Five Favorite Spring Break Adventures for Families, Tubing the White River, Jamaica

While a subway ride to downtown Boston doesn’t really qualify as travel, I can’t hide the joy I felt watching the Red Sox parade with good friends the first Saturday in November. Seeing Big Papi rap, hearing the Dropkick Murphy’s sing “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” watching our surprise hero, Koji Uehara, blow kisses to the crowd, it was exhilarating. The stunning worst to first turn-around for the Red Sox was exactly what this city needed after a hellish Marathon day. I was at the Marathon, taking my usual space with my family cheering on the runners near the infamous Heartbreak Hill on Mile 19. It was a perfect day for running, sunny and brisk. Then I went home to watch the Red Sox win with a walk-off hit in the 9th inning. Everything was perfect until it wasn’t. The next thing you know my hometown is in lockdown during our precious April school break while the police are in a shootout in nearby Watertown with the brothers who bomb innocent people.
I was delighted to receive word last week that my story for Virtuoso Traveler on traveling with the family to the Swiss Alps won first prize in the Family Travel category at the Society of American Travel Writers Eastern Chapter Writing Contest. I don’t take this lightly. I must have submitted 20 stories over the past 25 stories and haven’t received any recognition since my book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England, was published in 1996! Rereading this particular story on Switzerland, I touched on loss, how my kids were getting older, soon graduating from college, and you can’t take these family trips for granted much longer. I think it was this part of the piece that resonated with the judges. Even more surprising was that I received an Honorable Mention in the Miscellaneous category for my Road Trip to Revolutionary War Sites story for Chevrolet’s New Roads Magazine. The highlight of researching this story was having dinner with an old high school friend in Saratoga and spending time with my nephew, Max, in Philly, who was going to school at UPenn. Please have a look at the winning entries.
July 4th weekend might be in the rear view mirror but the summer has just begun. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit one of the hundreds of amusement parks across the country to sample some of their new rides. According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the big new trends at amusement parks are virtual reality roller coasters and immersive 4-D attractions. On roller coasters, riders wear specially designed virtual reality headsets as they become part of the adrenalin-pumping storyline. For example, Six Flags Magic Mountain, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, has added new virtual reality technology to the “Revolution” steel roller coaster, creating “The New Revolution.” Wind, water, and heat are just a few of the sensory elements, along with high-tech sound that ride designers are implementing to help create a 4-D immersive experience. At Epcot in Orlando, “Soarin’ Around the World” is a new 4-D experience that treats guests to an aerial tour of some of the world’s most distinctive landscapes.
The Mayan day of doom, December 21st, is almost upon us. There’s no better way to commemorate the occasion than to actually visit some of Mexico’s finest Mayan ruins. A mere hour’s drive south of Merida is the Puuc Route. This hillier region of the Yucatan attracts fewer travelers than the better-known sites of Chichen Itza and Tulum since it is farther from the resort towns of Cancun and Rivera Maya. The rounded pyramid at your first stop, Uxmal, stands majestically on high ground. At the Nunnery Quadrangle, four buildings just behind the pyramid, serpents and heads of jaguars can easily be seen on the motifs. Other Mayan sites along the Puuc Route are also worth a quick detour. Kabah is known for its almost maniacal façade of 250 Chaac sculptures that line one wall. Walk past the wild turkeys and brilliant red birds in the forest of Sayil to reach its grand palace.
If you live in New York City and noticed that big Bootmobile in Times Square on Wednesday, the vehicle came direct from Freeport, Maine, to celebrate L.L. Bean’s 100th anniversary. Feeling nostalgic? Then order a special-edition boot this year that’s similar to the first pair of boots designed by Leon Leonwood Bean. Better yet, blog, tweet, or simply tell a story about using L.L. Bean gear and the company will donate up to $1 million to the National Park Foundation in a yearlong promotion called “The Million Moment Mission.” The company also hopes to get more folks outdoors this year by promoting its Outdoor Discovery Schools. Go Bean!