Aruba – How sad that I did not take the twins to Aruba (sort of). But I didn’t stop thinking about them the entire time I was away – and especially about how much fun they would have on the Happy Island.…
Minute Man National Historical Park
Lincoln, Mass – For day two of our mini family reunion, we took the troops out to walk along Battle Road, the road from Lexington to Concord that the British regulars followed on the fateful day of April 19, 1775…
Mount Greylock
North Adams, Mass – After an inauspicious start to our Father’s Day weekend extravaganza, we had nowhere to go but up. And I mean that both figuratively and literally. On day two, we got an early start and headed straight for Mount Greylock, the…
Historic Deerfield
Deerfield, Mass – For Father’s Day weekend, we decided to take the whole family on a working weekend in western Massachusetts. Our first stop was Historic Deerfield, by special request of Daddio. It’s an authentic 18th-century village–back then a frontier settlement–that…
Hiking in Acadia National Park
This year, the US National Park Service is celebrating 100 years. In honor of the anniversary, Lonely Planet asked eight travel experts (including me!) about ways to explore the USA national parks. Here’s my blurb about family hiking in Acadia…
Fruitlands Museum
Harvard, Mass – One of our local heroes–and certainly a hero of the 19th-century Transcendentalist movement–was Bronson Alcott, a teacher, philosopher and reformer (and incidentally the father of the famous author Louisa May Alcott). As a transcendentalist, he believed that…
Costa Rica – Big Adventures for Little Kids
Costa Rica – Most kids do not need much to keep them happy. I know the twins could spend all week in the swimming pool and they would call it a good vacation. But this is Costa Rica. This is Adventure…
Monteverde
Monteverde, Costa Rica – Our week in Monteverde just flew by, and we barely scratched the surface on the cool things to do here. When I’m doing these gigs, we often rent a house, so we have a little room…
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
Santa Elena, Costa Rica – We made our way from the tropical dry forests and beaches of Guanacaste to the mystical cloud forest around Santa Elena and Monteverde. We climbed some 4,662 feet, most of that on bumpy, windy, narrow…
Rincon de la Vieja
Liberia, Costa Rica – The twins were really excited about coming to Costa Rica. What were they most excited about? When I posed this question, Twin S answered unequivocally, unhesitatingly, that he couldn’t wait to go hiking. In fact, he’s…