Family Travel

                     

This is a guest post by Linda Walsh, who runs the Family Travel Gear Web site and online store. 

We have to test our family travel products every month, and are ”forced” to explore our wonderful state of Colorado with our 3 little kids (ages 2, 5 and 6.)

Some of our favorite spots to go while still staying on our family budget include:

**  Tiny Town and Railroad Park — 6249 South Turkey Creek Rd, Morrison, CO 80465 (303) 697- 6829. 

Simply too much fun, for only a few dollars.  We ride a miniature steam train (the kids ride in the little red caboose) and play in the miniature buildings. There is a picnic area under the lodge pole pines; it is a very relaxing and fun way to spend the day.

**  Cave of the Winds – Highway 24, exit 141, Colorado Springs, CO 80929 (719) 685-5444.

My son was fascinated with bats one day and wanted to know where they lived, so we drove down to Cave of the Winds (didn’t see any bats though) and had a great time taking the tour through the caves, exploring, learning and having a great time with our kids.

**  Town of Grand Lake  One of my favorites is to take a 2-hour drive up to Grand Lake and walk along the boardwalk through the little town to get candy apples at the local candy store there.  We try to get up to Grand Lake a couple of times a year.  We made it again this year and even went into Rocky Mountain National Park, which has very little traffic in October and lots of wildlife to view right from your car.  It was simply spectacular. My kids have been practicing their elk bugle calls ever since!

These are some of our favorite places to go in Colorado…but the list is so long, I will have to send you more in another post. 

Oh, one other thing….I also sell a book on our website titled “500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up” and we plan to start checking those locations off the list after we see everything here in our own state.

Thanks for contributing, Linda!

Welcome to the first iteration of the regular Thursday Family Travel feature “Things to Do & Places to Go.” I plan to run this weekly, as a worldwide overview of family-friendly events in the near term, and then some a few months down the road.

This time of year, there’s so much going on that I had to pare it down to this weekend and then a little of early January.

Coming up this weekend/soon:

• It’s almost the end of whale-watching season in Hermanus near Cape Town, South Africa.
• Welcome the holiday season in Houston, Texas with choirs, fireworks and a tree-lighting. November 30, 2007. Here are some more tree-lighting events.
• Admire the luminaria displays starting this weekend, through December, at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Enjoy an ethnic holiday festival with examples of Christmas cheer from around the world, at the Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha, Nebraska. November 30, 2007.
• It’s an Old-Fashioned Cowboy Christmas in Medora, North Dakota. November 30-December 1, 2007.
• See Santa Claus at Germany’s biggest theme park, Europapark (near Rust in Freiburg, close to the French border) on December 1, 2007. We visited Europapark and loved it; check out my FT post on European theme parks.
• Marching down Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach, VA, it’s the Hometown Holiday Parade on December 1, 2007.
• There’s a lighted boat parade sponsored by the Fell’s Point Yacht Club in Baltimore, Maryland’s Inner Harbor, December 1, 2007.
• The San Diego, CA Maritime Museum has a Family Fun Day this weekend, getting underway December 2, 2007.
• Celebrate Saint Barbara Day in Bulgaria (she’s the saint who protects children from disease.) December 4, 2007.

Coming up in early 2008:

• New Year’s Day Polar Bear swims are always a hoot (my brave husband did one at Easton’s Beach in Newport, RI one year.) Check out the Coney Island, NY plunge.
• Three Kings Day Parade and concert events, January 4 & January 6, 2008, sponsored by El Museo Del Barrio, New York.
• The Winter Flower and Train Show ends January 6, 2008 in Chicago IL.
• Prague Winter Festival, Czech Republic, January 2-7, 2008. Classical music, opera and ballet in ornate venues. Includes Bambini di Praga children’s choir.
• Illawarra Folk Festival, Bulli, New South Wales, Australia, January 17-20, 2008. More than 400 folk performers and 150 events, including a children’s festival.
• Shindig Set Dance Festival, Tralee, Ireland, January 18-20, 2008. Great Irish music, storytelling, singing, Guinness and workshops for dancers.

Technorati tags: travel, family travel

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