub.”

“Everything was tranquil and calm, and it felt particularly comforting,” added Isiah. “Perhaps it was because everyone was there for one central purpose: to enjoy themselves and to have a pleasant time.”

Even those like senior Stephan  Patterson who prefers the beach to the snow was glad he came, though he conceded, “The sauna was my favorite part.”

“The instructors were young and really cool,” added  Ruben Guardado, a sophomore, who would like to try skiing next season.  Another plus to a weekend away, he said, “Was not worrying about anything . That was so nice..a real  treat.” 

( For those of you who want  such a stress-free  getaway, Bolton has some amazing spring deals With their western facing slopes and Vermont’s most extensive night skiing and riding, spring skiing at Bolton Valley provide for skiing and riding in direct sunlight all the way through sunset—complete with views of  Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. 

In addition to regular night skiing hours Wednesdays through Saturdays,  they are now running lifts until 5pm Sundays through Tuesdays starting on March 12^th with afternoon lift tickets just $19.

On March 24, is the biggest spring event as skiers and riders assemble on the slope right in front of the Base Lodge to try their luck at crossing the man-made pond–fueled only by gravity, technique, and the desire to stay dry.

Ready to try?  You’ve got less than a month to get on the slopes in Vermont, Utah, Colorado  and California, with even the poshest resorts from Lake Tahoe to Park City to Vail and Aspen to Stowe offering terrific deals when the sun shines and the weather is warmer.  I’m meeting my older daughter and her college roommate in Park City, in fact.  

It’s never too late. One of our middle-aged chaperones, who hadn’t skied in eight years and never off the easiest terrain, got out of his comfort zone and took a ski lesson.

The boys were impressed.  But more important, so was he.