New England Roadtrip: Salem

As a kid, most of our vacations were road trips, many into New England guided by CAA travel books and maps with highlighted routes. I have a lot of fond memories of those vacations, and one that always stood out to me was Salem, Massachusetts. I wanted to visit again, and I wanted to take my kids! We spent a whirlwind 5 days travelling around New England and overall I would rate our day in Salem a big success!

Salem Witch Museum

One of the biggest attractions in Salem is the Salem Witch Museum. I’m pretty sure very little has changed since I visited this same museum in the 80s, but there was a certain charm to that :)

The experience is popular enough that you need to book a time slot ahead of time, and there are long lineups outside as you wait to go in, but their system is well-practiced and efficient.

This is a kitchy old school experience so I think it’s important to remember that going in. You have two presentations - one in a big round room where you sit and watch scenes light up while a narrator that sounds like he’s from the 80s tells you the story of the Salem Witch trials. The second section you walk around to different scenes (I found this one a bit less interesting than the big room.) I think it would be boring for young children but I found learning the history of the Salem witch trials fascinating (and very different than I thought!) Between the presentations they leave you in the gift shop, which clearly works well based on the purchases I made :)

House of the Seven Gables

After the Witch Museum, we spent some time walking around in the rain, and we jumped on a trolley tour.

It was fun to hear about all the different parts of Salem and get a sense for the town. We then decided we wanted to visit the House of the Seven Gables (on the request of my teens!) and heard about the history of the house and its ties to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book of the same name.

The house boasted beautiful gardens, secret passageways, and loud and bold wallpaper I really liked!

All in all, Salem was deemed a fun day and worth exploring!

*Disclaimer, we received free tickets from the Salem Witch Museum but all opinions on the experience are our own.

Niagara Falls: Whirpool Aero Car and enjoying the Falls

This summer we were looking to take a summer vacation that wasn’t too long a drive from Ottawa and that would appeal to three teenagers. We decided Niagara Falls would fit the bill and we weren’t at all disappointed.

The mix of the splendour of the Falls and surrounding attractions along with the fun and hype of Clifton Hill made for a fantastic getaway that the whole family enjoyed (which if you have teens you may know isn’t always that obvious to find!)

Whirlpool Aero Car

The Whirlpool Aero Car was our first stop and I’d never heard of it before we went. Based on how many people told me it must be new when I told them about it, clearly many others haven’t heard about it either but it has been around for 106 years!

I was worried that my fear of heights and bridges would mean that this ride would be scary for me and others in our group, but it felt completely safe and not like something I needed to be brave to be on at all (which was great!)

The ride itself only lasts 10 minutes, but the views are spectacular and it’s quite thrilling to be in the car. It was a great kick off to the day and everyone enjoyed it. There is also free parking at the Aero Car which made it easy and convenient to visit.

Panoramic photo taken from the Aero Car

Power Station and Tunnel

The Niagara Falls Power Station was only de-commissioned in 2006 and they opened it as a museum last year. There are a lot of artifacts from the power station to check out and to learn about.

You can then ride an elevator down 180 feet and see all the levels of the old power station and then walk to the end of a 2200 foot tunnel to come out and view the Falls from a magnificent angle. This is a long walk so anyone with small kids or who has difficulty walking should take note.

All of the bathrooms at the power station were individual and gender-neutral which was great and something I know many families can have difficulty finding so I was thrilled to see that!

Journey Behind the Falls

We weren’t originally sure what the difference was between this attraction and the tunnel attraction.

Journey Behind the Falls is located right at the main Falls building, and is a shorter experience than the tunnel, and you are closer to the Falls when you come out. You also get to see how impressive the waterfall is from the back.

My recommendations

• There are passes that include a bus to get you to all of the different attractions. We were lucky enough to be gifted some tickets to attractions by Niagara Parks but if we had to do it again I would get one of these passes that included the on and off bus.

• If we had to pick between Journey Behind the Falls and the tunnel we would pick Journey, especially if there is anyone in your group who has challenges with long walks.

• Food and parking everywhere is expensive - just prepare yourself for that :)

Disclaimer: we were provided tickets by Niagara Parks to these three attractions. All opinions are our own.

Family Travel: Nashville, Tennessee

KITC would like to welcome back guest blogger, Stephen Johnson. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival. During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet.  

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If you like music, you will love Nashville, Tennessee.  Often cited as the home of country music, Nashville is also home to a vibrant rock, blues and folk scene.  The good news is Nashville is also a great place to visit with kids. After a recent trip to the Music City, here are a few of my suggestions.  

Things to do -  Country Music Hall of Fame - A great place to start any visit to Nashville is at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  As one would expect, the Hall of Fame traces the history of country music. A few of my favourite displays included seeing Elvis’s gold car and more guitars from famous singers than I could count.   

The kids will be happy at the Hall of Fame as well.  The Taylor Swift Educational Centre has plenty of interactive displays and kids activities.  The day I visited the museum was jam-packed with school groups.  

As one of the add-ons to your Hall of Fame ticket, a person can do the RCA Studio B tour.  A short ten minute bus ride from the Hall of Fame,  Studio B is where Elvis recorded many of his greatest hits.  Other recording artists at Studio B included Dolly Parton and the Everly Brothers.  Our guide explained the history of the studio and why it was world renowned for the sound achieved in the studio.    The tour was very interesting but might be more geared towards older kids.  

Another addition you can choose to do is the Hatch Show Print Tour. Hatch Show Print has been a letterpress print since 1879.  Today, the print shop is housed within the Country Music Hall of Fame building.  The tour covers the history of the print shop, how posters are made and perhaps best for kids,  you get a chance to make your own poster. Some of the famous artists who have had their concerts promoted by Hatch posters include Elvis Presley, Hank Williams and Duke Ellington.   

Old Town Trolley Tour Nashville -  One of the best ways to get an overview of Nashville is to take a trolley tour.  The tour is a hop on hop off service with fifteen possible stops. I found the tour to be a great introduction to the history of Nashville.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor. The entire tour was about an hour and forty minutes. It was very kid-friendly and many of the stops would appeal to kids including several large parks.  

I also chose to do the evening Soul in the City music tour.   Our guide brought along his piano keyboard to play a few tunes on the bus.  We were introduced to the musical history of Nashville including studios where some of the best known hits have been written and recorded.   We also made a stop at a cafe where we got to see a song-writing circle. A trio of three musicians were sharing their songs.  

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum - Nashville -  I love Madame Tussauds because it is a very passive way for kids to learn about history.  I got to take my photo with almost lifelike wax figures including Justin Timberlake, Bono and Beyonce.  None of the above have ever invited me to their house so my photos at Tussauds are the closest I will ever get to the stars.  There was also a large section about the history of country music. As mentioned, the museum is a great place to learn history and have fun at the same time.

Soundwaves Water Experience -  This may be the favourite attraction for any kid visiting Nashville.  Set in the impressive Gaylord Opryland Resort, this indoor/outdoor water park features multiple waterslides, a lazy river and rapids river, a younger kids area and a crowd surfer.  

I appreciated the water experience also offered an adults only area where one could rest and relax.  

During the summer, the outdoor area features more waterslides and even a huge LED screen.  

Where to Eat

Barbecue is almost considered a food group in Nashville.  Jack’s Bar-B-Que,  found along the main entertainment strip, Broadway Avenue, was one of my favourites.  The place wasn’t fancy but served up delicious smoked chicken, pulled pork and brisket.  It is tradition to order a meat and three, meaning three side dishes. I loved the mac n cheese and the cornbread.  

The Peanut Shop - The Peanut Shop is like taking a trip back in time.   The shop has been at the same location since 1927. It originally was a Planters Peanuts store.   The day I visited, I was greeted by the friendly owner Kathy. The smell of freshly roasted nuts filled the shop.  The walls were decorated as if it was still 1927. Every type of nut was on sale along with items like licorice and gum balls.  

I ordered a bag of sweetened cashews and roasted peanuts.   They were the most delicious nuts I have tasted in my life.   Before I left Nashville, I made several trips back to the Peanut Shop and would have brought home half the store if it was not for import food regulations!

Where to Stay   Nashville is booming right now and it is a tourist city so it is a good idea to book ahead.  I had an enjoyable stay at several hotel properties.

Drury Plaza Hotel Nashville Downtown - This hotel was so new, it took awhile for my taxi driver to find it.  The day I checked in, the 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm free happy hour was just starting for guests of the hotel.  We were offered buffet style finger foods like nachos and sliders. Of course, there were juices and pops for the kids and adults are offered two free adult beverages if they so choose.  It was the perfect bridge between supper and going out to explore the city.

The hotel is located within easy walking distance of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Broadway and all downtown attractions.  

The following morning, the breakfast buffet was delicious.   My room was very clean and the hotel comes with free WiFi.  

Hotel Preston - Hotel Preston was quirky in the best sense of the word.   In true Nashville spirit, guests are able to borrow guitars from the front desk.  Perhaps the next great hit will be composed with a Hotel Preston guitar.   

The hotel staff were very friendly, including the front desk staff who offered me an umbrella on a rainy Nashville day.  

The hotel also has a regular-changing art exhibition featuring local artists.  

The standout for me at Hotel Preston was the on-site restaurant, Blackwood.  I had excellent Southern food including fried chicken and waffles for breakfast and a yummy burger for supper.  Prices were very affordable and the taste was far beyond standard hotel fare. There is also live music there certain nights of the week.  

The hotel is located very close to the airport and is a short Uber ride from downtown.  The hotel also offers a shuttle to the airport.

Gaylord Opryland Resort  - This hotel could be worth an entire article on it’s own.  Listed as the largest non-casino hotel in the United States, this hotel is an architectural marvel.  As previously mentioned, it is home to an indoor/outdoor waterpark, a nine-acre indoor garden and an artificial river that offers boat tours and even has waterfalls.  There is a free fountain light show that would be worthy of anything found in Vegas.

The resort is so huge, guests are given a map to navigate the property.   Part of the fun is getting lost and exploring all the nooks and crannies of the hotel.

The resort is conveniently located within walking distance of the Grand Ole Opry.  The resort offers a shuttle bus downtown and to the Grand Ole Opry and Opry Mills shopping mall.  

If you go - The only problem visitors to Nashville will have is finding enough time to do all the activities.  You can literally find venues playing music from breakfast until the wee hours of the morning. A great place to find information about everything going on is www.visitmusiccity.com.

I found Uber to be a great way to get around the city.   All the drivers were very friendly and offered local tips that were useful.  I also found all the local residents to be polite and friendly as well. Don’t be afraid to ask for directions or just chat.  There is a good chance the person working at the coffee shop or front desk at your hotel is also working on the next hit record or is the lead guitarist for your favorite musical group.  

Family Travel: Lake Placid, New York

KITC would like to welcome back guest blogger, Stephen Johnson. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival. During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet. 

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It is not every day you see your child hurtling down an Olympic Bobsled course at sixty miles per hour.  My wife and I got to live that experience on a recent trip to Lake Placid, New York.   

Lake Placid was home to the 1932 and 1980 Olympics.   The town and surrounding area still have the infrastructure of what you would expect from an Olympics including the aforementioned bobsled run, ski jump and hockey arenas.  

Conveniently,  it is also only about a three-hour drive from Ottawa.  Here is our family guide to Lake Placid, New York.  

Things to Do -  Olympic Sports Complex  - This area is home to the bobsled experience and also to the nearby cross-country ski and biathlon center.  

Our son, David, has always been the daredevil of our family.   Sandy and I declined to do the bobsled experience while David eagerly signed up.   After I filled in the paperwork, David was taken to the top of the bobsled run by vehicle.  Sandy and I walked to the midway point platform.   

We saw several bobsleds go by at extremely fast speeds.  Sandy held her breath every time the sleds passed by. We honestly did not know if David had gone because the sleds went by so fast.  

Upon further investigation,  we found an area near the finish line that offered a better view.   We also found out David was to go next. We could hear the sled coming down the course and saw it approach the finish line.   Again, Sandy held her breath and even I held my breath. Once David and the sled safely stopped, his smile ear to ear confirmed it was a great experience.  

David described it as being one of the coolest experiences of his life and said it was a similar feeling to a roller coaster.   

David was shuttled back to the centre and was given a commemorative pin and t-shirt.  We also learned one of the bobsledders working that day was U.S Olympian, John Napier.  While he did not guide David’s sled, he was very giving of his time as we chatted about his Olympic experience and took photos.   

Olympic Jumping Complex - I’ve always thought that Olympic ski jumpers are a bit crazy.   At Lake Placid, it is possible to get the perspective of a ski jumper at the Olympic Jumping Complex.  

We arrived on-site and took a gondola ride up to the base of the 120-metre ski jump. On the gondola, we were treated to a panoramic view of the Adirondacks.  

If it was not already high enough,  we took an elevator to the top of the ski jump.  We proceeded outside to the observation deck. The view was amazing but it still confirmed my idea that ski jumpers are crazy.  I had also gained a new admiration for their bravery.    

We eventually made our way back down the elevator and gondola.  I must admit, Sandy and I were both happy when David said he does not want to become a ski jumper.

Cloudspltter Gondola Ride -  Whiteface Mountain is one of the most popular downhill ski hills in the northeast United States.   Luckily, the Cloudsplitter Gondola takes skiers and non-skiers to the top of Little Whiteface Mountain.   Our family fell into the non-skier category. The gondola ride took about fifteen minutes to reach the peak.   It was easy to understand why Whiteface is so popular. Skiers and snowboarders were carving up the freshly fallen white powder.  

Once at the top, it was a perfectly clear day and we were treated to a stunning view of the valley and surrounding peaks.   David wanted to explore some of the side trails. If he had it his way, he would have spent hours at the top of the mountain. The only problem was that the temperature at the top of the mountain was a brisk -20 C with the wind chill. I was good after about fifteen or twenty minutes.    

We made our way back to the gondola and had worked up an appetite.  We checked out the Base Camp Market and all had a delicious clam chowder soup.  

Where to Stay - We had a very comfortable stay at High Peaks Resort.  Located right in downtown Lake Placid, the resort was centrally located to everything.  Some of the touches I liked was the central lobby area where one could find multiple fireplaces and comfortable chairs. It was the perfect place to lounge and just relax.  There were many board games to be found including chess. The resort provided a delicious hot chocolate and cookies to complete the ambiance.

David, Sandy and I also enjoyed the swimming pool and hot tub found in the resort.   

We look forward to checking out the resort in the summer as well.

Where to eat -  There is no shortage of restaurants to be found in Lake Placid.  One thing I did like is that most seemed to be locally owned. There were no golden arches on every street corner.   We had several good meals in Lake Placid but for us, the standout was the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery.   It had the right mix of the friendliness of a pub mixed in with relaxed family dining.  The food was delicious with Sandy and David enjoying the fish n chips while I tucked into the bacon cheeseburger.   Our server was extremely attentive and friendly.

If you go - It is impossible to summarize everything there is to see and do in Lake Placid during the winter in one article.   A few other activities include dog-sledding on Mirror Lake, tobogganing down a chute, and skating on the outdoor oval where the Olympic speed skating took place. It is also a pleasure to just walk around Lake Placid downtown.  It is not uncommon to find winter sports competitors from around the world mingling.   

Lake Placid will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Olympics from February 14-23.  There will be many activities with an Olympic theme.  

As with any winter activity, it is necessary to plan ahead and check the weather.  A very useful website for all Olympic related activities is www.whiteface.com.  For an overview of all tourism-related activities in Lake Placid visit, www.lakeplacid.com.

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Full disclosure, we were guests of the tourism office of Lake Placid. Our hotel and attractions were covered but as always, all views are my own.

Family Travel: Brockville, Ontario

KITC would like to welcome back, guest blogger, Stephen Johnson. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival.  During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet.  

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For one weekend this summer, Brockville felt like it was one of the largest ocean ports in the world. Our family visited the Tall Ships Festival over the Labour Day weekend. 

We arrived at the Brockville Marina and things were already hopping at eleven in the morning. The festival gave a chance for people to get on board a Tall Ship. There must have been eight or nine tall ships in port. We walked around and picked climbed aboard a replica ship of Christopher Columbus’s Santa Maria. The amount of detail was amazing. It felt like we were stepping back five hundred years in history. 

Another highlight of the festival was seeing the continual comings and goings of the Tall Ships. At any point in the day, there was at least one or two majestically sailing on the St. Lawrence River. 

Our son, David, loved seeing the ships and also enjoyed seeing all the exhibits on display. We met John Casselman who was a retired Aquatic Biology professor from Queen’s University. He shared with us the different aquatic life found in the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes. David was fascinated as he would like to get into Marine Biology as a profession.

This was a perfect segue way for a visit to the Aquatarium. The Aquatarium features exhibits about both the historical and biological aspects of the St. Lawrence river. Naturally, David headed to the exhibits focused on biology. We first found the aquatic touch tank. I was somewhat tentative to touch all the creatures as I thought they may be slimy. David reached right in and did not give me a choice placing them in my hand as well. 

Our next stop was to see the river otters. It was fun to watch them diving and playing in the water. We would also like to return when they are being fed. 

The final display we checked out was one featuring various reptiles of the St. Lawrence. David was quickly able to identify all the different turtles and snakes. He gave me more facts about each reptile than I will ever remember. I guess he does have a future in biology.

Sadly, we did not explore all the exhibits as the Aquatarium was closing and we wanted to see more of the festival. We will definitely be making a return trip. 

Once leaving the Aquatarium, we went back down to the river and visited a display about the Canadian Coast Guard. One of the options was to take a ride on a small inflatable coast guard boat. We hopped on the boat and were cruising around the St. Lawrence. There were only nine of us on the boat so it gave us a chance to talk with the captain and another employee of the coast guard. Taking twists and turns on the boat, I felt like Relic from the TV show, The Beachcombers (ask your parents or maybe even your grandparents!).

It was near the end of the day so of course we were hungry. I am sure there are many fine restaurants in Brockville but we always eat at Don’s Fish and Chips. It is hands down the best fish and chips we have ever tasted. 

With our fish and chips in hand our final stop was to the Bluenose II. Of course, we had to get a photo beside the huge dime with the Bluenose on the front. It seemed like the perfect way to wrap up the Tall Ships Festival with delicious seafood and experiencing Canadian naval history.

There are plenty of other things to do in Brockville. The town is chock-a-block full of charming heritage buildings. A must is also the restored Brockville Railway Tunnel. It is possible to walk through the tunnel which is enhanced by beautiful LED lights and ambient music. Besides, it is free so life doesn’t get better.

For all events and attractions in Brockville, visit www.brockvilletourism.com.