Monthly Archives: April 2012

An Annotated Map: Free, Fun, and Functional

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Ashley| 1 Comment

Here’s a great keepsake for your kids! It’s free, fun, educational, and functional. Find a decent map of whatever city you happen to be visiting and give your son or daughter a highlighter and a pen. At each destination, highlight the route that you’ve just completed, mark and annotate where you are and what you see. Want to make a really cool map? You’ll have to be willing to walk a long way! Keep the maps from various cities as a reminder of where you traveled, what you saw, and what your kids enjoyed most.

Posted in Tips, Tricks, and Trivia

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Prague: Then and Now

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Ashley| Leave a comment

Then (1991): The dusty train station was mostly empty except for a few tourists. I was approached by enterprising Czechoslovakians holding out pictures of rooms to rent, most in private homes.   I rented a room near the old square with a view of the river. It was a bedroom in the apartment of a middle-aged woman.  She was kind, charged a reasonable price, and spoke little English.

Now (2012): The train station in the Czech Republic is loud and bustling. It boasts a Burger King, a giant bookstore, DM, and Read more »

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Budweis: The Beer from Here

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Bill| 1 Comment

After over 30 years of being a consumer of beer, I have never been a fan of big American brews. I’ve given them every chance. After learning the fundamentals of beer drinking in high school in Canada, I tried all the kinds of American beer at college in central New York. There are some stories to be told about all of those years, but I’ll leave it that I was not impressed with beer south of the border. I eventually moved to the Pacific Northwest before the microbrew revolution, but didn’t care for Rainier or Olympia. I even tried making beer several times before the kids.

And just last month I was at a major league spring-training baseball game in Read more »

Posted in Bill, Our Travels with Kids

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Bremerton WA – A great kid destination

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Ashley| 1 Comment

Bremerton WA – A great destination for kids? Yes! Bremerton is the home of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and that’s all many Seattlites know about it. But, we have spent a night or two here every year for the past few years and there is more to explore every trip. Read more »

Posted in Ashley, Our Travels with Kids

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