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Museums tell the story of a place, it’s history, culture and art. If you really want to know what makes a town tick, first visit it’s museums. You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy learning the steps it took for a town to become what it is today. In fact, making museums part of a family vacation itinerary will not only teach your children while they think they are just having fun, it will show them that learning can be an enjoyable endeavor. Whether it be science, art, nature or history, you won’t be sorry you stopped by Seattle’s museums.

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You won’t have to look for miles for places to take your kids when visiting the Mile High City. Here’s a good cross-section.

Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
Cattle driver, fur trapper, gold miner, army scout and showman, William F Cody lived the life of the old West and then packaged it and took it on the road.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show used real-life cowboys and Indians like Sitting Bull to reenact scenes from frontier life. The show traveled throughout the country and across the pond where Cody and his troupe appeared at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebration. The museum features bows and arrows belonging to Sitting Bull, costumes featured in the show and a collection of firearms. The “Kids’ Cowboy Corral” allows children to design a brand, dress as a cowboy, sit in a saddle and try to lasso a calf.

The museum is open seven days a week from 9 am to 5 pm from May through October. It’s closed Mondays from November to April when it closes at 4 pm. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and $1 for children 6 to 15.  photo credit: Jami Dwyer

Butterfly Pavilion
The nation’s only stand alone non-profit insect zoo features exhibits of invertebrates around the world, including:

• Wings over the Tropics is a 7,000 square-foot tropical rain forest, with more than 1,200 live butterflies and 350 plant species from around the world.
• Crawl-A-See-’Em allows you to get up close and personal with with tarantulas, leaf insects, scorpions, beetles and giant millipedes. Children so inclined can actually hold Rosie, the pavilion’s Chilean rosehair tarantula
• Get Shrunk allows visitors to walk through a world of giant moving insects.

Admission is $7.95 for adults; $4.95 for children ages 3 - 12; and $5.95 for adults over age 62. The pavilion is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm.  photo credit: bensonkua

The Children’s Museum of Denver
Features 11 interactive “playscapes’ for children from infants to age 8. Exhibits include:

• The Assembly Plant, designed for children, ages 4 through 8, allows children to work with recycled tools.
• ARTS a la Carte lets children put on a puppet show.
• My Market takes children on a trip through a market where they learn about healthy foods and nutrition.
• Ready, Vet, Go! is a kid-friendly veterinarian clinic.

Admission is $5.50 for one-year-olds , $7.50 for ages 2-59 and $5.50 for visitors age 60 and up. Open 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday; 10 am to 5 pm, Saturdays and Sundays.

Clear Creek History Park
This three-acre park includes two log cabins, several animal barns, a blacksmith’s shop, and a one-room schoolhouse from the 1870s. The park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon, which were moved here in the late 1990s. The park is open Tuesday–Saturday 10 am–4:30pm and Sundays 11 am–3pm from June through August. In May and September it’s open Saturdays 10 am–4:30 pm. Admission is $2 for kids age 6-18, $2.50 for seniors and $3 for adults.

The Colorado Railroad Museum
The museum features more than 100 locomotives and cars exhibited in three buildings on 15 acres of land near Golden, Colorado about 10 miles from Denver.

The museum building is a replica of an 1880 railroad depot and houses thousands of photographs and documents detailing the history of the region and the railway–it’s the largest known collection of historic records, mementos, artifacts, and pictures of Colorado railroads.

The Roundhouse was built to represent a small division point on a prosperous railroad. IT features an inspection pit and drop pit in stall one, a machine shop and a four-rail turntable.

Coors field

The ball travels nine percent further here, thanks to the stadium’s mile-high altitude. Tours of Coors Field are available at noon and 2 pm on Monday-Saturday during the season and Monday Wednesday, Friday and Saturday during the off season. The tours include the dugout, the visitor’s clubhouse, and the press, club and suite levels. Tickets are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors 55 and older and $4 for children 3-12.  photo credit: ChazWags

Denver Botanic Gardens
Twenty-three acres of outdoor and indoor gardens, many of which are models of drought-tolerance and showcase the plants that thrive in Western gardens. There’s also a traditional Japanese garden, herb garden, water garden, fragrance garden, and a garden inspired by Monet.

Every month features a special, self-guided “What’s Blooming Tour” that highlights certain parts of the collection. September’s tour, for example, focuses on trees. There’s also a special Cornfield Maze every fall.

The conservatory houses thousands of species of tropical and subtropical plants. Orchids share space with a collection of plants used for food, fibers, dyes, building materials, and medicines.

The museum is open every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is $10.50 for adults; $7.50 for adults over 60 and $6 for children from 4-15.

Denver Firefighters Museum
Your kids can try on firefighting equipment, slide down a pole and ride a fire truck designed for kids here in the historic Fire Station No. 1. Built in 1909, the museum site was one of the largest firehouses in Denver, occupying 11,000 square feet and housing men, fire engines and horses. Firefighting equipment dating to 1866, historic photos and newspaper clippings are also on display.

The museum in Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Admission $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and $4 for children 12 and under.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The museum focuses on six areas of science: anthropology, health science, geology, paleontology, space science, and zoology. Dioramas, gems and minerals, Egyptian mummies and fossils are all on display here in a variety of exhibitions:

• At Coors Mineral Hall you can follow a mine shaft into a silver mine or see Colorado’s Sweet Home Minewith its six-foot wall of blood-red rhodochrosite crystals. In the historical mining section you’ll see Tom’s Baby, an eight-pound nugget of crystallized gold unearthed in Breckenridge in 1887.
• Extreme Ice, which runs through November 2, features the videos and photos of James Balog who’s been systematically photographing 27 glaciers around the world.
• The Discovery Zone is an interactive display that allows children to put on a puppet show, dig for fossils or perform an experiment .

The museum is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily. Admission is $11 for adults, $6 for seniors, students and children ages 3 to 18.

Denver Zoo
More than 700 species of animals call this place home including endangered cheetahs, Komodo dragons, and western lowland gorillas. The zoo has long been an innovator in recreating realistic habitats: Bear Mountain, built in 1918, was the first animal exhibit in the United States constructed of simulated concrete rocks.

From April 1-October 31, the zoo is open from 9 am to 6 pm. From November 1-March 31, the zoo’s hours are 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets for ages 12-64 are $12 in summer and $9 in winter, seniors pay $9 and $7 respectively while tickets for children 3-11 go for $7 and $5.

Genesee Park
Your kids can get a chance to see the buffalo roam from the hiking trails of this nature preserve 20 miles outside of Denver. Facilities in the park include charcoal grills, picnic areas, bison and elk enclosures, scenic overlooks, a softball field and volleyball courts.

Heritage Square
A reconstructed Colorado mining town from the 1870s, this square has an old fort, elaborate Victorian buildings and storefronts, shops, restaurants, and a cabaret theater. Amusement-park rides, a water slide, a bungee tower, go-carts, miniature golf, miniature railroad, and an alpine slide are some of the other attractions. The center features more than 35 specialty shops and restaurants. Admission is free, though tickets are required for many individual attractions.

The Ski Train
No matter what the season, the ski train is running. Departing from Union Station, the two-hour ride crosses under the continental divide, passes through 28 tunnels and breathtaking mountain scenery as it wends its way to the Winter Park ski lift. Riders can choose between coach, club or retreat tickets.

Tiny Town Rail Road
Created at the site of the Denver-Leadville stagecoach stop by George Turner, who built the city in 1915 to amuse his daughter. All the buildings are built to be one-sixth the size of a normal building, making Tiny Town a “kid-sized village.” Admission is $5 for adults $5, $3 for children 2-12. For another dollar you can take the kid-sized steam locomotive for a trip past the town’s 100 colorful buildings. Tiny Town is open 10am - 5pm daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day and weekends only in May and September.

U.S. Mint
Originally opened in the mid-1800s to change gold and silver found by miners in the surrounding hills into coins and ingots, the Denver facility was bought by the US Treasury in 1863. It wasn’t until 1906 that the Denver facility began actually minting coins. Free 20-minute tours show visitors how blank ore becomes coins. Tours start every hour on the hour and are available from 8 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday. You might want to plan ahead if you’d like to take your kids to see where money is made; the mint allows walk-in visitors on first-com, first-served basis, but you can reserve a date up to two months in advance.

Water World
America’s largest water park contains 40 water rides, including two wave pools, a river rapids for inner-tubing, water slides and a play area for small children. The park is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

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The north shore of Lake Ontario sparkles with the glistening sun by day and the Toronto city lights by night. The lively waterfront will entertain the entire family year round with concerts, parades and events. Follow Queen Street down to the shore. Better yet, park the car and walk down to the miles of sandy beach and boardwalks. Have lunch at one of the unique restaurants and stop at a quaint shop for new bathing suits. Enjoy a day sunning, then soak up the rest of the family attractions in Toronto.

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Golf has literally exploded in Atlanta. With so many golf courses, the novice, just beginning to love the game of golf, to the professional tournament player will be able to find the perfect course in the Atlanta area. Because golf courses are generally divided into two categories, public or private, we’ll show you the best of both worlds. No matter what your level of golf play is, while in Atlanta, you won’t want to miss stopping by the PGA Superstore with 65,000 feet of pure golf shopping pleasure.

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Long known more for cheap buffets piled high with mass-produced food-stuffs, Las Vegas has exploded into the cuisine scene in recent years with celebrity chef after celebrity chef opening posh restaurants. Though cheap buffets can still be found, today’s diners are more likely to dress up and step out for a dinner of haute cuisine from a famed chef. The Strip is jam-packed with big-name chefs, though you’re more likely to find the chef signing books than preparing your dinner. Still, a trip to Vegas can feel like a world tour of culinary hotspots in a week.

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With the warm weather, thoughts turn to the seashore. From year-round beaches in Florida and California to strictly summer locales like Cape Cod, here are some beaches to consider.

(Photo via flickr cc)

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From gardens to science museums to World War II submarines, Cleveland boasts a number of great places for you to see with your kids in tow. Here’s a look at some of the best.

Cayahuga Valley Scenic Railroad
Ride the rails from Cleveland to Akron, and Canton while enjoying the views of Ohio’s only national park, the Cayahuga Valley National Park.

Many different trips are offered, from round-trip train rides under two hours to longer trips that include a ranger-led hike. Some excursions offer the chance to visit Hale Farm & Village, Stan Hywet, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Akron Zoo, Quaker Square, or the Hartville Flea Market and Hartville Marketplace. Trains leave from Rockside Station (Independence), Peninsula Depot Visitor Center, and Akron Northside Station. Call (800) 468-4070 for more information.

Children’s Museum of Cleveland
Dedicated to children up to eight years of age, the museum hosts numerous traveling exhibits as well as several permanent exhibits such as “Splish Splash,” which teaches children about water transportation, weather and the earth’s water systems. It features a two-story climbing structure, a kaleidoscope and the Weather Forecast Center where children learn how water affects the weather. They can also use the anchor desk to present their own forecast in front of a camera.

Open from 10 am to 5 pm daily, admission is $7 for children aged 1-12 and $6 for anyone 13 and under.

Cleveland Botanical Garden

photo credit: Eddie~S

Ten gardens and a conservatory are among the attractions here which include the Hershey Children’s Garden, a Japanese Garden featuring a dry rock stream, the Mary Ann Sears Swetland Rose Garden, Western Reserve Herb Society Garden, a Woodland Garden, Elizabeth and Nona Evans Restorative Garden, Campsey-Stauffer Gateway Garden, and the CK Patrick Perennial Garden.

The Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse features two displays: The Spiny Desert of Madagascar and the Lush Forest of Costa Rica. In the latter, you can see 50 different native butterflies, which are released into the ecosystem every day at 2 pm. In the former, you’ll see native plants plus a variety of creatures seen nowhere else on earth:

One of the stars of our amazing collection of animals is the Oustalet’s chameleon. The longest chameleon in the word, the Oustalet’s chameleon has eyes that operate independently, giving it the ability to focus on two different objects at the same time.

Quite the opposite is true for the hedgehog-like tenrec, which is almost completely blind. The tenrec compensates for its poor sight with heightened senses, including super-sensitive whiskers.

The yellow-throated plated lizard has several unique body adaptations as well. Hard body plates serve as a natural source of protection, as do the head plates connected to its skull. The yellow-throated plated lizard can grow to almost 18 inches in length, but its tail makes up almost two-thirds of that length.

Equally as impressive is the radiated tortoise that you’ll see feely roaming about the spiny desert section of the Glasshouse. Hailed as one most beautiful tortoises in the world, it can live to be 50 years old.

From April through October, the garden is open Monday - Saturday from 10am to 5:00 pm and on Sundays from Noon to 5 pm. On Wednesday the garden stays open until 9 pm. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors and members of groups of 15 or more, and $3 for children 3-12. During the winter months, the garden is closed on Mondays. Hershey Children’s Garden closes for the winter on November 1.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

photo credit: Yvonne in Willowick Ohio

One of the oldest in the United States, the zoo maintains a collection of domestic and exotic animals from around the world, including the largest collection of primate species in North America. The zoo is also a botanic garden.

Favorite exhibits include the African elephants, the “Wolf Wilderness” exhibit and the Rain Forest, a two-acre, two-story indoor tropical oasis with more than 6,000 plants and over 600 animals from the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

The zoo is open every day except Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission is $10 for adults and $6 for children under 12 from april through October. The rest of the year, admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

You’ll find a variety of exhibits here covering everything from dinosaurs to moon rocks to Foucault’s pendulum. A favorite permanent exhibit is “Lucy,” the partial skeleton of 3.2 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis discovered in 1974 by a group of scientists that included the museum’s then curator, Donald Johanson. The remains of this species of human ancestor have provided valuable clues as to when and why humans began to walk upright and evolve larger brains. Visitors can see a cast of the original skeletal materials and reconstruction of what Lucy’s full skeleton might have looked.

The museum also houses a planetarium and a wildlife center.

Admission is $9 for adults; $7 for seniors, college students with ID, seniors and kids aged 7 to 18; and $6 for kids 3-6.

Cleveland Police Museum

The museum’s permanent exhibits look at all aspects of policing. Inside the museum you will find a countless number of fascinating firsts that the Cleveland Police have developed; like the very first police call box, or the first closed circuit camera which was used in banks to photograph unsuspecting criminals. Thousands of old photos and intriguing stories of the officers that were a part of the solutions are found here as well.

Visitors can learn about the history of policing as well as famous crimes that have taken place in Ohio. Some displays, like the Death Masks of victims of the notorious “torso murderer,” may be too graphic for very young visitors.

The museum is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Monday-Friday.

Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum
The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, showcases nearly 200 antique, vintage, and classic automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, automobile culture and aircraft. The Crawford collection is one of the top ten in the nation, according to Car Collector magazine. The Crawford also holds a dozen historically significant airplanes.

If you plan ahead, you can also arrange to take a guided tour of the Macedonia Preservation Facility which stores vehicles not currently on display in the museum and oversized vehicles in the collection that are too large to be displayed in the Crawford.

The Crawford s open Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, noon to 5 pm. Admission is $8.50 for adults, $7.50 for seniors, and $5.00 for students. The admission fee includes entry to the History Museum and Library and Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. The fee to park in the museum lot is $8.

Dittrick Museum of Medical History

The museum focuses on the development of medicine in the greater Cleveland area. Exhibits include: Diagnostic Instruments, Doctor’s Office 1870s, Doctor’s Office 1930’s, Early Medical Practice and Education, Hospital Medicine, 1865-1920, Laboratory Medicine 1865-1920, Microscopes, Pharmacy 1880’s, Medicine 1895-1950, Surgery and Obstetrics Instruments.

The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday-Friday. Admission is free.

Great Lakes Science Center

photo credit: RobotSkirts

This museum has more than 400 hands on exhibits including an eight-foot-high indoor tornado; the Bridge of Fire, a static generator generates 200,000 volts of electric current and causes your hair to stand on end; an information technology gallery that allows visitors to manipulate digital images and ride a virtual hang glider; and an entire floor devoted to the environment of the Great Lakes.

The center is open from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm daily. There are a variety of admission packages.

NASA Glenn Research Center Visitor Center

The center features six galleries with interactive displays and exhibits. Visitors can participate in a countdown to a shuttle launch, pilot their own supersonic jet or conduct mocrogravity experiments. A tribute to Ohio native John Glenn features hoto exhibits, spacecraft models and two spacesuit replicas.

The visitor center is open every day, except New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Call (216) 433-2000 for more information.

Progressive (formerly Jacobs) Field Tour

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Even if you’re not a fan of the Cleveland Indians, the tour is worth the trip. Tours leave from the Cleveland Indians Team shop and tour the following areas: The Bullpen, the Press Box, a Party Suite, the Club Lounge, the Indians Dugout, Heritage Park and the indoor batting cages. The tours are wheelchair accessible.

Tours are available Monday-Friday at !:30 pm, Saturdays at 10:30 am, 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 pm from April 14 - June 6 and in September. From June 7-30, July and August, tours are available
Monday through Saturday every hour from 10:30 am until 1:30 pm. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for seniors and kids 14 and under.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

photo credit: Frank Steele

Made up of thousands of artifacts, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s permanent collection features a number of exhibits, including:

• 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
• Music of Ohio
• On the Charts
• Jimi Hendrix
• Rock and Roll’s Early Years
• R-E-S-P-E-C-T
• Hall of Fame
• Architects of Rock
• The Roots of Rock and Roll
• Rockin’ All Over the World
• The Evolution of Audio Technology

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is open 363 days a year, every day from 10 am to 5:30 pm. On Wednesdays, you can tour the Museum until 9 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Rockefeller Greenhouse

Initially used solely for growing the plants used to landscape City parks and gardens, the greenhouse has evolved into a Botanical garden with specialty plant collections, seasonal floral displays and theme gardens, including:

• The Japanese Garden: Developed in the 1960s, this garden recreates a Japanese courtyard with bamboo hut and pond. Of special interest is the Dawn Redwood tree, which was grown from one of six seeds brought from Japan.
• The Betty Ott Talking Garden: Plants here are chosen for their appeal to all the senses. A raised bed invites visitors to touch and smell the plants, and signs give information in Braille type. This is one of only a few such gardens in the country.
• The Mall: A traditional formal garden with clipped hedges and corner statues representing the four seasons.
• The Latin American Garden: A showcase for cacti, succulents, flowering plants and tropical fruits found in Central and South America.
• The Peace Garden features an old-fashioned gazebo as well as rose, herb, and perennial gardens.

The greenhouse is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm. Parking and admission are free.

Steamship William G. Mather Museum

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The William G. Mather is a retired Great Lakes bulk freighter built in Detroit by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan in 1925. The flagship for the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, the Mather remained an active part of the fleet until 1980.

Visitors can explore the ship’s living quarters, the pilothouse, galley, and four-story engine room.

USS Cod Submarine

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A World War II submarine docked on Lake Erie, the USS Cod is designated Cod a National Historic Landmark and dedicated to the submariners who lost their lives during the 100 year history of the United States Navy Submarine Force.

Considered one of the finest restored submarines on display, the Cod is the only U.S. submarine that has not had stairways and doors cut into her pressure hull for public access. Instead, visitors use the same vertical ladders and hatches that were used by her crew. All of the vessel’s seven war patrols were designated as “successful” and the submarine received seven battle stars and was credited with having sunk a total of 26,985 tons of Japanese shipping.

The submarine is open for visitors daily from May through September from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for senions and $3 for students and military with ID.

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Whether your idea of fun is a safari, a water slide or a mountain hike, Atlanta has a theme park for you. Here’s a look:

American Adventures
This member of the Six Flags group features 14 rides for children 12 and under.

Bumper cars, balloon rides, mini golf, a super slide and swirling teacups are among the attractions. The whole family can let loose in the Foam Factory, a multilevel fun house with foam balls that visitors can catapult from launchers, turbo blasters, targets, turrets, and giant dumpsters.

All-day passes go for $19.99. Three hour passes are also available and visitors can purchase tickets for individual rides, too.

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People who are planning a visit to San Antonio almost always put a few of the same basic attractions on their lists of things to see. They make plans to walk along the San Antonio Riverwalk. They make it a point to go check out The Alamo and the historic landmarks associated with it. They spend an evening at The Majestic Theater or the Arneson River Theater. These are all great things to do on a trip to San Antonio but they aren’t necessarily the things that you would especially want to see if you were traveling to the area with your all-ages family.

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Palm Beach is an amazing barrier island destination in Florida that people visit primarily because they are interested in a terrific vacation on a beautiful beach. Those people who spend time in Palm Beach will find that there is actually a lot more to do here than just lounge around sunbathing (although there is ample opportunity to do that as well!) With all of the different activities that you’ll enjoy both in and out of the water, you are definitely going to work up an appetite. When you do, you’ll want to make sure that you take yourself out to some of the hottest restaurants in the area so that you can supplement your great vacation with a great dining experience.

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San Francisco isn’t the kind of city that you visit specifically to go to the beach. While the views of the water here are absolutely amazing, the weather in San Francisco is typically too cold and windy for most people to consider it a beach destination. Nevertheless, there are great beaches here and those bold people who don’t mind a bit of a chill will don their wetsuits, get out their kitesurfing gear and hit the waves. Perhaps even bolder are those people who strip down to their bare bodies and lounge on the chilly clothing-optional beaches in and around the city. Yes, there are plenty of beaches to enjoy in San Francisco as long as you’re not seeking the kind of warm tropical waters that you would get in the Caribbean.

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You’re headed to Philadelphia and you want to make sure that you see all of the best sights that there are to see. Where do you begin? Do you check out the historic landmarks for which this city is so famous? Do you make your way to more modern sights like the murals that decorate buildings throughout the city? Do you head straight to the museums for an education in what the city is all about? Or do you take a tour of the basic neighborhoods in Philadelphia so that you can better orient yourself to the city? Any of these might be a good approach to starting off your sightseeing in Philadelphia.

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Palm Beach, Florida is one of the most ideal spots in the United States for a summer vacation. This is a place where you can really have your vacation desires met whether you want to lounge around on the beach getting a great tan, party on the sand near local Florida nightclubs or get adventurous with water sports and beaches that have hiking trails. There may be many reasons that a person would end up in Palm Beach for summer vacation but the most common reason is that they are interested in hitting up these beaches. There are over forty miles of warm beautiful beaches here so there is a lot to be enjoyed during a vacation in the area. The only drawback is that there are so many great Palm Beach beaches to choose from that it can be difficult to know which one is the right one to plan to spend time at.

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San Francisco is a city where there is something to do every single night of the week, every single day of the year. Although there are a wide range of different activities to enjoy, one of the most popular things to do is to hit up the bars and nightclubs that are located all throughout the city. From the live music bars to the under-eighteen clubs, from the gay bars to the sports bars, there is something around San Francisco for everyone who is willing to go out and look for it.

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Toronto is the largest city in Canada and one of the most popular urban travel destinations for both Canadians and Americans. Given the size of the city, its rich history, its great multicultural attitude and its role as an important travel destination, it’s a place that offers a lot of different terrific activities to be enjoyed. For the visitor who wants to enjoy a comprehensive sightseeing tour of the major attractions in Toronto, the following is a list of the things that should be included on the itinerary:

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When you think about going to New York City, you don’t typically think about taking a beach vacation. However, anyone who has spent a summer in the New York City area knows that there are some really great beaches there that are definitely worth a traveler’s time if the weather is right. Sure, New York is no Florida Keys but a beach is always a nice place to spend a sunny afternoon. Whether you’re looking for the amusement park atmosphere of a place like Coney Island or you want a more relaxing stroll-on-the-sand kind of beach, there’s bound to be a New York City beach that suits your style. After all, New York is a place that has a little bit of something for everyone.

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Phoenix is a growing city that is leading the way as a major tourist destination. People come here in the winter to take advantage of the warm weather, the great golf courses and the numerous attractions available to individuals of all ages. They come here throughout the rest of the year for business travel, family travel and solo travel. And while they are here, one of their favorite things to do is to indulge in the spa resort scene that has grown to be one of the best of its kind in the entire world. There are many different spas to choose from for this type of Phoenix vacation.

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If you’re going on a summer vacation in Miami then it’s almost guaranteed that you’re planning to spend time at the beach. After all, that’s basically what Miami is all about (although the city’s nightlife, shopping and dining opportunities are definitely worth a mention). The beaches of Miami are all beautiful so you’re going to be able to soak up the sun at any one of them without complaints. However, the beaches each offer something different to attract the attention of the sunscreen-covered masses so there will be different reasons to visit each of them. Finding the best beach in Miami requires knowing what you want most from your beach experience and figuring out which Miami beach is going to be best at providing that.

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It is almost impossible to take a vacation in Washington DC and not to visit a museum. Museums are practically a staple of the DC travel itinerary. This is due to several factors. For one thing, Washington DC has a number of amazing museums that are practically destinations on their own. For another thing, Washington DC is a place which people visit primarily to get an education in American history and that’s something that is easily done by visiting the museums in the city. And for another thing, there are just as many interesting things to learn about in DC that it’s natural to stop into the museums that offer this information.

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Cancun is a coastal destination on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico that is loved by many different types of travelers. College-aged students think of Cancun as a great place to get away and party on the beach for a couple of days. Just-married couples find Cancun to be a terrifically romantic vacation destination. And even families may discover that Cancun offers them an affordable chance to experience another culture while enjoying activities on the beach.

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San Antonio is a really fascinating city comprised of a rich multi-cultural history and a developing urban landscape. You can see this interesting sense of San Antonio no matter what you’re doing but one of the best ways to check it out is by doing a fine dining tour of the best restaurants in San Antonio. These restaurants will give you insight into San Antonio in a way that might surprise you.

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If you’ve never been to Boston then you might not know that one of the favorite things for tourists to do at this destination is to go shopping. Yes, people go here to see the historic landmarks and to take tours of the campuses in nearby Cambridge. They also make it a point to enjoy the many restaurants, museums and nightlife options that Boston has to offer. But right smack dab in the middle of most Boston travelers’ lists of things to do is the word “SHOP”.

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You’re not going to be bored on any vacation that you spend in Las Vegas. There are just too many different exciting ways to spend your time. With the shopping, nightlife and casino action constantly available to you, it’s possible to stay active and entertained throughout the day and night. But not everybody who goes to Vegas wants to spend every minute drinking and being wild. Some people prefer to limit that kind of activity and supplement their trip with more leisurely means of enjoyment. Spa treatments and time spent at the golf course are two of the best ways that people indulge in this kind of Las Vegas pleasure.

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A trip to Los Angeles will include many different experiences. It will include time spent enjoying the surf and sand at some of the most interesting beaches in Southern California. It will include shopping and celebrity sightings and nights out at comedy clubs or dance clubs. The specifics of what it will include will vary greatly from person to person since so many different interests can be explored in different parts of Los Angeles. But no matter what you’re doing during the bulk of your Los Angeles vacation, you’re going to need to stop and eat. Why just grab a quick bite when you’re spending time in a city that has some of the hottest restaurants in the entire nation? Make an experience out of it by choosing to dine at the trendiest places there are.

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You’re taking a trip to Houston and you want to get in some good time on the golf course. Perhaps you’re there in the city on business since Houston is becoming such a hot spot for conventions and corporate meetings. If so, you’ll probably want to find the best short-course golf courses that you can enjoy while making deals in the late afternoon. Or perhaps you’re there in Houston to just enjoy a great time and want to spend at least one day playing a great game of golf on a challenging scenic course. Bring the family along and have a good time; there’s at least one golf course in Houston to suit anybody.

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You’re spending your vacation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and planning for the entire trip to be relaxing. You’re there to watch the yachts, enjoy the beach and visit some laid back attractions like the world’s largest drive-in movie theater. What you’re not there to do is get all dolled up and spend a fortune on every event that you attend and meal that you eat. Never fear; this doesn’t mean that you’ll be dining at good old Mickey D’s every day as you try to avoid the high costs of luxury dining available in Ft. Lauderdale. With over 4,000 restaurants to choose from in this city, you’re not going to have any trouble finding great casual dining restaurants that are affordable, laid back and yet unique to the area.

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When you go on vacation in Las Vegas, you are begging to spend time in a place where you can forget all about time. The lights inside the casinos never change so it’s hard to tell whether it’s six in the morning or six in the evening as you play those slot machines, drink too many drinks and gamble your money away. But there is one time that you should try to pay attention to – the time of night when the nightclubs start to open in all of the casinos and hippest neighborhoods near the Las Vegas Strip.

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The average American may not know exactly what there is to see in Houston but that doesn’t mean that it’s a place which should go forgotten by travelers. Houston is a terrific city which is filled with multi-cultural history that remains important to the heartbeat of America today. That history can be seen through a tour of the top landmarks that are most often visited by those people who realize that Houston is a city rich with an array of attractions. If you want to get in on the inside secret about what there is to see in Houston, then the following landmarks are the ones that you’re not going to want to miss when you get the opportunity to visit the city:

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