EASY ESCAPES FLORIDA MARTHA’s vineyARD PROVENCE HAWAII QUEBEC CITY SMOKY MOUNTAINS WASHINGTON BELIZE YOSEMITE ARIZONA THE BAHAMAS MEXICO A façade in 1 trAVELAndLeisUre.coM 2011 the town of family travel Menemsha The south shore of Martha’s Vineyard A view of the beach Edgartown’s lighthouse Boat fenders hanging on a Seabrook cottage Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts Seabrook, Washington The quintessential New England your head at the Harbor View Hotel & Set high on a bluff above a vast before working up an appetite by island draws history buffs and Resort (131 N. Water St., Edgartown; sandy beach, the carefully planned hiking the half-mile Elk Creek Beach lighthouse lovers of all ages. Stroll 508/627-7000; harbor-view.com; waterfront enclave of Seabrook— Promenade. The oyster-shell-strewn the beyond-quaint brick sidewalks doubles from $99), a Colonial grande about 2½ hours west of Seattle—is path takes you to a gazebo lookout of Edgartown, build sand castles on dame with wraparound porches and a modern-day Pleasantville, its and down 45 steps to the beach. the beaches of Chappaquiddick, or a Boston-meets-the-beach air. The streets lined with pastel and wood- Return to town for a bowl of seafood learn how to spin yarn or make a quill hotel’s kids’ program includes treasure shingled cottages and wide swaths of chowder, hearty with pancetta and pen—complete with berry ink—at hunts and arts and crafts. T+L TIP The green. Rent a house from Seabrook cockles, at Mill 109 Pub (360/276- the Native Earth Teaching Farm (94 Flying Horses Carousel (Oak Bluffs Cottage Rentals (4275 State Rte. 4884; dinner for four $75), Seabrook’s North Rd., Chilmark; 508/645-3304; Ave.; 508/693-9481), in Oak Bluffs, a 109, Pacific Beach; 360/276-0265; only restaurant. T+L TIP Drive the 30 nativeearthteachingfarm.org; $25 per 15-minute drive from Edgartown, was seabrookcottagerentals.com; two- minutes to Olympic National Park person per class). For an oceanside moved here from New York’s Coney bedroom cottages from $205, (360/565-3130; nps.gov/olym) to dinner, feast on local lobster with white Island. The hand-carved equines two-night minimum, four nights trek through coastal rain forest, past corn bread purée and pea shoots feature genuine horsehair manes and in summer) and tool around on a the 1,000-foot-thick Blue Glacier, and at the family-friendly Lure Grill (25 tails; each eye contains a miniature communal cruiser bike. Spend your along rocky Pacific beaches. Dunes Rd., Edgartown; 508/627-3663; porcelain animal. afternoons teaching the little ones dinner for four $135) and then rest how to fly a kite in the salty breeze Blackberry Farm 2 trAVELAndLeisUre.coM 2011 family travel A room at Black- The hotel’s berry Farm dining room Canvas tent cabins at Curry Village Wildlife by the At the children’s Merced River cooking course Yosemite National Park, California Walland, Tennessee Sky-high sequoias and surging the terrace, sipping Mammoth Brewing Live the agricultural life while indulging three-day cooking course ($600 for a waterfalls—not to mention Half Dome, Co.’s Ahwahnee Amber Ale and gazing every whim at Blackberry Farm three-day session): wooden baskets in the granite monolith immortalized by at the teetering walls of Glacier Point. (865/380-2260; blackberryfarm.com; hand, they’ll gather ingredients from photographer Ansel Adams—draw their Bunk down in a wood-floored canvas from $795 per night for two adults, the garden to make meals of their fair share of tour buses here. Dodge tent cabin at the rustic, dogwood- including meals; children $250 per own—perhaps blackberry ice cubes, the masses by strolling the Valley Floor fringed Curry Village (yosemitepark. night, including meals and kids’ camp), strawberry soup, and BLT’s in pita Loop Trail, which runs past Yosemite com; four-person tents from $120). a 9,200-acre retreat in the foothills pockets. The whole family can explore Falls and the base of El Capitán. Rent a Staircase Falls—at its majestic best from of the Smokies in eastern Tennessee. the wooded terrain on horseback or raft for a float down theM erced River March through May—is just across the Guests luxuriate in rooms filled with from a horse-drawn carriage, or take in (yosemitepark.com; $26 per adult, way. T+L TIP Head to Tioga Toomey’s Georgian furniture and are pampered the surrounding landscape on a guided $18 per child 12 and under), then head Whoa Nellie Deli at the Tioga Gas with clay wraps at the resort’s canoe tour along the lake. T+L TIP Fish to the iconic 1927 Ahwahnee hotel Mart (Hwy. 120, just off 395, Lee Vining; Farmhouse Spa. An heirloom garden for rainbow and brown trout on the ( 1 Ahwahnee Rd.; 209/372-1489; dinner 760/647-1088; dinner for four $40) for supplies jewel-like herbs and produce, property’s Hesse Creek, or head to the for four $56) for dinner at the bar. its foodie-caliber menu—fish tacos with which the New American restaurant streams of Great Smoky Mountains After wolfing down cheeseburgers and ginger coleslaw; apricot-glazed pork puts to full use in poached trout National Park (865/436-1200; nps.gov/ chicken fingers, the kids can frolic on tenderloin—and free bluegrass concerts with spring onions, creasy greens, grsm), only a few miles away. the great lawn while parents watch from on a lawn overlooking Mono Lake. and radishes. Sign the kids up for a Saguaro cactus 3 trAVELAndLeisUre.coM 2011 at Tanque Verde family travel A dining terrace at the ranch Joanie’s Blue Crab Café Conch shells in Key West Cheeca Lodge Florida Everglades Tucson, Arizona Orchid thieves and mythical swamp Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery A vacation spot that caters to at the spa. But simply lazing around creatures are just a few of the larger- (239/695-2428; clydebutcher.com) at both antsy kids and their comfort- on the porch to catch the Sonoran than-life characters that populate mile marker 54.5 in Ochopee. After seeking grandparents sounds like a sunset gets high marks, too. On this subtropical wilderness. Begin marveling at his large-scale black-and- tall order, but Tanque Verde Ranch Wednesday and Saturday nights, in Everglades City, where a stay at white images of the Everglades, have (14301 E. Speedway; 866/494-3833; gather the entire family—jeans and the Ivey House Bed & Breakfast lunch at ornament-crammed Joanie’s tanqueverderanch.com; from $245 per Western shirts are a plus—to feast (107 Camellia St.; 877/567-0679 Blue Crab Café (39395 Tamiami Trail, person, all-inclusive) easily fills the on prime rib and dance to live music or 239/695-3299; iveyhouse.com; Ochopee; 239/695-2682; lunch for bill. A cluster of 76 adobe casitas on at the ranch’s Cottonwood Grove doubles from $157) may include four $40). T+L TIP Extend your trip 640 acres in the Sonoran foothills, the barbecue. T+L TIP In the summer a twilight kayak expedition—look by heading about three hours south to sprawling resort offers an impressive Tanque Verde hosts all-inclusive out for alligator eyes glowing a the Florida Keys, stopping at wildlife list of attractions: horseback riding, overnight camp sessions for a dozen sinister red in the dark. Then follow lookouts and fish shacks along the mountain biking, and guided nature children ages nine to 14. During the the Tamiami Trail, or U.S. Highway way. Stay at the oceanfront Cheeca treks through the desert. Children’s 10-day kiddie getaway they’ll hike, 41, through a forest that’s home to Lodge & Spa (81801 Overseas Hwy., programs (trail riding; tennis lessons; bike, swim, do team penning, and elusive rare orchids (and perhaps Islamorada; 800/327-2888; cheeca. nature classes) keep little ones busy learn how to care for horses ($1,850 even a bog monster or two). Worth com; doubles from $399), which has a while the older set rejuvenates with per child, all-inclusive). a stop: landscape photographer stellar snorkeling program. an organic-coffee-and-salt exfoliation A view of Oahu’s 4 trAVELAndLeisUre.coM 2011 North Shore family travel Ke Iki Beach Bungalows Caves Branch Jungle Lodge Caye Caulker Caye Caulker Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii Belize As the North Shore’s surfing season units outfitted with kitchens, bar- Belize is a no-brainer for budget- doubles from $66) serves up an even quiets down in the summer, Sunset becue areas, picnic tables, and conscious families looking for DIY more unusual stay: after a night safari Beach becomes a tropical Mayberry: outdoor showers. Ted’s Bakery adventure. Sixty miles from Belize (the kids can pet a jaguar), spend the family-friendly, resolutely idle, and (59-024 Kamehameha Hwy., Haleiwa; City, in the western Cayo District, night in cabins on stilts overlooking steadfastly democratic. Aquamarine 808/638-8207; lunch for four $40) Ian Anderson’s Caves Branch a pond that attracts egrets and waters gently lap two miles of palm- provides fuel for tourists and surfers Adventure Co. & Jungle Lodge (Mile crocodiles. T+L TIP Twenty miles fringed white sand; sheltered coves alike with its generously portioned 41.5, Hummingbird Hwy., Belmopan; offshore—accessible by speedboat lure snorkelers; and tide pools yield dishes—garlic shrimp, mahimahi 011-501/673-3454; cavesbranch.com; from the busy marine terminal—is copious puka shells to delighted sandwiches, bento-box lunches, and cabanas from $118 a night, three- Caye Caulker, a narrow mangrove beachcombers. Ke Iki Beach sinfully rich chocolate haupia pies. night minimum) is a Survivor-style island with sandy streets and just a Bungalows (59-579 Ke Iki Rd., Haleiwa; T+L TIP Sign your teens up for surf rain-forest retreat—tree houses and handful of cars.