Tropical flowering plants

There’s nothing like a tropical paradise to make you appreciate nature’s beauty but St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands provides a showcase for it’s natural bounty with St. Peter Greathouse and Botanical Gardens.  I reveled in the native flora located on 11 lush acres along volcanic peaks, 1,000 feet above sea level, overlooking the capitol city of Charlotte Amalie. Read More »

The Walt Disney Family Museum is located within the beautiful confines of San Francisco’s famous Presidio. They found a pretty nice spot. Breathtaking, really.

In fact, one of the best exhibits in the museum isn’t an exhibit at all. It’s a window. As you are walking from one of the many rooms to the next there is a hallway with nothing but a bench and a view. The Golden Gate Bridge sits on the other side. That experience alone may be worth the price of admission. Hence the picture above.

So what else do you get for your ticket? Quite a bit. There are family movies, personal letters, awards (including the famous Snow White Oscar), behind the scenes footage and a level of detail that some may find overwhelming and others will recognize as the way Walt would have wanted it.

I was traveling alone in San Francisco (stayed at the awesome Crescent San Francisco Hotel) and having a family of Disney fans at home I was reluctant to visit the museum by myself. I’m glad that I did. While there are plenty of interactive activities throughout the winding maze of the museum, few of them are designed to hold the attention of young children — especially those that can’t accept the fact that this Disney attraction doesn’t twirl, fly or hug them for pictures. There are no churros. I’m sure that my boys would have had fun, but it would have come at a price, that being my chance to stroll leisurely through years of Disney history. Read More »

Wherever your travels take you this afternoon and into the evening, be extra alert for little goblins, aliens and unicorns — especially around the witching hour (just after dinner).

Today is Halloween and families will be out in costumed force. Your friends here at UpTake wish you and yours a Happy Halloween! Have fun and be careful.

And save us a Kit-Kat. We love those.

The shore of Hassel Island

Just outside of St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, sits Hassel Island, a historic slip of 135 acres that was originally a peninsula that formed the busiest port in the Caribbean.  Now a part of the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park, Hassel Island boasts four historical structures as well as the oldest surviving example of a steam-powered marine railway.  I grabbed an up close view of these sights when I joined the Virgin Islands Ecotours volunteer excursion to Hassel Island. I  developed a totally different perspective of St.Thomas as I kayaked, hiked, and helped clean the island’s shores. Read More »