5 Tips For Booking Successful Vacation Rentals
With more online resources available, and larger multigenerational family groups traveling together, it's time your family explores the vacation rental option for your next getaway. 1. Why a Vacation Rental When Hotels are So Easy? Cost is a big factor. Vacation rentals, whether you are searching for a condo, beachfront villa, family home or timeshare available by...
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Agri-Tourism Opportunities Around the World
This directory of agri-tourism resources will help you plan a farm stay so your kids can learn where food comes from, and also lists other environmentally-friendly accommodations around the globe. Agri-Tourism hasn't quite caught on in the United States yet the way it has elsewhere, particularly in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. But more and more families are considering agri-vacations...
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10 Tips To Avoid Hassles At U.S. Borders
Whether your cellphone contains confidential business documents or you’re packing homemade cranberry sauce, unless you’re exempted by diplomatic status, everyone crossing U.S. borders is subject to examination and search by officials from Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Air passengers have to cope with additional, unspecified...
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Mystic – Connecticut’s Playground
Mystic, Connecticut has all the ingredients for a great family weekend: schooners and whalers, clippers and dinghies at Mystic Seaport; dancing dolphins and dashing sea lions at Mystic Aquarium; a children's museum in Niantic; hiking, biking fishing, and other activities galore plus a whole spectrum of kid-friendly places to stay and kid-favorite places to eat. Family...
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All American Thanksgiving Celebrations
A Thanksgiving recipe for fun: FTF's A-Z guide to local events marking the settlers' gratitude, from traditional eats to marathons. Thanksgiving, the quintessential American holiday, was first celebrated in 1621 by the pilgrim settlers to show thanks for the bountiful harvest that would see them through the long winter. Throughout the years, we have continued the tradition by enjoying feasts...
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Making Lemonade on an Emergency Airport Layover
I got a pound of lemons: an air traffic delay in Fort Lauderdale, a flight cancellation, being rerouted to Chicago O’Hare, an accident at LaGuardia, emergency airport closures, and a snow alert that forced me to spend 26 hours at an airport hotel. If not for that, I might never have “made lemonade” in Rosemont, Illinois home to Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Seemingly a suburb...
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On Earth’s Edge In Tofino
If you’re looking for an adventurous family vacation immersed in nature, Tofino should be on your list. This small community on the West side of Vancouver Island, in the province of British Columbia, Canada, offers striking scenery, active adventures and a hip atmosphere that should delight even hard-to-please teenagers. It is not easy to reach
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What Makes Best Western Hotels Special
When I recall the Best Western hotels we’ve stayed in, there’s always a pleasant surprise, an offbeat architectural detail, unexpected kid-friendly perk, or a free breakfast buffet worthy of a five-star resort. My husband calls Best Westerns “idiosyncratic.” He says of the lack of uniformity, “It’s so refreshing.” Having recently attended the annual Best Western Convention...
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50 Tips For Car Trips
Here's our pick of the top 50 tried n' true road trip tips, culled from families who've logged enough road miles to circumnavigate the globe. Whether you're driving to the local mall or across the sands to Timbuktu, there's bound to be a tip for soothing the kids that you haven't thought of! Prepare the Car & Family Before Departure 1. Make sure your vehicle or...
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Manhattan Movie Madness: New York’s Film Locations
Walking around Manhattan on a cold and windy day in December is not how I wanted to spend a Friday morning with a friend from out of town. But, during her weekend visit from Toronto, Michelle (being the television and movie buff that she is) was very eager to finally see all of the buildings, restaurants and street corners that she's come to know and love from movies and TV shows. So we...
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