Chef and kids at Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Canada

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

Some worker bees really have it made.

At the iconic Fairmont San Francisco, located atop Nob Hill, they live in one of San Francisco’s poshest neighborhoods amid fragrant lavender, kumquats and edible flowers. They literally buzz upstairs to the penthouse for a drink.

We’re talking real bees here; bees that refresh themselves at the outdoor penthouse fountain high above the fray. If you’re staying with your kids at the Fairmont — and when I was there recently the hotel was packed with families — show them the beehives in the hotel’s 1,000-square-foot culinary garden, installed by Executive Chef JW Foster to help support the bee population, which has dropped 90 percent since the 1980s. The kids can peer through the glass to see the bees flying around the lavender. (Learn more with the “Chef’s Apprentice” package,)

The honey in their muffins or cookies comes straight from the hives in this urban garden, Chef Foster says, and veggies are grown by local farms. Foster has made a great effort since he arrived at the Fairmont two years ago to improve and upgrade both the kids’ and adults menus with fresher, local ingredients — a Fairmont-wide initiative — that is especially notable at this historic hotel, Fairmont’s first, which was originally set to open on April 18, 1906 — the day of the Great Earthquake. (It opened a year later, heralding the city’s recovery and has been a prominent San Francisco fixture ever since,)

At the Fairmont’s Laurel Court restaurant (kids will love the domed ceilings and murals), the kids’ menu now includes “organic weeds,” (translated: baby greens with balsamic vinegar), gluten-free sesame rice noodle salad and Vegan Butternut squash bisque, along with mini burgers (made with local organic beef) and mac and cheese (with local cheese).

Finally, it appears, the hotel industry is paying attention to what traveling families have long been saying: Make kids’ menus healthier; give kids more choices! Early this summer, Hyatt, too, is set to unveil new children’s menus, according to Susan Terry, vice president of Culinary Operations for Hyatt’s North American Hotels. Hyatt’s initiative will be monitored by the Partnership for a Healthier America, which works with the private sector and honorary chairwoman First Lady Michelle Obama to solve the nation’s childhood obesity crisis. This is all part of Hyatt’s new Food Thoughtfully Sourced, Carefully Served global initiative that stresses local ingredients and healthier cooking.

Hyatt will offer fruits or vegetables as sides for children’s meals and free refills for nonfat or low-fat milk. Kids can also order half portions from the adult menu for half the price, as they can at Fairmont hotels.

At the same time Destination Hotels and Resorts, a collection of hotels from Austin to Aspen to Palm Springs to Maui, has not only created a new healthy Kids Cafe menu, but also launched a contest for kids’ healthy recipes. Their just-announced winner (judged by kids) — Hidden Veggie Pepperoni Mac and Cheese — will be part of the hotels’ menus for the next year. Runners up included grilled Chicken with Mint Ginger Citrus Orzo.

“Kids should have the opportunity to explore local cuisine, just like their parents,” says Mariano Stellner, Fairmont’s corporate director of Food and Beverage, who launched the revamp of the children’s menus this past spring as the latest component in the hotel group’s Lifestyle Cuisine Plus Initiative, which offers healthier, low-fat foods.

“A lot of children are Food Network junkies,” adds Hyatt’s Terry. “They are much more sophisticated eaters than their parents were … they want interesting food.” Parents are telling hoteliers, “They don’t want to fill their kids up day after day with junk!”

First Lady Michelle Obama certainly would applaud these changes. She is at the forefront of a national effort to combat childhood obesity with her Lets Move campaign that encourages healthy eating and physical fitness.

“The whole (healthier foods) program has been very successful,” said Stellner. “Why not include children?” Why not offer baked chicken fingers rather than fried, veggie sticks instead of French fries or a half portion instead of a full order? Why not encourage kids to try local cuisine in Mexico or British Columbia?

Even the kids’ selections in the Fairmont San Francisco’s Tonga Room — popular since 1945 and recently restored (love the big canoe in the middle!) — have been updated to include spring rolls , chicken satay, little chowchow (wok flashed vegetables and noodles) and grilled teriyaki chicken.

Just don’t mention the word healthy. And parents should never assume what kids will or will not eat, says Susan Terry.

Still, every parent of a fussy eater knows it can be very difficult to get kids to embrace new foods. Jan Dane, a Rhode Island mother of three, acknowledges it is sometimes easier to take the path of least resistance and serve them chicken fingers, especially when you are traveling. It’s up to parents, she says, to give kids the nudge they need to try something new.

Dane’s job is to do just that. She’s the resident forager for the Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, RI. She teaches culinary classes to kids and adults at the small, upscale beachfront hotel and works closely with local farms. (Read what I wrote about a morning with Dane.) “I loved seeing a little boy eat his first oyster,” she said.

In France recently with her own children, Dane realized that most restaurants didn’t offer children’s menus, just smaller portions for smaller prices. “That makes so much sense,” she said.

To help kids understand where their food comes from — and maybe try something different — she suggests taking them to visit a farm or a farmer’s market wherever you travel — the one at the Ferry Building in San Francisco is one of my favorites.  (Websites like www.farmfreshri.org in Rhode Island, www.localharvest.org and www.farmstayus.com can help.)

Wherever we’re taking kids this summer, let’s make food part of the adventure.

And let’s hope more hotels and restaurants help us.

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

TurtleTrek the 3D movie at Seaworld Orlando

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

I can’t stop thinking about Grandma.

She’s only in her 20s, and not really a grandma; she got the name because she was unfortunate enough to lose her teeth.

Oh, did I mention that Grandma is a sea turtle that lost her entire lower jaw when someone cut it off to retrieve a fish hook?

Horrible, I know, but Grandma is pretty lucky all things considered. She was rescued four years ago and nursed back to health and now lives at SeaWorld Orlando where sea turtles are the showcase of the newly opened TurtleTrek, a one-of-a-kind attraction designed to share the sea turtle’s journey from hatching on the beach, racing to open waters, facing hazards — like unscrupulous fishermen and boaters — and then, if they’re lucky, returning to the same beach to lay their eggs. There’s also a call to action. (If you stop using plastic bags — as SeaWorld plans to do in the next year — that will keep many animals from being impacted by plastic that ends up in the ocean.)

In the nearly 50 years since SeaWorld’s rescue programs began, more than 20,000 injured, orphaned and sick animals — whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, manatees, sea turtles and birds — have been rescued, cared for, and in most cases, returned to the wild.

Now, just as SeaWorld brought attention to the plight of the manatee — and you will see rescued manatees here as well — the park now showcases the vulnerable sea turtles like Grandma in the brand-new TurtleTrek exhibit. Besides actually seeing these amazing creatures in person, you can see a 3-D/360-degree film (even projected overhead) that features a sea turtle (the hero, of course) and thousands of fish. This six-minute movie is so hi-definition it would take you nearly three months to download it at home.

In addition, more than 1,500 fish native to the Caribbean live in the saltwater habitat and approximately 200 freshwater fish join the manatees in theirs.

TurtleTrek is home to adult and juvenile sea turtles, including hawksbill, Kemp’s Ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles — all of whom, like Grandma, have been deemed nonreleasable by the Florida government.

The aim, of course, is to release as many as possible. Since 1980, SeaWorld Orlando has returned more than 1,200 sea turtles back to their natural waters. SeaWorld’s animal rescue team, in fact, is on call 24/7. (Check out www.seaworldcares.com/conservation. To find out more about marine animals, visit www.seaworld.org.)

Recently, I got a peek at SeaWorld’s extensive rehabilitation area that is as well equipped as many hospitals, offering operating rooms, X-ray machines, a pharmacy and experts who consult on animal care with veterinarians and human doctors around the world. Imagine giving a 3,600-pound manatee stitches or setting a tiny frog’s broken leg! (You can sign on for such a behind-the-scenes tour ($30 for adults, $10 for kids 3 to 10) as well as other special experiences to get closer to these creatures, including interacting with a Beluga whale or a dolphin, being a marine mammal keeper for a day, as long as your kids are 12, and VIP tours that enable you to cut the lines. For more details, log onto http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/attractions/exclusive-park-experiences.

You also have the chance to swim with a dolphin, snorkel with sting rays and tropical fish and feed exotic birds at SeaWorld’s sister park Discovery Cove where Freshwater Oasis is just opening, giving you a chance to wade and float and discover marmosets and Asian otters along the way. This place is all inclusive and only allows 1,000 guests a day — no worries about lines here — so reservations are a must. (Prices start at $199 a person and include the dolphin swim, food and drinks and unlimited admission to either SeaWorld or SeaWorld’s water park Aquatica or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for two weeks — not a bad deal since SeaWorld daily admission alone is $81.99 for adults.)

I even had the chance (for an extra $59) to take an underwater walking tour — wearing a dive helmet to get up close to nurse sharks, baby rays, octopus and schools of tropical fish — a lot more than you likely will see snorkeling or diving. “You don’t even have to try to look for them, they’re all right there,” said Constance Critchlow, visiting from London.

All of Orlando’s parks offer new attractions this spring and summer, like SeaVenture and TurtleTrek. (For details, see my blog about Orlando.) If you are considering a trip, come in May or June before the parks get too crowded and the weather too hot. You might snare a better hotel deal too, with rooms under $100 a night. (Visit www.visitorlando.com for the latest deals.)

Families visiting SeaWorld, meanwhile — and yes, Shamu is still a top attraction — get that this is more than a place for rides, though there is Manta, the flying roller coaster, the first of its kind, Kraken, Orlando’s only floorless coaster, the water-coaster Journey to Atlantis and, for younger children, the popular Shamu’s Happy Harbor.

“So much better than just rides,” offered Erin Hollenbacker, here with her sons from Ohio for their first visit to SeaWorld. “This is completely different and all of the animals really capture their attention.”

“It’s been very educational,” added Sheila Burnett, here from Illinois with her granddaughters.

Education, of course, is as big a part of SeaWorld’s mission as is conservation. The entertainment — whether it’s One Ocean, SeaWorld’s killer whale show, “Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island,” which showcases sea lions, otters and walrus or the chance to visit the Dolphin Nursery — is all designed to nurture interest in marine life and how we can protect it.

Park officials like to remind visitors that just by coming, guests are helping to rescue and protect animals all over the world, since SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have contributed $50 million to conservation, wildlife rescue and environmental programs.

“You have to keep your eyes on the dolphins,” advised 10-year-old Morgan Jones from Chicago. “They are really funny! I like SeaWorld best of all the parks.”

Who says learning can’t be fun — even on vacation!

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Eileen and Reggie pause in the redwood grove

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

We’re walking past groves of soaring redwood “families,” some with their innards carved out as the result of forest fires.

But we’re not in a crowded national park. In fact, we’ve pretty much got the hiking trail to ourselves in Butano State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains, midway between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay and only a little more than an hour from San Francisco. Butano State Park — one of the least known of the California parks — is home to a spectacular redwood/Douglas fir forest.

During our five-mile hike, we see plump yellow banana slugs, the tiny Calypso orchid and blooming trillium, a member of the lily family. But the best part is the conversations with my daughter, Reg, who lives across the country from us in San Francisco. I’d forgotten how conducive hiking is to catching up!

We’re spending the weekend here in Half Moon Bay with Reg, who works near here, and her boyfriend Dan Foldes, and I can’t think of a better respite from city living — a spectacular coast and beaches (great tide-pooling), the chance to hike through the redwoods, visit farms (ogle the baby goats) and restaurants that have been at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement.

Asparagus is in season and it’s served to us — gently fried in a light batter at Pasta Moon in Half Moon Bay, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. From the beginning, these restaurants have been known for serving what is in season from local farmers. You can point out veggies to the kids in the fields and farmer’s markets and then bring them here to eat them.

There are farms that date back to the 1800s (come in fall for the big pumpkin festival), miles of white sand beaches (here’s the place to horseback ride along the beach), redwood forests and hiking and biking trails along the bluffs and among the mountains. There’s kayaking, fishing and even the chance to see how cheese is made. And, of course, the chance to sample plenty of farm-to-table good eats.

This area, we learn, is home California’s first and only broad-based ecotourism visitor program, through which more than 30 farmers, fishermen and community business members have come together to offer visitors hands-on activities and a chance to meet local residents. In order to be included in the Ecotourism Map, all businesses had to agree to follow certain environmental standards. You have your choice of options where to stay — even Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest and most photographed lighthouses in the country, is now a hostel!)

We opt to pamper ourselves — along with other families, we meet — at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, one of the most spectacular hotel locations I’ve ever seen. The hotel is high on scenic bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean with two golf courses, tennis courts, walking trails to the beach and outdoor fire pits. (They leave us s’mores kits in our room.) Some rooms have their own private fire pits where guests can sit and take in the ocean.)

San Franciscans make the drive just for the fantastic Sunday brunch, (which will be especially busy Mother’s Day). It offers more than 300 items, much of which, according to Executive Chef Xavier Salomon, comes from a dozen local farms and purveyors. And not a chicken finger in sight. Chef Salomon says he doesn’t do “kids’ food” at the brunch and parents rarely ask for it — not when kids can eat delectable dim sum and sushi, mashed potatoes, roast beef, veggies in season and mini quiches. “And, of course, they go crazy for the desserts,” Salomon says with a smile. (There are Nutella crepes, apple, blackberry and peach marshmallows, chocolate mousse, flan, tiny tarts, fresh berries and cream and miniature cakes too pretty to eat. Chocolate raspberry dome, anyone?)

Good thing there are so many hiking options to walk off brunch! But with four regions to explore around Half Moon Bay — the North Coast, Half Moon Bay, the South Coast and the Redwood Region — we can’t fit it all in one weekend. We simply follow my daughter’s lead to some of her favorite places.

When we arrived, we stopped at Harley Farms Goat Dairy in tiny Pescadero to sample goat cheese (do we want pistachio and apricot, sun-dried tomato, chive?) — the best I’ve ever tasted — for our picnic overlooking crashing waves at Bean Hollow State Beach. Dessert? Creamy fudge made with goat milk. At Harley Farms, kids can watch as goat cheese is made and ogle the baby goats! (Starting in May, every Saturday, you can check out the Coastside Farmer’s Markets.)

As we walked along Pebble Beach with its distinctive small pebbles instead of sand, local kids explored the tide pools, oblivious to the cold water and wind. An Anemone! A Sea Star!

At Pescadero State Marsh, we followed a trail to watch scores of baby herons in the rookery and laughed at the harbor seals sunning on the rocks at Pescadero State Beach.

One night, we headed to dinner at the popular Peruvian restaurant La Costanera, located on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Spectacular views, spectacular food. (The restaurant is Michelin rated.) We feasted on ceviche (there are more than a dozen to choose from), empanadas (the best I’ve ever eaten), Causas (chilled whipped potatoes topped with mushrooms asparagus and avocado) and excellent seafood Paella. Despite the gourmet eats, I’m told the place is popular with families and is noisy enough that you don’t have to worry about your kids disrupting anyone’s dinner.

Everywhere here is casual and kid-friendly, it seems. The Pastorinos live nearby, but checked in at the Ritz with their two kids (ages 11 and 16) for a special treat, settling in on the Club Level where they even gave us boxes to take snacks for our hikes. “It is so easy,” Dana Pastorino said.

So easy to entertain the kids and at the same time, help them connect to the natural world.

More goat cheese, please!

(For more on Eileen’s visit to San Francisco and Half Moon Bay, read her Travel Diaries.)

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Dr. Robert Ballard the world-famous oceanographer

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

How quickly could you decode an iceberg warning?

The kids at the Mystic Aquarium’s new “Titanic, 12,450 Feet Below” permanent exhibit, the cornerstone of the newly renamed Ocean Exploration Center, aren’t having any trouble. They’re also busy and boisterously challenging each other at the touch-table electronic game that has adults like me stymied. Speed is essential. The first to answer the most questions correctly, wins.

How many light bulbs lit Titanic? (10,000. She was a beacon of light before she sank!)

How long can someone survive in frigid water? (15 minutes.)

The kids can make fish swim closer on a large-scale interactive wall that shows a montage of Titanic video and chart their own course in the “engine room.” The giant iceberg glows and is cold to the touch; Kids take an interactive Iceberg Quiz. (Did you know only 12 percent of an iceberg may be above water?)

It certainly doesn’t seem to matter to the children swarming through this new exhibit that the Titanic sank in 1912, long before their grandparents (and maybe great-grandparents) were born.

“Every generation rediscovers The Titanic,” said Dr. Robert Ballard, the world-famous oceanographer whose team discovered the wreckage of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic in 1985. Ballard is the co-founder of the Sea Research Foundation’s Institute for Exploration here that includes the Ocean Exploration Center, which he conceived. It’s the only museum in the world dedicated to deep-sea oceanographic archaeology, geology and exploration.

“You saw every kind of human behavior the night the Titanic sank,” Ballard said. Passengers and crew were heroic, cowardly, brave and fearful, selfless, as some gave up their lifeboat seats to remain with loved ones, selfish, as others saved themselves at all costs. Fathers kissed their children goodbye; mothers (and most famously the “unsinkable” Molly Brown) argued in their half-empty lifeboats to return for survivors. Terrified children swept up in the confusion were separated from their families. Fifty-three of the 107 children onboard were among the more than 1,500 people who died when the ship sank. About 700 people survived.

Another lesson for today’s youth: the danger of overconfidence. Titanic’s creators famously believed they had built an “unsinkable” ship and, therefore, didn’t need enough lifeboats to accommodate every person onboard. “Everyone looks at that disaster and wonders what they would have done,” said Dr. Ballard.

But the real point here is to encourage youngsters and their parents to “journey to new depths of discovery.” That includes a 4-D theater where SpongeBob SquarePants takes you and your kids on an undersea adventure, complete with mist and bubbles.

Certainly it helps that “Titanic, 12,450 Feet Below” was designed by Tim Delaney, who spent more than three decades at Walt Disney Imagineering designing park attractions around the world. “We want to showcase science and discovery,” Delaney said. “But we want to do it in a way that gets kids excited.” That includes, he jokes, showing them how being proficient at video games can hone skills needed to control robotic submersibles used in deep sea expeditions.

When Dr. Ballard’s exploration vessel, Nautilus, is at sea, in fact, a team member monitors the expedition’s progress from shore and hosts live shows at the Ocean Exploration Center in the Nautilus Live Theater; Kids may also see what the scientists are seeing in real time from their home and school computers. (Check www.nautiluslive.org.)

Already, the Sea Research Foundation, which includes Mystic Aquarium, is one of the largest cultural institutions in New England, reaching some 2 million children a year onsite and through remote programs. It is hoped that the Titanic exhibit will help spur even more interest in the ocean.

Kids and adults clearly can’t seem to get enough of the Titanic’s story. The 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking has been marked around the world with a flurry of TV specials, magazine and newspaper articles, documentaries and special exhibits. Let’s not forget the new 3-D version of James Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic,” which will introduce a whole new generation to the tragedy.

The Titanic Belfast exhibit has just opened in Ireland and it overlooks the Harland and Wolff shipyards where the Titanic was built. The largest Titanic visitor experience in the world (six stories tall) has already welcomed more than 50,000 people.

Some 2 million people have visited “The Titanic Museum Attraction” in tiny Pigeon Forge, Tenn., since it opened in 2010. More than 5 million have visited its sister museum in Branson, Mo., since its opening in 2006.

Museums including the Houston Museum of Science, the San Diego Natural History Museum and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., are among the venues to host “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” with hundreds of artifacts recovered from the debris field. (A much publicized auction of more than 5,000 objects that salvagers found scattered along the ocean floor has been postponed.)

Dr. Ballard points to the use of Titanic artifacts — and the continuing search for them — with dismay, noting that these scavenger expeditions not only damage the site but also disturb what is, essentially, an underwater cemetery. “You don’t take a belt buckle from the USS Arizona,” he said. “We must preserve these sites for the next generation.”

To that end, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced legislation recently that would amend the RMS Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1986, which protects the wreck site of the Titanic from salvage and intrusive research. “It’s hallowed ground, not just some underwater area to be poked at or damaged for commercial reasons,” said Kerry. “This bill provides the authority necessary to help ensure the site of the Titanic is kept intact.”

When Dr. Ballard returned home after finding Titanic, he said, there were 16,000 letters from youngsters eager to join his next expedition. He founded the JASON Project to link students to science and scientists. His partnership with Sea Research Foundation has since resulted in Immersion Learning, which has brought academic enrichment programs to kids outside of the classroom, nurturing their excitement about science and discovery.

“We’re going where no one has gone before,” said Dr. Ballard. “The age of exploration is just beginning!”

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Ethan and Hannah viewing Yellowstone bear from a safe distance

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

Meet Ethan Eagle.

Let’s not forget Oscar Osprey, Brett Bison, Freddy Frog and Tommy Trout.

My young cousins Ethan Sitzman, 9, and his sister Hannah, 6, who live in Denver, named all the wildlife we saw as we explored perhaps America’s greatest natural zoo — Yellowstone National Park where 67 species of mammals, 322 species of birds, six species of reptiles and four species of amphibians call home.

But a visit to a national park — even Yellowstone — is more than the chance to see wildlife and spectacular scenery, like the two enormous waterfalls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, geothermal features like Old Faithful (Did you know Yellowstone has more geothermal features than anywhere else in the world?) or to learn that Yellowstone was originally named for the yellow tint in the rock, derived from sulfur.

A visit to a national park is about stepping out of your comfort zone, overcoming challenges as a family, whether on a long kayak paddle before 7 a.m. (yes, that was us on Yellowstone Lake last summer leaving our wilderness camp where we’d spent two nights as far away from tourists as we could get) or in Ethan’s case, overcoming a long-held fear.

As we celebrate National Park Week from April 21 to 29 (all 397 national parks are free with many special activities offered.) It’s important to remember that the best part of a national park experience can be the chance to reconnect with the outdoors as a family. “Kids forget about iPads, iPhones, TV, etc., says Dan Austin, of Austin-Lehman Adventures whose company has been leading trips to Yellowstone, and other national parks, for more than 25 years.

“These experiences open the mind to endless discoveries and, more often than not, a passion for the outdoors that can last a lifetime,” he says.

It’s something I’ve witnessed in my own family. My youngest daughter, Mel, says those national parks trips when she was little (and complained her legs were “broken” from all the hiking) spurred her interest in environmental science — her college major; her older sister, Reg, went on to lead teens on wilderness trips in national parks and now works for Vida Verde, a California nonprofit organization that enables inner-city kids to have outdoor experiences. (Think hiking past towering redwoods, exploring tide pools or getting up close and personal with goats.)

Head to a national park near your home and celebrate Junior Ranger Day on April 28. Whet your kids’ appetite for a summer visit to a national park through WebRangers, the National Park Service’s site for kids, which offers all kinds of activities and games. To date, some 200,000 kids have taken part in the program! In honor of National Park Week, Lonely Planet has created a free download of the USA’s Best National Parks’ Top 15 Experiences, including great planning information, from their “Discover USA’s Best National Parks” guide. It’s available on their Facebook page or at LonelyPlanet.com.

Wherever you are outdoors, especially in a big national park, the key is to slow down and get out of the car (many visitors don’t) and off the beaten track, Dan Austin says.

That’s how we were able to watch Yellowstone’s famous bears safely. Rangers estimate that about 150 grizzly bears and more than 500 black bears live in the park and visitors are cautioned to stay at least the length of a football field away from them. Our Austin-Lehman guide, Matty Kirkland, spied one from our van, turned around, parked and raced up a hill with his scope so we could watch as the bear (the kids named him Bobby) snacked on greens amid the wildflowers hundreds of yards away, oblivious to our presence.

Certainly watching that bear in his own environment from a safe distance was a wondrous site, but more important was watching Ethan triumph over his fear of the lumbering beasts, once Kirkland convinced him to peer through the scope.

Until that moment, I’d wondered if we really needed guides in Yellowstone. It’s not a far-flung destination, after all, where we don’t speak the language. But throughout that trip, we saw a far different Yellowstone than we had in the past and it was far more relaxed. Our affable Austin-Lehman guides not only got us away from the crowds to places I wouldn’t have found, but also thoroughly entertained the kids (they sat between a giant stuffed bear in the van), had snacks at the ready, told us what to look for and then explained what we were seeing. We didn’t have to worry about hard-to-get hotel reservations and the best part: The kids didn’t bicker or whine because they were having so much fun. (All-inclusive Austin-Lehman Yellowstone trips start at $367 per day for adults and $293 for kids. A new Montana Family Camp itinerary that includes Yellowstone is less expensive.)

Other companies, including Adventures by Disney, Backroads and Tauck Tours are among those who also offer special guided Yellowstone and national parks trips for families, enabling you to focus on the experience rather than the logistics.

If your kids are 8 or older, you can also sign on for a five-night Total Yellowstone package through the park’s concessionaire (pricing information).

If you prefer going on your own, take advantage of ranger-led activities. Ask their advice for kid-friendly hikes and experiences inside the parks. Use websites like ParkVisitor.com, which pull together user reviews of U.S. national and state parks and more with insider tips (even where to get a good burger). For iPhone and iPad users, there’s even a new Passport to Your National Parks app. Don’t despair if you can’t get reservations when and where you want to go. Consider some of the less visited but equally wonderful parks like Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota, Sequoia and Kings Canyon in California, North Cascades in Washington State and Mesa Verde in Colorado, among others (www.nps.gov.)

Last summer, after three days and two nights camping in Yellowstone, Ethan and Hannah had completed the activities required to become Junior Rangers (everything from tracing the route we’d taken through the park to checking off all the animals they’d seen) and they stood proudly at the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitor Center as a ranger swore them in as Junior Rangers.

Watching their excitement at being in one of our country’s greatest treasures was worth every mosquito bite we’d gotten.

“As a Yellowstone Junior Ranger … I will continue to learn about the natural world, even after I leave Yellowstone,” they pledged.

I hope they will. I know they won’t forget the days they’ve spent here. And that’s a good first step.

(For more on Eileen’s trip to Yellowstone and Montana, read her Travel Diaries) 

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man attraction

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

Move over, Harry Potter. Spider-Man has arrived.

“I’m just not that into Harry Potter,” explains 16-year-old Jordan Madow who preferred the newly reanimated Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man with hundreds of new details all the more noticeable through the special 3-D glasses and incredibly high-definition resolution.

“Spider-Man is more fun, especially the drop!” declares Danielle Hardwick, 13, who was here from England with her family.

“Go to Spider-Man first and then Harry Potter,” suggests 12-year-old Alex Marquez, visiting from Denver.

Of course, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is still packed at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, as it has been since it opened nearly two years ago, and many visitors say it is the impetus for their entire trip here, a contributing reason, some say, why Orlando now welcomes some 53 million visitors a year, more than any other American city.

Come in May and June before it gets too hot and crowded but with new attractions debuting at all of the parks, including Universal Orlando. You may score a better hotel deal, too. Check out “Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld and the Best of Central Florida” by Bob Sehlinger to help you navigate.

Just be prepared for crowds. “You need to have a lot of patience,” sighed Michelle Panney, here with her family from Newfoundland.

The morning I visited recently, there was a 45-minute wait to buy Butterbeer, which tastes like shortbread and butterscotch, and a 35-minute wait just to get into a shop — Ollivander’s Wand Shop where wands are sold, following a presentation in which one person is chosen to demonstrate just how the wand chooses the wizard. (Does the wand water the flowers when you point it? Move the ladder?)

“If you are chosen it’s worth it,” said Jack Burrill-Bown, who clutched his wand later in the day. He was picked, he thought, because it was his 13th birthday. “Otherwise it is a real downer.”

His family was on line to get in an hour before the park even opened; by mid-morning, the wait for the chance to join Harry Potter on his journey soaring over Hogwarts was 90 minutes.

But the wait for the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man was over an hour, too. It is, after all, a technological marvel of an attraction, which makes you feel you are right inside the movie — so close that you see the character’s muscles, flames coming out of pumpkins and rats scurrying through the streets. I like this attraction because those who are roller-coaster averse, like me, and young kids can enjoy the thrill.

“You need to have a lot of patience,” sighed Michelle Panney, here with her family from Newfoundland.

A tip: If you stay at one of the three Universal Orlando Loews Resorts, you can bypass the lines at all but three rides at the park, including Spider-Man. You can also gain entrance to Islands of Adventure an hour before opening to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter before the crowds arrive. “It’s definitely the way to go,” said Jordan’s mom, Kathy. “We went on the Forbidden Journey twice!” Some families opt to book just a night for that privilege.

(Come before June 7 and save up to 30 percent when you stay three nights or longer . Visit www.takingthekids.com by April 13 and see how you might win a stay at Universal Orlando. Look for other deals offsite nearby at Universal partner hotels too that offer some, but not all the perks,

If you are line averse and budget isn’t a concern, you can also bypass the lines with an Express Plus pass (prices start at $19.99 but go up based on season ) or by hiring a VIP guide ($2,500 per group for the two parks up to 12 people.) (More about VIP Orlando experiences in an upcoming column.)

Certainly besides getting up close and personal with Spider-Man and Harry Potter, there’s plenty else to see and do at Universal Orlando this spring and summer whether you’ve got preschoolers or teens. New this spring at Universal Studios is the Superstar Parade where you can sing and dance along with characters like Nickelodeon’s Dora and Diego and SpongeBob Square Pants. A new nighttime show, complete with colored fountains and fireworks, will take you through 100 years of movie history and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, a 3-D adventure where you undergo “minion training,” is scheduled to open this summer.

There’s a newly-enhanced Blue Man Group Show on CityWalk. The audience loved the signature moments like paint drumming and roared as the Blue Men explored our obsession with technology, especially as they interacted with GiPads (gigantic iPads).

Universal CityWalk, with its shops, movie theaters and restaurants, sits between the Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, making it possible to easily walk from one park to another. Now CityWalk boasts the new Hollywood Drive-in Golf, a 36-hole mini-golf course inspired by drive-in movies.

If you think your kids are too young for Universal Orlando, think again. Sure, the parks are known for their coasters. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, for example, boasts the world’s largest non-inverted loop — it scared me just to look at it! The Incredible Hulk Coaster shoots you 40 mph in seconds followed by six rollovers. But there are family coasters too, including the Flight of the Hippogriff in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and standout areas like Seuss Landing where, among other things, you can eat Green Eggs and Ham and ride a couch through the pages of Dr Seuss’ ‘The Cat in the Hat.”

What I like best are the wonderful interactive play areas like Fievel’s Playland and Curious George goes to Town at Universal Studios. Kids love all the pipes and spray guns, as well as the foam ball playground. At Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Popeye’s ship, the Olive, is transformed into an interactive playground. Dino lovers can head to Camp Jurassic where they can explore lava pits, mines and caves and even step in dino footprints.

The day I was at Camp Jurassic, kids were laughing and running, as parents snapped photos and sat down for welcome respites.

The best part: No lines. No wonder everyone was smiling.

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Animator's Palate on Disney's newest cruise ship Fantasy

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

This is one time you’ll want to encourage kids to color inside the lines. Grown-ups, too.

As soon as you sit down for dinner at Animator’s Palate aboard the new Disney cruise ship Fantasy, your server hands you a green marker and a special placemat and instructs you and the kids to draw your own character within the blue lines. (One of the teens I was with drew a fetching Cyclops.)

Just before dinner, as Mickey Mouse appears on large monitors around the room, our placemats are whisked away. While we eat (have you ever tried buttered popcorn soup?) we’re treated to a montage of famous food-themed moments from Disney cartoons (think Lady and the Tramp sharing that strand of spaghetti). But the piece de resistance isn’t dessert, though the warm chocolate lava cake certainly is yummy. It’s the magic that has animated our rudimentary green stick drawings and brought them to life on the huge screens around the dining room. Your characters march and skip and dance with Mickey, Jiminy Cricket, Cinderella and Snow White.

Wow! Even the jaded 17 year olds I’m with are impressed. At the end of the show, each of our names — as we signed them on our placemat — is listed on the credits as “guest animator.” We leave the dining room smiling, clutching our drawing that has been returned embossed with a gold seal proclaiming each of us an “Official Disney Animator.”

You’ll find that irrepressible Disney magic wherever you go on this 4,000-passenger ship. The Fantasy is the sister ship to the Disney Dream, with one big difference: The programming has been designed to entertain and wow you and your kids for seven days, instead of three or four. And from what I saw on a three-day preview cruise just before the ship’s inaugural sail, it works. (For the latest prices and availability, check www.disneycruises.com.)

That means more special dinners and menus (think princess and prince dinner, a captain’s gala and pirates evening) and more than 120 different youth activities. According to Jen McDonald, who manages the 77-member youth staff that oversees programming for some 1,500 children, programs start with a nursery for infants (parents say the $6 an hour charge is well worth it for a facility that rivals the best day care centers) and include a 9,000-square-foot teen club with its giant 103-inch LCD screen, the opportunity to create videos, spin music tracks and sun on a private deck area. If your kids are crazy for Disney characters, they’ll have two dozen unique character experiences on board that they won’t get in the theme parks. (Story time with Belle, perhaps? A Tinkerbell talent show? Fun and games with Captain Hook?)

There’s the first onboard Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where little girls were patiently waiting in their princess gowns to be transformed into princesses with special updos, including one with multicolored hair, sparkly nail polish, eyes shadow and face gems. One mom from Michigan noted her daughter never sits so patiently when getting a hair cut at home. If you’d rather be a pirate — there is a special pirate night complete with fireworks — the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique can also accommodate pirate makeovers for boys, as well as girls.

There are two new Broadway-caliber musical shows, including “Disney Wishes” about three best friends about to graduate from high school and a Muppets Adventure Game around the ship where you uncover clues by use of a dozen pieces of “Enchanted Art” that come to life as you stand in front of them. (In case you are wondering, the Enchanted Art looks like a painting but is really a framed LCD screen that “recognizes” a guest is present and activates the animation. What’s even cooler is you will see something different another time you visit.

Kids gave thumbs up to the new AquaLab — an 1,800-square-foot water play area on Deck 12 with pop jets geysers and bubblers.

There are scores of activities scheduled for the entire family to share (everything from family dance parties to first-run Disney movies and game shows (how well do you really know your mom and dad?) but a surprising array for adults, too.

In addition to the adults spa, there is a special adult pool and sun deck, adult beach on Castaway Cay, the cruise line’s private island, two first-rate adult-only restaurants and a brand-new adult entertainment district, Europa, designed to make you feel as if you are club-hopping across Europe — from an Irish Pub to a London dance club to an Italian bar complete with parked Vespa and intimate French boudoir, each with signature cocktails. (Think private label Taittinger Champagne at Ooh La La where you relax on Louis XIV lounges.)

If I sound impressed, I am. I like the little touches — the fact that counselors will pick the kids up from a late-dinner early so parents can relax, that there is no charge for late-night children’s programming, as is the case on other cruise lines, that some rooms have a small, round tub in the shower stall that is ideal for bathing young kids and that the beds are high enough to put suitcases underneath. The youth staff is prepared to welcome most youngsters with special challenges and they speak at least a half-dozen languages. The menus are designed to encourage kids to try new foods — at no extra charge, of course, and most important, every effort has been made to make sure that everyone — kids, parents, grandparents — gets time and space to do what they want. (The Disney ships attract a lot of multigenerational groups.)

No wonder Tom Staggs, the chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, who was about to sail with his wife and three sons, says bookings on Disney Cruise Line are ahead of last year, despite consumer concerns in the wake of the Concordia tragedy and the fact that half of those who sail with Disney are first-time cruisers — those most skittish about cruising now. Disney has made it easier for would-be cruisers to try their ships, too, with sailings this year from New York, Galveston, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Bronlyn Holland, 10, from Georgia was preening in front of the mirror at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the sparkles glinting in her hair. She’d saved her money to pay for her $54.95 makeover herself. “I’ve always loved princesses,” she explained. “You never are too old to be a princess!”

Certainly not aboard the Fantasy.

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

From the wall walk in Dubrovnik with Wind Surf anchored in background

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

Where is my pedometer when I need it?

We’re walking Dubrovnik’s famous 14^th-century walls with their view of red rooftops, the sea, kayakers and sunbathers.

Everyone says Dubrovnik is the “jewel of the Adriatic” and it’s easy to see why — its Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with a cathedral, a monastery, the oldest drug store in Europe, operating continuously since 1317 and the second-oldest synagogue in Europe dating back to 1652, though today there are so few Jews remaining there is no rabbi. “Everyone assimilates,” our young guide Vedrana Vukosan said. “We’re one big melting pot.”

The tiny old town — just 1,500 residents — is a wonderful bet to give kids a sense of European history — ancient and more recent.

Just 20 years ago, from November 1991 to May 1992, Dubrovnik was under siege by Serbian and Montenegrin forces. The city was bombarded from the air and sea. More than 15,000 people fled the city. Electricity and water were cut off. “We used the old cisterns in the city,” said Srdan Kristic, who helps run one of the large tour agencies here and was 18 at the time (www.elite.hr). “It was very hard for everyone.”

The city’s medieval walls helped protect the city and there was tremendous international publicity decrying the bombing of this historic city and in favor of granting Croatia diplomatic recognition. During the 1990s, money poured in for the restoration of the scarred facades and terra-cotta rooftops.

Today, tourists wander the crooked streets, licking ice cream cones, stopping on impossibly narrow streets where tables have been set out, inviting visitors to stop for beer and pizza.

Another day we were equally enamored of the Croatian island of Korcula — just three miles wide — and its medieval walls. The area is known for vineyards, olives, and Marco Polo. People here believe the famed adventurer was born here, though there is no concrete evidence to confirm that.

Just 3,500 people live here. Our guide, Katija Tedeschi, shows us churches dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries and explains streets are laid out so that the townspeople would get the maximum sea breezes.

I can’t believe the 15th-century manuscripts we see with the writing still perfectly legible, the vestments embroidered by nuns in the 15th century, the Tintoretto painting and the fact that there are no crowds.

We meander the cobblestone streets and peeked into tiny shops, many selling every variety of Marco Polo souvenir. At the very least, it is believed Polo fought and lost a battle against Genoa here. After his capture, he was allegedly put in prison where he told his fantastic tale of his Chinese adventures to a fellow prisoner who then turned it into a best seller titled “The Million.” (Because Marco Polo was always saying he saw a million of this and a million of that.)

We found our way to Maje I Tonke a tiny restaurant where the young owner set us up at an outside table and served us some of the house specialties — grilled eggplant, tuna, homemade goat cheese and homemade smoked ham, marinated anchovies, hummus, marinated zucchini, homemade bread followed by onion marmalade and polenta and the local wine. At just $80 dollars for four, it was not only a bargain, but one of the highlights of our entire trip — sitting outside in the sunshine overlooking the ancient medieval walls and the sea beyond.

Croatia, it seems, offers that perfect mix of historic sites, good eats and seaside fun. Kayak or sail along the coast. (Croatia has long been considered a premier cruising destination in the Mediterranean, with more than 1,000 islands. Charter a yacht from The Moorings, or opt for a family adventure with a company like Backroads or an escorted trip with Abercrombie and Kent.) There are vineyards (Southern Dalmatia makes really good wine) to visit, scuba diving and hiking.

Since this was our first visit and we had just one day in Dubrovnik, we opted for a tour that took us through the Historic Old Town to see the 15^th-century Dominican Monastery, the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace, originally built in the 15th century but rebuilt several times since.

We loved the local market where we bought prize-winning fig jam and sage honey from Nina Sardi whose family has a farm nearby. She pocketed our U.S. dollars with a gesture to her 17-year-old daughter who was helping. “For her college fund,” she said. There is wild oregano and lavender at all the stands.

The majority of tourists come via cruise ship, as we did. (We were aboard Windstar.) Read more about our adventures in Croatia and Italy on the sailing vessel in my travel diaries).

I’m glad we had time to walk the walls. It’s only about a mile and a half around (and $14 for the privilege), but you go up and down steep stone steps. The views of the Adriatic, the neighboring fortresses, the terra cotta rooftops and laundry hanging to dry were spectacular.

Kids we met loved checking out the bastions and the walls — 80 feet high and up to 10 feet thick on the sea side — even thicker on the other side. What a place for a history lesson!

According to local legend, Dubrovnik first developed in the 7th century. By the 15th century, gold and silver, as well as salt production was important here and it was an important trading center on the coast, a link between the Mediterranean and the Baltic. Most of the original construction took place during the 13th century. Much of Dubrovnik was destroyed by earthquake in the 15th century, killing more than 5,000 people — but the walls were reinforced with towers over the following 40 years.

I try to imagine families walking these walls so many centuries ago.

The kids were probably teasing their younger siblings, annoying their parents, complaining that the walk is taking too long and racing ahead laughing.

I’m guessing taking the kids hasn’t changed all that much in 600 years.

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ,
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

The biggest budda statue in the world near Hong Kong

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

I’m at a magical place where people come to make wishes come true.

No, not at Walt Disney World, though Disney Hong Kong isn’t far. I’m on the island of Lantau, Hong Kong’s largest, staring up at a giant Buddha.

Not just any giant Buddha but the Tian Tan Buddha, the world’s largest outdoor sitting Buddha — some 98 feet tall and weighing 250 tons, his humongous right hand raised to deliver a blessing to all. My daughter Mel and I are up on a high plateau with spectacular mountain views — the famous Po Lin (the name means precious lotus) Monastery is 2,421 feet above sea level — at the spot where millions come to say prayers and make wishes to the Buddha. Monks, I’m told, pray precisely here because there seems to be an echo. I try to imagine the trucks that brought up the pieces to build the Buddha — one ton at a time.

This also is one of the craziest juxtapositions of ancient customs and 21^st-century marketing I’ve ever seen — starting with the route to get here.

To get here we took the Ngong Ping cable car — at 3.5 miles, the longest cable car route in Asia. The cable cars have become one of Hong Kong’s top tourist attractions since completed in 2006. In fact when we leave, the lines stretch so long that people will be waiting for hours for the experience. (You can book tickets online, www.np360.com.hk, and reach the cable car via public transportation or taxi (about $30 from Kowloon). Closed temporarily for maintenance, the cable car is expected to reopen in early April.)

When we get off the cable car, we walk through Ngong Ping 360, a small tourist village, where you can buy everything from dinosaur-shaped dumplings and plush pandas to decorative chopsticks and Chinese-style clothing. If you’re hungry, you can take your pick from Subway and Starbucks to suckling pig. Our guide Wing Lau tells us, locals come here for a family day away from the crowds in Hong Kong.

There is even a multimedia “Walking with Buddha” attraction that explains the life of Siddhartha Gautama, on whose teachings Buddhism is based. Gautama was born a prince more than 2,500 years ago in what is now Nepal. Not fulfilled by palace life, he eventually left to become a monk, studying, fasting, meeting the sick and the poor. Gautama was famously seated under a tree — now known as the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya, India — vowing to stay until he had found the truth. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, he is said to have attained enlightenment and spent the rest of his life traveling and teaching the Four Noble Truths.

Kids like the Monkey’s Tale Theater with its animated story about a selfish monkey who learns about greed, friendship and kindness from the Monkey King.

My daughter and I agree that the juxtaposition of East and West, of ancient belief and 21^st-century desire that we encounter here is evident everywhere in Hong Kong. This is the city that boasts the tallest hotel in the world (the Ritz-Carlton), the trendiest Western designer stores and outdoor markets selling knockoffs in close proximity to historic Buddhist temples, the Nan Lian Garden built in the style of the ancient Tang Dynasty with every rock, plant and building placed according to specific rules, traditional Chinese Dim Sum restaurants (including Tim Ho Wan, which has earned a Michelin star) and storefronts where for $20 you can treat your aching feet to a traditional Eastern reflexology treatment.

We chose Hong Kong for a little mother-daughter time after Mel finished a semester in Asia. We shopped, toured and indulged our inner foodies with amazing eats. For more on our adventure, read my travel diaries.

(Visit www.DiscoverHongKong.com for free locals-led activities and a terrific app you can download; I also used Lonely Planet’s Hong Kong and Macau and Frommer’s Hong Kong.)

Tourists also like to visit the islands of Cheung Chau, just a ferry ride away, to see its famous fishing village and Lamma for hiking and seafood with waterfront views. Our visit to the Po Lin Monastery was one of the highlights of our stay in Hong Kong, starting with the 25-minute cable car ride. The base of our car was glass so we had a spectacular view of not only the island but of the South China Sea and of the airplanes lined up at the nearby airport.

Since the monastery was built in 1906 — some 100 monks still live here hidden from view — Buddhists have come from all over Asia to pray, though the giant Buddha has only been here since 2001. It took more than a decade to construct.

We walk up 268 steps to get a closer look. Wow! If we’d had more time, we would have climbed to the top of the peak — the second tallest in Hong Kong.

But we needed plenty of time for lunch. In fact, many come here specifically for the fixed-price vegetarian lunch (less than $15 for the deluxe lunch), which offers hot and sour soup, spring rolls, rice, lemon bean curd called drunken chicken, stir fried veggies. Yum!

Outside people are lighting incense and praying. Donations have poured in from locals to pay for the much grander new monastery now under construction.

Some of them, for a true spiritual experience — as well as a good workout — people avoid the cable car and other transportation to hike up a winding trail to the monastery — more than 3,000 steps — and much higher than Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Peak.

“The idea is it must be hard to get to the monastery,” our guide explains. “You have to really want to see the monastery and the Buddha,” she says. “It’s not supposed to be easy.”

Neither is making wishes come true, but it sure is fun trying.

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

The National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services

Ready to tour the Big Apple’s new hot neighborhood?

No, not NoLita or the Lower East Side, though they certainly have plenty of appeal for tourists and locals. Certainly not Times Square with its popular pedestrian-only areas, though you’ll meet crowds of tourists here, too.

We’re talking about Lower Manhattan — specifically the area south of Chambers Street that’s surrounded by water on three sides. In 2011, a record 9.8 million tourists visited Lower Manhattan — 800,000 more than the previous year.

Crowds have been flocking to the 9/11 Memorial since it opened Sept. 11, 2011. More than 4 million visitors are expected at the 9/11 Memorial before 2012 ends, coming from the city, the suburbs and all over the world.

(Tickets are free, but it is necessary to reserve timed admission online; there are a limited number of day passes, only two per person, available at the Official NYC Information Kiosk at City Hall, the 9/11 Preview Site at 20 Vesey St., or the New York Water Taxi booth at South Street Seaport.) On the Memorial website, you’ll find helpful suggestions on talking to your children about terrorism.

A visit can’t help but inspire conversation and reflection — even among teens. “The people who were killed during the attacks not only are remembered, but even 10 years later, people find the importance of visiting and continuing to recall them as heroes,” said Khaliq Sanda, one of a group of students who attend our suburban high school under the auspices of A Better Chance. My husband and I took seven of them to the Memorial on a cold winter day.

One of the other boys, who was raised in the Bronx and was just seven on the day of the attacks, vividly remembers that day and was reluctant to come because he said it would make him “sad.” But he was glad we insisted.

And once families venture downtown, they realize how much there is to see and do at the tip of Manhattan. There are more than two dozen museums, including The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and even The Skyscraper Museum. There’s also the site of George Washington’s inauguration, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and the National African Burial Ground National Memorial. (Visit www.downtownny.com for more information about Lower Manhattan and www.nycgo.com for the latest events and hotel deals.)

(The Downtown Culture Pass offers significant discounted access to eight cultural institutions and a walking tour of Wall Street, and if you purchase a New York Pass, which offers discounted admission to 70 city attractions, including in Lower Manhattan you can hop a free water taxi from Midtown.)

Everyone knows about Wall Street and the Financial District — more than 300,000 people work in Lower Manhattan — but not only in financial services these days as other kinds of companies move in. At the same time, Lower Manhattan has become a real neighborhood, home to nearly 56,000 New Yorkers, including many families, making the area one of New York’s fastest growing neighborhoods with restaurants and upscale shopping, including the just opened J and R Jr. store, which caters to kids up to age nine with everything from GPS-equipped strollers to kid-sized musical instruments and iPads.

No wonder tourists are opting to stay in the neighborhood. Lower Manhattan now has 18 hotels to choose from with seven more in the works. (The all-suite Conrad New York is the latest and it is expected to open this month in Battery Park City. (Check www.conradnewyork.com for opening deals.)

Take the ferry from Lower Manhattan to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Hop on the Staten Island Ferry for one of the best views of the N.Y. skyline. Visit South Street Seaport. You’re not far from Chinatown, Little Italy and the Lower East Side with its standout Tenement Museum.

Let’s not forget the chance to simply walk in the park or ride a bike. There are almost 57 acres of green space here — equivalent to 43 football fields, including Battery Park with its spectacular water views.

The day we visited was too cold and nasty for a walk in the park, so we took our time at the 9/11 Memorial. We stood in the pelting rain and sleet and ran our fingers over the names on the bronze panels — nearly 3,000 people died in the twin towers, at the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pa. The Memorial also commemorates the six people who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The high school boys we’d brought, all children of immigrants, were struck by the diverse names and nationalities. The attacks killed people from 93 nations. At their families’ request, their names were placed next to friends, relatives and colleagues — there is a group of firefighters and police officers.

Around us, 1 WTC — when it’s finished later this year it will be the tallest skyscraper in the country at 1,776 feet — is going up as is 4 WTC — a 979-foot skyscraper. A massive transportation hub is also being built.

The 9/11 Museum is scheduled to open later this year beneath the Memorial Park, located at the bedrock foundations of the World Trade Center. It will offer exhibits and artifacts that will tell the individual stories of survivors, responders and New Yorkers. Meanwhile, at the visitor center you can watch a short film and purchase books, including several for children.

It’s impossible not to be moved by the Memorial’s twin reflecting pools — each nearly an acre in size — the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit in the footprints of the twin towers. The plaza will eventually have more than 400 trees brought from all the areas within 500 miles that were directly impacted by the attacks. When completed, the plaza will be the perfect place for silent reflection.

“The Memorial gave me a welcoming feeling,” observed Luis Cruz, a high-school freshman from New Jersey who was part of our group. “The giant pools symbolize peace and serenity.”

(Eileen also wrote a Travel Diary about her visit to the 9/11 Memorial with the ABC boys)

© 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.