Calm Before the Storm: Skaket Beach, Cape Cod (William deSousa)
No doubt, Cape Cod has earned its right to be considered one of America's best beach locales. Wide, sheltered beaches on the Cape's mainland-facing flank provide acres of sandy real estate with calmer, shallower water that's ideal for young swimmers and waders; on the Cape's Atlantic-facing side, the protected swath of Cape Cod National Seashore offers long, deserted stretches of beach, sand dunes, and choppier surf.
And as I discovered on a family trip there two summers ago, Cape Cod lives up to its reputation as a top destination for that big family beach vacation—so long as the weather cooperates. Having traveled up to the Cape just before the summer high season, days one and two for us went pretty much as planned: we'd rented a lovely waterfront cottage near Eastham (on the Lower Cape) and eagerly set off each morning for the beach, looking every bit the archetypal bucket brigade. Our favorite spot was Skaket Beach, an excellent spot with broad ribbons of sand lapped by gentle, tidal waves. There, our two-year-old son couldn't have been happier, charging into the water, filling his bucket with wet sand, and toddling between rock pools in search of tiny crabs and other sand-dwelling critters. Yes, it was the Cape Cod of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce's wildest imaginings.
Canada all too often falls off the radar for U.S. families. It shouldn't. I've taken my kids from Ontario to British Columbia over the years, and there's still so much we want to experience, not to mention the places we'd go back to in a heartbeat (i.e. all of them). There's not enough space here for all of our favorites, but here's a sampling of reasons to cross the northern border.
Montreal, Québec: It's a taste of Europe, no transatlantic flight necessary. Top activities: Jet boating on the St. Lawrence; exploring superb Pointe à Callière Archaeological Museum, built over a real archaeological site; shopping on eclectic Rue St. Denis (with pre-teens or teens, this is the street); savoring house-made French pastries at Premiere Moisson in Atwater Market; alternating between fascinated and grossed out at the Insectarium; taking in Just For Laughs, the annual comedy festival.
This April, world-music label Putumayo Kids is adding a fourth title to its impressive series of Dreamland albums. Featuring acclaimed artists like South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo along with newer names like Congolese singer Dieu Merci Mapumba Cilombo, African Dreamland evokes the rich acoustic medley of the continent. Its nine featured artists hail from countries including Cameroon, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Mali, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Intended for listeners both young and old, the Dreamland collections are a great way to introduce you and your kids to vocals and instruments from around the world, perhaps even inspiring future trips to all corners—from Brazil and Argentina to China and India. And even if you don't ever get to hear the soul-stirring music in its indigenous surroundings, these are great easy-listening CDs for long car journeys, bedtime routines, or even dinner parties after the kids have hit the sack. The African Dreamland CD will cost $15, with a portion of the proceeds going toward NextAid, an L.A.-based non-profit dedicated to bettering the lives of African children. Visit www.putumayokids.com for more info, plus check out the audio clips below for two exclusive samples from African Dreamland. The album will be released at the end of April.
Credits: audio clip and cover art, courtesy Putumayo Kids
The Traveling Mamas recipe is simple: Take the ruminations of a team of well-traveled, adventure-seeking mothers and mix together in one easy-to-navigate blog. The four-person collective—aka, DesertMama, CajunMama, MountainMama, and MudslideMama—seeks to inspire other parents to get out and explore the world... with or without the kids. This wisdom is distilled through the Mamas' collective years of travel expertise and applies in a regional sense to their various base camps in Arizona, the Rockies, southern Louisiana, and southern California. However, whether it's chatting about the deal with kids in casinos or ways to find affordable things to do in high-end Santa Barbara, there are plenty of nuggets here to get you inspired whatever your zip code.
Think of the Great Barrier Reef as the world's ultimate underwater safari. One teeming with more exotic fish and sea life than your local aquarium will ever know, including sharks, dolphins, six of the seven species of sea turtles known to man, and a mind-boggling 2,000 types of fish (with new varieties found every year). Many of these fish are neon-colored, floating against a backdrop of blue, pink, and yellow coral to produce a kaleidoscopic world that rivals even the most explosive of Jackson Pollock's drip paintings.
The Great Barrier runs closest to the mainland near Cairns, located in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland and about two hours by plane from Sydney. Close to a million people each year make the pilgrimage here. Once in town, many visitors choose to spend their time on Green and Fitzroy islands, two islands that are not technically on the "Big Reef." However, less than an hour by boat from the city wharf in Cairns, the snorkeling off these two islands can be just as good as the Great Barrier. Outfitters run half- and full-day trips in glass-bottom boats so you can witness this mesmerizing underwater world without ever getting wet.
We're in some good company here, but this Sunday's Washington Post Travel section features Away.com as one of "54 Online Travel Sites to Bookmark Now," including a nod to our robust section on family road trips. Now, we know you've already bookmarked us, have the RSS feed, and subscribe to our "Your Daily Escape" dose of photographic inspiration, but don't forget to check out the other 53 good-to-know sites, not to mention the treasure trove of travel information that is the Washington Post's 2008 Way to Go Travel Guide.
To the Sunday Times' churlish editors, we say keep your tired stereotypes. Whatever you think about the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to keep the bad guys at bay, we already know that one gruff immigration official doth-not-a-country-define. Besides, we're pretty confident that stereotyping a place that includes some 300 million people and four million square miles might make a quirky story angle but hardly screams cutting-edge journalism.
We're a culture that loves super-sizing but the truth is, bigger isn't always better. All too often, traveling families overlook small museums, thinking they don't measure up to big-name places. I beg to differ. Many are gems, with excellent facilities and powerful stories to tell. Here are a few of my family's favorites:
Johnstown Flood Museum (Johnstown, Pennsylvania): In 1889 a wall of water roared through Johnstown, killing 2,209 people. This museum—my vote as one of America's best—interprets this compelling story. Not only were we riveted by the amazing multimedia map and hourly Academy Award-winning film, we were inspired to go home and read more about it—all of us. www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum
January signals the heart of summer in South Africa, the ideal time to visit Cape Town, a city that can easily match Sydney, San Francisco, and Rio for its sheer beauty.
Table Mountain, often draped in its iconic tablecloth of clouds, forms a spectacular backdrop. A short drive away are the exquisite beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay, and the precipitous cliffs of Chapman's Peak and Cape Point. You should give yourself at least a week to explore Cape Town and Cape of Good Hope Peninsula; to try the award-winning wines in Stellenbosch and other Winelands' towns an hour to the north (younger kids will still enjoy things like bike rides, hot-air balloon rides, or a trip to a crocodile farm); and to spend a day in the nearby coastal town of Hermanus to the east, the whale-watching capital of South Africa. Farther east is the famous Garden Route, a five-hour drive amidst forest, lagoons, and coastal towns, including the surfing mecca of Plettenberg Bay. Having traveled so far to reach South Africa, make the most of your trip by taking a quick flight to Kruger National Park in the northeast part of the country for a three- to five-day safari. You'll be hard pressed to top that combo anywhere. -- Steve Jermanok
Photo: Cape Town, South Africa (Mark Skinner/courtesy, South Africa Tourism)
The travel gurus at Lonely Planet just posted this story about the increasingly popular winter sport of airboarding, also called snow bodyboarding. It's still very much a niche activity compared to skiing and snowboarding—plus has some big detractors among sniffy skiers and 'boarders who don't want to share their piste with what are, essentially, turbo-charged snow rockets that can hit speeds of up to 80 mph. However, for families who want to amp up the fun or those with kids who don't feel comfortable skiing, this is a good wintertime alternative like tubing, snow biking, or snowshoeing. Check out the video below, plus read our selection of the best North American ski areas for sled-heads.
No doubt, Cape Cod has earned its right to be considered one of America's best beach locales. Wide, sheltered beaches on the Cape's mainland-facing flank provide acres of sandy real estate with calmer, shallower water that's ideal for young swimmers and waders; on the Cape's Atlantic-facing side, the protected swath of Cape Cod National Seashore offers long, deserted stretches of beach, sand dunes, and choppier surf.
