Trip Ideas By Activity
There are so many ways to vacation with your children.
City explorations, museum sleepovers, condo-style rentals, road trips, mountain and lake cabins, beaches, cruises, and all-inclusive vacations stretch budgets. Resorts run the gamut from moderate to pricey. Staying midweek or during shoulder season saves money.
Dream trips—African safaris, Galapagos treks, polar bear watches—deliver the thrill of wildlife encounters but at a hefty price. Farmstays, state and national parks, and hikes through Costa Rican rain forests let you enjoy animal encounters at a fraction of the cost.
Time travel fascinates kids. At living history parks, march with the militia and meet pioneers. In Europe, tour centuries-old castles, climb atop medieval walls, and stroll streets laced with 18th-century buildings. Go back millions of years to the dinosaur era. Satisfy your kids’ curiosity by going on a dinosaur dig, walking in dinosaur footprints, and ogling fossils of these fierce critters in museums.
Build sandcastles at the beach, canoe and fish at a lake, get tossed, twirled, and dropped on rollercoasters at an amusement, ski downhill, or snowshoe through snowy woods.
Stay overnight, for a few days, or a week. Plan carefully, allow for spontaneity, know that things will go awry, and maintain your sense of humor. Have fun.
Planning a trip to Miami Beach? Go north for a different vibe.
The Washington Post||by Candyce H. StapenCategories: Beaches, City and Cultural Vacations, Cruises & Resorts, Family, Grade-Schoolers Ages 6-9, Restaurants, Southern United States Destinations, Trip Ideas, Tweens Ages 10-12, United States DestinationsA Miami Beach vacation doesn’t have to be all about music blasting from outdoor bars.
If, like us, you’re in search of an alternative to South Beach’s noise, $30 valet parking, packed sands and traffic, do what we do: Stay in North Beach.
The area extends from 63rd Street to 87th Street, encompassing the oceanfront hotels along Collins Avenue, and reaches west to Normandy Isles’ Biscayne Bay. Nicknamed NoBe (a counterpoint to South Beach’s moniker SoBe), North Beach is a find — and at no time more than during spring break.
Not to be confused with inland North Miami Beach, NoBe, eminently family-friendly, is relatively quiet — but not dead. It features broad sands, street parking, little traffic outside of rush hours, and it’s graced by a miles-long, oceanfront “boardwalk” that’s actually a wide concrete path edged by grass-topped dunes and sea grape bushes. To take in the sea air, my Gen X son jogs the 4.4 miles round trip to Surfside, the adjacent community, and my husband and I stroll. We pass runners, cyclists, dog walkers and some bikini-clad sun lovers, but North Beach’s seascape also includes grade-schoolers on scooters and tots pedaling tricycles.
And unlike some other beach areas, NoBe has breathing space; high-rises don’t cover all the land. You can join in a pick-up volleyball game on the sand courts at the North Shore Band Shell Park and watch films or listen to musical performances on the outdoor stage. The tree-shaded North Shore Open Space Park has picnic tables and paths by the seaside.The ’50s-era two-story garden apartments add to the community feel. Built to attract the middle class, the apartments are graced with interior courtyards, “cheese holes” (rows of circles that mimic Swiss cheese), futuristic fins and other classic Miami Modern, or MiMo, architectural details. Along Collins, such MiMo-style resorts as the Deauville, Carillon and Casablanca once brought mid-century glamour. With several sections of North Beach awarded local or national historic status, preservationists hope to maintain the area’s special structures.
NoBe also comes with the bonus of being a real neighborhood. So many locals hail from Argentina that the community, especially along the Collins Avenue corridor, is often called “Little Buenos Aires,” although many residents claim ties to Uruguay, Peru, Cuba and other Latin and South American countries. For visitors, that connection translates into some tasty fare.
At Moises Bakery, we buy Chilean chicken empanadas, our favorite of the shop’s six types, and at $3, the filling food is some of the best cheap eats around. When co-owner Phillip Coleman, from Chile, took over in 1991 he changed the European bakery to one that caters to the Latin and South American population, adding empanadas, Cuban croquettes, Venezuelan-style tres leches (sponge cake with three types of milk) and pastel de nata (Portuguese egg tart). Nearby, at Manolo, we watch international soccer games on the multi-screen televisions while sampling tortilla de papa (a five-egg pie baked with potatoes) and other Argentine comfort foods. The churros (fried dough sticks sprinkled with sugar) feed my sweet tooth. At Sazón Cuban Cuisine across the street, maracas mark the menu’s signature dishes, most of which come with black beans and rice. The rolled chicken coiled around a sweet plantain stuffing is another guilty pleasure of mine. It doesn’t cost much to feed a family in North Beach.
Canyon Ranch Miami, a hotel, spa and residences, debuted in 2008, just in time for the Great Recession, which tamped down on development. However, in the five-plus years we’ve borrowed our relative’s condo, we’ve seen a Publix grocery and more eateries bloom along Collins Avenue. In January, Z Capital Partners took over Canyon Ranch Miami, renaming it Carillon Hotel & Spa and pledging to create a “world-class property.”
Although NoBe’s restaurants can’t match the best of South Beach, the seafood at Fifi’s is good, and the French-Moroccan fare at Normandy Isles’ Rouge, opened in 2011, is top-rated, plus its “secret garden,” a vine- and flower-filled rear courtyard, is a treat. We book a table every trip, tempted by the ambiance and the tagines of quail stuffed with sausage, or the braised lamb shank in port wine. Indoors, silent Charlie Chaplin movies play, projected on the rear wall of the restaurant.
Especially along 71st Street, NoBe still has pawn shops and thrift stores, remnants of its less-prosperous past. But architect Renzo Piano’s luxury 64-unit condominium tower is slated to go up on Collins on the border of North Beach. Will this property and others signal higher rents, taller buildings and tears in the neighborhood’s fabric? Concerned, I ask Philip Levine, mayor of Miami Beach, who campaigned, in part, on a platform of revitalizing NoBe.
“Over the years, North Beach has been left behind. Years ago, the area looked like it lacked a lot of love,” says Levine, whose panel has already instituted such community-supported improvements as a free trolley system that connects Collins Avenue with Normandy Isles and opened a dog beach. “I love dogs. How could Miami Beach not have a place to go swimming with your dogs? We created Bark Beach, and it was a home run.”
The Renzo Piano development company gave $10 million back to the NoBe community, half of which is earmarked to renovate the North Shore Open Space Park, notes Levine. He also wants to retain NoBe’s MiMo character. “One of the catalysts for change in South Beach in the late ’80s and ’90s was the recognition of art deco. So we want to preserve the MiMo style as a catalyst for North Beach. We have to be very careful to preserve any and all architecturally significant properties,” Levine says. The master plan pencils in zoning changes to allow increased density of development, both retail and residential, along the 71st Street corridor.
Is the goal to make North Beach like South Beach? “No,” he says. “We already have a South Beach. North Beach is unique. It has the beautiful beaches of Miami Beach, but less congestion than other areas, and North Beach is a little more bohemian. . . . North Beach is more of a cool, locals’ neighborhood that has less of the hustle and bustle of South Beach. I think that the Latin flavor, one of the coolest elements, will stay.”Good. I’m already thinking of when I can again borrow the condo, gather the family and treat them to sweet plantains, savory Moroccan lamb, long oceanfront strolls and white-sand beaches.
If you go
Where to stay
Carillon Hotel & Spa
6801 Collins Ave.
305-514-7000
www.carillonhotel.com
One- or two-bedroom suites with kitchens at this beachfront, former Canyon Ranch property known for its spa and fitness center. Rates include exercise classes. Suites from $650 through April 12; from $495 April 13 to May 24; from $400 in summer.
Collins Hotel Miami Beach
6600 Collins Ave.
786-235-7409
www.collinshotelmiami.com
Moderately priced property with outdoor pool across the street from beach. Rooms from $160.
Moises Bakery of Miami
7310 Collins Ave.
305-868-0548
$3-$4 for empanadas. Inexpensive sweets.
Rouge
908 71st St.
305-720-9125
www.rougemiamibeach.com
Noted French-Moroccan restaurant with garden seating. Entrees $29-$35.
Saźon Cuban Cuisine
7305 Collins Ave.
305-861-4727
www.sazoncubancuisine.com
Tasty Cuban cuisine in a simple setting. Entrees $15-$25.
Fifi’s
6934 Collins Ave.
305-865-5665
fifisseafood.com
Seafood dishes, some with a Latin influence. Entrees $18-$35
Manolo
7300 Collins Ave.
305-868-4381
www.churrosmanolo.com
Salads, burgers, tortillas and Argentine entrees. Entrees $9-$19
What to do
Bark Beach
Oceanfront between 80th and 81streets
305-673-7730
www.miamibeachparks.com
Swim with your dog, Friday to Sunday, 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Residents $5; non-residents $25, cash only. Pay on-site.
North Shore Band Shell
7275 Collins Ave.
305-861-3616
www.miamibeachparks.com
Free outdoor jazz, rock, orchestral concerts and movies.
North Shore Band Shell Park
7250 Collins Ave.
305-673-7730
www.miamibeachparks.com
Sand volleyball courts.
North Shore Open Space Park
Collins Avenue from 79th to 87th Terrace
305-861-3616
bit.ly/18K2yvh
Oceanfront park with shaded picnic benches and paths.
MiMo on the Beach walking tours
Meet at the North Shore Band Shell, 73rd and Collins
305-672-2014
www.mimoonthebeach.com
90-minute neighborhood walking tour showcases distinctive features of Miami Modern architecture. Typically held the first Saturday of the month, $25.
Beach and Nature Vacation, Kiawah Island, SC
BellaOnline.com||by Candyce H. StapenCategories: Adventures, Beaches, College Age & Adult, Cruises & Resorts, Family, Grade-Schoolers Ages 6-9, Multigenerational, Nature Vacations, Southern United States Destinations, Teens Ages 13-17, Trip Ideas, Tweens Ages 10-12, United States DestinationsMake your family beach vacation more than just sun and sand by selecting a destination that enables you to explore the natural environment. In Kiawah Island, South Carolina, you can add kayak outings in search of ibis, pond explorations to peer at turtles and alligator safaris that get you safely close to the toothy critters. Another bonus, Charleston with its centuries-old plantations and elaborate gardens, is a 30-minute drive away.
Kiawah, a 10,000-acre barrier island off the South Carolina coast, 21 miles from Charleston, features 10 miles of beaches.
Named the number one island in North America by Condé Nast Traveler magazine, Kiawah, despite clusters of condominiums and detached homes, plus five golf courses, two tennis complexes and a hotel, still offers, in places, a Lowcountry landscape of lagoons, marshes and forests of pine, palmetto and live oak trees.
At Kiawah Island Golf Resort, you can access these places on eco-adventure tours or self-paced outings. Kayak the creeks to catch sight of snowy egrets, great blue herons, and sandhill cranes that swoop low over the marshes in search of shrimp, fiddler crabs and grasshoppers.
Try a stand-up paddleboard tour to a sandbar in the salt marsh to view oysters, snails, crabs whelks and other critters. If you’re a proficient paddler, head an ocean kayak through the waves in hopes of gliding alongside schools of dolphins. YOU can also sign-up for family fishing or crabbing cruises on the river.
On an alligator walk, peer into the brackish ponds, some on golf courses, looking for telltale bulging eyes. We spot an eight- foot long beauty, sunning herself on the grass in someone’s backyard. The guide informs us that only four of a female’s 20-60 eggs make it to adulthood and if the eggs incubate between 90-92-degrees F, the hatchlings will be males; between 82-86-degree, female and between 87-90-degrees, both genders are produced.
The resort’s man-made conveniences make it easy to enjoy the beach. Along with condominiums or homes with kitchens, Kiawah Island Golf Resort also offers the Sanctuary, a casually elegant, 255-room, Forbes Five Diamond hotel. The Sanctuary blends southern belle style— grand curving staircase and antiques– with beach house decor. The guest rooms, many of which offer some view of the ocean, feature balconies.
Kiawah also offers supervised activities for children. At Kamp Kiawah, ages three through 11 go on scavenger hunts, play beach games, and try tennis and golf as well as enjoy nature walks and pond explorations. In summer ages 7-12 enjoy close encounters with turtles, crabs and other marsh critters at the 90- minute Junior Naturalist sessions and teens 13-17 bond on kayak outings and bicycle scavenger hunts.
Related links
www.kiawahresort.com
www.charlestoncvb.com
Profile: Tucson, AZ
Where to Retire||by Candyce H. StapenCategories: Retirement - Where to Retire, United States Destinations, Western United States DestinationsThe Sonoran Desert area is a lot more than its trademark saguaro cactus.
Retirees relish sports games and performances at the University of Arizona as well as Tucson’s museums, Southwestern culture and weather reports filled with sunshine and low humidity.
In Tucson, towering saguaro cacti hover above a landscape where jackrabbits cool off in the shade of mesquite trees and javelinas leave tracks in the sand. Sunlight plays across the five mountain ranges that ring the metropolis, a nearly 500-square-mile mix of desert and distinctive peaks in southern Arizona’s Pima County. The slopes turn from dawn’s soft orchid to midday’s ocher and dusk’s magenta as the setting sun touches the Tucson Mountains west of the city. The region has the quintessential cowboy feel. Prospectors once searched for gold in the area and ranchers drove herds of cattle across the valleys. Saguaro National Park, which edges metropolitan Tucson on two sides, preserves the scenic panoramas of the Sonoran Desert — the only place in the U.S. where saguaro cacti grow.
The desert landscape and the climate attracted Jay Pierstorff, 61, and his wife, Jan, 65, who moved from Woodland, CA, about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento, CA. Like many, they first fell in love with Tucson on vacations. “We were snowbirds,” says Jay, a semiretired photographer. “We visited family; my wife’s brother and mother live here. The we started to spend more time in Tucson. We rented a place for a few months and realized we would rather spend all our time here than in the Sacramento area.” Jay and Jan, a former salon owner and hairdresser, moved to the city in 2006, purchasing a house in an all-ages community. “In California, we lived in suburbia and had a ‘good-neighbor fence’ 6 feet high,” Jay says. “Where we live in Tucson, we sit on our back patio and we see saguaro cactus. We have neighbors, but they are not right near us.”
Surrounded by mountains and desert terrain, Tucson is a haven for
outdoor adventures. The city also has a thriving downtown and
public streetcar that connects shops, arts venues and restaurants.
Their home is about 5 miles from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, where inspiration and learning is nurtured through natural history exhibits, a zoo, botanical garden, art gallery and aquarium. The 98-acre, mostly outdoor museum features 2 miles of walking paths that lace through cacti, creosote bushes and mesquite trees. Bobcats, ocelots, Gila monsters, skunks and other local creatures live in the exhibits’ habitats.
Jay began serving as a docent at the museum in 2007 and in 2010 he took a part-time paid position, teaching a photography course. He has taken photos of javelinas, mule deer and birds in their backyard.” Southern Arizona makes an impression on you,” says Bob DeLaney, a commercial real estate broker, who with his wife, Lucy, a homemaker, first experienced the Tucson landscape on dude ranch vacations. “It’s a different landscape, like going to the moon. You have these great vistas of lush desert.”
After the DeLaneys, both 64, became empty nesters, they left Winchester, MA, on October 2007 for Tucson as part of their pre-retirement planning. Bob continued in commercial real estate, switching his focus from finding properties to leasing warehouses and manufacturing facilities. They purchased a home in a community on the city’s east side, a half-mile from Saguaro National Park. “We hear coyotes howling every night,” Bob says.
The DeLaneys like being in the same town as the University of Arizona. “We enjoy going to U of A basketball games,” he says. Comedians and other performers are on stage at the university’s famed Centennial Hall, which has hosted speeches by national figures. Tucson is about 70 miles north of the Mexican border and sits at an elevation of more than 2,600 feet. Retirees are lured by its relatively low humidity and 350-plus days of sun each year. “We love the sunshine. It makes us feel good,” Jay says. “It’s OK in summer if you are good with the heat and we like the heat.” By venturing out in the hottest part of the season, they have witnessed monsoon rainfalls and spectacular desert lightning.
Real estate broker Glenda Grow, a senior specialist with Keller Williams Southern Arizona, reports that weather is the No. 1 reason people retire here. “It’s a great place in winter, fall and spring,” she says. In summer, some people take trips or visit family in milder locales.
Linda Cloninger, 63, a former school counselor, and her husband, Gary, 63, who worked as a postal inspector, split their time between residences in St. Louis and Tucson. They became acquainted with the area when their son attended the University of Arizona.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum holds classes and field trips on topics like wildflowers, hummingbirds and archaeology.
The couple retired in 2006, and last September, they bought a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house in Del Webb at Dove Mountain, a 55-plus development in Marana at the base of the Tortolita Mountains, about 35 miles northwest of Tucson. “Because the community is new, most of us are on the younger side of retirement,” Linda says. The couple take advantage of the city’s cultural attractions, including the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and concerts at the Fox Tucson Theatre on West Congress Street. An Art Deco gem, the theater opened its doors on April 11, 1930, as the city’s movie palace. Downtown’s decline in retail and new competition led to the Fox’s closing in 1974. Following its purchase in 1999 by the Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation and a $14 million restoration, the Fox reopened in December 2005.
Enjoying Tucson’s downtown has never been easier. The Sun Link streetcar, launched in July, covers a 4-mile route connecting the University of Arizona with entertainment venues, restaurants, shops and other highlights.
Among the trendy restaurants in the Congress Street area are chef Janos Wilder’s Downtown Kitchen and Cocktails, which offers a savory mix of modern American cuisine with global influences; Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery, serving tasty pastrami sandwiches and lobster rolls at lunch as well as house-made ice cream; and Proper, with menu items like lamb sausage and caramelized pork chops. El Presidio Historic District, Tucson’s oldest neighborhood, takes its name from the Spanish fort built in 1775. Although the fort is no longer standing, the partially reconstructed Presidio San Agustin del Tucson, now a museum, features mannequins in historic attire and artifacts found on-site, among other items. The district also contains the six structures of the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block. Arts shops and the La Cocina Mexican restaurant are arranged around a courtyard, where locals and tourists relax and listen to the twittering of hundreds of sparrows in the branches of the huge tombstone rosebush. El Charro Cafe, also in the district, has been serving Mexican food since 1922.
The Fox Tucson Theatre, which opened in 1930, today hosts concerts and shows and is one of the main draws to downtown.
Visitors grab a Turquoise Trail tour brochure and follow the turquoise line painted on the sidewalks. The path winds past Spanish 19th-century adobe houses and other noteworthy 19th- and 20th-century structures. Another drawing card is the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, held for two weeks or so each January and February at more than 40 sites. “I am a beader and I enjoy going to the show,” Linda says. “It’s a feast for your eyes. Everyone who visits us loves to go there. Last year, my sister bought a necklace with a big stone and she said it was a great deal.”
Rick and Holli Palmer moved from Alexandria, VA, to Tucson after six years of pre-retirement research that included visits to Austin, TX; San Antonio; Las Cruces, NM; Las Vegas; Albuquerque, NM; and Phoenix.
Rick, 57, a former naval officer and business developer in the defense industry, and Holli, 52, who worked as a flight attendant, bought a house in February 2014 at Del Webb at Rancho Del Lago, an active-adult development in Vail, about 25 miles southeast of the city. “Tucson has plenty of what we require and a heck of a lot less of what we don’t like,” Rick says. “We are close enough to shopping, a military base and good medical facilities.” The University of Arizona Medical Center is known for its care in cancer, cardiology and orthopedics.
The Mission San Xavier del Bac was founded in 1692 and the current church was built in the late 1700s.
Tucson real estate proved to be a good buy for the Palmers. “For what you pay in Alexandria for a house, you could purchase two or three homes in Tucson,” Holli says. The good value extends to their Pulte Homes residence. “It’s open, airy, light and easy to maintain,” Rick adds. “The house is smartly built, well-insulated with properly polarized windows.” The couple enjoy the community’s activities. “Each month, a potluck, line dancing and karaoke are held. I go to the gym, the ladies’ breakfasts and lunches,” Holli says. “The neighbors are very welcoming.” Rick lifts weights at the fitness center and swims in the pool. The Palmers also walk the network of trails.
Hotel Congress, dating to 1919, attracts patrons with its signature Tap Room and its Cup Cafe, serving American cuisine.
Like other Western states, Arizona may experience a water shortage in the future. Expert sources predict a 17 to 29 percent chance of water scarcity in any year from 2016 to 2026. Such a shortage depends on many factors, including continued below-normal rainfall and climate change. On the plus side, Arizonans are getting better at conserving water by utilizing less in landscaping and by recycling “graywater” for use on golf courses. Although a shortage is not synonymous with a drought, continued water conservation and the creation of contingency plans are real concerns for some residents. Retirees, however, often see more pros than cons. The active lifestyle convinced longtime Tucson resident Nancy Gray, 63, to remain here after her husband died in 2010.
“You can do things outdoors every day in Tucson,” says Nancy, who sold the public riding stables business that she and her husband owned for more than 20 years after closing on a house in Del Webb at Rancho Del Lago in January 2014.
Rick and Holli Palmer considered at least a half-dozen cities before relocating from Alexandria, VA, to Tucson in 2014.
“As a widow, I didn’t want to have to maintain 3 acres of horse property or feel isolated at my home on 4 acres,” she says, adding that she takes advantage of the get-togethers at the clubhouse as well as its gym and sports courts. “I have three dogs and I feel safe walking them — about 5 miles within the community each day. If a person is an active senior, you cannot beat this place.” How do the locals handle the summers when temperatures sometimes top 100 degrees? “You just adjust your schedule,” Nancy says. “You change your life so you do your outdoor activities early in the morning and then do things indoors in the afternoon.”
Holli also gives Tucson a thumbs-up. “In the evening, Rick and I look out at the stars, moon and the mountains,” she says. “We enjoy the beautiful sunsets. I am so glad we moved here.”