Voo doo dolls in a New Orleans gift shop

The first time I visited New Orleans it was to attend a conference and hang out with friends. It’s no surprise, then, that I spent a few nights on Bourbon Street and got very familiar with the Crescent City’s reputation for a good party. I had a blast, but I was a little nervous about how my routine visit – one I planned to make with two small children in tow – would compare.

Visiting New Orleans with kids definitely involves fewer hurricanes and mechanical bulls, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had. In fact, most of New Orleans is very family friendly. Read More »

New York City’s Central Park is a destination unto itself, complete with multiple attractions and things to do. If you’re visiting the city with kids, consider reserving an entire day to explore the park – especially if the kids have spent long hours behaving themselves in museums and shops. What can you do while visiting the park? Skip the horse-drawn carriage or bike rentals and explore the paved paths on your own, keeping your eye out for these notable landmarks.

Central Park Playgrounds

The entire park can be considered a playground fit for running, jumping, and climbing, but there’s also actual playgrounds perfect for modern kids who need to be shown explicitly how to avoid boredom. You’ll find jungle gyms and splash pads throughout the park, often nestled among monstrous boulders on which adults and kids alike crawl and climb. In addition to free play, many of the playgrounds also host free activities for young kids.

Literary Walk

Want to slip a little education into the day? Stroll down Literary Walk and look for statues of notable figures in literary history. This is also a popular spot for musical performers and food vendors, so grab an ice cream cone and listen to great live music in between your history lessons.

Bethesda Fountain

A beautiful spot to walk, run, and watch the boats on the water. Bethesda Fountain is also near a road where cars and carriages drive by, so be on the lookout for traffic as you make your way to the fountains.

Strawberry Fields

John Lennon’s favorite spot in the park – presumably because it was right across the street from his home – has been memorialized with  “quiet zone” lawns and a mosaic art piece. This is definitely one of the most touristy spots in the park, but it’s worth seeing at least once. You may not want to stay long with small kids though, as quiet zones and young kids don’t often mix.

What’s your favorite spot in the park?

Photos by Britt Reints

A short drive south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in Murrells Inlet is a beautiful garden that seems like it’d be an absolutely boring attraction to visit with kids. It is, in fact, just as interesting as it is beautiful and a place you could easily visit again and again with people of all ages.

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As I wandered along the paths of Forsyth Park in Savannah and watched my children play in the fountains, I found myself mentally comparing the 30 acre park to New York City’s Central Park. The comparison is ridiculous, really. Neither the parks nor the cities to which they provide recreation bare any resemblance to each other in scale nor style, and yet a few similarities do exist. Most significantly, I thought, are the two spaces’ shared goal of providing a wide open space where urbanites can kick back, relax, and enjoy the green grass and room to run that are often hard to come by in a true city home. It’s true that Forsyth Park is no Central Park, but it is a beautiful gift from the City of Savannah to residents and visitors alike.

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