10 National Park Sites to Go on a Virtual Tour While Staying Home
have been toying with the idea of posting content related to the current climate of staying home during the COVID 19 pandemic since the crisis started last month. My focus of this blog has always been family focused, education fun and traveling throughout the United States. I thought about posts regarding things to keep kids busy, new skills kids can learn, favorite family board games and books (I might still share that post), and how to avoid boredom. But those posts didn’t seem that original or enlightening. So we’re sticking with what we know best: family travel.
Rockefeller Center Tour & Top of the Rock in New York City
Funded by namesake John D. Rockefeller Jr., son of the founder of Standard Oil and the world’s first billionaire, Rockefeller Center is comprised of 19 different buildings built during the 1930s during the height of the Great Depression. It’s known as a “City within a City” because of its size and encompassing buildings and businesses. The most well known and most recognizable building, 30 Rock, now known as the Comcast Building, was built in 1930 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1987. Seventy stories tall, NBC owns 27 floors and has programming including all four hours of the Today Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live and several other popular NBC shows housed in the building. The building looks out over 8 million people and 29,000 acres of land. Guests can take tours of the complex and also explore the three highest floors of the complex (called Top of the Rock) through a separate, or combined, ticket.
Radio City Music Hall Backstage Tour in New York City
Radio City Music Hall was the largest theater in the world at the time it opened in December of 1932. With a seating capacity of 5,931 guests (over 6,000 when they used the orchestra area for additional seating) and a stage that spans 130 feet across, it’s one of the largest, and most recognizable, entertainment venues in the world. Radio City Music Hall hosts hundreds of events each year and is home to the famous Rockettes (who were actually founded in St Louis Missouri in 1925, when Radio City Music Hall founder Roxy Rothafel brought them to New York City). Today, guests can see performances in music, theater, comedy, and sports 365 days a year, with over two million annual visitors. The Hall also offers daily Backstage tours with a behinds the scene look at how it all comes together.
Why You Should Take Kids to Fancy Restaurants
Readers often ask me what we do for dining when we travel and if we ever bring our children to “fancy” restaurants. When I reply “Sure, all the time”, my response is usually met with surprise and the follow up question, “why?” My answer involves a whole list of reasons why we do explore upscale establishments and a whole bunch of tips for a positive experience. When we were in New York City this past weekend (we head into the City every couple of months and have dozens of posts on things to do that you can find here), we had a wonderful lunch at Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse and I was reminded of many of these reasons and tips.
2019 Year in Review: 65 Highlights
2019 was a year for the record books. We travelled over 25,000 miles from TopSail, North Carolina to Gloucester, Massachusetts and a ton of places in between those spots. We had a few common themes (you’ll notice them below) and no matter where we travelled, we found friendly locals, rich history, and tons of fun. We’re keeping it short and sweet here with the highlights, but feel free to click on the links for the full scoop and tons of travel tips!
Four East Coast Cities With Nearby Fun
Large cities like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and DC are popular for good reason: There are historical sites dating back hundreds of years, tons of museums and galleries, and a seemingly endless variety of cultural events and ethnic food options. However, many of these large cities cast a bit of a “shadow” on nearby neighbors that can hold their own with visitors! We’ve spent some time over the past couple of years exploring some “smaller” cities within a short drive of well known metropolitans and we wanted to share many places to explore if you find yourself in town with an extra day or weekend.