Family travel five: Five places for the family to learn on vacation - Kansas City Star
By LYNN O'ROURKE HAYES
The Dallas Morning News
Considerable education takes place outside the classroom. Here are five places families can learn by experience.
1. Kung fu lessons. Explore Chinese culture with your clan during this 14-day journey. Learn kung fu from a student monk, cook with a local family, watch Shanghai acrobats perform, play badminton in the Olympic complex and discuss customs with ethnic villagers. For children 6 and older.
Contact: 1-888-902-8808; www.wildchina.com/china-immersion-experiences/overview/cultural-family-vacation-beijing-henan-xian-yunnan-shanghai.
2. Civil rights trail. Activists fought for civil rights and justice throughout the South during the 1950s and '60s. Today, families can learn more about the era through Alabama museums that share stories describing the struggles. Important stops include the Civil Rights Memorial Center, Rosa Parks Library and Museum and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where the Montgomery bus boycott was planned and Dr. Martin Luther King was pastor. A downloadable brochure will help with planning.
Contact: www.800alabama.com/activities/tours-and-trails/alabama-civil-rights-museum-trail; www.nps.gov/semo/index.htm.
3. Save the turtles. From now through November, families can help save olive ridley sea turtles by gathering eggs on the beach in Mazatlan, Mexico, and releasing the hatchlings to the sea. Learn how the effort, coordinated by the turtle sanctuary and preserve at Estrella del Mar Golf and Beach Resort, helps to save more than 50,000 turtles each year. Check the sea turtle package offered by Las Villas Hotel and Spa.
Contact: 1-877-629-2852; www.mazatlanhotellasvillas.com; www.estrelladelmar.com/turtlepreserve/turtle(underscore)preserve.htm.
4. Archaeological adventure. In southwestern Colorado, visit the largest archaeological preserve in the United States and learn about the ancestral Pueblo peoples who lived at Mesa Verde for about 700 years, from 500 until 1300. Choose a tour of this national park and World Heritage Site that best suits your family's interests and abilities. Explore cliff dwellings and mesa-top developments, and discuss what life might have been like for long-ago families. Later, sample foods they ate, including corn, squash and beans, in the Metate Room restaurant.
Contact: 1-800-449-2288; www.visitmesaverde.com.
5. A culinary calling. Learn from the pros at the Santa Fe School of Cooking when you and your family take part in the Muy Sabrosa ("very tasty" in Spanish) two-night experience at this Santa Fe inn. The package includes a cooking demonstration. Best for children 8 and older.
Contact: 1-888-984-2121; www.innonthealameda.com. Or, santafeschoolofcooking.com.
Lynn O'Rourke Hayes is editor of FamilyTravel.com: lohayes@FamilyTravel.com
29 Aug, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFyG26pm6exTnwUEH3fuiT50Tyafg&url=http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/29/3106809/family-travel-five-five-places.html
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