Glory Tuesday

Los Angeles may not be the first place you think when you’re hunting for a fun family get away that might be educational for the whole family. However, the City of Angels is actually home to several gems where kids of all ages can find something interesting to see or do.

The most obvious things to do as a family that comes to mind is the studio and theme park tours. These actually can hide some nuggets of wisdom and are probably conveniently located if you’re staying in one of the many five star hotels Los Angeles has surrounding them. At Disneyland they can learn about the history of animation since this is where it all started and Universal Studios still has a special bungalow on site that was where Alfred Hitchcock lived while filming his famous movies. You won’t believe what happened to the Munster’s old place.

For somewhere a little more frugal there is always the Hollywood Walk of Fame where you can scan the star plaques on for favorite stars’ names or pose for pics with look-a-likes hanging out in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater dressed as your favorite super heroes , villains, and other film characters. If you feel like splurging you can even see a first run movie before all your friends back home can get a chance.

For history not linked to the film industry there’s the La Brea Tar Pits to see the relics millions of years old still trapped in the muck. Continuing on the dinosaurs and fossils topic at the George Page Museum kids can experience the What It’s Like to be Trapped in Tar exhibit, and when a certified tour leader is on hand they may even get a chance to hunt for fossils themselves.

Key Largo – Food – Wine – Festival, put these five words together and what could be more perfect? Well, to make the Key Largo Food Wine Festival 10 days long! Beginning July 30, 2010 and running through August 8th, Key Largo, the gateway to the Florida Keys, becomes a paradise for foodies and wine lovers. So, if you haven’t planned your summer vacation yet, make your reservations at any of the Florida four star hotels , and they will be glad to accommodate you during this popular festival.

Come on down and enjoy all of the tasty temptations as Key Largo’s culinary experts show you what this resort town has to offer by presenting almost 30 tasty food, wine and spirits events; multiple wine tastings, where you’ll get to try some of your favorite wines, and find some new treasures for 9 days. You’ll also be treated to cooking demonstrations, wine dinners, progressive wine dinners, food and wine pairing classes, cook book signings, wine and arts shows, wine and cigars, and as always: Key Largo’s famous sunsets, shopping, scuba diving, snorkeling and you’ll have a great time doing every single one of these activities.

The Key Largo Food Wind Festival was the vision of the local business people to increasing tourism, not that Key Largo lacked tourism, but to put Key Largo on the map for hosting one of the best Food and Wine Festivals in Florida, which they have succeeded. New this year is a popular favorite, a ‘Whodunit’ murder mystery night, that is guaranteed to entertain. Also, champagne brunches, all-American barbecues with summertime wines, authentic Greek dinner with European wines, sushi with a sous chef, and everyday wines with lobster prepared every way possible. Finishing off the event on Sunday, the last day, is a Festival complete with brunch, bubbly and dancing.

Thanks to my friend Meredith Alford for the guest post.

RV Travel

There’s nothing quite like hitting the highway in the RVand traveling America’s highways. Even though our RV has many great amenities, such as some of the best hd cable deals and a large family area, it’s always nice to stop at off the beaten path type of places.

Theme Parks

Our family loves theme parks. We buy annual passes to save money and try to visit at least once every couple of weeks during the summer. With so many to choose from in such close proximity, it never gets old. The kids love water parks and we always make a day of it.

Geocaching

Geocaching is great fun for kids and adults. It’s like playing a giant game of hide and seek. Plus, you never know what you are going to find at the end of the treasure hunt. It is a great way to get outside and enjoy fresh air and nature with your family. The only thing that it costs is gas and you will need a handheld GPS unit.

The Beach

There’s nothing quite like feeling sand between your toes and the feeling of salt water on your skin. You can surf, sun bathe, or build sand castles. We have at least one weekend trip to the beach every summer!

Summer in New York is something that holds a great deal of promise, and for weary world travelers, cooped up all winter, the idea of a summer getaway comes looming at all hours of the day or night. Traveling and wanderlust are things that can work their way into the nighttime dreams, and can also start to make daydreaming more necessary. When the days and nights get confounded, New York is the perfect remedy, because there are times when it’s hard to tell what time it is.

At an event sponsored by Surreal Estate , the art collective in Brooklyn, this is especially true, because the events are something out of a dream. It could be something as interesting as an afterparty for an anarchist book fair, or something with an obvious appeal to daydream tendencies like a Madhatter Tea Party. It’s hard to imagine a vacation more exciting, where one can leave their New York hotel to hang out for awhile with some of the young and radical artists in the city, along with some pretty exciting international guests.

Surreal Estate is a fairly large collective, with about 35 people at any given time, and for any group of artists this large, organizing isn’t always a strong suit. They seem to have it down, however, taking their multiple perspectives and points of view, and finding things to agree to focus on.

The history of the art collective in the city is very long and complex. For some, it reached its zenith at the end of the 1960s, when this was the preferred way of creating new work. For theaters, it was an obvious leap, where the connections between communal living made sense when people were working intensely for hours at a time. For other art collectives, it had advantages particularly in combining resources for rent, as well as sharing other artistic resources, like minds. This tradition lives on in the city, and it’s a great opportunity to see how it might work for the next generations.

Hawaii has so much to offer, containing a brilliant past within its present, and there are glimpses of a future here that are also equally bright. Visitors coming to Oahu can have the opportunity to visit the Hawaii of their dreams, where the images from films and songs come to life. It’s even better than anyone could ever imagine, and the beauty is complemented by an enormously delicate ecosystem. With better ideas about responsible travel, it’s possible to enjoy all the islands have to offer, and an Oahu vacation package is a perfect way to get introduced to the magic of the place.

Waikiki is a beach that has a lot of weight in contemporary culture. There are countless songs that reference it, and one visit is enough to see why. This is the legendary place where surfing became an international phenomenon, taking an ancient past time and turning it into a modern sport. Perhaps many of the players in the surfing game have changed, but the legacies are still here. The Waikiki Beach Boys are still around, actually, although their glorious past might not be known to everyone. From the 20s to the 50s, they were very popular with visitors, and anyone staying in an Oahu hotel would come to know who they were.

Now part of a more organized Canoe Club , they were originally water sports experts who spent a lot of time at the beach. The visitors back then stayed for longer periods of time, and they got to know each other. The Beach Boys would teach them about surfing, canoeing, and any number of water activities. Today, guests in Hawaii spending their time in Oahu rentals might get a better chance to get to know what they’re doing these days, but even a short stay might get to know them as they work as lifeguards and firemen, and sometimes take part in paddling events. Old traditions here don’t ever really go away, with a past every bit as deep as the water.

Maps serve a variety of different purposes. They look nice hanging from a wall. They give us a sense of our place in this world. Most importantly they give us direction. Whether we are flying across the world or driving down the street, for many of us getting lost is inevitable. Since I am one of those people who will get lost driving someplace they’ve been a hundred times before, I do my best to keep road maps in my car at all times. Even if you are great at directions there is one place that you always want to keep that road map handy, and that is in San Francisco.
San Francisco is one of the oldest cities on the west coast. It has a great history that includes surviving a great fire and an earthquake. There are few cities that have as much character and culture as San Francisco.
When visiting this great city there are several points of interest that you are not going to want to miss. From Alcatraz to Sears Tower, Lombard Street to Haight Ashbury. Unfortunately many of these places are not in the same general location. Walking and taking public transportation are the preferred methods of transportation here so it is a good idea to stick a small street map in your pocket. The last thing you want to do when you are walking is get lost and have to retrace your steps. Although if you do decide to drive, you will want to be certain you know where you are going before you attempt to navigate the crowded streets.
Anytime you are in a city that is unfamiliar to you, it is a good idea to bring a map. Not only will it same you time and energy if you get lost, but it will give a better understanding of where you are and make your trip more enjoyable.

Coming to New York as an outsider, which is how most of the city comes to it, can be rather overwhelming. Literally, the senses are bombarded here in a way that’s different than any other place on earth. There have long been rumors about how the decibels here are higher, so that it’s necessary to get the body physically used to the changes in sound alone, not to mention sight. However, for those who are visiting, the stimulation can be pretty welcome, because it’s only a short time, and there’s always time to retreat to the room , and get some peace and quiet before another round of the city.

For anyone who can, however, trying to see as much as possible can offer rather pleasant rewards. There’s all the art that anyone could possibly see, and it would take a better part of a week to even make a dent in seeing it all, and there’s plenty of other visually spectacular things, too. For those who are visiting in the winter, a trip to Barney’s is certainly called for.

Coming to see what’s new this year is something that brings out the celebrity New Yorkers by droves every holiday season. The Hippie Christmas of 2008 was something very special, and spoke to a kind of lingering sentiment that a lot of the villagers have been feeling. It’s always fascinating to see how a display in one of the most visible centers of conspicuous consumption can speak to a desire to have less and live more simply, but so it is at Barney’s.

Under the careful hand of Simon Doonan, the window displays have a sense of the absurd and the bizarre. There is definitely a holiday appeal, and they’re attractive and compelling for kids, but for adults with an artistic bent, which is to say, 95% of the city, there is also something very dark about these installations, and the darkness is never overwhelmed by the considerable deep thought behind it.

To all snow skiers, Aspen is the best place to ski! It offers everything you could possibly want, of course superb skiing, great food, great shopping, crazy people, celebrities, and tons of night life. I call Aspen ‘Ski Town USA’, it really has it all. The vibe is alive, it’s exciting and thrilling. No matter who you are the residence here are extremely friendly, especially in the dance clubs and bars in downtown Aspen. I never felt alone the whole time I was here.

My first day at Snowmass , which is considered a ‘warm up’ ski slope compared to the very intimidating Ajax, which is the name given to Aspen slope by the locals, I skied the infamous run Big Burn. It’s names that because going from the top all the way to the bottom, your legs burn, and boy do they! It’s one of the longer and better runs that I’ve skied. I ran into many excellent skiers and even a few racers on the Big Burn. We were all excited about taking on Ajax and its famous runs. Ajax mountain is spectacular and has all kinds of runs and jumps. You can ski through trees and go to places where it’s so quiet all you can hear are your skis cutting through the snow.

I didn’t want to stop for lunch, but it was late enough for dinner and I need sustenance to keep up all this skiing I’m going to do. So, I went back down into town to change clothes at this very cool hotel I’m staying at, courtesy of this seminar gig I’m attending. While in the lobby, I ran into several of the people I was skiing with earlier today. They too are attending the seminar, so we all headed to The Restaurant locate in our hotel. We stayed there until closing time, talking about how most of them won’t actually attend the seminar, they just need it for a tax write-off. Luckily, I don’t need a tax write-off, all I need is fresh snow and a good mountain to ski down. We all agreed that that is why we’re really here.

Virginia is a big time vacation destination for people looking to get away for a while to relax and have a good time. While away from home staying at a good hotel is crucial to a vacation because being well rested and fresh is important because you will need energy for partying, eating, and other activities planned. This is a list of different hotels and links to a site that has rankings and customer testimonials for each. This will make the accommodation search shorter so you can spend more time planning things to do .
SpringHill Suites Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Sandcastle Oceanfront Resort Hotel
Ocean Front Inn
Albermarle Hotels- huge listing
19 Atlantic Hotel – http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g58277-d1159224-Reviews-19_Atlantic_Hotel-Virginia_Beach_Virginia.html
The Founder Inn- reviews
Homewood Suites Virginia Beach
Many of these hotels are located directly on the beach. Upon waking up you just have to take a few steps to the balcony and smell the fresh air, see the water, and the sun shining. There are also many restaurants all over that offer affordable and great tasting foods. Fast food chains, buffets, diners, and upscale restaurants are all over. Booking accommodations at a hotel strategically placed that these is important because it cuts down on driving that you would have to do. Less driving means less money needs to be spent on gas and that money can be spent on having a good time.
Staying at a hotel with poor service and bad rooms can put a damper on the trip as well. After a long day it is nice to come back to a clean room with a nice bed and clean linen. It feels good to have a shower that is clean and no bugs or creatures in the room. These are things that you would expect to naturally take place at a hotel that you are paying for but many hotels do not supply the basic needs. Being able to see the testimonials of other travellers who have stayed at these hotels will give you a heads up and avoid bad situations.

This is the way that our adventures always unfold. I am always wishing that we could have other interests in common, and the truth is, we do, but this one always wins out over anything else. Traveling the world is lovely, and adventure is our first priority, and we always stop to smell the flowers in the cemeteries.

Ok, that might not exactly sound like the perfect vacation. It’s all right, we get this all the time, and there are some days when we’d prefer to talk about other things, but our friends always ask about what we did. It’s the question that comes right after the question about the hotels . So we like to go and visit graveyards. It’s nothing new. Ha. That might not sound right when it’s read, but it’s funny.

Cemeteries, for us, are the best ways to get to know a place. You can find out all sorts of information from the graveyards. It’s not just the dates on the headstones, and the names, to give an idea of who and when, which are often great clues to getting to know a city. It’s also the ambiance.

Not many people pay attention to it, perhaps, but it’s a big deal, and every place has a different feel. There are some small towns where the cemeteries have a kind of natural charm, but it’s hard to help when dealing with small towns where it’s always the same people coming every week to see the same people they saw last week.

In Honolulu, Manoa Chinese Cemetery is one of the more interesting little spots, although it’s not little by any means. This is one of the largest Chinese cemeteries in the area, and there are locals as well as out of town visitors here looking to reconnect with family and friends.

Here, at the Manoa Cemetery , there is an ambiance that’s palpable, and it shifts in different corners. That’s the sign of a really good graveyard, because ideally there should be a good mix of people, enough to make for separate little pockets of energy, like a good party.