What’s been your favorite family trip? Maybe you’ve got one, or two.
But for me, that’s like asking which is my favorite child. They’re all wonderful and unique, though at times aggravating and frustrating. But as I’ve often said, the missteps make for memories—and stories to tell at holiday gatherings. They also teach kids how to deal with adversity, a valuable lesson when they start to navigate the world on their own.
Sometimes it’s the story behind the place—like Camp Denali deep in Denali (or as has now been renamed McKinley National Park) in Alaska. At 20,300 feet, it boasts the tallest mountain in North America. Celia Hunter and Ginny Wood met as young women ferrying World War II aircraft and wanted to start a back-country lodge like they had experienced in the Alps and Scandinavia. Hiking up an untracked ridge on a tip from the park superintendent, they discovered what they decided was the ideal spot, with spectacular views of the mountain, a rocky ridge and small pond. Along with Wood’s husband, Morty, they homesteaded the land in 1951, sawing huge trees with hand saws to build the cabins. The camp is within park boundaries now and because of road closures, it’s necessary to fly in and out. There are no trail signs, so we appreciated the naturalist guides and the cozy cabins. Lettuce and herbs come from the greenhouse and other veggies, meat, and fish from local purveyors. A solar system heats the kitchen’s water, which comes from a local stream. The outhouses, with views of the mountains, were the best we had ever experienced. “We want to help visitors to have an experience that is eye opening—to connect between the natural world and their lives at home,” said co-owner Jenna Hamm, who has a graduate degree in environmental studies and runs Camp Denali with her husband, as her parents had before them. I can’t think of a better place to revel in the wilderness.
Scenic view of Savage river in Denali national park. Dreamstime/TCA
Sometimes it’s the timing of the trip. We went to Curtain Bluff Resort a small upscale all-inclusive on the island of Antigua for our honeymoon and have been back several times since. We sat on the beach with a bottle of champagne and talked about the kids we would have. Later, on a sailing trip around Antigua, we took our kids there for dinner. My husband, Andy, had chosen the resort out of a book. He was intrigued because the resort’s founder and owner, Howard Hulford, had spied the land on a peninsula on the southern edge of the Island while flying for Texaco. Back then, men needed jackets for dinner, the resort wasn’t very kid friendly, all of the rooms faced one of the two beaches, the food was spectacular and we had our choice of tennis, snorkeling, diving, sailing, and more (perfect for honeymooners). Today, jackets are no longer required, there is a swimming pool and a playground, sandbox, game room, kid-friendly dinners, and Cee Bee Kids Camp with an array of activities for young visitors (crab races, anyone?). There are rooms on the bluff, an adult-only wellness area, award-winning spa, and daily yoga. But the resort is still small (just 72 rooms and suites) and long-time staff greet returning guests as family. (Book five nights and save 25 percent.)
Sometimes it’s the experience when kids are a certain age—the first time they beat me down a ski slope, the first time they conquered a strenuous hike in Yosemite National Park and bravely rode Space Mountain in DisneyWorld, incidentally, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. When our kids were small and we lived in Chicago, we discovered Ludlow’s Island Resort in Cook, Minnesota, on a five-acre private island with cabins on the water’s edge of Lake Vermilion, which has the longest shoreline in the state and boasts more than 365 islands. This is where my kids learned to fish (our four-year-old daughter catching dinner one day to the chagrin of her older brother), to waterski and where I got us lost canoeing. The kids especially loved the rides in the amphibious car in the water and that they could race around the island safely. We often brought extended family with us. Joseph Ludlow bought the island for $300 in 1907 and his son Hod built the first cabin in 1933, renting it out to friends starting in 1939. Hod’s son, Mark, and his wife, Sally, raised their four kids there. Today, their family and two others run the 22-cabin resort with options from one to five bedrooms.
Sometimes it’s the I-can’t-believe-I’m-here experience like seeing the Northern Lights as we did on a Hurtigruten cruise in Norway above the Arctic Circle last December, or experiencing the ravages of climate change first hand (with explanations from first-rate naturalists) on an Abercrombie & Kent cruise in the Arctic, or years before, spending New Year’s in Antarctica on Wilhelmina Bay as a big pod of killer whales dived and played right near our zodiac and Gentoo penguins used an ice floe as a waterslide. We walked among dozens of penguins and lazing sea lions, marveling at the landscape. There were 35 very well-traveled kids on that trip and plenty of special activities for them, complete with snowball fights and rides in a fire truck, siren blaring, on the Falkland Islands. It was hard to choose the best part, one teen enthused, “As every day was something new.”
If only all vacations were like that. But remember, when things go awry, as they inevitably will, the memories of the happy times are all the better.
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