Two Days in Washington DC with Teens

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Summer is nearly here and it’s time for a family trip to Washington, D.C. While our nation’s capital, offers much more to visit than our Nation’s Capitol, beginning on the Mall is certainly a fine starting point. As with all my blogs, there is far more to see than can possibly fit into two days, regardless of how fast you walk. So use this itinerary as a guide to build your family’s visit.

Advance Planning
If you can plan in advance, contact your state senator or representative for tickets to the White House (over 6 months in advance), Washington Monument, Federal Bureau of Engraving and/or Capitol. While all except the White House Tour tickets can be acquired once you arrive, it will require both getting up early and waiting in line. Tickets to the Capitol are generally easiest to come by if you are late in the planning process. Below I incorporated a visit to the Capitol on Day 1.

Get tickets to both the Spy Museum and Operation Spy in advance if you are visiting during a peak tourist season and save the wait in line.

View from Walking Tour

RSVP for a Free Walking Tour of DC at http://www.dcbyfoot.com/  

Make dinner reservations in advance.

Get a Circulator Bus map from their web site: http://www.dccirculator.com/ . Not only is it only a $1 to ride, you get a view of the city as you travel!

Book your hotel—there are abundant options in and outside the city. If you can get a good deal in the city, it is very convenient as many of the sites are fabulous at night and it’s nice to be able to stop back at the hotel before dinner or to pick up a raincoat if the weather changes. The Liaison near the Capitol is an excellent boutique hotel, in a terrific location that sometimes has good deals.

Day 1
Breakfast at one of many cafes. West Wing Café on New Jersey NW near the Capitol though chaotic is one of the most reasonably priced places for breakfast, lunch or a coffee.

Start your day at the Air and Space Museum. Definitely take a free, guided tour offered several times during the day. The tour guides are knowledgeable and bring the exhibits to life—even for teens. The flight simulators cost $8 per person and are appealing to anyone who likes simulating barrel rolls—the long lines tend to move fairly quickly.

For lunch head next door to the American Indian Museum. Try to arrive by noon to avoid the crushing crowds. Although the cafeteria options can be overwhelming and aren’t well organized, the quality of the food is outstanding—healthful and tasty.

Close up of Interior of Capitol Dome

Take a slow walk over to the Botanical Garden and then to the Capitol for a tour. If you have extra time, find out where your senator’s office is and stop in.

After your Capitol Tour walk along the north side of the mall. Select any of the Smithsonian museums that appeal to your family’s tastes before heading to dinner.

After dinner head to the meeting point for a tip-based DC by Foot walking tour of the monuments at night. Keep in mind that you end up at the Lincoln Memorial from which you may want to get a cab to return to your hotel, as the two closest metro stops are not all that close.


Day 2
Split your day between the Spy Museum http://www.spymuseum.org/ and the Newseum http://www.newseum.org/ . While both of these museums have substantial admission prices, they are both very well done and are geared for adults and teens.

Newseum

Starting at the Newseum, follow their suggested visitors’ route to seeing the museum. That way you’ll end up at the interactive game floor once you are saturated with news. The Newseum also has a high quality café, so have lunch before walking over to the Spy Museum.

Just past the Spy Museum is a Frozen Yo http://frozenyo.com/ for a post walk snack before beginning your Operation Spy adventure.

If you have extra time before dinner stop by the National Portrait Gallery which is open until 7 pm to see the presidential portraits. Or your teens can hang out in the atrium while you tour the exhibits. If you have made reservations in advance, Jaleo or Rosa Mexicano are both a short walk from the Portrait Gallery.

Ponies on the Beach and More

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This itinerary is ideal for families who enjoy camping, but can easily be modified for hotel stays as well. From crowded Rehoboth beach to the quiet beaches of Assateague Island, there is ocean front for everyone.







Advance Planning:

• If you are not camping, book a hotel within an hours drive of Assateague National Seashore. The Residence Inn in Salisbury, MD is clean, comfortable and less than an hour’s drive to the entrance. Campgrounds are first come, first serve; plan to arrive early.
• Campground reservations can be made at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. If you are not camping, there are many alternatives for lodging in both Rehoboth and Lewes which are on either side of the state park.

Day 1 (as many days as you like!): Assateague National Seashore, MD and Rehoboth, DE
Followed by a drive up route 1 to Cape Henlopen

Arrive (or wake up) in Assateague early to see the wild ponies sleeping on the beach. On your way into the National Seashore stop at the visitor’s center where you can pick up a brochure and trail guides for the 3 nature trails. Or print out the trail guides beforehand http://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/brochures.htm .
The trails are short and worth walking both for the chance to see the wild ponies as well as for the enjoyment of seeing different ecosystems. Be sure to watch the ponies from a distance—they are wild animals!

After taking a walk or two and driving along the paved roads, park at one of the beach entrances and enjoy the sand and surf.

From Assateague National Seashore, drive north through Ocean City, MD toward Rehoboth. For a lunch stop try McCabe’s Gourmet Market in Bethany, DE which is right on your drive north (although on the left side of the road).

Stop in Rehoboth Beach and head for the boardwalk. There is metered parking along Rehoboth Ave and with a little parking karma you can find a spot. The meters all take credit cards so you won't need to fish for quarters or leave when your change runs out.  Take a walk along the boardwalk, enjoy the people watching, browse in the shops and enjoy candy at Dolle's or an ice cream cone.  While some ice cream stands boast far more flavors, for truly outstanding homemade ice cream try Archie’s which is especially good if you like fresh fruit in homemade vanilla ice cream—perfection!

Day 2: Cape Henlopen State Park, DE
If your family likes ferry rides take the round trip Cape May ferry from Lewes to Cape May, NJ. Children fares are $7 round trip and adult fares are $14 round trip.

But you don’t need to go anywhere to have a great family stay in Cape Henlopen. There are beautiful beaches, kayak rentals, a long pier for fishing and excellent sunset views, a Frolf (Frisbee golf) course, lots of biking trails, a bird nesting area which is roped off, but often staffed by volunteers who will share their binoculars, and much more.


Tips: The main swimming beach rents umbrellas and chairs, so don’t worry if you forgot to pack yours. But do pack your lunch in bring it in from Lewes or Rehoboth as the concession food isn’t too special.

Not to Miss in Southern New Mexico and Arizona

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Advance Planning:

• If you are traveling during the summer then book your campsites or hotels in advance.
• Book a tour of Carlsbad Caverns if you want a guided tour
• Book a tour at Kartchner Caverns

Day 1: Carlsbad Caverns

Followed by a 170 mile drive to White Sands

If you are in an RV stay at White’s City campground—a campground straight out of the 1950s, complete with a ‘Million Dollar Museum’ with a speaker blaring a boardwalk caller.

Get to Carlsbad Caverns early.  Start with the self-guided Natural Entrance tour and get the audio guides for kids and adults.  Both are good, although teenagers and even some pre-teens will likely find the kids much too young. Continue with the self-guided Big Room tour and then a guided tour if you made reservations. If you are at Carlsbad for an entire day during the summer, stay for the bat flight program each evening.

Neither my words nor my two dimensional photographs can possibly begin to describe the magnificence of Carlsbad Caverns.  In short—go!  It is spectacular in beauty, in soundlessness, in darkness, in speleothems, in expanse, in nearly every natural measure.  We explored for over 5 hours and heard not one complaint from any one—we were all captivated.

From Carlsbad to White Sands is about a 170 mile drive which is often more pleasant in the cool of the evening.

Day 2: White Sands

Followed by a 280 mile drive to near Kartchner State Park

Like Carlsbad, it is difficult to describe the beauty of White Sands.  The dunes are fabulous for imprinting footprints, fabulous for photographing, fabulous for making sand angels, fabulous for rolling down, crawling up, jumping off, but most especially fabulous for high stepping down, kind of like a run, which we called the moon walk—such a blast!  Here everyone will be a kid!

The 275 square miles of white gypsum sand has engulfed the desert creating the largest gypsum dune field in the world.  The Tularosa basin has the perfect conditions for creating this spectacular wonder—gypsum, dry air and wind.  Gypsum is soluble in water, so most everywhere else in the world it isn’t in crystallized form.  No water drains from the Tularosa basin, so all rain water that falls pools together in lakes and eventually evaporates.  As the water evaporates it leaves behind gypsum crystals which then get broken down by the wind and when broken into small enough particles, are blown into huge dunes across the flatlands.

Day 3: Kartchner Caverns

Stay two nights at or near Kartchner Caverns

If you are camping, Kartchner State is one of our favorite State Parks.  You need to arrive before 6pm, so if you are coming from White Sands, you will likely need alternative accommodations where you can arrive later.

Kartchner Caverns is a living cave as it is still wet and the formations are continuing to grow in the cave and a fabulous contrast to Carlsbad Caverns. The caverns were discovered in 1974, but kept secret until the mid 1980s and then developed as carefully as possible to protect the cave—and it is spectacular.  The cave is warm and humid—70 degrees and 99% humidity! 

And the sights are spectacular!  The soda straws, draperies, stalagmites, stalactites and other formations that are still growing are translucent—amazing to view.  Everything shines with moisture—the cave is subtly lit so visitors can view the formations. 

Outside the cave there is an excellent foothills loop trail for wonderful above ground vistas.  If you have teens, you can take an early morning walk while they are still sleeping!

Day 4: Bisbee, Arizona

Bisbee is a small town near the Mexico border, just under about a one hour drive from Kartchner Caverns.  There you can tour the Queen Mine—an outstanding Darwinian tour of a copper mine.  Our guide was a wizened prospector, or rather miner, who had lots to share about the life of a miner underground.  This isn’t Disneyworld; he didn’t waste time with frivolous admonitions such as ‘keep your hands and feet in the car at all times (not even possible as the ‘car’ was only 8 inches wide) or ‘don’t wander down any dark mine passageways’.

Day 5: Sonora Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park

Total drive about an hour up to Tucson

The Sonora Desert Museum is really more of a natural oasis than a museum.  There are plenty of activities for young children.  In addition there are animals and plants native to the desert in their natural habitat as well as a small ice cream stand which is always a good stop on a hot day!

The Saguaro Desert National Park is split into an East and West (also known as the Tucson Mountain District) portion.  Both are wonderful to visit, but walking in the desert in the heat of the day is draining for anyone— I recommend choosing one to focus on with your kids—whichever has a program on the day you are visiting that more interests your family.

More Time

If you have more time visit Sedona (a longer post on that in the future) and then head up to the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam (also topics of future posts).

Two Days Exploring Acadia National Park

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Most of the activities at Acadia are outdoors, so this itinerary is weather dependent. If you are fortunate to get a clear evening and a clear day then Acadia can be an outdoor enthusiast’s ideal.

Advance Planning:

• Book a hotel early. Finding somewhere for a family to stay that is a reasonable value can be difficult (most everything is very pricey and the cozier places are targeted for couples).
• Get a copy of the Beaver Log (the park’s newspaper) .
• Book a kayaking adventure with one of the outfitters in Southwest Harbor (the quiet side of the island). Maine State Sea Kayak. is one outfitter on this side of the island.
• Bring your bikes! Or you can rent bikes from several outfitters on the island.

Clear Evening: Star Gazing
If there is a star gazing ranger talk while you are in Acadia then GO! Dress very warmly and bring a flashlight (it can be a dark walk down to the beach). The stars and other celestial objects are brilliant when viewed from the beaches along the Maine coast.

Day 1: Hike, Picnic, Kayak
My family’s favorite hike is the Beehive trail which is considered strenuous and not recommended for younger children. But if you are a group of hardy hikers, undeterred by heights, then this is a great trail to entice even the most reticent teen out for a climb.

Park at the small parking lot at the top of Sand Beach. The trailhead is across the road (back a bit). For a short hike you can go up the Beehive and loop back down to the parking lot. For a longer hike, continue up and over Gorham Mountain. This will bring you to the Gorham Mountain Trailhead not far from Otter Cliffs You can then follow the Ocean Path back about 1 ½ miles. Note that depending on your route this can be a 5 mile hike (or longer if you go out to Otter Cliffs) —be sure to bring plenty of water along especially on a hot, dry day.

Head over to Northeast Harbor where you can get a picnic lunch to go from The Colonel’s Restaurant and Bakery. Take your picnic down by the harbor and watch folks coming and going on their boats while you enjoy your picnic.

Enjoy the afternoon with a group kayaking.

For dinner wander through Southwest Harbor to find a restaurant to suit your family’s taste. While there are fewer restaurants here than in Bar Harbor, most offer a broad spectrum of selections. Dry Dock is one casual family friendly spot.



Day 2: Bike
The carriage trails around Acadia are outstanding for biking—wide, fairly smooth and free of motorized traffic. Get a map, find a starting point and head out for as long or short as your family would like.

When you tire of biking and hiking, drive the Loop Road around Acadia being sure to stop at Thunder Hole. Back in Bar Harbor there are plenty of places to browse. For a healthy take away lunch try Michelle’s Brown Bag Café. You can watch candy being made, try lobster ice cream and shop all along Main Street.

When you head out of Acadia, look for some wild blueberries to purchase and take home to freeze. There is a fabulous wild blueberry stand on Route 1 in Ellsworth, just north of Acadia. Buy a flat at around $3/pound and take them home to make pies and muffins all winter!

Two Full Days in Paris

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You need more than two days to enjoy the relaxed pace and beauty of this multi-faceted city, so here are two very full days to incorporate into an otherwise hopefully more relaxed schedule. Day 1 takes you wandering outdoors in Paris while Day 2 is focused on two of the many outstanding museums in the city.

Advance Planning:

Book your segway tour in advance. Depending on the time of year you may need to book days to weeks in advance with Fat Tire Bike Tours.


Day 1: Centre Georges Pompidou, Notre Dame including Towers, Walk along the Seine, Segway Tour, Lights of Paris

• Morning: Start at the Centre Georges Pompidou.No need to go inside—outside there are many great opportunities for your teenage photographers, shoppers, art lovers, and people watchers.Small trinket shops line one side of the square; there is an outdoor fountain with fabulous water art that is both fun to look at and fun to photograph; the Centre itself is cool to view for its architecture and during nicer weather there are street performers all around the square

  From Georges Pompidou walk to Notre Dame —a 15 minute stroll. The Notre Dame Towers—worth the wait to go up—open at 10 am. There are nearly 400 steps to the top of the south tower though, no elevator. Like most of the main attractions in Paris, the towers are free for those under 18. The views from the top are outstanding and offer a great place to help your family get acquainted with Paris from a bird’s eye view. In addition, coming down the stone spiral staircase is a lot of fun. It is free to go into Notre Dame de Paris—an a good time to remind (or teach) your teens (and yourself) about showing respect inside a religious institution.

  Be sure to walk around Notre Dame to view the architecture all the way around. In addition, behind Notre Dame is a small park with wonderful flower gardens in the spring and summer. There is also a tiny play area, with a spinning disk that seems to have conquered perpetual motion. If there aren’t many small children waiting for a try, it’s worth getting everyone in your family on for a spin—adults included. As an added bonus if you need internet access there is a free wifi spot here.

  From Notre Dame, walk along the right bank of the Seine where you can browse the green book stalls both for books and for prints. Or some can browse the book stalls while others in your family check out the houseboats and barges along the Seine. Then meander towards the Jardin du Luxembourg while scouting out a boulangerie (easy to find), a fromagerie
  (not much harder to find) and an epicerie for bread, cheese and fruit. Then enjoy your picnic in the Jardin du Lxembourg. One warning: pay toilets only here.

  Afternoon: If you have ample time you can walk to the Eiffel Tower where the tours start, but you may need to take a metro to arrive in time. Fat Tire Bike Tours have great guides who really make history interesting and memorable for teens and adults alike. Between riding a segway and hearing the history of Paris in teenage vernacular your family will be entertained.

  Evening: Enjoy the lights of Paris at night: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, the bridges of the Seine, Notre Dame, the Louvre and all of the buildings along the Seine are spectacularly lit up. The Eiffel Tower shimmers for 10 minutes on the hour every night and offers the potential for a family moment sitting quietly near the Seine enjoying the lights of Paris.

  I am not recommending a specific location for dinner as there are so many and some of the fun is in finding a place that meets the gastronomic requirements of your family. Of course, some places are better than others to look for dinner. The left bank, especially in the Latin Quarter, has many casual options.

  Day 2: Batobus, Musee D’Orsay, Louvre, Latin Quarter

  Morning: Start your day with a leisurely ride along the Seine. The Batobus offers a day ticket with stops at all the major sites long the Seine. You can disembark and reboard throughout the day on a single ticket. If the day is sunny, then not surprisingly it is very warm, hot actually, under the glass bubble on the Batobus.

  Disembark at the Musee d’Orsay. Depending on the art inclinations of your family you can spend an hour or three in this impressionist museum viewing paintings by Cezanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir and on and on. In addition, there are numerous artists who sit and sketch within the light-filled atrium. We enjoyed watching these current artists as much as viewing paintings and sculpture over 100 years old.

  Afternoon: Although the Louvre is a short walk from the Musee d’Orsay, take a break from standing and sit on the Batobus again while cruising along the river. When you’re rested get off at the stop for the Louvre.
  Before going in view the Axe Historique which runs from the horse statue right in front of the Louvre, through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, through the Jardin des Tuileries, directly across the Place de la Concorde, along the Champs-Elysees, through the Arc de Triomphe and on through Paris.

  If you were to view every painting in the Louvre for only a minute each, you would need 10 weeks to see all of the paintings. So don’t try to see every painting. Don’t even try to see most of the art here. Pick out 7 or 8 art works to view and then go directly to them. Our children most enjoyed The Coronation of Napoleon. It’s a wonderful painting, but in addition to the quality of the painting there is a bench to sit upon while you look at it and it’s quite large so there is a lot to ponder. In addition, the audio guide gives good background on many of the works of art and there are oversized cards available in each room which describe some of the artwork on view. Wandering around the Louvre and possibly getting lost is also a fun pastime in this royal fortress.

  If the afternoon is nice, wander through the Jardin des Tuileries where children float toy boats on the pools and many people sit and enjoy the sun. Cap off your afternoon by relaxing in a café—a great place to share stories on what each of you has seen or just sit quietly together and watch the world pass by. The shops in the Latin Quarter stay open into the evening, so you can continue browsing after the café and before dinner.

A Day In New York City

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New York is a fabulous place to visit as a family. Here's one (of MANY!) itineraries to try on your next visit.

Advance Planning: Book hotel reservations and get tickets to a Broadway Show. You can also wait in line for tickets at TKTS in Times Square on the day of your show for less expensive tickets, but that means less touring around the city and fewer show options. One hotel option, although moderately expensive for New York, is the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Less expensive hotels can be found farther from tourist hot spots.

Arrive Friday night. Stay at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the Wow! factor-- kids (and parents) will love the glass elevators which have guests selecting the floor before entering the elevator.

Friday night:
Go out to an Italian dinner-- try Amarone-- reasonable sized portions, fancier dishes for more adventurous palettes, basic pasta for the less adventurous.

Walk around Times Square-- listen to the voices. How many different languages can your children hear being spoken? Climb to the top of the red stairs and have someone take your family photo with Times Square brilliantly lit in the background.

Saturday morning:
Take a cab to the Tenement Museum in the lower East Side at 108 Orchard Street to arrive by 10am. Get tickets for one of the GREAT tenement tours lasting an hour. While waiting for your tour, stop in for a coffee and lemonade or croissant at 88 Orchard Street then walk down to the Chinatown markets along Grand Street. Can you find two Chinese characters that are the same in different signs?

Come back in time to browse the great Tenement Museum bookstore before your tour then take your tour. Afterward have lunch at 88 Orchard Street-- salads, sandwiches, smoothies-- good food.

Saturday afternoon:
Walk back to Times Square If you have an evening show or at least up to Union Square via Broadway if you have time before an afternoon matinee. There's a great market in Union Square to browse on Saturdays.

Go to an afternoon matinee (see advance planning).

Saturday evening:
Have drinks at The View-- a revolving bar where guests under 21 are permitted before 9 pm. Or for something more active, check out the view from The Top of The Rock at Rockefeller Center. The view here is similar to the Empire State Building without the cool factor and generally without the lines. If you still want to walk, walk 10 to 15 minutes on over to the Apple store just to check out their glass cube entrance.

Have dinner someplace casual but with atmosphere. Plenty of restaurants to choose from, Vnly is one nearby place with a menu that includes an excellent baked mac and cheese. After dinner, watch the skaters at Rockefeller Center or skate yourselves. Walk around Rockefeller Center window shopping before heading back to your hotel.