Attractions

Holiday lights in San Francisco

You might be thinking to yourself that Halloween is not even over, why would I want to think about Christmas holiday events now? Well, in San Francisco, the good tickets go fast, and with the start of December just 4.5 weeks away, it is time to get into gear if you plan to attend some of the more popular family shows in San Francisco. Here are three of my favorites:

Last year we took our kids to see the Velveteen Rabbit at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. This beautiful story, performed by the talented dancers of ODC, is suitable for any age child, as long as they can sit still! My two enjoyed the programs, which doubled as coloring books, and even though our seats were toward the back, we had no problem seeing the stage and the dancers. Afterwards, we played around in Yerba Buena Gardens before heading home.

This year, because my kids have longer attention spans, I plan to take them to the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker, almost a holiday institution in the City. My friend who goes every year with her daughters tells me it is a wonderful show, with beautiful scenery and costumes. The tickets are pricey, but if you are thinking about a family entertainment splurge, you definitely get your money’s worth!

If dance is not your thing, the San Francisco Symphony offers many options this holiday season, including the SFS Choral Christmas Spectacular, Peter and the Wolf (narrated by none other than Leonard Nimoy!) and the Soul Children of Chicago in a Gospel Christmas.

Whatever your plans, San Francisco is a magical city during the holidays, enjoyable for all ages!

Photo courtesy of Tinou Bao.

Halloween can mean different things to different people.  Some of us enjoy dressing up in costumes, some enjoy the yummy candy, and some enjoy a good scare.  Haunted houses are all the rage these days, if you don’t mind screaming and jumping three feet high in the dark.  Yes, I thought you might be one of those.  If that’s the case, then this is the post for you.  According to Haunt World, the top thirteen haunted Halloween attractions in the U.S. this season are:

1. 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana–“#1 in the USA,”–I wonder what the judging process is? Do they have to go to all of them?

2. The Darkness in St. Louis, Missouri–”St. Louis Biggest and Best”–Cuz we all know biggest isn’t always best unless you are in Texas (see below.)

Netherworld, Atlanta, Georgia

3. Netherworld in Atlanta, Georgia–”walk-through dark attraction filled with terrifying live actors, amazing special effects, and incredible monsters”–Now that is a description I can relate too. Many live actors are terrifying.

Haunted Overload

4. Haunted Overload in New Hampshire–”your worst nightmare lurks”–Not going there, no way.

Scarehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

5. Scarehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–5th Best Haunted House in America–Nothing more needs to be said.

House of Torment

6. House of Torment in Austin, Texas–20,000 square feet of horror and they are recruiting!

Bates Motel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

7. Bates Motel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–“America’s Most Horrifying Hotel”– Ready to book a room? Yep.

Haunted Scarecrows and more

8. Headless Horseman in Ulster, New York–Headless Horsemen Hayrides and Haunted Houses, sounds tepid in comparison, I think.

Dead Acres in Columbus, Ohio

9. Dead Acres in Columbus, Ohio–”working hard to make you sick”–No, I am not interested. Be forewarned the download is way slow, hope the ghosts move faster…

Spookywoods in Kersey, North Carolina

10. Spookywoods in Kersey, North Carolina–”Celebrating 23 years of fear”–Now that needs champagne, don’t cha think?

House of Shock in New Orleans

11.  House of Shock in New Orleans, Louisiana–”Horror Show”–Simple and to the point, if that is what you want.

Erebus in Detroit, Michigan

12. Erebus in Detroit, Michigan–”I show no mercy”–Not going there even if it does have four stories.

Cutting Edge in Dallas, Texas

13. Cutting Edge in Dallas, Texas–”Huge Haunted House”–of course,  this is the Texan claim to fame

If you live near any of these haunted houses, then go visit them…I DARE you.  Bwaaaahahahaha or at least write your own tagline for the next one you visit.

Beaches are some of our favorite destinations – depending on the weather, my family enjoys throwing footballs, running in and out of the surf and building sand monuments. Harbor Beach in Santa Cruz is a great, local beach, offering a good sand beach with many local amenities.

The Harbor Beach is the starting point for the Santa Cruz Outrigger Canoe Club (Akau Hana), which welcomes newcomers to join them on Sunday mornings at 9am. Many catamarans line the beach, as well as volleyball courts and outdoor dining.

On Saturdays between 10 and 12noon, and Wednesday nights at 5:30pm, the Sons of the Beach Ukulele Band gets together for a jam session. Setting themselves up on the beach, in front of the Kind Grind Coffee Shop, the band goes through their song book, playing such favorites as Somewhere Over the Rainbow and You are my Sunshine. Flowery Hawaiian shirts and festive hats complete the picture. Stop by and visit, sing along if the music moves you!

Several restaurants are within walking distance, including Café El Palomar (inexpensive café), Crow’s Nest (upscale and casual seafood) and Aldo’s (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Or bring a picnic, and camp out on the beach for the day!

Additional resources:

Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz
Ukulele Lady

Spooky Tree by slimmer_jimmer

by Linda (minnemom) of Travels with Children

Looking for a spooky time?  Check out these thirteen U.S. locations with Halloween-themed names.

1. Scary, West Virginia
2. Witch Lake, Michigan
3. Bat Cave, North Carolina
4. Skull Valley, Arizona
5. Slaughter, Delaware
6. Transylvania, Louisiana
7. Hell, Michigan
8. Skull Creek, Nebraska
9. Frankenstein, Missouri
10. Spiderweb, South Carolina
11. Tombstone, Arizona
12. Devil Town, Ohio
13. Spook City, Colorado

Habitot Area at Minnesota Children's Museum in St. Paul

by Linda K (minnemom) of Travels with Children

As the cooler weather approaches, it’s time to start thinking about indoor places to visit.  One that my kids ask to go back to, time and again, is the Minnesota Children’s Museum in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.

There’s plenty to do at the Minnesota Children’s Museum, and it’s all interactive for kids.  Check in and pay your admission, and then head up to the second floor, where you can visit the World Works gallery.  This is always my kids’ favorite–the older ones love to move foam blocks on the assembly line or work the model crane, and the youngers love the water tables and bubble area.  Next door is an art area, where kids can be creative with different themes and materials.  Then it’s around the corner to Our World, where the kid-sized community includes a grocery store, mail route, restaurant, clinic, music studio, and a bus that the kids can “drive.”

Making a Thunderstorm at Minnesota Children's Museum in St. Paul

Upstairs there are more exhibit areas:  Habitot is designed for babies and toddlers and includes diaper-changing and baby-feeding areas; Earth World allows kids to climb in a giant anthill and make their own thunderstorm; and the seasonal Rooftop Art Park allows kids to paint the rocks with water and explore nature and art while overlooking downtown St. Paul.

The museum also has two galleries that have traveling exhibits.  In the past, we’ve seen Sesame Street, Curious George, and Fairy Tales, and the current offerings are Ball-0-Rama and Hmong at Heart.

Throughout the day, there are many special activities going on:  story time and “big fun” on the mezzanine, music sessions, face painting, art projects, and more.

The biggest problem for visitors is good for the museum itself; it’s so popular that it’s very crowded at times.  If you’re hoping to avoid crowds, don’t go on the third Sunday of the month, when admission is free.  Instead, try for a Habitot Tuesday when there are no groups scheduled in the museum.

The best part about a children’s museum is that children experience their world through play and hands-on activities without realizing how much they’re learning.

Do you have a favorite children’s museum?  What do you like about it?

Photo credits: minnemom

The White House

Photo Courtesy Seansie

One day I’d love to travel across the United States and visit every single capital.  How cool would that be?  And, I’d collect every single state quarter, take a photo of my family in front of every capitol building, and then turn it into a photo collage I could frame and put up in the house.  One day…

Meanwhile I’ll have to be content with knowing I’ve seen a few, one of those being the Capitol of Texas in Austin, which is preserved, maintained and restored by the State Preservation Board, a good website to visit for photos and information on visiting.  If you’re on vacation in Texas, this is a great stop!

Fun Facts:

Did you know that the Texas Capitol building is an exact replica of the U.S. Capitol building…except BIGGER?  Yep, here in Texas we like everything bigger.  And ours is made out of pink granite and the foundation is limestone.

Did you know that the builders were paid, not with money, but with three million acres of land in the Texas panhandle?

There’s also an entire underground wing that doubled the building’s square footage and functionality.

Tours are every 45 minutes during the week or you can take self-tours with tapes in all different languages, and really, pay attention to the details because this place has some amazing decoration.  The molding, the door hinges…you  need pictures to appreciate them:

Last but certainly not least, you need to make a stop in the Texas Capitol Gift Shop for unique gift ideas.  They have everything from Christmas ornaments and history books to clothing and novelty items for your favorite Texans.

So go check it out, y’all, next time you’re in town.

Photos curtesy of Wili_hybrid

by Linda (minnemom of Travels with Children)

SPAM®. The food, that is. You may love it or hate it, but did you know there’s a museum dedicated to it? It’s a great place for a family outing, and best of all, it’s free.

To tell you the truth, I had never even tasted SPAM before we stepped foot in the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota. After watching the movie about the history of SPAM, and learning about SPAM fans and SPAM conventions, and finally stepping out into the museum’s exhibit area, I was brave when the SPAM samples came out and had my first taste of SPAM.

Before I went to the museum, I didn’t know how many kinds of SPAM there were, or how many countries it was sold in, or how many cans of SPAM are sold each year. Nor did I really care. But the SPAM museum is just fun and interesting and interactive enough that all of the SPAM facts seem important.

SPAM Museum, Austin, MN

Our kids loved putting on their lab coats and pretending to make some SPAM in the Hands-On SPAM area. They loved watching the cans of SPAM on the overhead track, moving along like a train. They especially liked that I bought them each a SPAM-mobile in the gift shop. Really, how many kids have a SPAM-mobile in their Matchbox car collection?

Hands-On SPAM

If you’re driving along I-90 in Southern Minnesota, be sure to stop in at the SPAM Museum. You can get your own SPAM-mobile, learn a little about SPAM, and have some fun as well.

Have you ever been to the SPAM Museum?  What did you think? Have you been to other museums created around particular products?

Read about more fun things to do in Minnesota and beyond at Travels with Children.

Photo credits: SPAM Museum by minnemom; Hands-On SPAM by minnemom

Surely you’ve heard of Southfork Ranch?  Home of the TV show Dallas, a hit series from 1978 to 1991?  Well, it’s a real ranch in Parker, Texas, and you can visit it all on your own or reserve it for a wedding, meeting or big event.  How cool is that?  It’s one among many Dallas landmarks.

The original owner of the ranch and his family still lived in the mansion when they began filming but eventually popularity and requests for events and tours led them to move on.  The 13-season, 356-episode show was watched by millions all over the United States and led to the spin-ff series Knots Landing as well.  With such a huge fan base, this ranch was opened to the public for the first time in 1985. A 63,000 square foot conference and event center was built to accommodate several thousand people for special events and functions. A rodeo arena, which was originally constructed for the filming of “Dallas” rodeos, began to host open competition rodeos as well as private “showdeos.”

In addition to becoming a showplace and event center, there are also retail shops, such as “Ranch RoundUp” where you can buy Texas-themed gifts, collectibles, and Southfork-label merchandise found nowhere else on Earth. You can also shop at “Lincolns and Longhorns” – where Jock Ewing’s Lincoln Continental is on display – for Dallas-inspired ladies and men’s clothing, home accessories and decor, and a unique array of impressive gifts.

It’s a TV legend and a unique Texas landmark!

Photo curtesy of www.southfork.com