Vacations Blog

Kayt Sukel is an Uptake.com blogger and also contributing editor to Travelsavvymom.com. Kayt grew up just outside Philadelphia and is at home in the city. We explore the walks, attractions, and the plethora of food options in the city.  But we kept coming back to the Philly Cheese Steak!

There are themes for visitors to Philadelphia, meaning repeat visits are a great idea. For example, always worth a repeat is shopping – did you know clothing is a tax free activity? There are great drives in the countryside too. Kayt suggests spring for a city visit and fall for the countryside.

Play

If you’re planning a trip, check out Philadelphia flight deals.

Aloha! Welcome to the Vacations Blog for UpTake- your first step to a great trip.

You may find yourself reading this blog and wondering who all of these fascinating people are. They’re us! We’re a group of road-tested individuals that have vacationed all over the place and lived to tell about it. We are here to share the best, the worst and everything in-between.

Whether you are looking for family fun, romantic getaways, trips with the pooch or travels on a limited budget, we have what you need.

For press information on UpTake please visit: Press & Blogger Information.

Contact the Vacation Team

And now, your Bloggers of Leisure:

Whit Honea

Whit Honea is an award-winning writer in the greater Los Angeles area. He is a husband of one, a father of two and the lifeline to many relatively tame creatures.

Whit’s writing can be found at FameCrawler, AOL’s StyleList, Green Daily, DadCentric and the Disney Blog. His personal site, Honea Express (Honea sounds like pony), is an eclectic mix of family fun and foul-mouthed tirades.

Whit’s Favorite Vacation: My favorite vacation would either be the trip I took to Europe one summer while I was is in college or the time that my wife (when she was still my girlfriend) and I went to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

The trip to Europe consisted of museums, drinking, hearts and heroes. There may or may not have been jail time. Walt Disney World was romantic and relaxing and by a random act of spontaneity, the spot where I proposed to my wife. I better go with the latter.

Jay Romeo

J. Edward Romeo has 16 years experience in software development and team management. He was the founder of New Jersey Online Travel and served as the director of Redbank.com before they were acquired by Banyan Vines along with ePresence, where he worked on the design and development of Switchboard.com, YourHomeDirect.com and the original Survivor site for CBS.

Presently he serves as the Director of Fire Services at Emergency Software Products , as well as the co-host of the Parentograpy Podcast. He spends his free time photographing his travels and maintains a personal blog Triple Venti.

Jay’s Favorite Vacation: This dramatically changed in 2006, when I made my first trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida, where I had the opportunity to become a kid again and experience it with my wife and daughter for the first time. Sights, activities, everything that both young and old could enjoy to a point of exhaustion. We had originally planned it as a “once in a lifetime” trip, but found that the happiest place on earth doesn’t allow you to escape with just one visit, so we will be returning.

Britt Reints

Britt Reints has been blogging at Miss Britt since 2005. Offline, she has a fancy title that includes words like “VP” and “marketing” – which essentially means she sells stuff. Online, she’s entirely too open about her personal life and has embraced the motto, “Dignity is Overrated.” She neglects to tell any of this to her editors at her paid blogging gigs where she portrays a very responsible working mother, childcare expert and travel aficionado for the entire state of Florida.

Britt’s Favorite Vacation: I’ve been fortunate enough to visit numerous white sandy beaches and European destinations, including Switzerland and Italy. But my favorite vacation experience was a three day trip to New York City. I traveled alone, leaving my husband and kids at home and meeting friends upon my arrival in the Big Apple. I spent less than $500 on the entire weekend and jammed an exciting tourist experience into 72 hours. Beaches are fabulous for rest and relaxation, but nothing gets my blood pumping again like a full body immersion into city life.

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry, CEO of Blogging at Childsplayx2, has been chronicling the highs and lows of parenting twins since he knocked up his wife in 2004. Childsplayx2 has been featured in Parents Magazine, the New York Daily News and his mother’s annual Christmas newsletter. When not battling twins, Matthew is an executive for the YMCA who enjoys exercising, reading and eating fine desserts – not necessarily in that order.

Matthew’s Favorite Vacations: My favorite vacations include ones where there are plenty of sandy beaches and crystal blue waters. However, when traveling with toddler twins, I believe that successful vacations are the ones when nobody gets killed. As a child, my own mother took me and my brother on a train trip across Canada and we once crisscrossed Mexico via bus, train and burro. It is my hope that I can introduce my own kids to those same experiences through travel. Well, maybe not the burros.

Joe Romano

Joe Romano works in in the field of corporate communications and has worked as a freelance writer and blogger since 2005. His blog, Hey Joe, is a collection of random bits of flotsam concerning life, his family, dead celebrities and other miscellaneous drivel that strikes his fancy.

Joe’s Favorite Vacation: To me a great vacation should provide abundant opportunities to relax. As much as like seeing new sights I never feel that a vacation was a complete success unless I managed to finish at least one book. Therefore, beach trips (Anna Maria Island, Florida comes to mind) have to rank up there as some of my favorites. They offer both the time to relax and time for fun with the kids. When we manage to get away sans kids, my wife and I enjoy exploring the many cozy coastal locations of California.

Charles A. Downs III

Charles A. Downs III has been blogging at The Goat and Tater since July 2008. Tales of misguided youth/adulthood are evenly balanced by heartwarming ramblings of days spent with his two daughters, the Goat (age 7 and ruler of all things pink and horsey) and the Tater (age 1.5 and ruler of all things 36″ and below). When Charles isn’t reading “The Lady with the Alligator Purse” for the 27th time or getting hustled in a game of Sorry, he enjoys fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, writing, reading, or letting the current of one of Kentucky’s scenic waterways pull him into destinations unknown.

Charles’ Favorite Vacation: This must be broken down into two categories. Category one being the family vacation. Spent with my lovely wife, oldest daughter, and youngest daughter (in utero) in the pristine beauty of Kiawah Island, SC. Exploring marshes and wetlands, watching the Dolphins play under a setting sun, letting the surf tickle our legs, and doing absolutely nothing at all. Category two would be a trip to Europe to play soccer in the summer of 1989 where I came, just inches, from starting an International Incident at Checkpoint Charlie. Long story.

Kim Tracey Prince

Kim Tracy Prince is a television producer and freelance writer in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. With two little boys under 4, she writes about the messy underbelly of family life at House of Prince, contributes to the colorful group of voices at Los Angeles Moms Blog, and guides parents to enriching activities at Being Savvy San Fernando. Kim also writes a column in the local newspaper The SFV News. When she and her husband can wrestle the kids into their car seats successfully, they enjoy trips within a 7-hour drive, max.

Kim’s Favorite Vacations: My favorite vacations are the ones that get me away from as many people as possible. My honeymoon, spent aboard a 32-foot Beneteau in the British Virgin Islands, was the most relaxing time of my life. That said, family trips to places that delight my children can be worth the crowds. A recent vacation to SeaWorld for the opening of Sesame Place now ranks up there among the faves.

Warren Toland

Warren Toland is a VP of Development and Public Relations for a non-profit located in Central Connecticut. Warren has been blogging for over three years at his personal site, mr big dubya, and is a founding member of the irreverent and very popular dad blog, DadCentric. He also contributes to The Whinery, My Wife Hates My Xbox, and Draft Day Suit.

Warren’s Favorite Vacation: My wife and I have always loved to travel – even more so now that we have children. My favorite vacation was a trip to Ireland several years ago just after we got engaged. We journeyed across the pond so I could be introduced to my wife-to-be’s extended family and receive the blessing of the Hynes family matriarch (I kid.). It was a 10-day, whirlwind tour spent in such fine locales as Galway, Dublin and Beleek. We are anxious to get back and introduce our children to the Emerald Isle.

Phil Corless

Phil Corless is a stay-at-home dad in North Idaho. He also homeschools his two kids, which makes it easier to make frequent road trips around the West as a family. He’s been writing about this unique life since 2004 at his blog, A Family Runs Through It. Corless received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Idaho and his undergraduate degree from Cal State Fullerton.

Phil’s Favorite Vacation: Two years ago we had an extensive dream vacation planned in Western Canada, including stays in Banff, Alberta, and Victoria, British Columbia. A month before the trip, I realized I couldn’t find my birth certificate to get back across the border. Cancelling all those plans, I made some last minute arrangements at a resort in the Olympic National Park that I’d never heard of called Kalaloch Lodge. That trip turned out to be a family favorite. Five days along the gorgeous Pacific beaches of Washington. It was so memorable and enjoyable, we returned to the Lodge this past summer and had just as much fun.

James Grayson

James Grayson is a photographer that loves to write. He currently resides in Austin, TX, with his wife and kids who provide endless hours of humor in his life. He shares some of it with the world at his blog, Daddyshack. James and his partners at Quirkee Media also publish a humor and entertainment magazine at Quirkee.com. He loves to travel and plans on doing it more often as his kids grow older. He wants to discover more of the world around him with his family and capture the moments in photographs. See more of his photography at JamesGrayson.com.

James’ Favorite Vacation: One of my favorite and most memorable vacations was earlier this year when I went with my dad and uncles to Augusta, Georgia, for a Masters tournament practice round and Par-3 contest. I love to play golf and just stepping foot on the grounds at Augusta National Golf Club was an honor. When they first went in 1998, my grandfather was still with us and they were the foursome on that trip. I was able to fill his shoes this year and walk the course he had walked before me. That will always be a memorable vacation for me even if it only lasted three days.

Darren Farrington

Darren Farrington is a theater manager and producer living in Connecticut with his wife and daughter. He got in on the blogging scene in 2005 as a daddy blogger and later incorporated posts into his professional consulting website DarrenFarrington.com. Darren began working in arts organizations in 1991, but took a much-too-long break for law school and legal practice in New York and Connecticut. Even then, his strength was writing and persuading readers to go (mentally at least) where he told them. As a big fan of vacations, he’s glad to be using his cultural and writing experience to promote travel and tourism.

Darren’s Favorite Vacation: Any vacation with my wife and daughter is a favorite, but we’re most drawn to sandy beaches and warm temperatures. Coastal New England in the summer (sometimes even into the early fall) fits the bill, but nothing beats cold-shouldering the snow and ice and taking off for the Caribbean in the middle of winter. We’ve all become fans of kid-friendly cruises where my wife and I get some adult time while my daughter spends a couple of hours each day in supervised kids’ clubs. Give me sand in my toes and the smell of sunscreen and I’m a happy man.

Ed Lamaze

Ed Lamaze has spent the better part of his life dreaming of someplace else and traveling less than extensively. Elated when offered the opportunity to be a part of the Vacations Blog team at UpTake.com, his wife flatly countered, “But you don’t take vacations.” “I know, that’s the beauty of it!” Ed is a Stay-at-Home father of five children having left a career as a Registered Nurse in a Children’s Hospital ER to tend to the scrapes and bruises of everyday life at home. Rest assured that when Ed speaks of a vacation destination, it’s been tested kid friendly.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Ed currently resides in a historical home (that means it’s old) outside of Columbus, Ohio where he will be writing of vacation adventures in America’s Heartland. His personal blog, Zoe’s Dad, chronicles some of the zaniness of raising five crazy kids.

Ed’s Favorite Vacation: My wife and I spent a carefree week in Jamaica before we were married in a little resort located just outside of Montego Bay. A private villa nestled along the shores yielded panoramic views of sunsets to the west and the lush greenery of the mountains to the east. For an entire week, we golfed, snorkeled, swam, hiked, dined and lounged in a near Utopian setting. We immersed ourselves in all that Jamaica had to offer. Best of all, not once during that week did anyone refer to me as Daddy! Good times.

Jason Roth

Jason Roth, a resident of Las Vegas, provides UpTake readers a local’s take on the hotels, restaurants, attractions and events that make for an ultimate family vacation in the City of Sin. A blogger for nearly four years, he also chronicles his journey as a husband and father under the pseudonym of VegasDad on his personal blog ivegasfamily.com. In addition to blogging, Jason is director of marketing and public relations for a private university in Southern Nevada. He has more than 10 years of experience in public relations, having served clients in variety of industries at firms in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Jason’s Favorite Vacation: My family and I enjoy any opportunity to take a break from the Las Vegas scene. Our favorite places to visit are large cities, such as San Francisco, New York and Montreal, where we take full advantage of the cultural experiences not available at home. We’re especially fond of culinary art and always make an effort during our trips to discover great restaurants.

James Austin

James Austin is a longtime Seattle, WA resident and Pacific Northwest native. A husband of 10 years and a first time father of an energetic toddler, James enjoys discovering and experiencing all the diverse beauty and wealth of exciting things to do within minutes of his Seattle home. James has been documenting his experiences as a new father for the past year on his dad blog “Luke, I am your Father.” In his free time, James enjoys managing people, as well as systems and operations, for a mid-sized office in a non-profit organization.

James’ Favorite Vacation: The destination is Kailua Beach on Oahu, Hawaii. Kailua Beach is just my speed. It is located on the windward side of Oahu, far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu to make you feel like you are actually on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but close enough that you can do an excursion to the city for some night life, if you desire. Kailua Beach is a wonderful place to take the family. The sand is soft, the water remains shallow several hundred yards out, and it is not overly crowded. It is also a perfect place to wake early and watch the sunrise, which once complete highlights the stunning topography of the surrounding mountains.

UpTake is a great place for researching your next trip. After all, our slogan is “Your first step to a great trip.” But I wanted to share my two cents of what I found useful in other online resources so that you could have a more pleasant trip, especially during this Holiday Season.

All of us are experiencing slower (and consequently longer) wait lines at airports as the result of heighten security measures. And to avoid any surprises at the airport of what you can bring on board in your carry-on bag, it’s always a good idea to check with TSA to get the latest scoop. This way you will know how many ounces of your favorite perfume you can bring or whether or not your snappy nail clipper will be better off with the check-ins.

To get a more comprehensive list of travel recommendations for you and your family – covering everything from best travel tips for getting the lowest airfares to determining the world’s best cruises – it would be a good idea to visit the Perrin Post. If you feel the itch to travel to Europe, check out Rick Steve’s tips on European vacations; they are both great resources in providing a comprehensive view of what you ought to know before you go (travel tip wise).

Finally, if you are looking for a great deal to get you on your way, I can think of no better sites than Travelzoo and ShermansTravel. They are both fantastic resources for saving your budget!

Safe Travels,

Steve

By Thomas Brown of UpTake Networks

UpTake, as everyone knows by now, is all about who you’re traveling with and why you’re traveling – if you’re taking a trip with that special someone in your life, we’ll help you find a romantic place to stay and the perfect things to do.  Or if you’re planning a family vacation with your kids, then we’re the site for you.  But what about old-fashioned deals that are based on price?  UpTake has our Feelin’ Broke listings, but what if I want to start my vacation planning based exclusively on price?  At the risk of offending our Prez (sorry, Yen!), I recently took a trip using exactly this approach.

There are lots of players in the travel deals space – Sherman’s Travel and Dunhill to name but two; but I wound planning my recent trip to Seattle with our friends at Travelzoo.  Their Top 20 lists travel deals that would be aptly described as travel steals, as evidence by this gem that I booked:  A three-night stay at the oh-so-hip Hotel Max for just $139 per night.

If you’ve been to Seattle lately, you know this is a fantastic rate, particularly in the fall. But to appreciate what a sweet deal it was, consider what I got:  Located downtown, the Max is just a ten-minute walk from Pike Market.  It follows an approach similar to the Kimpton brand – take an otherwise ordinary hotel and transform it into something chic and avant-garde, simply by taking chances with style, art and design.  Think tons of tomato-red fabric.  Think original works by Seattle artists throughout the hotel.  Think touches that are simultaneously thoughtful, whimsical, and provocative; such as an in-room “Spiritual Menu” that lists not only the predictable King James Bible, but also the Tao Te Ching and the Bhagavad Gita.  Or the “Pillow Menu” I found on my bed, allowing me to choose from close to a dozen varieties.  And tucked away near the mini-bar, I stumbled across an “Intimacy Kit,” complete with (ahem) . . . batteries.

Rates at the Hotel Max are normally around $200 this time of year, so my Travelzoo deal was just that – a real deal.  It so happens that the Hotel Max could also qualify as a romantic hotel, especially for the younger set.  Hmm . . . do I sense a “romantic deals” category emerging?

(From top – the door to my room; more artwork at the Hotel Max, Photo Credit: Eyeliam )

We launched UpTake to make the entire travel planning process easier and we started with the specific goal of improving the first step in the travel planning process – helping consumers decide where to go, where to stay and what to do. With our new Series B investment led by Trinity Ventures, we will build on the progress we achieved since our Series A investment from Shasta Ventures and accelerate our growth.

How do we plan to grow? First, we will expand our search offering beyond UpTake Hotels into new categories including: UpTake Lodging, UpTake Things to Do, UpTake Restaurants and UpTake Beaches. Second, we will improve our ability to deliver travel recommendations based on our analysis and filtering of collective intelligence and on consumers’ specific travel preferences. Lastly, when it makes sense, we will accelerate our growth through acquisitions.

We solve information overload to help you make decisions with confidence

We know from external research and internal consumer studies that the primary challenge for you (”you” being the quintessential consumer traveler more interested in your trip experience then the absolute lowest price) in deciding where to go, where to stay and what to do is that there is too much information scattered across too many sources. And when you can’t find a trusted friend who has been there before to give you advice, you turn to web search and swim through that ocean of unorganized, fragmented information to find the relevant bits of information you need. A Google study shows the average traveler completes 12 searches and visits 22 sites before booking. For every search for flights you might do, you will do ten more searches on what to do, where to stay, where to eat, etc. You also want much more then prices, you want photos, maps, descriptions, reviews et al. This translates to approximately 10 billion travel-related web searches annually.

At UpTake, we are solving this information overload problem. We have aggregated 20 million opinions and information from over 1,000 web sites on 400,000 products and organized it to help you find everything in one place.

We aren’t helping you ‘just’ with hotels, but also with campgrounds, beaches, museums, theme parks, spas and all the activities that make your trips memorable.

We recommend based on understanding collective intelligence

Our approach is unique. Like Google, we aggregate all the existing information we can find (but unlike Google, we just do travel).

However, we have a better understanding of the aggregated information so we can organize and present it better (e.g. romantic hotels, kid-friendly things to do).  How? That’s a long explanation. The short version is that we extract sentiments and metadata from reviews, descriptions, blogs, articles so we can recommend specific options tailored to your preferences – and explain why we are making the recommendation.

We are complementary to existing travel companies

We specifically built our product and our business to be complementary with the travel industry. We are an information search application that aggregates and analyzes travel information, displays the most relevant abstracts with the information provider’s brand displayed, and drives free, qualified leads to the information provider when the consumer wants more than we display. As a search company, we are not a content creator, a “destination site,” a community site, a content publisher, a trip organizing site, or a booking engine. We simply help people search existing travel information to make better decisions.

Because of our complementary approach, a number of information providers wanted us to display more of their information, faster. That’s why we created our Content Partner Program – so that you can send us feeds rather then wait for us to crawl your site. Let us know if you want to participate.

We are looking forward to improving travel search over the next few years, if you would like to partner with us, just have a few questions, or would like to send feedback please email me (yen at uptake.com).

p.s. we are looking to add a few, very talented data, search and application engineers to our team – please send along folks you think would be a good fit; thanks in advance!

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

The end of summer doesn’t mean the end of good times. (Although, if you talk to my kids, the end of summer and the beginning of the school year really does mean the end of good times, and any type of joyful existence, period.)  The next few months are filled with holidays and the celebrations that go along with them, not to mention festivals taking place throughout the city. Here are a few – check back here on the UpTake blog for other events to help you get over summer withdrawal.

Sawdust Art Festival  – The Summer Show is the main part of this Laguna Beach festival and takes place from June through August, but it really consists of several festivals that take place year-round.  Check out the Autumn Art Festival for first rate classes like Glass Blowing, Ceramics and Oil Painting.  Don’t miss the Winter Fantasy, which takes place over four weekends from November 22 through December 14 and features 170 artists and craftspeople creating, demonstrating and selling their original pieces, not to mention outdoor cafes and a visit with Santa!  Kill two birds with one stone and get your holiday shopping done here, too.

(By the time this post publishes, you will have just missed the Nisei Week Japanese Festival that takes place in Little Tokyo every summer.  But it’s worth noting for next year – mark your calendars for next August’s festival.)

The beginning of November brings several festivals celebrating Dia De Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead.  One of the biggest celebrations takes place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and features theater performances, arts and crafts exhibitions and authentic Mexican cuisine.  This year’s event takes place on November 1st, from 4-11pm and admission is only $5 per person.  Celebrate the dead without giving up an arm and a leg.

DWP Light Festival – Not so much a festival as a magical celebration of the holiday season. An amazing light and motion display sponsored by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power that you can view either from your car or via a walking route (which they recommend.)  Part of the festival is the Reindeer Romp at the nearby L.A. Zoo which features live reindeer, hands-on arts and crafts and holiday shopping.  If you’ve never had a chance to see this awesome light show, make it a point to go this year – it’s worth the crush of cars and maddening crowds.  It makes my husband cranky just thinking about going, but once he sees how much the kids love it, he cheers up.  Most of the time.

Photo: Hollywood Forever presents Dia de la Muertos

Dear friends, please help us tell The Google where we are.

Well, we did it. In March, we shared that we were changing our name from Kango to UpTake. We weren’t happy about having to do this, but we stopped whining and got over it. But we were too busy with our public beta launch in May that we put off the actual redirect of the Kango site to UpTake until now. On Friday 8/23, we flipped the switch.

Now our Google and Yahoo! traffic is GONE!!!

Ok I’m being a bit overdramatic, its not all gone. But its well known that when you do something called a “301 permanent redirect” it takes a little time before you recover. Its as if you are lost to Google. The 301 redirect tells Google where to look, but it takes some time before Google eventually believes what you are telling it. Please find us Google, and please believe that our new domain is a good one! (ritual Google rain dance)

Case Study: eMomsatHome.com switches to Sparkplugging.com

I follow Wendy Piersall (@emom) on Twitter. As Founder of eMomsatHome.com, Wendy decided that she needed to rebrand her site to set it up for broader marketplace success. And she picked a great name, Sparkplugging. Her post entitled “What I wish I had known about Naming a Website and Changing a Domain Name” shares some insights into the process and Wendy also has a nice interview in ProBlogger about her rebranding.

Wendy also knew that there would be a loss of Google traffic:

I knew it was coming – and I really thought I prepared myself adequately. But within 6 days of changing our domain name, even though every single page was redirected accurately, we lost 90% of our traffic from the search engines. And although I won’t tell you just how much that was, suffice it to say that I didn’t sleep for a couple of weeks.

Now, we’re in the “When we’re not Sleeping Zone”

I can’t share our traffic graphs because we’re a venture backed company, etc. etc.   But we’re about 1 centimeter to the left of the “When I Didn’t Sleep” arrow on Wendy’s chart! So looks like we have some sleepless nights ahead. And I’m already pretty sleep deprived from the Olympics!

How you can help.

There is a way you can help. By telling Google you love us.

Google assesses the trust of a new domain based on the links that it receives. With a 301 permanent redirect, Google will eventually credit the links from Kango.com to UpTake, but that will take some time. Fresh, new legitimate links from relevant sites to the new domain may us get our mojo faster back with Google!

We’ve reorganized our content around different topics. With Hotels, Lodging, and general vacation ideas that includes:

• Hotels
• Family Hotels
• Romantic Hotels
• Pet Friendly Hotels
• Camping
• Bed and Breakfasts
• Family Vacations
• Romantic Vacations
• and many more…

With Attractions and things to do, that includes

• general things to do on vacation
• Family things to do
• Romantic and free things to do
• Golf Courses
• Spas
• Parks
• Theme parks
• Beaches
• and many more…

If any of these topics are interesting and can be woven into a blog post, a blogroll, or some other link on your site, it will tell Google that you love us and that they should crawl us again!

I know we will be ok eventually, but with your link love and support, maybe we get Google moving a bit faster.

Thanks in advance and the love will be returned if you ever find yourself in this situation.

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

Here is my Thursday Thirteen list, a suggestion of things to do with tweens in L.A. I thought up most of it at the mall last week, as I was waiting outside a store for my two tween girls to emerge with their purchases. It’s amazing what you can get accomplished in seven hours.

1. Hot Topic - This could really cover items 1 – 13 on this list, since as far as my two girls are concerned there isn’t any need to venture anywhere else. Give them a backpack full of snacks and a fully-charged cell phone and they could probably stay in there for weeks spending my hard earned cash on Juno t-shirts and black glitter nail polish.

2. Art Museums – We’ve been taking our kids to art museums since they were babies, but it’s gotten particularly entertaining lately to hear their expert commentary. It’s always amusing to hear things like, “OMG – naked!” when standing before a majestic sculpture by Rodin, or “I TOTALLY want that for my new bunk bed comforter” while contemplating a canvas by Jackson Pollack.

3. Soup Kitchen –I’ve never actually visited a soup kitchen with my tweens, but it’s something all the PC parenting guides say you should do in order to teach your kids to be grateful for what they have. In all honesty, I’m not sure how my two girls would fare – I’d really be embarrassed if they sat down at a table, waited for a menu and then asked the homeless guy sitting next to them if he recommends the buffalo wings or the grilled cheese.

4. The movies – Any movie will do. Just sitting in a nice cool theater chowing down on hot buttered popcorn and Junior Mints is enough to keep them happy. The 9 – 12 year old set aren’t very discerning moviegoers; In fact, it may be the only time you’ll hear “Garfield: The Movie” and “awesome” in the same sentence.

5. Target – Maybe this is only applicable to tween girls, but mine love the aisles filled with cheap loot, cds and video games. Also, lots of eco t-shirts that say things like ‘Tree Hugger’ which is apparently all the rage now. You might just get them to listen to your Hendrix albums after all.

6. Yogurt shop – Yogurt is the new black. Menchies is our favorite, but Pinkberry or any other one will do. But try and take them to Baskin-Robbins and be prepared for much eye-rolling as they’re forced to mingle with the four-year-olds enjoying a scoop of Shrek Swirl with their grandpas.

7. Starbucks – This is the new version of sneaking a sip of your mom’s wine when you were seven. Tweens like the idea of sipping a grown-up coffee drink (I order decaf for mine) and it’s great for coffee addicts like me who can get their daily fix guilt-free. You know, it’s for the children.

8. Bowling Alley – They may last for one game of bowling, but what they really want to do is head to the arcade for some DDR (Dance Dance Revolution for you total squares.) Bring a bat or rolled-up newspaper if you have girls, though – the last time I was there a small crowd of teen boys gathered to watch my daughters and their friends bouncing around to the music until I shooed them away.

9. California Pizza Kitchen –According to the highly scientific poll I conducted with my girls and their friends while driving back from the mall in my van last week, this is the sanctioned eatery to dine with your parents. Added bonus – it’s the only place they don’t feel embarrassed about ordering from the kids menu since “the macaroni and cheese, like, rules.”

10. The Library – Believe it or not, tweens are rediscovering the library, mainly for the treasure trove of manga books they have there. At $9.99 each, it gets expensive to keep buying them at Barnes & Noble. However, do not even suggest they try out any of the library-sponsored teen events such as cupcake making or scrapbooking – you may as well tell them to invite their crowd over for a rousing game of rummy.

11. The beach – The beach is ideal for tweens and their unpredictable moods. They can indulge both their sloth-ly instincts by laying on their towels all day, or burn off energy by hitting the waves for some boogie-boarding. Also, the close proximity of a snack bar serving pizza and every variety of greasy, deep fried food will make them think they’ve died and gone to heaven

12. The park – My girls are just starting to notice boys, and members of the opposite sex are in abundance here, especially during soccer season. Bring along that bat that you took to the bowling alley

13. At home, with their parents – They’re not going to want to be seen with their dad and me for long, so we’re savoring all these days just hanging out together. So what if they roll their eyes when I suggest the fifth game of CandyLand?