7 Top Train Trips for Exploring the East
It’s a good time for thinking about family-friendly trip ideas, and these seven top train trips – all short ones -- are ideal suggestions for families with little ones and big ones. So as a father, avid train traveler and vacation-lover, I am sharing a few of my favorites family railroad adventures available in the eastern...
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Celebrity Sighting! A Dazzling New Cruise Ship
Since choosing a cruise for family gatherings makes logistical issues easy and fun, Family Travel Forum was eager to experience the new Celebrity Edge, touted as the “World’s Most High-Design Cruise Ship.” When her preview cruise sailed in December 2018, it gave us a chance to flash forward nearly a decade from a prior cruise vacation aboard Celebrity...
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Plan a Multi-Generational Cruise Vacation With Celebrity
Cruise vacations are noted for luxury, convenience, varied activities and distinctive ports of call. Could a cruise be the answer to your 21st century multi-generational group’s dilemma of “what should we do this year?” Maybe as you read this, you are shaking your head in doubt: the cost, the extras, the food, and gratuities. However, when you look at the actual costs, they will be less...
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Six Most Fun Activities in Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas is a unique, fun destination, adored by everyone from A List Hollywood celebrities to family groups. Over 4.9 million people flew through Los Cabos International Airport last year to sample the land where the desert meets the sea. To me, the biggest factor making Cabo more desirable than other destinations is the sun. If you live in more temperate climes, gray skies, dampness, rain...
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Do These 2 Things in Providence, Then Eat
My recent visit to Providence, Rhode Island, long considered a second city to Boston (its neighbor barely 45 minutes to the north), proved that it's second to none. Instead, Providence is home to some amazing cultural institutions, six schools of higher education, and fabulous eating possibilities from the very simple to elaborate dining. All ages will appreciate that, while New England may conjure...
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Secure Tourism Summit Reveals What’s Next in Airport Security
The first Secure Tourism Summit was held in New York City on April 9,2017. It was sponsored by the industry trade organization, US Travel Association and, while many of the topics discussed were directed to large organizations, a few concepts were quite apt for family travelers. Starting with the numbers, the United...
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Mt. Washington Cog Railway to Build Summit Hotel – True or False?
"At age 147, the only cog railway in America east of the Rocky Mountains is getting a makeover." That statement was made in January 2017 based on news we received about one of our favorite tourist attractions, the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire. Since then, we received comments from Chris Magness representing a non-profit environmental group,
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Gloom Is Not A Port Of Call On A Weatherproof Cruise
It's winter, and while everyone from Scottsdale, Arizona to St. John's, Newfoundland yearns for spring just a few months away, I have discovered the ultimate weather-proof getaway.A most wonderful temporary panacea to the malaise that most of us deal with during the northern hemisphere’s darkest nights and shorter days is part practical, part fantasy, offering an adventure for everyone....
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Winterlude And Carnaval, Canada’s Winter Festivals
Here's a fun, blow-by-blog journal from FTF's train reporter on riding the rails to sample Winterlude, the cold Ottawa, Ontario festival, and Carnaval de Quebec, Quebec City's very cold festival. Both winter festivals are held annually in Canada (Winterlude the first two weeks of February and Carnaval the last three weekends in February) and are great fun for families.Day...
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Maine Adventures In The Forks
From whitewater rafting to rock climbing, Maine's northern outdoors has it all, and one company makes the fun easy to share with active kids and teens. From whitewater rafting to rock climbing, Maine's northern outdoors has it all, and one company makes the fun easy to share with active kids and teens. My addiction is to things that move - rowboats to the Concorde and everything...
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Cruise Quebec and the Canada Coast with Family Values
At a recent gathering, staff from Cruise St Lawrence discussed the many ports available to cruise passengers on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Many of you may be thinking that the province has Montreal and Quebec City -- yet little else -- to offer. Well, there is a lot more to see and do.
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By Rail Aboard The Overland: Adelaide To Melbourne Australia
A southern Australia vacation by family-friendly train offers mountains, rivers, kangaroos and a whole lot more, while someone else does the driving. As on many train journeys throughout North America, the horn on the diesel locomotive gave a few sharp blasts, and with an almost imperceptible tug the train was off on its over 500-mile-long journey. New York to Raleigh NC? Chicago to Omaha?...
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St. John’s, Newfoundland – Canada At Its Best
Canada's lesser known island off the far eastern coast boasts outdoor recreation and stunning scenic attractions, making it an ideal summer playground from April to September.Part of Canada only since 1949, and joined together in name only since 2001, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador boasts the distinction of being the country’s...
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Moncton, New Brunswick
Take the family to eastern Canada's New Brunswick region for history, outdoor explorations, kid-friendly activities and lots of lobster. Among the Atlantic Provinces in Canada, New Brunswick has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I have flown over it many times, rode the train through its northern, central and southern reaches and driven through it, yet never spent any actual time...
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Through Scenic Central New York And Beyond
Join a railroad buff on his vintage railway tour from Binghamton to Syracuse to relive the early days of train travel.As a child of the 50's, even before I could read, I could recognize the railroad heralds that adorned the freight train cars that would occasionally pass through my suburban northern New Jersey town, as well as the many commuter trains that traveled through each day. As I grew...
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Fathers And Sons – A Diary
Follow three generations of Spielmans throughout a wonderful family reunion in peaceful northwest Vermont and find out what the family- friendly, non-theatening Smuggler's Notch Resort has to offer you. The summer of 97's best memory was our first experience with "multi-generational travel." The participants: my father, Joseph, 82, who lives 700 miles...
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Teen Programs – With The Folks At A Resort
Learn what to look for with the "five C's" of resort teen programs.After reviewing the supervised teen programs at the Smuggler's Notch, Vermont; Tyler Place at Lake Champlain, Vermont; and Beaches Turks & Caicos resorts with my wife and teenage son, we have developed some insights into the ideal program for the 13-17-year-old traveler and his tag-along parents. Five C's...
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Cape Breton And Nova Scotia
History, culture, and nature in Canada's beautiful Nova Scotia.One of my favorite regions, the province of Nova Scotia, also known as Canada's "Festival Province," lies to the east of Maine in the Canadian Maritimes. Within its 21,425 square miles, there are 4,600 miles of coastline, so you are never more than 37 miles from the sea. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Cape Breton...
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Low Cost Carriers: 5 Days, 9 Airplanes
A business travel specialist discovered aviation's new frontier in a five-day, eight-airline, first-person trial in May 2004 to judge the service and value of America's low cost airlines, and his tips are still worthwhile.Not too long ago, a Corporate Travel Director and I discussed the phenomenon of Low Cost Airlines (LCA’s) that have sprung up over the last 15 years. According...
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Garden Of The Gulf: Prince Edward Island
The International Shellfish Festival comes to Canada's remote eastern island in time to catch changing leaves and uncrowded trails.Ah, Prince Edward Island. In my many visits to Canada, somehow PEI had never appeared on the radarscope. The most-densely populated and smallest Canadian province had eluded my geographical grasp until now. When the weather outside in the northern hemisphere...
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Across The Caribbean Aboard Westerdam: A Floating, Family-Friendly Hotel
Have children who want to learn about the world on the ultimate field trip? Holland America cruises can fulfill and exceed that educational requirement. It's winter in the Northern Hemisphere. This means late sunrise, low temperatures, gray days, precipitation, and early darkness in the mix. What might bring warm days and sunny skies, powder-sand beaches and destinations that offer unusual...
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British Columbia And Alberta: Canada Winter Adventures
Wherein the author, a city dweller, communes with ice canyons, snowshoes, and civilized travel amidst freezing temperatures in one of the most magnificent parts of North America…. Ah winter! The bane of one’s existence if you live in the northeast -- rain, fog, hail, wind…and snow. All the ingredients for slipping, sliding, and making those dark winter days...
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Viva Wyndham Playa Dorada, Dominican Republic
Visit two of Viva Wyndham's most popular all-inclusive resorts on the DR's north shore and learn what great value and hospitality really mean.If you are looking for a tropical paradise, the Dominican Republic should rank high on your shortlist. If you draw a line east 740 miles from Miami, you will hit the DR, a country the size of West Virginia blessed with a rather varied topography....
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