Vacations Blog

Not that one should ever need an excuse to eat ice cream, but should you need an extra bit of justification blame it on vacation.  Vacations can be as healthy as you want them to be, but why? You’re on vacation.  If you see ice cream eat it.

Also acceptable, churros, anything deep-fried or anything on a stick.  Frozen yogurt can replace ice cream, but only if topped with chocolate or some like vice.

For more family-friendly travel photos visit DeliciousBaby’s Photo Fridays.

Photo by W. Honea

My husband and I are constantly on the lookout for weekend day trip ideas. Our weekends are spent filled with the awareness of all the useful things that we’re supposed to be doing around the house, yet we are severely lacking the willpower to do those things. One Saturday afternoon not too long ago, our desperate escape from the horror of chores took us in the direction of Scottsdale, and the Arts District.

The Old Town area of Scottsdale is a treat for window shopping enthusiasts, and a mecca for Southwestern oriented artwork and decor. Parking can sometimes be a challenge, though it’s easier during the day than at night, when Those Who Wish To See and Be Seen come out to play.

Art galleries mingle seamlessly with souvenir stores and restaurants. Every Thursday the art galleries host an evening Art Walk from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., displaying their artwork and crafts along the walkways and sidewalks. Come for the art, stay for the free wine!

It’s easy to spend hours looking through the hundreds of shops in the area. My husband and I broke up the day with regular stops for refreshment, first at the Rusty Spur Saloon:

Then at the Sugar Bowl:

There is absolutely no way to forget that you are in the heart of the Southwest.

Nothing says Arizona like a good old fashioned cow skull:

Scottsdale is family and pet friendly – though they discourage pets coming into the stores and restaurants themselves. To get there from Loop 101, exit on Indian School Road and travel west to Scottsdale Road. If you’re taking the 202, exit on Scottsdale Road and travel north to arrive in the Old Town area. The heart of the Arts district is on Scottsdale Road and Fifth Avenue.

The Old Town area of Scottsdale – just like the rest of the city – is an excellent place to spend very little money and enjoy the sites; alternately, you can spend a WHOLE LOT of money and indulge in some truly unique arts and crafts.

Courtesy of Wikimedia

So now that the weather is getting warmer in Southern California and the whales are near the end of their southward migration through the Pacific, it’s a good time to take advantage of pre-summer rates and thinned out crowds for adventures and sightseeing.  The off-season is considered mid-September through April, so you still have a month to hop on to some good deals.  But be forewarned:  even with discounts a trip to Catalina can add up quickly.

Courtesy of Catalina Ferries

Just getting there is no joke.  The most popular way to make the jump is by ferry.  At this time of the year Catalina Ferries runs a high-speed catamaran between Marina del Rey and Avalon or Two Harbors on Catalina Island only on the weekends.  Adult tickets are $75.00 and the less than $10 bump is worth the cost for the time you’ll save NOT sitting in traffic on the 710, which will get you down to Long Beach where Catalina Express departs from three ports, and one in Dana Point.  The Long Beach company operates more frequently, however, and that would be the way to go if you want to depart during the week.  All trips are advertised as taking one hour to an hour and fifteen minutes but you have to allocate time for parking and boarding and getting settled, especially if you are bringing children who walk and can run away from you.

View from Island Express helicopter

If your children are seaworthy, you can sail to Catalina from either point with companies like Mariner Sailing Charters , but that ride takes 7 to 8 hours and can be pretty expensive, so you should really know that you love the water.  If lack of money or fear of heights are not issues for you, you might as well take a helicopter.

The two main places to land are Avalon (check it out on the webcam!), the quaint little town filled with hotels, restaurants, shops, and vacation outfitters that cater to your every whim, or Two Harbors, a much less-populated landing with a smaller harbor and more rugged lodgings.  Hikers, sailors, campers, and people who don’t like people will be happier in the latter spot.  If it’s your first time visiting the island, you should probably check out Avalon, especially if “camping” to you means a roof over your head and flush toilets.

Avalon is home to plenty of hotels ranging from cruddy and thin-walled to luxurious, but like everything else the hotels are on island scale, since everything there had to be brought in on a barge.  Just beware that some hotels are specifically NOT for children.  There is also one campground near Avalon, if “camping” to you means “camping.”  There are very few cars on the island, so people get around on foot or on bicycles, or you can rent a golf cart.

Avalon Bay and Village

Once you are there and settled the list of things to do with your family is as long as the inevitable line outside Big Olaf’s Ice Cream Parlor.  Many of the tickets or fees for activities can be purchased in combination with hotel costs or ferry tickets.  Here are just some of the possibilities.

Kayaking
Beach combing and swimming (althought right now the water is pretty cold)
Touring the island by bus – you might see some bison which roam the less peopled hills
Underwater sightseeing by submarine
Glass bottomed boat tour
Enjoy a buffalo burger
Snorkeling and scuba diving – at Lover’s Cove the fish will eat right out of your had
Fishing – those are some fat, tourist-fed fish!
Dining and shopping in the village

Courtesy of Descanso Beach Ocean Sports

So enjoy.  And don’t forget your sweater.  It gets chilly.

A lot of folks have a love affair with Vermont.  It’s got scenic mountains and natural resources, quaint towns and farms, charming shops, and scores of romantic inns and bed and breakfasts.

Me?  I never fell for Vermont.  I see a lot of nothing to do and nowhere to go.  I also see a state that looks an awful lot like it never left 1962.  That, I suppose, it what attracts most other people.  There is one great thing I’ve found in Vermont though.  Actually three great things.  Factory tours.

I know what you’re thinking—factory tours are even more boring than Vermont.  And when the whole family comes along there’s sure to be at least one or two of you kicking at the floor just begging to get out.  But it’s different here and that’s because—and I know this is cliché—there’s something for everyone when it comes to Vermont factory tours.

Within just a few miles of each other, Vermont vacationers can tour Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, and the Magic Hat Brewing Company.

The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory

The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne is definitely the favorite of young kids.  And if your kid loves stuffed animals don’t expect to get out without buying a teddy bear—even if there are two or three dozen at home already.  Vermont Teddy Bear is famous for dressing and accessorizing its bears for any occasion and for its Bear-Grams—bears sent as gifts through the mail in boxes complete with air holes. The thirty-minute factory tour shows visitors where and how these bears are “born” including cutting, sewing, assembling, stuffing, dressing, and even pointing out the “Made in Vermont” twinkle in each bear’s eye. You’ll even see where bears can come back to the “hospital” to be repaired at no cost if they ever get hurt or damaged.  Before or after the tour, hungry families can stop at the Hungry Bear Café. The factory is open year-round seven days each week except for New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission is only $2.00 for adults and teenagers and free for kids 12 and under.  Seasonal hours are available at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory website.

The Magic Hat Artifactory

The Magic Hat Brewing Company’s factory—or the “Artifactory” as they call it—is not a place for the kids. Located in South Burlington, the artifactory has as dark and funky a look and feeling as Magic Hat’s brews with their odd names, labels and hocus-pocus phrases under the caps.  (Magic Hat is well known in New England and may have reached the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, but I don’t think they’ve gone nationwide.) Seriously, the lobby and shop look like they were decorated by carnies of the Something Wicked This Way Comes variety.  Some folks find the guided or self-guided tours and all the beer-talk boring, but the tours are free so there’s no damage. Another thing that’s free is samples—that’s right, there’s free sampling of at least eight or more different brews.  If you do have kids with you, you can still stop in and visit the gift shop packed with Magic Hat merchandise like hats, shirts, glasses, mugs, bottle openers, and even weirder things like “beer soap.”  The Magic Hat Artifactory is open seven days a week—Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory

The factory that’s probably going to please just about everyone in the family is Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury. For anyone who doesn’t know, Ben & Jerry’s makes ice cream.  At the factory, visitors get a short “moovie” (their word, not mine) in the Cow Over the Moon Theatre about how friends Ben and Jerry started in the ice cream business, how they operate their business, and how they’re advocates and examples of giving back to the community.  The tour continues on an enclosed mezzanine above the ice cream-making plant and ends up in the “FlavoRoom” where you get to taste a couple of samples—maybe even of some flavors that haven’t been released to stores yet.  There’s also, of course, the obligatory gift shop and a “Scoop Shop” for more of that famous ice cream.  Outside are cows, a playground for the kids (don’t worry, the playground isn’t in the same spot as the cows), and Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard where “dearly de-pinted” flavors no longer in production—like Peanut Butter & Jelly and Ethan Almond—go to rest.  The Ben & Jerry’s Factory is open year-round seven days a week except for New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Tours are $3.00 for adults and teens, $2.00 for seniors, and free for kids 12 and under. Information on seasonal hours and other deals is available by clicking on Tour Info at the factory website.

Whether you’re a fan of scenic mountains or not, young or old, with kids or without, you’re likely to enjoy at least one of these tours.  And if you’re really into factory tours—or teddy bears, beer and ice cream—you might just love them all.