Whenever I went to a party, my camera would be in my hands, capturing the moments that I longed to never forget. Even as a little girl, I had a training camera. Finally, at the age of fifteen I took a trip solely for the purpose of exercising the skill I had been building since that early age, a trip that would allow me to capture the beauty of the natural world that I rarely witnessed in the land of suburbia. Although, I doubt if a garden can be considered all that “natural.”
Yes one weekend morning, my father and I set off for the famous Bok Tower Gardens. This garden isn’t what I would typically consider a garden though, amongst the beautifully pruned shrubs and flowers are wild sand hill scrubs, and nightmarish passages. As I passed from section to section of the grounds, I continued to take shot after shot of each shrub, squirrel, and view that I came across. My camera was whirling from position to position, up down, sideways, above, and below in order to capture every angle of the day. The most beautiful view of all was that which the grounds were named after, the Bok Tower. Not only does the tower provide a shelter for the Carillon, whose bells ring out over the grounds, the tower itself displays a certain beauty with the tiles that decorate the two-hundred and five feet tower.
I took my eyes off of the impressively ornate tower and focused below. There, swimming absolutely gracefully in the water, were white swans. I noticed a feeder at the edge of the pond and automatically wished for money to get a chance to get even closer to the beautiful creatures. After rummaging through my father’s pockets, I had enough change to dispense the food and was able to feed the birds from the palm of my hand (and naturally, of course, I HAD to get a picture with them)! I loved the wildlife that covered the grounds…or so I thought.
As soon as we left the swans, we started down a path outlined by numerous trees. At the end of the pond, I stopped to take more pictures of the tower which looked absolutely beautiful, especially from this angle. Turning my focus from the spectacular view, I started to go down the path in front of me and suddenly I noticed that spider after spider covered the trail. Filled with trepidation, I looked up. What I saw was definitely nightmarish. Above the entire trail and towards the tops of the trees were enormous webs, spanning the width of the path, tens of spiders had spun their webs and perched their feet above the innocent path-walkers’ heads. I stared up at the massive giants, some as long as my thumb, wanting to retrace my steps and avoid this passage at all costs. Thankfully, I was able to carefully back my way out of what I now refer to as Aragog’s (the spider form Harry Potter) Hallow, without any incidents. However, despite the surprise encounter, this trip was one of the most memorable I have ever taken. I was able to capture my pictures while experiencing an adventure, all-in-all it was an exciting trip.
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Gr8 information. The beach resorts you suggested are awesome! I think Shangri-La Fijian Resort, Fiji is the best for the people having kids.
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I agree 100% with everything in this article! I have had some experience with planning trips to Europe with my own family and compiled a website full of helpful advice. I particularily love your point #6 about packing lightly – each trip we do to Europe (generally about 3 weeks long) is done only with carry-on luggage. (You only need to try and lug giant suitcases full of things your don't need onto trains once!) It's amazing how little you actually need, and your last point is true too – don't expect to do too much. Sitting in an Italian park with gelato is pretty nice…
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That's a great creativity and fun living place for children. I think Henri Landwirth has done a real great job for children knowing the ancient time and with that enjoying the world village of fairy tales and lot more.
This is awesome, the place suits for the vacations with family. It gives more attachment and warmness with the introduction of new culture. I would love to go there with my family.
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Around the beginning of August of 2011 my parents decided to take a cruise to Mexico. At first I didn't want to go because my classes that I had at high school were College level classes and I didn't want to fall behind in them. It was my senior year, and I wanted to be on top of things. I would think that I would want to go and miss days of school, but this time around I was more focused on my education than anything. I fought really hard to stay in Florida, where I originally lived, so that I could focus on my studies, sadly, I had no choice but to go with them.
Upon arrival on the cruise things were ok. Actually it was more than ok. It was something I never experienced before. It was a mixture of different emotions. When I arrived, we had to go through a metal detector for obvious reasons. I thought I was in the clear, but every time I walked through, it would beep and I would be told to go back. I was sent back at least 10 times until the people behind me started to get mad. After about the 12th time, I finally realized what prevented me from going through. It was my belt. I had to take it off, and I thought it would be no big deal, but the minute I took it off, my pants began to drop. I quickly grabbed it, but then the officers gave me back all of my items that were metal, and without thinking I let go my pants and grabbed for the items, and the expected happened. My pants dropped. Luckily I had on long boxer shorts, but what was on the boxer shorts were even more embarrassing. My boxers had Sponge bob on it. What made it worse was that the little girl behind me saw it and shouted in excitement "Sponge Bob" and ran up to me and hugged my boxers. An outburst of laughter changed the angry crowds mood. Boy, was that embarrassing. After the embarrassing moment, it relieved some tension that I had about not going on the cruise. Even I had to admit that it was pretty funny. Eventually we settled in, got comfortable and cruised right along to Mexico.
Now since I live in Florida, I thought Florida was Hot, I was wrong. The instant I stepped off the boat into the sun, I felt as if the sun it self was cooking my face. The only way to describe or even come close to explain how hot it was is to tell you how I felt. The sun was so bright that my eyes squinted so hard that eventually after the trip I got wrinkles on my forehead from squinting so hard. I never felt a heat wave so strong as to where it made me regret ever stepping off the boat. Try standing a hot sun all day with your head hurting, eyes, and forehead. Any shade that I found was heaven for me; cause walking around in the sun was hell. The sun seriously cooked my face in to look a certain way. When I came back to Florida, everyone said that I looked older and angry. I laughed because I knew exactly why it looked the way it did.
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Nice piece of information! May I reference part of this on my blog if I post a back link to this web page? Thanks.
Glad you found Bethany's story on traveling in Rome helpful. You are welcome to quote from it on your blog, but we ask that you please give your readers the link back to the full story so they can get all the details. Then, please email us through the Contact Us form below so we can see your blog!
thanks Kyle
Wow amazing resort I really like it. I am planning a big family travelling, maybe it is a great help to me. I will bookmark your blog for future updates.
You're absolutely right, but for most families, these special occasion restaurants are a once in a lifetime occasion.
And foodie NY families also take advantage of the city's 2 annual Restaurant Weeks. They're usually for a month (I know it's called Week!) in Feb-Mar and in summer of 2011, it's from July 11-24. All lunches charge $24.07 and all dinners cost $35, and in the past, these 2 amazing restaurants and many others of their calibre have participated in Restaurant Week.
So, that's certainly a good time to get the kids dressed up and show them an amazing foodie night on the town. Check out : http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek for details. And bon appetit!
Per se and La Bernadin are two of the best restaurants in NYC, possibly the world. But dinner for 2 will cost several hundred dollars at each one. They're not within reach of most families.
Please note this 2011 update to hours and admission prices from The Eric Carle Museum:
Hours
10 am–4 pm Tuesday through Friday
10 am–5 pm Saturday
12 –5 pm Sundays
Closed on Mondays * and Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Day
* Open Mondays during July and August and MA school vacation weeks.
Admission Prices
Adult admission $9
Youth (under 18), Student, Teacher and Senior Admission $6
Family Admission (2 adults and 2 youth) $22.50
You are too funny! I actually wrote 6 guidebooks about Greece for the Frommer series, so yes, I know it pretty well. Changing fast though! Thanks for your comments. Kyle
Are there any East African cruises which combine with a Tanzania safari – http://www.ziarasafaris.com — or is the horn of Africa deemed to dangerous to pass through en-route for cruise ships?
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How does this impact the amount of national parks slated to be shut down?
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We have 40 people that want to go on this trip and it looks like they have a tour that we would love to go on…
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Americans are in love with Yellowstone this year! Available space at in-the-park lodges is at a premium and hard to find. A great alternative is Far and Away's 2 nite basecamp (you won't believe the luxury) on a remote shore of Yellowstone Lake. If you want a park experience unlike any other (without the crowds) and one that still has good space availability – it's the ticket.
Thanks for all the great budget friendly tips. My wife and I love taking a bike ride or our dogs for a walk on the Monon Trail. Stop in at BRICS (Broad Ripple Ice Cream Shop) for a tasty treat! Also, we lived here for quite some time before we discovered Holiday Park – they have a great playground for kids.
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