Tag Archives: best places to visit with kids

Sporting Fun in Louisville – Day Two

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MORNING

For over 135 years, Louisville’s Churchill Downs has been home to the greatest two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby. At the Downs you’ll find the Kentucky Derby Museum (pg 38 www.derbymuseum.org), which chronicles the colorful history of the race…and famous horses! Try riding like a jockey – the trick is never ever sit down in the saddle.

AFTERNOON

A constant 60 degrees underground, the Louisville Mega Cavern (www.louisvillemegacavern.com) is a perfect activity for a rainy or sweltering summer day. With more than 17 miles of underground passageways beneath the City of Louisville, Louisville Zoo and Watterson Expressway. You’ll discover a guided tram tour rich in history, geology, mining and recycling.

For the adventuresome, glide behind a certified tour guide on the 2-hour underground MEGA Zips. Featuring six underground zip lines, including a fun filled dual racing zip, three awesome challenge bridges that will test your skill, balance, and mettle; this tour is guaranteed to get your heart racing and your adrenaline pumping. The tour path leads you into never before seen sections of the man made cavern. This is the only underground zipline in the country!

For those who want a more relaxing adventure, be sure to take our one hour Historic Tram Tour through part of 17 miles of man-made passageways beneath the City of Louisville. Learn about the early limestone mining operations that created the caverns, dioramas to explain how the cavern could have been used as a fallout shelter, and even a little on the recycling that goes on below ground…even growing worms! Because you ride through the cavern and never walk, this tour is especially convenient for children of all ages, seniors, and the physically challenged.

The size and scale of this cavern is huge and the fact that the owners have such vision to create a viable business and attraction is worth a visit to see what all is down-under the city of Louisville.

  • Tip: Weight guidelines are 55 to 275 pounds. Children up to 15 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Zips run $59-$79 for a zip tour.

EVENING

Be entertained while eating great seafood at Joe’s Crab Shack overlooking the Ohio River. Or have a family dinner at one of Louisville’s favorite locally-owned spots.

  • Enjoy a buffalo burger at Buckhead Mountain Grill (kids eat free every Monday-Thursday with purchase of adult entree of $9.99 or more…and many entrees are priced under $10). Try anything beef or local flavors like KY Hot Brown or Fried Green Tomatoes.

Sporting Fun in Louisville – Day One – Afternoon/Evening

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AFTERNOON

Offer the kids lunch choices both within two blocks of the Slugger Museum — The Bristol Bar & Grille (kids menu) and Luigi’s Pizzeria (what kid doesn’t like pizza?). Or look for one of downtown Louisville’s hot dog vendors (often seen at Jefferson Park, 4th and Main Streets and elsewhere during the week).

Louisville loves it’s college sports and you are sure to find a game featuring the University of Louisville Cardinals (www.gocards.com, same exit as KY Derby Museum) it might be baseball, soccer, football or basketball depending on the season.

EVENING

In the summer, head over to Louisville Slugger Field to take in a Louisville Bats (pg 42, www.batsbaseball.com) baseball game and maybe some great ballpark food! Be sure to get your picture beside the statue of Pee Wee Reece in front of the ‘warehouse turned baseball stadium’. The Bats are the AAA farm team for the Cincinnati Reds. Every seat is a great view. The folks are super friendly and the mascots, promotions and foul balls keep the kids attentive. They have a carousel and kiddie park as entertainment too!

A short bike ride, pedestrian bridge, or car drive away, the family will love the view from the Indiana side, situated on the Ohio River with boat docks nearby and the shoreline in sight. All the restaurants on the water have great service and a variety of food and views.

Rent a bike or surrey from Wheel Fun Rentals or Segway of Louisville (www.wheelfunrentals.com) and explore the beautiful Waterfront Park. The park features biking and walking paths, playgrounds (yes, more than one!), splash parks, special events and more.

  • Money saving tip: Visit more than one Museum Row on Main attraction and save dough. Show your ticket stub at the next stop and receive a discount on admission.

Tip: Why Bring that Magnet? Over a century ago, cast iron made it possible to build beautiful decorative features that were too expensive to carve out of stone. Main Street is one of the largest assemblies of cast-iron from buildings in the United States. See the sidewalk bricks in front of the columns? They are placed sideways and flecked with iron to make it easy to identify the cast iron buildings. A magnet will stick to building facades that are cast iron.

Family Travel eBooks Available for your mobile device

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Are you ready? Why not try eBook Family Travel Guides…

eBOOK BENEFITS

QUICK DELIVERY – After completing the checkout process, you’ll receive an email that takes you to the download page for your book(s).      
INTERACTIVE WEBSITE LINKS & DIRECT LINKS to FREE ACTIVITY SHEETS or GAMES. This feature at the minimum works with your PC ePDF reader. It also works with many portable eBook readers (ie iPAD, Nook, Kindle, tablets).*       
VERY AFFORDABLE – Less expensive than our printed books.        
EASY TO UPDATE – Using the ePDF editor on your reading device.       
SHRINK OR ENLARGE TEXT SIZE – Using the zoom feature on your reading device      
PRINT SELECTED PAGES – From home computer printer      
ALLOWS FOR HIGHLIGHTING – On PC and select readers      
SAVES TIME – Instead of “Googling” your time away, you purchase an inexpensive e-book on the topic, taking away the guesswork. Written by family travel experts who have personally visited over 5000 places with their kids.       

ONLY ONE PLACE TO FIND THEM: http://www.kidslovetravel.com/travel-books/

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLPARK…

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Here are some recent baseball park visit articles I’ve come across that share that Americana passion for baseball and kid’s fun:

Best major-league baseball parks for kids: http://www.mercurynews.com/travel-headlines/ci_21055578/family-travel-best-major-league-baseball-parks-kids

Touring Oriole Park at Camden Yards: http://creativlei.com/2012/touring-oriole-park-at-camden-yards/

Two ballparks /tours to add to the mix:

KIDS LOVE OHIO – page 176 – CLEVELAND INDIANS – Progressive Field.

www.indians.com. Tours (small fee) include Kidsland, a press box, a suite, a dugout, a fun video…all lasts about one hour (Monday-Saturday 10am-2pm, some summer sundays).

KIDS LOVE PENNSYLVANIA – PAGE 291 – PITTSBURGH PIRATES –

www.pirateball.com PNC Park. On game nights the city closes the Roberto Clemente Bridge to vehicles so street performers, vendors and pedestrians swarm the area – everyone decked out in black and gold attire. The concessions at the park are upscale fair food and many are grilled to order. Primanti is a must if you want Steel City, hold it with two hands, kinda food.

WORLD’S LARGEST IN CLEVELAND

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Visitors to Cleveland-area attractions will catch the attention of classmates and co-workers alike when their reports on “what I did on my summer vacation” include standing in the nation’s longest underwater sea-tube, browsing the aisles for retro candies at the nation’s largest candy store and standing next to the “world’s largest rubber stamp.” For a vacation worthy of the record books, visitors should be sure to include these attractions on their Cleveland itinerary.

storstar_0512_10Greater Cleveland Aquarium
Visitors can wave to the smiling Rays as they glide overhead at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s SeaTube, a 145′ walk-through tunnel considered to be the nation’s longest sea tube. The Powerhouse located in the West Bank of the Flats is now home to the new 70,000-square-foot Aquarium. The unique facility includes 42 tanks integrated into the historic building to create an exciting underwater environment with more than 5,000 fish. Not only does the facility feature different habitats, such as a Louisiana Bayou, but it also features the creatures found in local rivers and streams.
216.862.8803, www.greaterclevelandaquarium.com

storstar_0512_11Free Stamp
Often considered to be the “world’s largest rubber stamp,” this large sculpture is located in Willard Park right in the center of downtown. Designed by pop artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen known to recreate common items into giant proportions, the art was donated to the city of Cleveland nearly 10 years after it was originally commissioned by Standard Oil of Ohio.  With dimensions measuring more than 28 feet by 49 feet, the sculpture is a bold reminder of American freedom. Downtown visitors can visit the park to snap a picture of the sculpture.

storstar_0512_12b.a. Sweetie Candy Company
What do bugs, toxic waste and chocolate worms have in common? All are edible! At b.a Sweetie Candy Company, a family-owned candy warehouse that’s been around for generations, children can indulge their wackier tastes.  Sweetie’s have just about every kind of candy imaginable. For those who aren’t ready for the extreme candies, they can choose from nostalgic favorites such as wax lips, PEZ dispensers and gourmet jellybeans.
216.739.2244, www.sweetiescandy.com

HIDDEN MAGIC IN FLORIDA

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The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World Planner: A Complete Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake for Your Unforgettable Vacation (April 2012) By Susan Veness and Simon Veness (ORLANDO). This guide is more than just a place to keep your important phone numbers and schedules. This all-the-fun-in-one journal is a celebration of the happiest place on earth—and a peek inside its magic!

Once you have a copy in your hands, it’s hard not to open it and explore its sections. I like to be organized when I travel so the pocketed folder pages placed strategically throughout the book caught my eye. Large text and spiral notebook style publishing were next. What mom doesn’t need to work on last minute plans while driving down to Disney? Readable text and a “workbook” that can grow in size work nicely on the road.

More about the book:

With the help of this planner, you’ll make exciting discoveries like where in Epcot to find Mickey-shaped tomatoes and the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it eerie surprise on the Tower of Terror. In addition to these never-before-revealed secrets, you’ll also discover:

  • The best places to stay and eat for every budget
  • Scheduling strategies to cut your waiting time in long lines
  • Prime viewing spots for parades
  • And hundreds more money- and time-saving (and fun-maximizing) tips! 

Complete with journal pages to record your memories, fold-out maps to help you find your way, and pockets to hold your keepsakes, The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World Planner helps you step into your own “Once Upon a Time” and make your Disney dreams come true!

BUT, we all know there’s more magic to Florida than just Disney. Want to read reviews about the family-friendliness (on a budget) of the other 599 things to do in Florida?

Check this out (NEW! EDITION): KIDS LOVE FLORIDA

15 More Places Every Kid Should See Before 15

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Wondering where to take the kids this summer? Budget Travel has some great ideas and is pleased to unveil 15 More Places Every Kid Should See Before 15. (2 of them are favs from the KIDS LOVE ILLINOIS book)

Last year, Budget Travel chose 15 places they thought every kid should see before they turned 15. This year, they took it one step further and invited readers to weigh in on their favorite kid-friendly destinations.  The editors then used the reader-generated nominations (562 to be exact) to create the 2012 list.

What made a destination worthy of inclusion? It needed to be fun, educational, and especially magical through the eyes of a child. It needed to inspire adults to tap back into that childlike sense of wonder. And it needed to have universal appeal.

In case you were wondering…my fav pick of the 15 is from our KIDS LOVE ILLINOIS book…Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield…Disney does Lincoln…overloaded!

WORLD OF COCA-COLA (Atlanta, Georgia) UPDATE

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WORLD OF COCA-COLA (found on page 109 of KIDS LOVE GEORGIA)

Atlanta – 121 Baker Street (adjacent to Georgia Aquarium at Centennial Olympic Park Drive, I-75 exit 249C) 30313. Phone: (800) 676-COKE.  www.worldofcoca-cola.com Hours: Daily 10:00am-5:00pm. Longer open/close hours during peak season and most weekends. Closed Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Online discounts. Timed entry tickets.   Miscellaneous: Movies to view on each floor. Photo ops on every floor, too. Giant Coke gift shop. Cafe. Educators: click on the Teacher’s Toolkit for worksheets and activities.

Atlanta is the birthplace of Coca-Cola. The story is told through a bright collection of memorabilia, classic radio and television ads, a fantasy representation of the bottling process and a futuristic soda fountain. It started with a syrup created by a pharmacist. Accidentally, a soda jerk added carbonated water and the customers loved it – Coke was born! 

Guests are greeted by a enthusiastic guides who direct you to start by viewing the 4-minute audio visual history of the product (later you’ll get a chance to watch the Secret Formula 3D movie with moving seats!).

After that, you are turned loose to explore the many sections of the museum. At Bottle Works you’ll view a slow-motion production line so you can see robots in action filling bottles.

Really interesting history is found at Milestones of Refreshment. On display- a can that flew on the space shuttle and the original prototype bottle. 

The highlight of your visit is the last station – taste testing! Try flavors, old and new, plus many found in foreign countries. Some are quite unusual, some very sweet. If you try them all, like we did, you’re bound to have a belly-ache – so, be wise, and choose carefully. Don’t forget your free Coke as you leave.

Did you know the secret formula is still a secret? Where is it kept?

Disclosure: While the review of this attraction is completely my own (with no bias), the attraction did provide me with complimentary admission.

FACTORY TOUR UPDATE: PHOENIX BATS

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The Phoenix Bat Company is a specialized wooden-bat creator and manufacturer located just outside of Columbus, Ohio, in Plain City.  The company produces premium rock maple and northern white ash baseball and softball bats. Combining premium grade woods with the most advanced, state of the art lathe in the bat manufacturing industry, Phoenix Bats delivers high quality wooden bats consistently to major league players and little leaguers alike.  Ohio made and Pro approved! 

And the best part, they offer tours! Open tours are available on Tuesdays at 6pm and Thursdays and Fridays at 1:30pm. No reservation required – just show up.

Tours are $10.00 per person and include a custom engraved mini bat to commemorate your visit.

During the one hour tour you’ll learn about how the business got started with vintage baseball players and a man who liked to make wood spindles. Next, they highlight which MLB pros use the bats and show samples of their specially ordered bats. Names like Ordonez, Carerra and Ramirez perked the boys’ ears.

We next moved into the computer corner to see how the bat is generated on a graphics program first, then sent into the factory to be produced. Good job if you love to take measurements again, and again.

The computer generated model is now fed into the humongous Italian lathe that takes a large dowel of wood and in one slow back and forth motion forms and sands the baseball bat into shape!

The finishing process is messy. Lots of dipping (and dripping stations) abound in a separate temperature controlled room. Finally, you watch the engraver embed a special logo or message into each bat. That same engraver is used to specialize your personal mini-bat tour souvenir.

They have birthday packages, too, combining the wood bat tour with time in the batting cages.

We took the tour offered on Tuesday night. We also allowed for time in the batting cages as a few from our group of baseball players were interested in trying out wood bats to purchase as their practice bats. Watching them smile when they hit the ball on that special “sweet spot” exclusive to each wood bat was a thrill (and seeing them whimper when it stung on the “not so sweet spot” – not so sweet).

Admittedly, I am a factory touraholic. This tour was especially exciting because it combined my family (and friends) love of baseball while supporting an American-made product (made close to home).

Phoenix Bat Company
7801 Corporate Blvd
Suite E
Plain City OH 43064		By phone:
Local: 614.873.7776
Toll free: 877.598.BATS (2287)
Fax: 614.873.7796
Hours of Operation:
Monday – Friday 9:00am-5:30pm

For other ideas for Columbus, Ohio (Central Ohio) area KIDS LOVE TRAVEL tested attractions, lodging and dining visit: http://www.kidslovetravel.com/kids_love_ohio.htm.

GEORGIA’S PINE MOUNTAIN GETAWAY WITH KIDS @ CALLAWAY GARDENS RESORT

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While few may think of a vacation destination in the mountains of Georgia, regional resorts are often hidden gems. Probably the most famous attraction in the Middle West area, Callaway Gardens, reminds me of the resort properties of the 50s – hundreds of cottages and a massive central inn complete with daily activities for each family member.

Cottages
Cottages pool

The Summer Family Adventure family camps offer signups for hiking, biking, fishing, boating, water skiing, archery, aerobatics, tennis, golf, arts and crafts and more during the day. When nightfalls the fun continues with the circus, campfires, movies, games and more.

Loads of easy biking paths

Every overnight stay includes family admission into the Gardens and Beach area. This admission includes biking the ten miles of trails (many folks brought their own bikes but you can rent them, too or use your Fun Pass), hiking the wooded trails together (separate trails for bikes vs. on foot so no collisions), just beaching (apply that sunscreen), fishing by the gardens docks, miniature golf, zipline adventure courses, or sightseeing the Discovery Center, Pioneer Cabin or the delightful Butterfly Garden.

They have Birds of Prey programs scheduled throughout the day at the Discovery Center – with live animals. The Butterfly Garden is so colorful and we promise you’ll find a different species of butterfly every time you visit.

The Beach area is super clean and they have reasonable chair/umbrella rentals for half day or full day rates.

Dining

With all of the activities and fascinating distractions at Callaway Gardens, making time to eat may be a challenge – but not for lack of dining options.

Callaway Gardens is dedicated to serving sustainably grown and regionally produced food whenever possible. Menus showcase products from local farmers, fishermen and food artisans throughout the South. Here are a few of our favorites:

Country Kitchen: the charming and rustic restaurant offers down-home Southern cooking enjoyed by the Georgia locals for generations. Try their biscuits and muscadine preserves each morning or sides of fried green tomatoes, sweet potato fries, glazed apples, black eyed peas, okra, and greens. Entrees like fried chicken, country fried steak, meatloaf, catfish, pot roast, and stew are offered. Avg. full entrees $8 – $11.

Rockin’ Robin’s Malt Shop & Pizzeria: an old-fashioned, fun 1950s themed diner with pizza and great shakes plus bubbly root beer floats. Play games or bop to tunes on the jukebox.

Robin Lake Beach Pavilion: for a quick bite to eat or a snack during a fun day at the beach that’s convenient and good tasting. Their menu includes sandwiches, snacks and beverages.

(ref: www.callawaygardens.com) or KIDS LOVE GEORGIA (https://kidslovetravel.com/travel-books/