Guest Author: Our kid blogger, Messi Jr., is a nine year old fourth grader who loves travel and soccer.
I had an awesome Los Angeles trip. I went because my mom had business there. The weather was really hot. The day before we came, it was 104 degrees. While we were there, it was in the 90s. Today, I will tell you about the top four things I did in Los Angeles.
My favorite thing I did was the La Brea Tar Pits. The La Brea Tar Pits are tar pits that trapped animals during the Ice Age so that the animals couldn’t get out. At the La Brea Tar Pits, they dig up the bones from the tar pits. They had saber tooth cats, mammoths, lizards, mastodons, and many more.
My second favorite thing in Los Angeles was Santa Monica. I liked Santa Monica because it was about 90 degrees and felt good to dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean. The other reason I liked Santa Monica was because of the pier. A pier is like a boardwalk over the ocean. On the pier, I saw multiple musicians, a magic performer, and an artist. I bought a painting of the pier from a painter. There was also an amusement park with a roller coaster, ferris wheel and other rides.
My third favorite thing that I did in Los Angeles was the Getty Center. The Getty Center is an art museum. I liked all of the paintings and the architecture. I got a very cool view of the city from the museum. My favorite painting was Van Gogh’s Irises.
My fourth favorite thing in Los Angles was the Disney Concert Hall. The reason I liked the Concert Hall was because of the architecture. The building looked like a lot of metal pieces that fit together. The architect was called Frank Gehry. He also designed a building in University Circle.
A few other cool things I saw were Hollywood, the City Hall, and lots of cars, including Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. I had a really great trip to Los Angeles.
Bangalore may be known more as an IT mecca than for tourism, but this “Garden City of India” is a great place to experience India. With a population of 8.4 million, it is the country’s third largest city and the capital of Karnataka. We spent two weeks visiting family in Bangalore when our kids were 20 months, 5 and 8 and had an unforgettable trip. We can’t wait to return to Bangalore with kids.
When I first traveled to Bangalore over the 2007 New Year, I saw no more than three other blondes during our five-day visit. That trip was the first time that I had ever been a minority. I definitely attracted attention and a fair number of double-takes, but no one ever approached me on the street. Minorities in the US have historically been treated with suspicion or viewed negatively, but that was definitely not my experience in India. Indians seemed to be merely intrigued or interested in my uniqueness but not viewed in a negative light. I was clearly identified as a tourist and constantly encouraged to enter stores. When we visited again in 2016 with our three kids, we saw far more tourists in Bangalore and “blended in” a bit more. Here are our favorite five family activities for visits to Bangalore with kids:
#1: Eating Out in Bangalore With Kids
We ate like royalty in India. Our family’s favorite cuisine is Indian, and all of our kids enjoy some spice in their food. With many meals, my husband and I enjoyed Kingfisher, the most popular Indian beer. Kingfisher is available in the US, but only a version that is also manufactured in the States and does not taste like the Indian Kingfisher.
Kingfisher, our favorite Indian beverage, complete with never-ending bubbles
We ate lunch out daily and enjoyed some phenomenal restaurants, including:
Tandoor features palatial decor and traditional tandoori cooking and is located on MG Road. The butter chicken, milai chicken and roti are our favorites We loved Tandoor so much that we ate here twice.
Chutney Chang is a buffet offering Indian and Chinese dishes where we ate Easter lunch. The buffet is so large that you have to do a quick preview before you start serving yourself. And, save room for the delicious desserts. Our kids particularly enjoyed the cotton candy.
Le Brassierie at Le Meridienwas another unbelievable buffet where we dined for lunch on our last day in India. La Brassierie’s buffet offers North Indian, South Indian, Japanese, Chinese and continental food. When the server heard that we were celebrating our son’s birthday, they brought out an entire cake inscribed with Happy Birthday. My little dimpled guy has never smiled so big.
#2: Bangalore’s Lalbagh Botanical Garden
After a few hours in Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, it will be clear why Bangalore is known as the “Garden City” in this outdoor oasis located within a crowded city. We hired a guide to take us around the gardens in an expanded golf cart and thoroughly enjoyed a few hours away from the hustle and bustle (and honking) of the city.
We particularly enjoyed the 300 year old silk cotton tree, bird watching and generally exploring the foliage.
#3: Shopping in Bangalore With Kids
Shopping was one of our favorite activities in Bangalore. Almost everything available in India is offered at a fraction of the price you would find in the US. Additionally, handicrafts made in India and jewelry are so much more unique and interesting. We made a number of purchases, including a tailor-made suit made to measure for my older son’s First Communion, prescription glasses, jewelry, shoes and clothes. While I never had trouble with substandard products, shopping at a government emporium is a good way to ensure quality at a reasonable price.
Some of our favorite shopping areas include:
Brigade Road/Mahatma Gandhi Road (aka MG Road) is a popular tourist shopping area with a wide variety of popular international stores including Nike and Adidas. Both Brigade Road and MG Road are very busy streets, and you have to be careful when crossing, but there are sufficient sidewalks for pedestrians. Make sure to cross when the locals do. There are often stalls set up on MG Road, and we purchased belts personally fit to each of us and a Panama hat for our younger son at one of these stalls. Bargaining at all stores except emporiums and international chain stores is common. Fast food chains McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Dominos are all available, but we definitely did not waste any of our meals on fast food and didn’t choose “Western food” once.
Cauvery Emporium at the intersection of Brigade and MG Road is a can’t miss for authentic handicrafts, including textiles and sandalwood and rosewood products.
Cottage Industries Emporium is another government emporium located a short drive away where we always find amazing Indian handicrafts.
PN RAO is a tailor that specializes in made to measure suits. After picking out your material and pattern, your custom-made suit is ready for a first fitting about a week later. We had a suit made for our eight-year old who was about to make his First Communion.
Brigade Road at night
Handcrafted wooden toys that you can sometimes see being made outside of Cauvery Emporium
Commercial Street is one of the oldest shopping areas in Bangalore. It is extremely busy shopping street known for sale of clothes, shoes, jewelry and electronics. Sidewalks are not consistently available, and the main street is shared by parked cars, moving cars and a fair share of pedestrians, so you need to use extra caution with kids here. Soch (my favorite Indian clothes store) and Mex both have large stores here. I was thrilled that Soch shortened my kurti to my desired length for no additional charge and had it ready in about an hour.
The Forum in Koramangala was India’s first shopping mall development that includes five stories of shops and a multiplex movie theater and a food court. Soch also has a store here.
#4: Religious Celebrations in Bangalore With Kids
Spending Holy Week in Bangalore was a truly unique experience. While Hinduism is the most common religion in India, there are almost 20 million Catholics. My husband’s ancestors come from Goa and Mangalore, which are areas with large Catholic populations. While some Indians were converted to Christianity at the time of Christ, most were converted during the Portuguese and British colonial periods. In Goa, it was common for Indians to change their names to Christian names after conversion. They often adopted the Portugese surname of the missionary who converted them. As a result, there are about 50 very common Indian Catholic surnames.
Holy Thursday and Good Friday services at our church at home are well attended but there are always plenty of seats. If you arrive 20 minutes early on Easter Sunday, you are pretty much guaranteed a seat. The services we attended in India gave “standing room only” a new meaning. Multiple services are held almost hourly in different languages, and hundreds of chairs are set up outside with large screens live video streaming the Mass. We arrived at least 30 minutes before each service began to park and then wait outside the doors for the prior service to finish. As soon as the prior Mass ended, people would rush in to find a seat. Everyone was dressed up and reverent and patient with the large crowds.
Easter 2016 coincided with Holi, a Hindu Spring festival known as the “festival of colors” that is popular with non-Hindus as well. People cover each other with brilliant colors and spray each other with water guns and water balloons. We enjoyed watching this joy-filled celebration. We worried about the color getting in the kids’ eyes and didn’t participate in the bright celebration, but found a great list of tips for celebrating Holi in India.
Waiting for MassThrowing color to celebrate Holi
#5: Sporting Events in Bangalore With Kids
With two boys, sporting events are always high on their list. Our trip occurred during the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 cricket tournament, and we watched cricked almost every night. It was amazing to see my boys fall in love with the sport that their dad grew up with. Cricket is an extremely complicated game, but they started picking up the rules and the lingo. My husband purchased tickets to a match held in Bangalore between West Indies and Sri Lanka, and the boys couldn’t wait. Unfortunately, our oldest spiked a high fever on the day after we arrived in India, which was the day of match and was crushed to watch from home while his brother had an experience of a lifetime. West Indies went on to win the tournament in a heart wrenching game against England. Admittedly, even I enjoyed watching that.
The boys also had unique experiences playing soccer in the school yard of their dad’s school, St. Joseph’s.
Our older son also played soccer every night he could with neighbor children in the complex we stayed in. His brother opted for swimming in the pool where he made a few friends himself and taught himself to swim during our stay.
We were lucky to have about two weeks in Bangalore and explore at a slow pace. To make the most of a short visit, check out this ultimate Bangalore itinerary.
While both boys note that visiting family was the best part of our time in Bangalore, we really enjoyed exploring the city, which was so different than our everyday lives. Visiting India with kids, check out our posts on planning and Kerala.
One of the mid-Atlantic’s unsung treasures is the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Located approximately two hours from downtown Washington, DC, the Eastern Shore lies along the Chesapeake Bay and provides an ideal opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The first time my family visited the Eastern Shore was in the summer of 2010, when we rented a home to celebrate my son’s first birthday. We rented a home via Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals, located down in Tilghman Island, a small island in the Chesapeake. To get to Tilghman Island, you have to cross a drawbridge and once you are in Tilghman, there’s very little by way of things to do.
Our rental home for the week, the Choptalk Cottage, was located along the waterfront and provided an ideal setting for celebrating my son’s first birthday, complete with a Smith Island Cake, the state dessert of Maryland.
amazing layers hidden inside the Smith Island Cake
A few years later, we decided to return to the Eastern Shore, but instead, visited in mid-October as our annual family fall getaway. It turns out, the Eastern Shore of Maryland is even more wonderful in the fall!
For our return visit to the Eastern Shore, we again rented a home, Heron Point, through Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals. Both rentals were as described and when we had issues with the internet service during one of our stays, the company was happy to send someone out to help us reboot the modem and get connected even though it was a Saturday afternoon. We did not, however, rent the same house we rented the first time, choosing instead to rent a home closer to Easton, Maryland, the county seat and where our dining options would be less limited.
Situated on three acres along the water, the view from our rental home was outstanding. Not only was there ample space for our family to enjoy dinners together, but we also loved sitting outside and just observing the world around us.
one of the many dinners we enjoyed
view of the dock from our rental home
My young son particularly loved the opportunity to be outside in the fall and we visited Council Farms, one of the best pumpkin patches we have ever been to – one where the pumpkins were still on the vine!
running through the corn mazechecking out the manual apple press
What little boy doesn’t love a tractor ride?
In addition to Council Farms, we also visited St. Michael’s, a small coastal town that offers plenty of opportunities to shop and dine. The Eastern Shore Brewing Company is located at one end of the main drag, so of course we stopped in to sample some brews.
A few things to note about the Eastern Shore:
Traffic can vary significantly depending on your departure/arrival times and, on occasion, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which you must cross to get to the Eastern Shore from DC, can close when there are high winds. In an attempt to avoid heavy traffic and delays, we usually leave very early in the morning to head out to “the Shore” and plan on spending a few hours visiting St. Michael’s or just puttering around somewhere instead of attempting to time our arrival with when the rental home becomes available (usually 3pm).
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a very long bridge and can be intimidating to drive across if you are, say, from California and nervous about earthquakes. If you are uncomfortable driving across the bridge, there is a drive-over service that you can call one hour before your arrival. Although I have not personally used the service, I have friends who can recommend it.
If you happen to be visiting the Shore in the summer, make sure you feast on some Maryland Blue Crabs. Although there are places where you can get Maryland Blue Crabs in DC, nothing beats getting a bushel of crabs and eating them outside along the Chesapeake Bay!
If you aren’t one for vacation rentals, the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay may be a good option for you. It’s not only kid and pet friendly, but it has a number of options for the kiddos, including family portraits, evening s’mores, and more.
There are a number of restaurant choices in both St. Michael’s and Easton, but St. Michael’s in particular can get very busy during peak tourist season so expect a wait! Luckily, because it’s a heavily visited area, everyone is familiar with children and accommodating.
India is an amazing country for kids to experience. Our trip to Bangalore and Kerala in March 2016 was our children’s first taste of South Asia and really opened their eyes to the beautiful country their dad called home when he was a child. In India, they saw two extremes – the luxurious lifestyles of a portion of the population and the challenges of a developing country. Our most memorable experiences of the trip included countless amazing meals, fabulous shopping, unparalleled street chaos (vehicles, people and stray animals sharing the road) and some luxurious relaxation in Kerala.
Planning
My husband and I had previously traveled together to India over the Christmas holidays in 2006. Our trip included stops in Goa, Mangalore, Bangalore and Bombay, but we knew that we wanted to limit our internal travel on our first trip with kids. We chose to spend the majority of our time in Bangalore visiting my husband’s family and make only one side-trip to Kerala during our 16 days there.
We traveled when our youngest was a full-fledged toddler of 20 months but could still qualify as a lap-child, which is how she would travel even if we bought her a seat. Because we were staying mostly with family, our trip planning for the Bangalore portion required only booking flights. With the long journey to get to India, we decided to extend our sons’ spring break by a week to minimize school absences. About five months before our trip, we booked flights from Cleveland to Bangalore on Qatar Airways with stopovers in Boston and Doha.
Many Indian travel companies require payment in local currency or a physical credit card and therefore cannot make advance bookings from the US. Mark’s uncle was able to help us book our Kerala trip locally through Atlas Hoppers, but we understand that Atlas Hoppers can accept bookings from outside of India. Nancy also has friends who have highly recommend Tours By Locals to arrange guides.
Prior to our departure, we secured e-visas. We traveled on 60-day e-tourist visas but had to apply during a specific window and complete final processing at the Bangalore Airport upon arrival. It was a bit of an added hassle to our middle of the night arrival, but far less expensive than the one-year visa. This option made sense for us because we did not expect a return trip in the near future.
We also made got the necessary vaccines, which include typhoid and Hepatitis A. Because there was minimal malaria risk in Bangalore and Kerala during the time of our trip, we did not have to take precautionary malaria medicine. This was a huge relief because all anti-malaria medication have pretty scary side effects. We carried bug sprays and wipes because the selection and availability of both are limited in India but were glad not to need them.
Packing
Because there was no fee for checked baggage, and I was not completely sure what items might be easy to find in India, I packed substantially more than usual. However, next time we go to India, I’ll bring far less knowing that we are certain to purchase clothes and likely even shoes after we arrive. Also, it’s important to check the expected temperature, as some seasons can be very hot in India. It was unseasonably warm during our stay, so the skinny jeans I packed were really of no use. I recommend packing light-weight clothes. As always, I traveled with some children’s ibuprofen and adult pain and cold medication even though we knew that medicine was readily available in pharmacies at a fraction of their US cost (e.g. a bottle of children’s ibuprofen cost about $.30). Diapers are probably available, but I would recommend bringing them as well.
Getting There
I was worried about how the kids would survive the 30-hour trip from Cleveland to Bangalore. Before our departure, we learned that the Boston-Doha route we booked was starting service on the day before our departure and featured the United States’ second Airbus 350. As soon as I stepped on board, I knew that the Airbus 350 was a special aircraft. It was absolutely beautiful with décor and lighting that reminded me of a night club. The in-seat entertainment was unparalleled. All the Academy Award nominated films that I had not had a chance to watch were available even before their DVD releases. The electronic components were cleverly stored under the floor so that valuable under seat leg room was not sacrificed in the process. Also, the plane was mostly empty, so my husband and each of my boys took a row of three seats for themselves to sleep, and my daughter and I shared another row. This allowed us the luxury to get semi-decent sleep for about seven hours of the 12-hour flight. The Airbus 350 is the way to travel – especially on a long flight when traveling in coach with a toddler virtually connected to you. When we stepped off, we were sad that we would not be traveling home on this exact plane.
Airbus 350
Qatar Airlines ran promotional videos about Doha on all flights and offers complimentary city tours. Doha definitely looked like a city we would like to visit one day, and we definitely hope to return to Qatar with kids. However, our itinerary did not permit us to leave the airport. My oldest son did play a little violin in the airport during our layover for the novelty of playing violin in Qatar.
Transportation
India is definitely a challenging travel destination logistically – with or without kids. If you are traveling to India without local family, you need to make sure to hire a recommended driver and guide for every day that you are there. This may seem like an extravagance, but it is relatively inexpensive (we paid a driver with a car about $20 for eight hours). While we often traveled by uber and even auto with no issues, my husband was very familiar with the city, and his uncle always took the precaution of watching our driver’s route from pickup to drop off.
Traffic is pretty chaotic in Indian cities and watching the other travelers on the road is truly an experience. The vehicles, people, animals and signs you see and non-stop honking you hear are all so different from anything you see in the West. Cows were a common fixture along the side of the road, and we once even saw an elephant. It’s a good thing that it was so interesting to watch because even traveling a few miles can take quite a long time in crowded cities. Also, car seats are virtually unheard of, and cars are not equipped with self-retracting belts or any kind of LATCH/Isofix system to make them really usable. Luckily, cars, motorcycles, autos and bikes travel at low speeds. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
Common street scene
It’s not everyday you see an elephant walking on the side of the road
Accommodation
We were fortunate that we were able to mostly stay with family. If you are not visiting family or friends, it is advisable to book higher-end or recommended hotels, and 4.5-5 star hotels are generally available for $100-$150/night. We thoroughly enjoyed staying at Taj hotels during our trip to Kerala and had a wonderful buffet lunch at the stunning Leela Palace.
Leela Palace in Bangalore
Shopping
Shopping in India is pretty amazing. Most items are a fraction of the cost that you would find them in the US. On our first trip to India before kids, we bought so much that we had to purchase a suitcase to bring all the items back with us. We purchased several bedspreads, a rug, two side tables (which came apart and fit in our luggage), a carved lamp, prescription glasses, some handicrafts and jewelry. While I was there, I felt like I was buying too much jewelry. But, I found that in the nine years between our visits that I rarely found pieces as interesting, unique and affordable in the US. So, on our trip last year, I made sure to not limit myself and found several new pieces, which are now in heavy rotation.
Not only are prices substantially lower in India, but service is amazing. When we looked at jewelry in a store and returned a few days later, the salesman (or less commonly, the saleswoman) would pull out whatever pieces I expressed any interest in and place them on display as I reached the counter. In home goods stores, someone would pull out every bedspread or rug that we looked at twice.
So many options!Bedspread displayed for us
Language Barrier
Many people think that communication would be an issue in India. However, Hindi and English are co-official languages. There are 22 major languages spoken in India, and many Indians speak their local language at home, but Hindi and English are unifying languages. In our experience, anyone in a service industry role spoke English. The only times we needed to communicate with a non-English speaker occurred when we were riding in an auto. My husband’s broken Hindi was all we needed to get to our desired destination. The prevalence of English surprises many Americans but is an obvious result in a country that was largely a British colony for over 300 years.
Kid Caution
Many people asked if it was safe for our kids to travel to India and had specific concerns about healthcare, safe food and water. If you do have a medical issue when traveling in India, first-rate healthcare is widely available and affordable. The day we arrived, our son spiked a fever, which soared to 104 degrees the next day. We were able to take him to an ER on a Sunday and have him examined by a pediatric doctor. The doctor prescribed medicine and rest and prepared a folder filled with all the details of the examination and recommendations. We were definitely satisfied by his care and shocked that the hospital fee was a mere $8 and prescribed medicines cost about $1 total at the pharmacy. After this experience, it doesn’t surprise us that people travel to India from all over the world for medical procedures, including $1,800 heart surgery with outcomes among the world’s best.
The tap water is absolutely not safe to drink, even when brushing your teeth. Outside of our relatives’ homes where the water was specially filtered, we only drank sealed beverages. While this seems odd at first, it is such a common request that servers typically bring sealed beverages to your table so that you are certain that no tampering could have occurred. There is also a risk that raw fruit and vegetables may have been washed in tap water that can cause illness. Luckily, the country’s specialties are all cooked food like curries, naan, dosas, biryani and samosas, and cooked vegetables are especially tasty. We ate our way through India at well-known and higher end restaurants and had no food or water issues at all.
Because my son contracted a bacterial infection from swallowing pool water in Mexico as a toddler, we were particularly careful with our daughter. She only used one pool in Kerala, and I held her above the water the entire time she was in the pool. We were also extra careful when bathing her.
Because of risks related to food and vaccinations, India is not a recommended travel destination for young babies or women who are pregnant, nursing or planning to become pregnant.
India with Kids?
Our vacation in India was definitely more complicated than any of our other trips as a family, but I’ve never seen our boys have so many “aha moments.” Nothing quite compares to the moments they spent playing soccer with local boys in their dad’s school yard, dipping their toes into the Arabian Sea, relaxing on a houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala, learning to swim in their great aunt and uncle’s pool, riding in an auto, watching us negotiate with salespeople, operating a Chinese fishing net, attending Mass in a church that gave “standing room only” a new meaning and eating the most delicious meals of their life. If you are aware of the risks and plan accordingly, India is an amazing family travel destination, and one you will definitely never forget.
My husband is an avid fly fisherman and for years, many of their family vacations centered around fly fishing. At some point in our relationship, I accepted that fly fishing was always going to be a part of my life and I began keeping an eye out for new locations where my husband and my father-in-law could go fly fishing, while at the same time providing my mother-in-law and me with other distractions and things to do!
Rose River Farm in Syria, VA in located near some of the very best fly fishing in Virginia. The farm was purchased and built with the intention of providing a “fly fishing getaway” close to Washington, DC that offers the same uncrowded fly fishing experience to those who enjoy fishing in Colorado and Montana. In 2011, the Farm added two modern Mongolian Yurts, to provide sleeping quarters for both fishermen and their families. I personally find the notion of a yurt to be fascinating (bordering on a hobbit house like experience), so when I realized that I could combine both my yurt fascination along with my husband’s intense love for fly fishing in one fall getaway, I immediately booked us for a weekend at Rose River Farm.
The Farm now has a total of three yurts which are available for booking year round. Each yurt is just over 1,100 square feet, has central heating and cooling, two full baths and two full bedrooms (each with double beds). The yurts are fully equipped with just about everything you can think of for a fly fishing vacation, including washing machines, however, I must note that the yurts are not equipped with dish washers, which may be a dealer breaker to some.
The major benefit to my family, of course, was that the yurts provided close proximity to excellent fly fishing. By staying at the Farm, you have access to fish a stretch of the Rose River that is private access only. It is $95/day/person to reserve the right to fish the stream and the Farm limits access to five rods a day (if your party books four rods, they will reserve the entire stream for your use). My husband and his father loved being able to fish the reserved stream that was located just minutes away from the cabin and, when they were ready to take a break, they came back to the cabin and walked our son down to the pond so he could practice his own fly casting.
There are a number of nearby attractions in addition to fly fishing, such as wine tasting. My mother-in-law and I spent a lovely afternoon wine tasting while my son napped. If you’ve never been wine tasting in Virginia, it’s not quite the same as wine tasting in California, but there are a number of excellent wines (and ciders) that you can sample throughout the state.
The Farm also provides a list of other activities nearby, including guided kayaking trips, horseback riding, and fishing on public waters. Although having a three-year-old in our party meant that we could not participate in many of those activities, I would definitely explore more active activities now that our kids are older.
Finally, I would love to return to Rose River Farm, especially now that my oldest is 8 and could learn to fish on the relatively calm stretch of the river they offer private access to, but, unfortunately, the Farm does not allow pets. While this may be a benefit to some, with three cabins available for rent, I sure would hope the Farm reconsiders the policy and allow pets perhaps in one of the three cabins! I have no problem traveling without my pet when the need arises, but for fall weekend getaways close to home, it just doesn’t seem right to leave our four-legged child behind. Nevertheless, if you aren’t limited by this factor, I highly encourage you to getaway to Rose River Farm and experience a yurt, as well as excellent fly fishing, wines, and more, just two hours from DC.
New England is a quintessential fall getaway destination and a great place to take kids. The fall colors are brilliant and set against quaint towns. Even though fall color can be pretty spectacular in Ohio, we made New England trips in October 2008 and October 2016 to enjoy New England fall. My husband experienced fall for the first time when he lived in Connecticut for five years before we met and has so many fond memories of fall in New England that he wanted to share with our kids. We love visiting New England – our favorite New England destinations are Amherst, Massachusetts, where my aunt and uncle live, and New Haven, Connecticut, where my husband attended Yale’s School of Management.
The inherent planning problem with a fall foliage trip is that the timing and vibrance of fall colors varies from year to year and cannot be predicted in advance even if you consult a fall foliage map. Our 2008 trip coincided with my husband’s business school reunion at the height of an especially vibrant fall color that year. Our 2016 trip overlapped a school holiday and was a bit early for that season, which was never as vibrant as 2008.
The trek to New England by car for us is at least eight hours and the longest car journey we have attempted as a family. However, logistically, it is much easier to drive than fly, especially when we decided to add on stops in Princeton, New York City and Chautauqua in 2016. To make it easier on everyone, we try to leave in the late afternoon so that the kids are sleeping for the last few hours. That has worked for us with varying degrees of success.
Amherst Area
I have made a number of trips to the Amherst area over the years visiting my aunt and uncle who live nearby in Leverett. Because our oldest was only eight months old during our 2008 trip to New England, we were excited to have the chance to take our two, six and eight year old kids to explore the their farm and the nearby area. There are not a plethora of hotel options in the area, so we booked a room at the Howard Johnson’s, which was conveniently located as the closest hotel to their home. We booked through Priceline for $90. Although our stay was brief, we were pleasantly surprised by the hotel, which included a hot buffet breakfast that we were not aware of at the time we made the booking. There are a number of fun activities for families in the Amherst-area to enjoy at any time of the year.
Mount Sugarloaf
I always enjoy going to the highest point in a city or region and getting a birds-eye view of the area. Mount Sugarloaf in nearby South Deerfield is the perfect location for viewing the Connecticut River and fall foliage. Because it is possible to drive to the summit, it is easily accessible for families even with young children. Our trip there in 2008 had added excitement as we were there just a few days after the Mel Gibson movie Edge of Darkness had completed filming on site. The observation tower had been temporarily renovated and had not yet been returned to its pre-filming state.
View of the Connecticut River from Mount Sugarloaf
Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory
The Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens is a great place to take kids. Magic Wings includes a glass conservatory filled with absolutely beautiful butterflies. If you keep still, one may even land on your hand. In addition to the conservatory, there are a number of educational exhibits and an outdoor butterfly garden.
Hiking
There are also many opportunities for hiking. My aunt and uncle suggested a family hike at Rattlesnake Gutter, which was a perfect location for us to hike with the kids. It was mostly flat with a clear path and beautiful wooded scenery. We found some of the best colors there and collected a few leaves to iron flat to preserve. My daughter enjoyed the hike from the comfort of her carrier and even took a nap.
Because we live in the suburbs, our kids loved the opportunity to spend a day outside hiking and exploring my aunt and uncle’s farm. The pond had dried up after a dry summer, but we toured the barn and saw the cows that are kept on the property and just ran around and had fun.
The Amherst area is a great place for families to visit. Next time I go back, I want to check out the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I think that my younger son, who is a big fan of Eric Carle and art in general, would particularly enjoy.
New Haven
Because my husband graduated from the Yale School of Management, a stop in New Haven is always on our agenda when we are in New England. New Haven is conveniently located between Amherst and New York City, so we booked a night at the Omni New Haven Hotel through Priceline at a nightly rate of $164. Although we arrived late and left early, we really enjoyed the Omni and the amazing view out of our window. It was centrally-located and well-appointed. The lobby is like a grand living room, and my boys played chess while waiting for us to check in.
My husband really wanted to enjoy a white clam pizza at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. Unfortunately, they were out of clams when we called. We also wanted to go back to his favorite Thai restaurant where we ate lunch twice in 2008, but we were both bummed to find it closed. So, we were 0/2 on food nostalgia in New Haven. Luckily, the highlight of New Haven is really the Yale campus. I absolutely love the Collegiate Gothic architectural style. We were able to tour the gym, which has many aspects common in Gothic Revival architecture includes all the conveniences needed for a modern gym.
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library was another fun stop on our campus visit. The stunning building has outer walls made of translucent marble that prevents the collection from being exposed to direct sunlight. This is one of the world’s largest libraries dedicated to rare books, and a complete copy of the Gutenberg Bible is on permanent display.
We also peeked inside the Sterling Memorial Library, which was also built in a Gothic Revival style and is reminiscent of a Gothic cathedral. It was so beautiful, I wanted to study inside.
No trip to Yale University is complete without a trip to the Yale University Official Bookstore for some Yale swag. Our boys have been wearing Yale baseball caps since their toddler days, and my husband hoped they would fall in love with the campus as he had. Of course, the campus is so breathtaking that it’s hard for anyone to not want to return to Yale, and we have two boys who both plan to attend college there.
Our fall journey to New England in 2016 was an amazing adventure, even if the colors were not as brilliant as we had hoped. You may not be able to predict when and if peak color will occur, but it’s a great trip to take regardless.
Patterson’s Fruit Farm in Chesterland, Ohio has become a perennial favorite fall activity for our kids. While it is located only 30 minutes from our house, our annual excursion definitely feels like a trip because it is so different from our norm. We always go for the Fun Fest, which is open daily from mid-September to late October and offers lots of opportunities for good, old-fashioned fall fun. We aim to go on a week day to avoid the weekend crowds and made our 2017 annual trip to Patterson’s earlier this week when the boys had a day off of school for conferences. We highly recommend visiting Patterson’s Fruit Farm.
Visiting Patterson’s Fun Fest With Kids
After arriving at Patteron’s Mulberry Road location and park in the grass lots, visitors make their way to the white apple barn to purchase wrist bands to enter the Fun Fest. Then, we walked walk around to the back to hop a tractor ride to the nearby field.
Tractor ride to the Fun Fest
Just inside the Fun Fest gate is a picnic shelter filled with hay stacks of different heights and a few slides and tunnels for kids to climb and explore. My boys particularly enjoyed the tire swings hung off the roof of the shelter.
In previous years, the 50 foot double slide made with logs was a huge hit that always had a long line of kids and adults waiting their turn to slide This year, either a new surface or weather conditions made it not so “slide-y,” and the kids moved on quickly to all of the other areas.
50-foot slide racesStill racing, one year later
There are several other slides on the property, including a few attached to a wooden play area and one built into a a silo. All play areas are custom made, primarily with wooden structures rather than metal play structures commonly available at most school playgrounds.
Kids enter the white building, climb up the tube to the silo and then slide outCustom-made tire swings
The corn maze is one of our favorites. This is no rinky-dink corn maze but could easily take 15 minutes or more of hiking through the well-worn and side paths with corn stalks surrounding you at all times. After you navigate your way out, there is a corn box (sand box filled with dried corn) that kids of all ages enjoyed playing in.
Corn maze!
Even before the “Touch a Truck” concept gained popularity, the Fun Fest offered lots of opportunities for kids to drive John Deere play tractors and other big wheel vehicles around tracks and also climb up into real tractors.
There are also opportunities for trying out stilts and climbing.
After hopping a tractor ride back to the white barn, apple picking is a great way to end a trip to Patterson’s. On our last trip, Melrose were available to pick. The kids each got their own bag at the white barn, and we set off to find the perfect apples. The clerk was tied each kid’s bag with a different number of wrist bands so that they could keep them separate. Hand picked apples definitely taste better than anything available for purchase at the store.
Why We Love Patterson’s Fruit Farm With Kids
Patterson’s is really a great place to soak in fall beauty. Near the end of our last visit, my nine-year-old told me that although some of the things he remembered being fun when he was younger are boring now that he’s older, but Patterson’s was “actually, still really fun!” We always enjoy visiting Patterson’s Fruit Farm with kids and can’t wait to go back next Fall.
When the summer heat and humidity gives way to crisp fall air, there are a few things that come to mind immediately: leaves, apple cider donuts, the outdoors. Growing up in Southern California, fall colors and weather were as mythical as unicorns. During my four years in college in rural Massachusetts, I came to love fall and everything it embodies.
Shortly after my first born turned 1, I realized that I wanted him to become familiar with fall and love it just like I did. Living and working in DC, the opportunity to run in massive piles of orange and red leaves was rare and I wanted to get away from the congestion of daily city living. I hatched the idea of a mini fall getaway, taking advantage of the Columbus Day holiday to sneak in an extra day off from work. My husband agreed and a tradition was born! We are avid fall getaway people and have taken advantage of long weekends to escape and unwind.
I first discovered Lost River Modern while perusing an issue of Dwell. My husband and I are fans of modern architecture and thus, we followed along on the owner’s blog, which detailed their efforts to build a modern prefab cabin on a hill in West Virginia. At some point, it dawned on me that Lost River, West Virginia was only 2.5 hours away by car and by then, the cabin was ready for booking so I decided to check into availability. I corresponded with the host via email, booked the cabin for three days and two nights, packed up our gear, and we set off to Lost River. The cabin was everything it promised to be – modern, inviting, perfect for our then-family of three and my in laws, who joined us for the long weekend.
The house itself is perched on a ridge, so it’s not a place you want to visit in the dead of winter unless you have four wheel drive.
the deck, where we spent many hours lounging and enjoying the quietphoto credit
main entrance to the cabin, with dutchtub available for usephoto credit
The deck itself has wire railing around (and baby gates were available so we could close off the entrance and keep our toddler safe), but the side of the house drops off the side of the hill very quickly, so you will want to watch any young children closely. The cabin also comes with a wood burning hot tub, the dutchtub, available for use, although we did not fire it up while we were there.
My son loved being outside… and throwing rocks. Lots and lots of rocks.The layout of the cabin was simple. The cabin was split into two levels: the main level, which contains the main living + dining room, kitchen, and master bedroom, along with one full bath. The downstairs level has two bedrooms and another living area, along with a full bath. Because of the divided space, we never felt crowded, not even with four adults and one toddler running around the house.
The kitchen and dining room provided a great space for us to enjoy our meals together. My husband loves to cook, and he spent the weekend whipping up fabulous meal after meal for us to enjoy.
one of the many meals we enjoyed
corner windows in the master bedroom
My husband and I loved the architecture and design of the space and my in laws quickly fell in love with it as well. Given its relatively remote location and distance from any grocery store of note, it was highly recommend that we bring all our groceries to the cabin with us, which we did. There’s a small general store about 20 minutes away by car, but not much else so make sure you pack everything you think you might need. The hosts were gracious and left us a bottle of wine to enjoy, which we happily sipped while cooking in the modern kitchen that also came equipped with a sound system that piped music throughout the house and the deck.
lounging on the couchWe did not do much during our weekend at the cabin, but that was the point: to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily city living. We discovered a zipline, hanging in the backyard, and we all took it for a spin.
a spin on the ziplineWe also took the short drive over to Lost River State Park, where there was no shortage of foliage.
I highly recommend Lost River Modern if you’re looking to truly get away. It’s not the destination for you if you’re looking to eat your meals out and have 1,001 activities to fill your day. But if you’re looking for a bit of quiet and solitude, Lost River Modern is the perfect modern retreat. When we visited in 2010, there was no cell reception within about 30 minutes of the cabin and no cell reception at the cabin either, but there is active internet and satellite television, so you aren’t completely cut off from the world. The house was also kid friendly with toys scattered around, a pack n play for our use if we desired, and, importantly, the absence of decorative chotchkies that would be dangerous but also irresistible to curious toddlers. Finally, although I would not hesitate to return, its remoteness makes it difficult for me to justify the visit, given that we now have two kids and a 75 pound dog to transport with us. Although the house is dog friendly, having to truck in all of our food items and cook all the meals is slightly overwhelming. The nearest large grocery stores are in Winchester or Front Royal, both of which are about an hour from the house. Given our crew, our car is usually packed to the gills with just our belongings and two hours in the car round trip is further than I would like to travel for groceries. Nonetheless, if you are interested in a modern oasis in the country, Lost River Modern can be the perfect location to disconnect and unwind in nature.
My eight year old son has spent the past year feverishly reading the Harry Potter World series. I did not read Harry Potter as a child or as a young adult, so when he started reading it, I decided to start reading it with him to share the experience. Although there have been times where he has been convinced that he will never finish, I’m happy to report that he finished the last book of the series just two days before our weekend getaway to Universal Studios Orlando! Here are my top tips for Harry Potter World at Universal Studios so that you too can maximize your experience!
Why Universal Studios Orlando?
Earlier this year, a friend of mine and I were discussing Harry Potter and how amazing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios sounded. She had been to the Hollywood version and when she said she was game to visit Orlando with my eight year old and myself, I snapped up the opportunity. Within four hours, we had booked a weekend getaway to Universal Studios in Orlando, which is a convenient two hour plane ride away. When my mother-in-law heard that we had planned a trip to Harry Potter World, she immediately asked if she could tag along. We happily added her to our reservation and the trip was set for three adults and one kid.
How did we book our trip?
For the first time ever, I booked a vacation package via the theme park. I’ve visited Disneyland and Disney World before, but have never stayed on-site, much less booked a vacation package. Since our plan was strictly to focus on Harry Potter World, we knew we wanted to get the early entry offered only to hotel guests. We also wanted easy access to the Park, so we called Universal Orlando Vacations to get an estimate on how much the trip would cost.
Much to my surprise, a vacation package at Universal Orlando is extremely affordable. We booked:
three night stay in a two bedroom, two bathroom suite at the Cabana Bay Hotel;
three park-to-park tickets for four (three adults, one child) so that we could enter the Park on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday prior to our afternoon departure;
breakfast for four at Three Broomsticks on Sunday morning.
The total cost for three people was just over $600/person. Considering that a one day park-to-park ticket costs $165, I was floored by how reasonably priced our vacation package was and happy booked away. Our vacation package did not include flights (which we booked separately) and meals outside of breakfast the Three Broomsticks. Although there may have been a shuttle from the airport to the resort, we chose to ride Lyft to and from the airport. We did make heavy use of the hotel to theme park shuttle, which was prompt and, importantly, air conditioned.
Our hotel was located next to Volcano Bay, Universal’s water theme park. We had a great view of the volcano from our hotel room and this provided hours of people watching while we were holed up in our room either resting or cooling down.
view of Volcano Bay from our hotel room
Our hotel was retro themed and came equipped with VO5 and Zest. Of course, my friend and I noticed this right away and spent the rest of the week humming the “Zest fully clean” theme song under our breath.
The hotel’s major short coming, in our opinion, was the lack of a real restaurant. The Cabana Bay has a diner, which is self-serve cafeteria style. After a long day of walking through the Park, the last thing I wanted to do was wait in line at multiple stations to gather food for my son and myself.
We did, however, take advantage of the bowling alley at our hotel which, curiously, offers table service. On the second day of our trip, temperatures were nearing 100 degrees and thus, we decided to spend an hour bowling and munching on food in the air conditioning, rather than fighting the crowds and searching for dining locations within the Park.
What did we do?
We Harry Pottered of course! Going into the trip, I warned my son that our primary goal was to spend time in Harry Potter World. I did a small amount of online research for tips and travel suggestions and thanks to the advice I was able to glean online, we had a fabulous, yet not overwhelming experience.
First, park-to-park tickets are essential. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is comprised of two parks with two larger parks – Universal Orlando and Island of Adventure. Diagon Alley is the defining area at Universal Orlando and Hogsmeade and Hogwart’s are the two defining Harry Potter areas within Island of Adventure. For ease of reference, I’ll often refer to the two areas as either the Diagon Alley side or the Hogsmeade side. The two Harry Potter sections of the larger Parks are connected by the Hogwart’s Express, and you must have admission to both parks in order to ride.
Second, our hotel’s early admission policy gave us an extra hour to tour the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the Diagon Alley side. During our visit, Universal Orlando opened one hour prior to Island of Adventure, so we had two full hours to experience Diagon Alley before high tailing it over to Hogshead and Hogwart’s.
entering Universal Orlando at 6:45am, before the sun is even up
To fully take advantage of the early entry, we woke up at 6am, got dressed, and took the shuttle bus over to Universal Orlando. Although there were many others entering the Park at the same time, it was by no means crowded. The walk through the Park is eerie, however, as the rest of the Park is not technically open. Early admission only gets you in early to Diagon Alley – the rest of the Park opens at the regularly scheduled time, so it is quite odd to walk through a deserted theme park, much of which was still covered in darkness due to the time of year and early entry.
The entrance into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal Orlando.
There is only one way to enter Diagon Alley and that is behind the London Waterfront. The London Waterfront is located at the far end of the Park, so it is quite a bit of a hike, but the first glimpse of Diagon Alley is well worth the walk.
my son’s first words to me were “this is so weirdly awesome”
Immediately upon entering Diagon Alley, you’re confronted by a row of shops and Gringott’s Bank. We practically ran to Gringott’s so that we could get on the Escape from Gringott’s ride. The ride does not allow any purses or backpacks and there are free lockers that you can store your stuff while riding. Although the locker areas were manageable in the early mornings and evenings, I would imagine they would get overly crowded during the day so to the extent possible, try to limit what you bring.
The ride itself is a treat (we ended up riding it a total of four times), but what surprised me was the level of detail that went into constructing Gringott’s itself. As you wind through Gringott’s bank for your turn to ride, there are little details that we took great delight in noticing and pointing out.
goblins banking as you wait for the Escape from Gringott’s ridebank registerdial above the elevator
Because of our early entry, we had no trouble getting onto the ride, after which we explored the shops and sights of Diagon Alley, including Ollivander’s, where my son purchased his interactive wand.
The attention to detail extended throughout the Park, including the fire breathing dragon at Gringott’s.
When the dragon breaths fire, there is heat that emanates (from the buildings?) so you can actually feel the warmth!
After walking around Diagon Alley a few times, it was nearing 9am and thus, time to ride the Hogwart’s Express to the other Park – Island of Adventure.To get to the train station, we had to exit Diagon Alley from the same entrance that we entered and walk to the London Terminal side of the building (less than 20 feet away). Although there was a slight delay as they had to check to make sure everyone had proper park-to-park admission tickets, we were on the Hogwart’s Express in no time and traveling to Hogsmeade and Hogwart’s!
View of Hogwart’s
Hogsmeade is less visually stimulating and impressive than Diagon Alley, but my son loved the shops there better than in Diagon Alley. Not only did Hogsmeade have its own Ollivander Outpost, but it also had Honeyduke’s, which was definitely my son’s favorite place to browse. My son also loved the “big ride” on the Hogsmeade side – The Forbidden Journey. As with Escape from Gringott’s, the line for The Forbidden Journey snakes throughout the castle and has small details to notice as you wait.
house beads hanging inside The Forbidden Journey
Although my son and his grandmother loved The Forbidden Journey, I was partial to the Flight of the Hippogriff, which is significantly tamer and includes not only a Hagrid’s Hut sighting, but a Buckbeak sighting as well!
Hagrid’s Hut as seen from the Flight of the Hippogriff line.Buckbeak, hiding in the grass near the start of the Flight of the Hippogriff.
There is so much to do in the two Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter but the crowds quickly fill up and the Orlando heat did us no favors. In fact, the crowds were such that both full days we were at the park, we left the Harry Potter areas during mid-day and explored other areas of the Park or just went home to relax.
Tips & Suggestions
To make the most of your trip to Harry Potter Orlando, I recommend:
Staying on-site and getting park-to-park tickets, including one hour early access. With this perk, you can explore the Diagon Alley side for nearly two full hours prior to hopping over to the Hogsmeade side just as it opens.
If you have the time, I recommend staying two full days or at least 1.5 days. With 1.5 days, you can explore Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade early in the morning on two occasions, prior to when crowds get overwhelming. You can then spend the afternoon/evenings or the next morning leisurely exploring the shops and sights of the respective areas. It’s important to note that the two Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas are located within their larger respective theme parks and that each area is relatively tightly built to mimic the true feel of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Because of the tight nature of the space, there just isn’t enough room for everyone who wants to be there, so if crowds are not your thing, you should try to stay more than one day so that you can fully experience both areas.
If you absolutely cannot stay onsite and your visit is limited to one day, I recommend pre-purchasing your tickets and splurging for the Express Pass. The Express Pass line will allow you to take a shorter line, thus ensuring sufficient time for rides and browsing. We did not do this because we had a full 2.5 days to spend at the Parks and the early entry allowed us to get our rides in before the crowds got overwhelming.
Plan to enter the various Harry Potter worlds at two separate times – once immediately upon opening (whether you have early access or not) and in the two to three hours prior to closing. On the first night we were there, we wandered back over to Hogsmeade at around 5pm and found that the earlier crowds had died down significantly. What had been shoulder to shoulder crowds mid-day had thinned out such that my mother-in-law and my son happily rode The Forbidden Journey with only a 15 minute wait (mid-day wait times had reached 90 minutes). Because our stay was 2.5 days, we had a total of five planned entries into the various Harry Potter areas. Although we only made four (we were rained out the evening of the second day), with our early entry, we go to ride each of the rides multiple times and spend plenty of time exploring the shops and doing the spells.
Get an interactive wand (or not). We did purchase an interactive wand (or three) for our party of four and although some love the spells, I didn’t find them to be too compelling. My son found them to be confusing at first, but enjoyed casting spells once he got the hang of it. During mid-day, the crowds to do the spells were overwhelming, so this was another activity that was good for our early morning visits.
Finally, there are a number of “secrets” that you can find on the internet about each of the Parks. Some of them are easy to discover on your own (Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom at Hogsmeade) and others are near impossible to know about without some prior internet research. I encourage you to search the internet for these “secrets” if you are so inclined. I did go to Park armed with a few secrets, but discovered one of my own while there:
You can exchange muggle money for Gringott’s currency at Gringott’s Bank in Diagon Alley (not the big Gringott’s that is the ride, but a separate storefront). That itself is not a secret – the secret is that there’s counterfeit deterrent on the currency – if you rub the money with your fingers, the heat generated will cause the keys to fade. Although it is intended as counterfeit deterrent, I thought this was a secret little bit of “magic” and loved it when the cashier at Honeydukes let me in on the secret. You can exchange muggle money for Gringott’s currency in denominations of $10 and $20 and Gringott’s money is accepted within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and other select locations within the Park. There is no cost for the exchange or the experience – it’s a $1 for $1 exchange – so I highly recommend doing this just for fun.
I loved seeing 12 Grimmauld Place from the London Waterfront.
Final Thoughts
This was my first visit to a Universal theme park since I was a young child and I definitely noted that the Parks were not as nice as the Disney parks. Due to our early arrival at the Parks (7am all three mornings), we were usually starving by 10am, but there was no food to be found except for churros and pretzels. There are very few sit down, full service dining options within either Park. Indeed, we dined at both Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron while we were there and both were fast service restaurants where you order at a counter and then bring your food to a table via tray. We did dine at the one full service in Island of Adventure during our stay, Mythos, and the food and service were perfectly acceptable. I just wish there were more opportunities for full service sit down dining so that we could recharge our batteries in the air conditioning. And, while I found the dining options to be lacking, the quality of the food that we had at both The Three Broomsticks and The Leaky Cauldron was excellent (although maybe we were just starving from our early morning wake-ups?). We enjoyed both breakfasts that we had at the two restaurants and I would not hesitate to work them into future visits (although I loathe the thought of what must be a mob scene at lunch).
The bulk of our time was spent in the Harry Potter sections, but we did walk through the other portions of the Parks. Unfortunately, I found much of the Parks to be dated – Betty Boop? Popeye? The Simpsons? My son has no idea what any of these are and I’m not entirely sure he ever will, although he did enjoy the giant donut from Lard Lad Donuts!
Lard Lad Donuts to the rescue!
That said, however, all of the Universal employees were pleasant – from the ride/line operators to the trash collectors, all of them were super helpful and willing to assist. I particularly loved that each of the spell locations within The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had employees posted to help the little ones cast their spells. The facilities (bathrooms) were also more than adequate in terms of size and cleanliness.
The Hogwart’s Express conductor was happy to take photos with anyone interested!
Overall, if you have a Harry Potter fan, I highly recommend Universal Studios Orlando for the experience! When I close my eyes, I can still imagine how wondrous it was to walk into Diagon Alley for the first time and the best part? It has my son feverishly reading The Cursed Child.
reading The Cursed Child at the airport on the way home
Having grown up in Southern California, I have for years wanted to take my family to Monterey to explore the Monterey Bay Aquarium. For my son’s spring break earlier this year, we finally took the plunge and planned a week long trip to California with the goal of spending most of our week exploring the Aquarium.
In Part I of this series, I covered the logistics of our flight from DC to Los Angeles and our decision to spend the night in Santa Barbara and take our time driving up the Coast to Monterey. In Part II, I described the activities we packed into our seven day stay in Monterey (and there were many)! In this final post (Part III), I’ll cover our reverse road trip back down to Los Angeles and share some final thoughts and tips.
On the morning of our departure, my husband and I cleared out the fridge and enjoyed a hearty breakfast of french toast, hash browns, sausage, and fried eggs. After an activity filled week, both of my usually picky eaters happily devoured their breakfast before climbing into the car.
Hungry boys ate all of their breakfast for once!
With nothing planned for the day except to make it down to Los Angeles in one piece, we enjoyed the leisurely 3.5 hour drive from Monterey to our major stop of the day: Carrizo Plain National Monument.
The Carrizo Plain National Monument is located in southwestern San Joaquin Valley, roughly halfway between San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield. It’s a vast, remote area where, at times, I’ve had the entire place to myself. What first drew me there was ephemeral Soda Lake, which draws rafts of sandhill cranes in wet years, and the primitive campsites.
Carrizo Plain is the largest single native grassland remaining in California. During our week in Monterey, our local twitter feeds had exploded with reports of the wildflower superbloom happening in Carrizo, and although we knew it was slightly out of our way and would likely add an extra 2 hours of driving time to our day, we decided to take the detour in the hopes of seeing the tail end of the superbloom.
Although we were definitely at the tail end of the superbloom (the purple flowers had all but disappeared, but we saw plenty of large patches of orange), it was a worthwhile stop as it gave us the opportunity to stop and stretch our legs and take a little walk along the San Andrea Fault. The Wallace Creek Interpretive Trail along the San Andreas Fault was an excellent flat walk for the four of us to take and my son enjoyed learning about the fault lines and seeing the fault lines with his own eyes. There was a small number of parking spots at the trail head which we happily parked at, before heading out into the California sunshine for our short hike.
After our walk, we continued to weave our way out of the National Monument. Unfortunately, the windy roads were less than pleasant for my motion sickness prone toddler, who ended up needing a quick stop on the side of the road. Luckily, I had packed a few Carebags, in anticipation of the hours we would be spending in the car, and they ended up very handy to have. I will definitely be carrying these with us whenever we have road trips planned as it was much nicer than scrambling to find a plastic bag to contain the mess.
From Carrizo, it was a three hour drive to our hotel, the Residence Inn Los Angeles Pasadena / Old Town. Having been open for less than a year, it was a nice treat to stay in a brand spanking new hotel! My husband and I particularly loved that the rooms were suites, thus giving us a bit more space to spread out. In fact, my husband and I were able to sleep together in the king bed, while the boys shared the pull out mattress.
The next morning, we had breakfast at one of our usual haunts, Julienne’s in San Marino. Julienne’s is a small neighborhood restaurant that my husband and I have been dining at since the winter of 2002, when he came to visit me in Los Angeles for the first time. Since then, we have dined at Julienne’s every single time that we have been in Los Angeles and we even hosted a family breakfast there on the morning of our wedding rehearsal. Although my kids have no comprehension of how much Julienne’s has been a part of our story, I love that we take them to Julienne’s and I hope that someday they can appreciate just what a local gem it is.
My oldest’s first meal at Julienne’s at 10 months old.
After breakfast, went to Garfield Park in South Pasadena to burn off some energy before heading to the airport for our flight home. Garfield Park is a great park for kids of all ages. There’s lots of grassland and small hills for running races and abundant playground equipment. My brother, who is basically a big kid, met us there and did some sprints with the boys before we said our goodbyes.
running hill sprints with their uncle
Our flight home to DC was uneventful but my toddler, who is a terrible napper on the go, was able to cobble together only about 30 minutes of sleep on the plane, despite my best efforts.
My toddler is wearing Kidz Gear Wired Headphones, which I purchased in 2010 just prior to my older son’s first plane ride. I cannot believe these are still going strong – definitely a value at $20!
The lack of sleep became quickly apparent as his smiles during deplaning turned into tears as we made our way to the taxi line.
smiles while deplaningcrying in baggage claim
What would I do differently?
Honestly, everything about this vacation was so enjoyable that I really can’t think of anything I would do differently. Sure, there are ways it could have been better – the weather certainly could have cooperated so that we could have spent more time outdoors and I would have liked to have been able to drive down Big Sur instead of being road blocked by the mudslides that had occurred as a result of the heavy rains this spring… but in terms of things that I could have controlled? I really can’t think of anything. Although the thought of taking a road trip with my motion sickness prone toddler seemed insane at the outset of the trip, the drives ended up being more pleasant than I imagined. Although we definitely added time in the car due to various detours we took on each end of the trip, the detours were a nice way to break up the trip AND provided more opportunities to run and stretch than a basic bathroom or McDonald’s stop. All in all, I enjoyed our week in California and highly recommend it to anyone with young kids.
My second favorite thing in Los Angeles was Santa Monica. I liked Santa Monica because it was about 90 degrees and felt good to dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean. The other reason I liked Santa Monica was because of the pier. A pier is like a boardwalk over the ocean. On the pier, I saw multiple musicians, a magic performer, and an artist. I bought a painting of the pier from a painter. There was also an amusement park with a roller coaster, ferris wheel and other rides.
#3: Shopping in Bangalore With Kids
Our older son also played soccer every night he could with neighbor children in the complex we stayed in. His brother opted for swimming in the pool where he made a few friends himself and taught himself to swim during our stay.
The Farm also provides a list of other activities nearby, including guided kayaking trips, horseback riding, and fishing on public waters. Although having a three-year-old in our party meant that we could not participate in many of those activities, I would definitely explore more active activities now that our kids are older.
Because we live in the suburbs, our kids loved the opportunity to spend a day outside hiking and exploring my aunt and uncle’s farm. The pond had dried up after a dry summer, but we toured the barn and saw the cows that are kept on the property and just ran around and had fun.
The 
To get to the train station, we had to exit Diagon Alley from the same entrance that we entered and walk to the London Terminal side of the building (less than 20 feet away). Although there was a slight delay as they had to check to make sure everyone had proper park-to-park admission tickets, we were on the Hogwart’s Express in no time and traveling to Hogsmeade and Hogwart’s!
