Even before first light, the growl of howler monkeys echoes through the trees. A lumbering tapir retreats into the cover of the forest for its daily rest, while a pair of scarlet macaws emits an unsonorous squawk and alights in…
Teens in Alaska, Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay, Alaska – After four days in Juneau, we flew with Daddio and the twin-agers to Gustavus to visit Glacier Bay National Park. Here’s how it went down with the teens in Alaska, Glacier Bay edition. Glacier Bay Lodge…
Teens in Alaska, First Stop Juneau
Juneau, Alaska – Daddio and the twin-agers left the bachelor pad, and came to have some fun with me in Alaska. Let’s go! Here’s how it went with the teens in Alaska. First stop: Juneau Douglas Island We booked the…
Train to Trail
Skagway, Alaska – The big thing in Skagway–besides (but related to) the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site–is the White Pass & Yukon Route Scenic Train. WPYR is an all-day train ride from Skagway to Dawson, on the historic railroad…
Gold Rush Boom Town
Skagway, Alaska – Skagway has a wild story. When gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896, tens of thousands of stampeders set out to strike it rich, traveling over land and sea to reach the remote Canadian territory. The…
Long Trail, Vermont
Lincoln, Vermont – Last summer, the twins spent a week hiking and camping in New Hampshire with an Appalachian Mountain Club teen camp. It was a good experience for them, despite the rain, and I thought they would do it…
Aiguille du Midi
Chamonix, France – Everyone was excited about Paris, but I felt certain my twin-agers would soon grow weary of the city’s palaces and gardens and fabulous art museums. And I was right. Don’t get me wrong, I wish we had…
The Rock of Rockport
Rockport, Massachusetts – Rockport takes its name from its industrial past: its 19th-century role as a shipping center for granite cut from the local quarries. While updating the Lonely Planet guide to New England, I decided to investigate this history–to…
Exploring Dogtown
Gloucester, Mass – Much of the interior of Cape Ann is wild and undeveloped, partially protected by reservations, but mostly left to the whims of nature and history. This vast territory is known as Dogtown. Little remains from the Colonial-era…
Skyline Loop at Blue Hills Reservation
Milton, Mass – Every so often, good fortune shines down on the youth of America, and Voting Day (the first Tuesday in November) and Veterans Day (November 11) occur in the same week. In Somerville, there is no school on…