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San Juan Island: Cheap camps and free tours
The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor (on San Juan Island) is offering two great family activities this summer. But if you want to take advantage of either one, you’d better act fast! San Juan Island offers a truly spectacular family getaway — picture pastoral countryside and artisan farms alongside regular family-fun attractions like a movie theater, great food, toy stores and a bowling alley. Here are the details on the activities (and read my Whale Museum review here): Pod Nods at the Whale Museum, San Juan Island, Washington State If your kids are between the ages of 6-10 and you’d like a fun (yet separate) escape for the whole family,…
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Families Travel! Jennifer visits the Long Beach Peninsula
Tony and Jennifer Fuentes of Portland, Oregon went with their children (Mila, 8 and Gael, 3) to the Long Beach Peninsula of Washington, about 90 minutes west of Oregon. It’s right on the Pacific Ocean – a perfect way for shopowner Jennifer (she runs the excellent Milagros Boutique in Portland) and family to relax. Jennifer often returns to the Long Beach Peninsula to stay in a beach rental; she loves the area. It’s not quite as well-known as the Oregon Coast, but it offers amazing foodie finds and small-town coast fun. Let’s find out this frequent-visitor’s favorites and tips for a Long Beach family vacation. Q.  Did you find a…
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Tips and Hints: Finding a family-friendly hotel
Kid friendly hotels – whether in Portland (Oregon) or Portland (Maine) — are blessedly similar. Sure, the landscape changes, but a great hotel offers both respite and recreation to vacationing families. Here are questions we ask before we go, we or read over hotel websites to find the answers. Any of these points are equally valid if you’re looking for family friendly New York City hotels or kid friendly Las Vegas accommodations. And of course, you’ll want to take into account customer reviews or guidebook recommendations (I recommend dozens of kid-friendly Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle and Portland hotels in my book Northwest Kid Trips). However, it’s rare to find a hotel…
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Beat the Heat in Seattle: Wading pools, beaches and more
I received this press release from Seattle Parks and Recreation in my in-box and couldn’t help but share! Whether you’re visiting Seattle or live here, you’ll need a way to chill, and this list offers the perfect way to do so. ———Following is from Seattle Parks and Recreation Press Release ——- Seattle Beaches Parks offers safe, lifeguarded beaches at nine sites around the city (Seattle), and we strongly recommend swimming only where lifeguards are present. Beaches are open daily, weather permitting, from noon to 7 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Amenities range from swim rafts and low and high diving boards to nearby…
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Photo Friday: Pike Place Market
One of the best things about living in Seattle is watching travelers enthuse over the Pike Place Market. Visitor linger over fresh blackberries, laugh at the salmon-slinger’s antics, clap along with the buskers and marvel at the hand-made goods. Kids try fruit samples, while parents give in and buy a wind-up toy. Or three. I took this photo about a year ago. The market, for some reason, was awash in the prairie-print dresses, somber black stockings and head-coverings of a religious community, probably Amish. In predominantly liberal, agnostic Seattle, the conservative clothing choice was more unusual than piercings and tattoos (which function as everyday work accessories here). Vendors looked mildly…
