Families who travel to Salt Lake City generally do so for one of two reasons: for the skiing or to visit family. For us it's usually to visit family (though the skiing is good and usually less expensive than in Colorado). We make our annual trek in the summertime so we can take advantage of Utah's clear skies, dry air, and cool nights. Nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, Salt Lake City offers spectacular views from just about any spot.

Most of the valley was once occupied by family farms that sold off land little by little to suburban developers. But you can still visit Wheeler Historic Farm (6351 South 900 East), now a park, small educational farm, and museum. We're a city family, so seeing live animals and food growing is especially neat for us. We also visited the goats at Drake Family Farm after I discovered Drakes creamy chevre at a farmers' market.

When Utah's hot, dry summer heat gets oppressive, we take refuge at the Clark Planetarium (where the museum is free). From there, if we can stand the walk, we head over to the Gateway Mall's Olympic Legacy Fountains with its music-synchronized water show (above). The children's library at the fabulous Salt Lake City Public Library, designed by Moshe Safdie, is another good escape from the soaring temps, especially during naptime. There you'll find a play area, sweet reading nooks, gift shops, and a cafe. Continue reading Just Back From ... Salt Lake City »

In theory, taking a vacation with the extended family sounds idyllic. It can, however, become stressful if not planned properly. To that end, I have only two words: separate houses. We just came back from one of our best vacations in Nantucket. My partner, Fred, our 4-year-old daughter, Vivi, and I spent a week with Fred's sister and brother and their families. All in all, there were six adults, eight kids, and two houses.

The "cottage" we found online ended up having a lot more space than we expected. So every morning, the three of us had a quiet breakfast at our house (or an indulgent meal at Downyflake) before meeting up with the other families for a few hours on the beach. Then it was back to our house for a little unwinding—counting the shells we collected, a Bob Marley sing-along—and dinner before heading over to my in-laws' house for after-dinner drinks. The adults took over the front porch, the kids had free rein of the house and TV, and everyone was happy. Whereas Vivi couldn't believe that she was allowed to watch SpongeBob at night, eat candy after dinner, and run around the yard in the dark, Fred and I secretly enjoyed the fact that we got to leave the craziness of seven kids at the end of the night to go back to our quiet cottage, tuck in our exhausted daughter, and listen to the crashing waves. The solitude lulled us to sleep so that we could wake up and do it all over again the next day.

The best way to arrive to Annapolis, Maryland, is from the water. You’ll pass everything from tankers to kayaks in the Chesapeake Bay. And as you near town, the elegant buildings and dome of the U.S. Naval Academy will come into sight. We docked at the Annapolis Yacht Club, where sailing races are held every Wednesday. (You can stand on the pedestrian Spa Creek bridge for a great view of the finish line.) For a short period, Annapolis actually served as the nation’s capital in 1783, and many historic colonial buildings remain. (Think Boston on a much smaller scale.) The Historic Annapolis Foundation offers walking tours with a guide or self-guided digital-audio tours so you can go at your own pace.

Thanks to the many delicious snacking spots, you can take refreshment breaks along the way. For example, after stopping at the City Dock area (where there's a statue honoring Alex Haley and commemorating the docking of Kunta Kinte slave ship), you can inhale a delicious crepe at Sofi’s and then dash off to the U.S. Naval Academy for a tour. Don’t miss the crypt of Revolutionary war hero John Paul Jones--he's the guy who uttered the famous slogans “We have not yet begun to fight” and “Never give up the ship.” Other don't-misses: the model midshipman’s room or Bancroft Hall, one of the largest dormitories in the world (with a rifle range in the basement).
 
Continue reading Just Back From ... Annapolis »

As we've written about before, rare is the kid (or adult, really) who doesn't love a lighthouse. So if you're anywhere near Maine this Saturday, we suggest you hit one of the open houses that are being held at historic lighthouses across the state as part of its first-ever Lighthouse Day.

Photo courtesy of the Maine Office of Tourism

Every other summer since the early 1990s, my family has rented a beach house on Topsail Island, North Carolina, just a 45-minute drive east from the airport in Wilmington. In the beginning, it was just my parents, my two sisters, and me, with a friend or boyfriend thrown into the mix. Now, we're all married, and there are five grandchildren ranging in age from 21 months to 10 years. Over the years, we've graduated to bigger houses as our family has expanded. Our most recent trip was two weeks ago, and we stayed in a house with five bedrooms and a dining table that easily seated 10.

As always, the week felt kind of like Groundhog Day, but in the best way: Wake up with our two little boys jumping on our bed. Put on swimsuits. Have lazy breakfast in sunny, open living area with kids running in and out to the deck to watch passing dolphins. Sunblock. Beach. Lunch of steamed shrimp or barbecued chicken and cold beer. Sunblock. Beach. Feed kids dinner. Sunset walk on the beach with everyone. Shower, drink margaritas, and grown-ups eat feast with good wine and decadent dessert (couples take turns cooking). Put kids to bed. Watch movie or play the Wii we brought down. Sleep.

Speaking of that beach, it's nearly empty. You see the families staying in the houses on either side of you, and that's about it. The water is warm and changes in temperament every day: smooth as glass one, huge waves another. There are tiny fish that the cousins catch and keep in buckets for a few hours at a time, then set free. Some of the most meaningful conversations I've had with my sisters and dad (mom stays inside reading most of the week) have taken place standing just past the breakers, bobbing up and down in the swells. This year, for the first time, I could truly appreciate how nice the beach is for my two boys, who are almost 2 and 4. Watching Ben run so far that he was just a speck along the shoreline, and not worrying, was amazing.

At the end of this year's trip, we decided to make Topsail an annual vacation so the grandchildren, who live in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Manhattan, can be there together every year. I'm already looking for rentals for August 2010.

Even though it's been pretty wet on the island of Nantucket, our time there was far from being a drip. There was still much to do and see. Click below to see our recommendations for where to stay, where to eat, and what to do.


Continue reading Just Back From ... Nantucket »

On our last visit to my in-laws in Pittsburgh, my mother-in-law suggested that we take our boys to Idlewild, an amusement park 50 miles away in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. I settled into the car with great trepidation (as thoughts of cheesy signage, loud music, and neon plastic danced around in my head), and I grew even more worried as the drive stretched to two hours and the skies grew black. Just as we pulled in, though, the sun broke through, and I was delighted to see that we were nestled in the cool woods. I felt like I was entering a national park, not an amusement park.

In short, Idlewild was wonderful, and perfect for my son Alex, who is almost 4. He and his cousin, who's 7, took off through a three-story-high wooden obstacle course, and then we caught a train to the area with the rides for the younger kiddies. Because of the sporadic rain, the lines were short, and the two tikes ran from one adorable, old-school ride to another: a mini Ferris wheel, boats that went around in a little pond, race cars that wove through a thicket of tall trees, a trolley through Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, airplanes, motorcycles, you name it (even my younger son Ben, who is 21 months, got on a few).
 
The area was so contained, and the rides so safe (just slow enough for us relax; just fast enough for them to get a thrill) that we could keep a little distance as they made their circuit, and both adults and little ones reveled in the freedom. The day flew by. At the end, we counted and realized that Alex had gone on 21 rides, including the enormous adult Ferris wheel, which he loved (my husband looked green when he got off). The only one Alex didn’t get to do was the older-kid bumper cars. He was a few inches shy of the cutoff height, and as we drove away at seven p.m. (right before he conked out until the next morning!), he kept insisting that next time, he would be big enough.