I promised myself when I moved to the East Coast more than a decade ago, that I'd take full advantage of being in such close proximity to so many fantastic cities. One of my favorites is Philadelphia. We saw enough of it - but not so much so - to know that we want to go back again soon.
City Hall
City Hall is the largest municipal building in the US – it’s even bigger than the nation's Capitol building. Originally it was intended to be the tallest building in the world, but eventually the Washington Monument and Eiffel Tower surpassed it. Interesting, huh? It's a beautiful building.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
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Last summer around this time, we spent a long weekend in Chicago. I was there for the BlogHer '09 conference, but made time for sightseeing with my daughters.
We flew out of National Airport at 5 am on a warm Wednesday morning, and arrived in Chicago very early. I could've just hailed a cab, but I thought I would make an adventure out of it (and save a couple of bucks) so the girls and I took the subway into the city. The El, as the train is called, is only about a 10 minute walk from the terminal. At a flat rate of $2.25, and with the girls riding free, it was a bargain!
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It'll never happen to me. That's what I always said when anyone ever asked me if I was afraid of getting sick when visiting Mexico. And then it happened.
Last weekend I came down with a pretty bad kidney infection when in Monterrey for a family reunion. Luckily I was only a few hours from the border, so we cut our trip short and drove back to the States so I could see a doctor. Most people who get sick abroad aren't so lucky. What do you do if you get sick in another country?
Prepare!
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The third largest city in Mexico, behind Mexico City and Guadalajara, Monterrey is known mostly as a major industrial center, but it is a city rich in culture as well. Though you won't find ancient ruins here, there are countless museums, beautiful parks, and plenty of outdoor activities.
10 of my favorite attractions in Monterrey, Mexico
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Visit your public library. Take in story time with your kids, or just curl up and read a book all by yourself!
Go to the movies. Most theaters have free movies for kids during the summer, usually on Tuesday or Saturday mornings. Even if it's not a free flick, with all the big blockbusters out in the summer, there's likely to be something the whole family will want to watch.
Visit a museum. You can easily spend hours walking through a museum. Eat at the cafe. Browse the gift shop.
Visit a nature center. Like a museum, a nature center can captivate children for a long time! There are often special programs during the summer where you can drop kids off for a while.
Go on a night tour. See what your city has to offer after hours! There may be special nightly tours, either walking or by Segway.
Play “hotel” with your kids. Pull out the sofa bed, pull up an On Demand movie on TV, and serve them breakfast in bed the next morning.
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Service and amenities
From the moment we checked in, and even before the management knew I was there as media, we were treated like we had just walked into someone's home. Greeted warmly by the front desk clerk, the check-in process only took a few minutes. The complimentary cookies in the lobby are a nice touch, one that impressed my daughters immediately! It is a very child-friendly facility. Kids 18 and under stay free, plus, the entire hotel is 100% smoke-free!
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IllumiNights
Every country at Busch Gardens celebrates IllumiNights in their own way. You could visit the park for several consecutive days, and not see the same show twice, or walk through the various countries and see a little bit of each show all in one night!
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One of the lesser known, off-the-beaten-path museums in Washington, D.C. - and one of my favorites - is the National Building Museum. With its bright red brick exterior, it stands out from all the other architecture in the city.
A beautifully-carved frieze wraps around the building, depicting a parade of military Civil War units and serving as a tribute to that significant period in American history. Walk inside and look up towards the windows high above and you’ll see 244 busts, each in their own little nook. There are eight models, representing different building occupations – architect, developer, financier, engineer, construction worker, craftsman, bricklayer, and landscape architect.
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I'm traveling to Mexico with my daughters later this month. Exciting! Yes. However, I was blindsided a couple of weeks ago when I opened up my five-year-old daughter's passport to see that it had expired on June 10th! To make matters worse, I turned my house upside down looking for her birth certificate, and couldn't find it anywhere. After a momentary freak-out, I ordered her birth certificate online, had it expedited for an absurd amount of money, and took a deep breath, realizing that I could just expedite her passport as well, and everything would work out in the end. I'm happy to say that it will. Maya's birth certificate arrived three days later, her daddy and I went in to renew her passport the same day, and we got the book in the mail seven days after that. Paying the extra $60 to expedite it was worth it, if only for the peace of mind factor.
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