A castle is a great place to time-travel
After 9/11, families who didn’t want to venture far from home discovered Mohonk—just 90 miles from NYC. The owners hope in this economy that will happen again but I think they will need to rethink their price structure for families with young kids — just as I think all resorts should right now.
A trip to a castle — Mohonk Mountain House
I love castles. I’ve stayed at a centuries-old castle turned bed and breakfast in Wales and visited castles wherever I go — France, England, Austria and the Czech Republic last summer. But I never realized there would be such a cool castle less than two hours...TO ORLANDO ON THE CHEAP
It’s bad enough to say no to the kids all the time at home, much less on vacation. (No, you can’t have that $40 sweatshirt. No you can’t order that $20 steak…) Vacation, after all, is when we all want to indulge the kids and ourselves. But with the economy the way it is, I think we’re all going to be saying no more often, until we figure out better ways to stretch those vacation bucks.
Hitting the slopes without busting the budget
Eleven-year-old Nate Gourd, an avid snowboarder from Manchester, Vt., couldn’t agree more. “You feel like you’re flying when you come down the mountain,” he says, adding that kids “definitely should wear helmets.” Meet Vermont’s vice presidents of fun. Bridget — who says she’s always waiting at the bottom of the mountain for her “slowpoke” family
Belize offers a host of family friendly destinations
By Eileen OgintzTribune Media ServicesThe big green moray eel stares at me, coming out of his hideaway in the reef, as if to say, “Go away! I don’t want to play!”But I’m content to just watch him, his buddies and all of the other creatures that...Five Days in San Francisco
DAY ONE — As long as I was flying cross country to San Francisco, I thought I’d try Virgin America (www.virginamerica.com) . I always liked flying Virgin Atlantic to London. They were among the first to have individual seat entertainment systems with dedicated...TO AMSTERDAM
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services I’ve found vacation nirvana for teenagers and it’s a place parents will like just as much as teens do. Welcome to Amsterdam. It’s got everything, including teen-safe clubs, terrific outdoor markets that,...OPTING FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF LODGING
Searching out those markets and meeting the locals who shop there is all part of the charm of renting a flat in a strange city or a villa in the countryside. We sleep with cherubs over our bed and hear the noises of a city neighborhood — a baby crying, a couple jabbering in Italian and music playing.
A trip to Costa Rica designed for teens and tweens (and one little sister)
After a morning of white-water rafting (and plenty of water fights) on Costa Rica’s Sarapiqui River, and a first-rate burrito lunch made by our raft guides at the river’s edge, we stop in the small town of Horquetas, about 10 minutes from where we are staying to visit an elementary school. Some 270 kids attend the ill-equipped school, which is so overcrowded that children must attend split sessions. The students mug for our cameras and giggle.