My family has a new favorite place. It’s called Lake Placid and it’s located in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. The friendly people, the wonderful meals, sports history (stay tuned for more on this subject) and beautiful nature made our visit so memorable we’re already talking about going back. Here’s some insight and tips for where to eat and sleep when you visit this darling village.

Where we ate: Our first night in town we ate at Great Adirondack’s Steak and Seafood located in the heart of the downtown village and was it delicious, specifically the Ahi Steak au Poivre! What makes this place extra special though is their homemade brew which is made right in the back and they even make their own root beer — something our children were extremely delighted to sample. We were thrilled when at the end of the meal our server presented us with a Lake Placid Olympic-themed pint glass. The glass is free with your first pint.

Chair 6 is best known for their homemade sweet potato pancakes but we stopped in for lunch. Everything was fresh and flavorful and is made from scratch on site, just the way we like it! If you like cute places, this is it. The restaurant was formerly a farmhouse. Yes, that’s an old chairlift my son is posing with found outside the restaurant.

Cellar Bistro & Grill is true to its name, it really is located in a cellar. This was another delicious lunch stop. This new restaurant is extremely affordable and the food was terrific here too. I highly recommend the Portabella Wrap and my son still asks if we can go back for the pizza. I wish we had more time there because I would have loved to stopped in for their Mardi Gras theme night.

The Caribbean Cowboy was the most unique stop of our restaurant parade. The atmosphere was lively, the drink menu was fun, but the food on the Jamaican and Southwest-inspired menu was out of this world, particularly my husband’s Jamaican Jerk chicken. We have never had anything like it. Spend an evening here, you won’t be sorry.

Hotel: Lake Placid has various lodging options including hotels, inns, campsites and cabins. We stayed in a suite at the Crowne Plaza Resort & Golf Club and would stay there again. To begin, I was completely taken by the views of Mirror Lake from our gorgeous suite in the Adirondack wing. It didn’t take long to realize how family-friendly this property is. In front of the hotel, adjacent to the a lounge patio, is a huge lawn where my kids kicked the soccer ball around and played hide and seek, and the indoor pool was a huge hit.

As for meals, we ate the breakfast buffet every morning which was a perfect way to kick off our day. One evening we took the free hotel shuttle to the resort’s lakeside Lake Placid Club Boat House restaurant. A divine bevy of seafood dishes grace the menu and they’re as good as they sound. We give huge kudos to the fantastic wait staff. No only was the food and service superb, but the scenery was spectacular. When we watched a swimmer cross the lake as the sun set, we knew we were somewhere very special.

Thank you to Whiteface Lake Placid and the other local businesses who assisted in hosting my family.

Buffalo, New York, is the closest city to one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States, Niagara Falls. I’ve always felt sentimental toward Buffalo because it was my very last overnight as a flight attendant. I was almost seven months pregnant with my first son. A month after he was born I took an “early retirement” and left my beloved career for a new exciting life of motherhood and freelance writing. Ironically, I never did venture out of the downtown Buffalo hotel where the airline’s crews stayed. Normally the overnights were short and were just long enough to grab a bite to eat in the hotel restaurant and sleep. I was always disappointed I never had the opportunity to explore the area or see the Falls. That changed this summer.

My family recently visited the area and had a great time. While Niagara Falls was the highlight of our adventure, we also had the opportunity to see some Buffalo highlights since we stayed at the (really nice) Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Buffalo and it was perfect for our family, especially because we stayed in an extremely spacious suite. The bathroom was bigger than some hotel rooms I’ve stayed in and the suite was complete with a kitchenette, breakfast table, Jacuzzi tub, and a (free) tasty hot breakfast, featuring eggs and hash browns though I opted for the Kashi cereal. The kids’ favorite feature was no doubt the heated indoor swimming pool. It was tough trying to get them out. My favorite detail though, besides the space, was the leather laptop pad for working in bed (that’s the writer in me!). And coffee drinkers, you will appreciate there is a a Starbucks and SPOT coffee shop right across the street.

While we stayed downtown, we didn’t really explore that area much, but we see other parts of the city. My husband has ties to Buffalo. He went to school at University at Buffalo and hadn’t been back since. Therefore, we made it a point to see his old dorm and visit the two most popular Buffalo wings restaurants each night of our stay: Duff’s and Anchor Bar. I’d love to do a side by side taste test one day, but I truly enjoyed the wings at both places.

Our first morning in town we visited Niagara Falls then kicked off our afternoon at the Buffalo Museum of Science. The kids really enjoyed the new hands-on children’s area. My favorite were the display halls filled with native taxidermy. What is really impressive is that the museum boasts 700,000 specimens related to the Greater Niagara Region which tie into the area’s fascinating natural history. If you visit the Buffalo Museum of Science soon, you will have the opportunity to see the Robotic Dinosaurs exhibit. Each prehistoric animal comes to life and I could have been easily convinced the T-Rex was looking me right in the eye as he roared in my direction.

Next, we ventured to the Buffalo Zoo, an easy-to-navigate, quaint zoo with plenty of attractions for the kids such as a kiddy train and carousel (both cost an additional but minimal fee). We were lucky and visited on a beautiful day and many of the animals were out. One of the highlights was feeding nectar to the colorful lorrikeets. Be careful though, those sneaky birds will snatch the cup right out of your hand as my little girl discovered. One of the features of this zoo that I really enjoyed was the color coded signs that coordinated the animals with a particular geographical region: Blue – The Americas, Green – Australia/Asia and Orange – Africa. Family favorite: watching the two elephants nuzzle (see photo).

Our stay in Buffalo was short but we had a grand time seeing the area on such a gorgeous day. Thank you to the Buffalo-Niagara CVB for hosting some of the above activities during our stay.

If Buffalo is known for one thing, it’s Buffalo wings. Like most places that take claim to a specialty food there is more than one restaurant locals claim the best. So what did we do? We went to both.

Our first night in town we went to Duff’s which is located just outside of Buffalo on Sheridan Drive in Amherst (not far from University at Buffalo’s Amherst Campus). My husband spent a year at UB and this was his favorite hangout back in the day. The restaurant is small and to the point: It’s obvious you’re there for one thing and that’s wings, well, maybe two if you drink beer.

These aren’t your normal frozen wings. These are the real thing and they are good and unless you’re used to eating spicy food, expect your mouth to burn.

One of the first things you will notice is the servers’ shirts say, “Medium Is HOT, Medium Hot Is VERY HOT, Hot Is VERY, VERY HOT”.

Many, many years ago Duff’s had a limited menu offering mild, medium, hot and suicidal. Today,there are many more variations to appeal to more customers. My husband and I indulged in the medium flavored and they were good! In hindsight we would have stepped it up a notch to medium-hot to encourage a little more sweating. You will also find the classic beef on weck (roast beef on a salted kummelweck roll) served with pure horseradish.

The next night we went to the Anchor Bar, the history here dates back to the 60’s and it’s considered the birthplace of the Buffalo Wing. The Anchor Bar is located in downtown Buffalo on Main Street and is a much bigger establishment, and the walls are decorated with eclectic memorabilia and a bar is situation in the front of the restaurant. The wings have a much shorter list than their counterpart: Mild, Medium, Hot and Suicidal but Anchor Bar has an extensive menu which included sandwiches, pastas, salads and more. This time we did order hot and we handled them so well we figure we’ll have to return to try the suicidal wings at some point. Yet, we talked to a local who orders them as mild as he can. “Your body can’t handle the spice after a certain age,” he said with a laugh.

Don’t get me wrong, both locations left a mild burn around our lips and I’m not lying when I say both locations had really, really good wings. The flavor was good, the wings were meaty and my mouth waters when I think about them. And a bonus: both restaurants have kids’ menus. I do vow to never eat Buffalo wings outside of Buffalo. What’s the point? When you’ve had the real thing, there’s no turning back.

There is one word to describe Niagara Falls: Epic. The water that produces this spectacular sight is delivered by former glaciers which happens to be four of the five Great Lakes: Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior. After the water plunges down the falls it makes it way down Niagara River to Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a long but spectacular journey.

I’m not sure what triggered my fascination with Niagara Falls, but this has always been one destination I was determined to visit, including a ride on Maid of the Mist. This week I was able to cross them both off my list while my children get to add it to their list of things they’ve seen. I can tell you it was a memorable experience for us all.

As we pulled into town we could see a huge cloud of mist marking the falls and our excitement began to build. We parked the car and after a short walk we could hear the rush of the river and the crashing of water hitting the rocks long before we saw the plunge. We took a quick glance at the site, then picked up our tickets and went straight to the Maid of the Mist alongside many visitors whom were running with excitement. We took an elevator ride down to the dock and in exchange of for our tickets we received plastic blue ponchos which come in adult and children sizes. Then, the scurry was on. Our fellow passengers began frantically putting their arms and heads in the holes and snapping photos. We did the same. Moments later it was time to board. The Maid of the Mist tour boat has quite a seamless system: passengers off, passengers on.

The next thing we knew we were sailing past the stunning American Falls and Bridal Falls, both on the American side. The one thing the Falls does for visitors is show how powerful Mother Nature is and I will tell you now that photos don’t do this wonder justice. Before long we were looking up at the Canadian-side Horseshoe Falls. The mist is strong, so expect your camera to get damp or at least drizzled on. Tip: It’s best to keep your cameras beneath your poncho and pull it out as you use it, but most likely your lens will still be spotted with water. Regardless, my husband managed to get some decent photos. Really, it’s the experience that will remain in your memory forever, as everyone on board squeals in delight. It’s one of those moments in travel when everyone surrounding you is in the moment – and that’s what travel experiences are all about.

Thank you Buffalo CVB and Maid of the Mist for sponsoring our Maid of the Mist boat ride.

I thought we would get wetter than we did while on the boat but we left with dry shoes and only lightly misted hair. Then we decided to hike up the stairs next to the falls. That’s when we got wet – no drenched. The only thing comparable would be standing next to an ocean during a storm. From head to toe, with our ponchos on, we were drenched (we were glad we left extra shoes in the car – just in case). What I loved most though was when we turned around there were vibrant rainbows everywhere we looked. Niagara Falls and Maid of the Mist are both everything they’re supposed to be. Be sure to add this New York trip to your travel list; you won’t be sorry.

A cheap East Hampton vacation sounds impossible to the uninitiated, but it’s actually easier than it sounds. East Hampton has a lot of swanky stores and upscale eateries — plenty of things to do to spend your travel dollars in a weekend, if you’re not careful –  but there are also lots of cheap vacation attractions in East Hampton (and neighboring towns like Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor) to experience without busting your summer travel budget. I’ve been spending at least part of the summer out in East Hampton ever since I was a kid, and frankly, I don’t even care for the scene out here: well-heeled Bergdorf Blondes in their tennis skirts, acting blase when entertainment megastars sit near them at Babette’s Feast for lunch. I live in Los Angeles; I see plenty of that year ’round. When my family and I come to the Hamptons every summer for a vacation, we stay away from that “Hollywood East” stuff, and try to give our children a more genuine travel experience. …Although, perhaps,the authentic Hampton summer experience may, indeed, involve strolling down Main Street, shopping at Tiffany’s and Coach, and preening on the sand at Atlantic Avenue Beach. But that’s not MY East Hampton vacation experience, and it doesn’t have to be your family’s, either.

Cheap East Hampton Vacation Attractions

Ashawagh Hall is a community center that acts as an art gallery. Different local artists’ pieces are shown and sold here year ’round, inlcuding folk artist, painters, and scuptors. The Ashawagh Hall Writers’ Workshop allows authors to read selections from their own stories and poems. The annual Artists of the Springs Invitational Exhibition is typically in August. This makes Ashawagh Hall a perfect, cultural respite from the crowds on Main Street and the ocean beaches.

The Pollock-Krasner House and Studio is another artistic Hamptons vacation pitstop. Jackson Pollack and his wife, fellow artist Lee Krasner, lived in this house, and Pollack painted in it until his death (in 1956, in East Hampton). You need to call ahead and ask for a tour, and the most interesting part of the house is the adjacent studio, where the splattered paint all over the floors makes it look as though the entire room is an architectural Jackson Pollack painting. For people interested in “Jack the Dripper,” this is a quality thing to do on a summer day.

Charles Parsons Blacksmith Building, right next to Ashawagh Hall, is another cheap Hamptons vacation activity — this one, especially of interest to children. My daughters are fascinated by the displays in this historic building and the demonstrations of blacksmithing. The blacksmith building was built in 1886, and was in operation until 1926. Today, the demonstrations are done by a genial blacksmith hobbyist — we consider our kids lucky when the timing works out.

The South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center (SOFO) opened around five years ago, hence still flies under the radar of many Hamptons summer tourists. It’s a fantastic little natural history museum, though, with live local marine and land animals carefully tended to by the SOFO staff. Kids love the marine touch tank and the “scavenger hunt,” and adults seem to really enjoy the quiet respite of the large observation deck. The young SOFO staff members are particularly adept at talking with children and adults alike about the flora and fauna of eastern Long Island. The small butterfly garden hosts an abundance of butterflies and ladybugs (in August, at least), and the nature path meandering through the large property provides for a peaceful walk. My father is on the board of this nonprofit museum.

The Children’s Museum of the East End is right across the street from SOFO, and is also around five years old. Babies, toddlers and children up to age five enjoy the tot-sized “Main Street,” with stores and a play vegetable stand, and the dress-up area, and the outdoor playground. Once children age out of the Children’s Museum, it’s a simple matter to cross the street and let them explore the natural history museum’s interactive displays.

The beaches are not cheap, in that you need to have a beach permit sticker in your car window. Temporary stickers cost around $100, and while guest permits used to be allowed on a cheaper, per day basis, the Hamptons towns are making these harder and harder to get. If you can hitch a ride, bike, or walk, it’s naturally free to go to one of East Hampton’s beaches. Main Beach, Atlantic Avenue Beach and Indian Wells are incredibly popular and crowded during the peak summer travel months. It’s quite a scene. If your family prefers a quieter, more mellow beach experience, I recommend going to the bays instead of the oceans. Less fashionable, yes, but here’s where you can find a relaxed atmosphere more in keeping with the rejuvenating experience of a beach vacation.

Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum has an impressive collection. There’s one in Amagansett, but the significant whaling and historical museum on the east end of Long Island is in Sag Harbor (bordering East Hampton).  Admission ranges from $1 to $5, making this a cheap Hamptons vacation activity — but it’s only open through October. In the off season, it’s available for group tours by appointment. Whaling used to be a major industry in the maritime village, and the house the museum is in was built in 1845. The museum has commemorated the whaling past of the Hamptons since 1936, and has an abundance of nineteenth century artifacts to rotate in its four galleries’ collections.

The annual Fisherman’s Fair is a terrific little fair, held just once every summer on the grounds around Ashawagh Hall. Try to make this a weekend your family travels to the Hamptons — the Fisherman’s Fair is a fun annual tradition that has great activities for younger children (my kids still like to make fish prints with actual flounders, paint, and paper). The clam pies, steamed mussels, and crab cakes are all made fresh with local ingredients, and for the seafood-adverse, the burgers and hot dogs are grilled to order. It’s a festive atmosphere, and the crowd is the opposite of pretentious. When our summer Hamptons vacation coincides with the Fisherman’s Fair, I love to admire the crafts of Hamptons-area artists as well.

There are other cheap things to do during an East Hampton vacation: Guild Hall has concerts and plays throughout the summer, the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church (founded 1670) hosts the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival (check each one’s schedule), and the East Hampton Historical Society maintains homes and artifacts from centuries past. There are several playgrounds, and Book Hampton supports local authors too. Anyone thinking that a summer vacation in the Hamptons is by nature very expensive, would do well to consider some of these cheap East Hampton vacation attractions.

My beautiful grandmother, who is in her mid-90′s, lives in her own home in a suburb of Syracuse, New York.  She’s doing great, but various age-related issues keep her close to her home.  That explains why, this Thanksgiving, my Southern California family and I traveled across the country to spend the long Thanksgiving  weekend with her. It’s not easy to get to her Syracuse suburb. But we packed like pros: Four carry-on size suitcases and two Tom Bihn bags (my purse shoved in one) sufficed.

Thanksgiving air travel, pre-flight

We had a layover in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. We’d left time for a delayed departure out of Los Angeles, so my kids had the opportunity to sample some “authentic Chicago pizza” (read: generic airport pizza) before we boarded the next plane.

Layover lunch in O'Hare

The airplane to Syracuse was smaller, and noisy, with a weird-acting, possibly high man a couple rows up that had a bunch of other passengers nervous and upset in flight. Fortunately, my children didn’t notice him – thank you, Nintendo DS, for your distracting Sims games!

Air travel for Thanksgiving

We’d gotten up at 5:00 AM but the sun was setting before we landed in Syracuse. Then, we had the drive to grandma’s house.

Sunset view from airplane

Thanksgiving was absolutely perfect this year. My brother and sister-in-law are expecting a baby in June — it’s been a while since our family had a new baby. We played a couple of interactive board games, caught up, and laughed and laughed.

Playing board games with aunts, grandma and an uncle

I love living in Southern California, but I miss my Northeast family a lot. Thanksgiving reminds us not to take our happy, loving families for granted (hopefully, anyway).

Gilrds with Great-Grandma, Thanksgiving Day

My grandmother immigrated here from Hungary ages ago, with her parents and brothers. She never saw her Hungarian relatives again.  Thinking about the weeks she spent on that boat, en route to a new country with a different language and culture than the one she knew, made me introspective this Thanksgiving. A cross-country trip on a couple of airplanes isn’t so hard after all. No matter how lousy the in-flight food is!

Happy Thanksgiving to families everywhere

The Vacation Gals hope that you all had terrific Thanksgiving weekends too.

Your Questions Answered: A little while ago, one of our readers wrote to ask about Christmas in New York City. Specifically, she wanted to know what would be open on Christmas Day in NYC: It would be her last day in the city, as she has a nighttime flight home and some time to spend strolling around by herself. Well, my family spent a lot of Christmases in New York City, so I’m happy to help her figure out how to fill the last day of her vacation with NYC activities!

• Sure, not EVERYTHING’S open in NYC on Christmas Day, but you’d be surprised at what IS. Since you’re not leaving until nighttime, you have all day to wander the chilly streets and take in the sights. Radio City Christmas Spectacular has shows at 1PM, 4PM and 7PM – plan ahead, buy a ticket, and watch one of the most famous Christmas time shows in the world. Who hasn’t heard of the Rockettes?
• If you’ve already seen the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Show, or if you’re just not that interested in it, there are several Broadway theaters that aren’t dark (i.e. closed) on Christmas Day. This changes year to year, of course, so check playbill.com to see what your options are.
• Why not see NYC on Christmas Day from up high? The Empire States Building is open until early afternoon (last year it opened from 10AM-2PM) and Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center is open all day.
• Also at Rockefeller Center, the ice skating rink is open all day, straight through to midnight on Christmas Day. Other ice skating rinks that are open on Christmas Day include the Wollman Rink in Central Park and the Pond – well, it’s presumably a frozen pond by late December – in Bryant Park. Both remain open through the late evening.
• Now, tons of restaurants stay open during Christmas Day in NYC. If you want to splurge, consider making a reservation at the Rainbow Room. Yes, this is in Rockefeller Center, like the Rink and the Top of the Rock – this restaurant is pretty fancy, though, and men need to wear jackets. If you’re wearing what you want to fly home in (meaning comfortable clothes), then The Rainbow Room Grand Holiday Buffet may not be the smart choice for you. Chinatown restaurants are by and large open. A great resource for dining is Open Table. It has updated lists of the restaurants in NYC that are open on Christmas Day.
• And, you know, it IS Christmas Day. If you so choose, there are religious services (and special concerts) in churches all over New York City. St. Patrick’s Cathedral Christmas Day Mass is celebrated nearly every hour on the hour until 1PM. and St. John the Divine hosts annual Christmas Day concerts – usually one mid-afternoon and one at night. The Trinity Wall Street has a late morning Holy Eucharist on Christmas Day too, although St. Paul’s Chapel itself is closed on Christmas Day.

B. wrote back and said, in part, “…Going to NYC at Christmas time has been a dream for years and I’m going alone as no one else thinks it’s such a wonderful idea!! (I think it’s just because it’s so cold). But I love Xmas lights and all the excitement. I’m all ready to go shopping and see the sights…Thanks again for all your information.” You’re welcome, B. The Vacation Gals hope you have a wonderful Christmas in New York.

Statue of Liberty (wiki commons)

My family loves Independence Day. Every July 4, there’s a cute old-timey parade in our town, replete with dressed up dogs, homemade amateur “floats (decorated cars, mostly) and our honorary mayor waving gaily from a convertible. But the best place to go for this year’s July 4th may not be small town America. The Statue of Liberty is reopening in New York City on July 4, the first time it will be open to the public since September 11. 2001. If there’s a better reason to go to NYC this July 4, I can’t think of it.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, “On July 4, we are giving America a special gift. For the first time in nearly eight years, we will once again be able to have one of the most awesome experiences in the world.”  As most of us know, access to the Statue of Liberty was shut down after 9/11/01 due to concerns over security. To address these concerns, limits have been put on this popular tourist activity: 10 people at a time will be able to experience the trek up to the 265-foot high crown. Those 168 steps will again be able to be climbed by New Yorkers and tourists taking a summer vacation in NYC.

We left NYC several years ago, so when we travel there now it’s as tourists. We stay in a variety of hotels. What could make for a fitting hotel stay in New York City for July 4? Well, an upscale Independence Day trip to NYC could include a stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park: To celebrate the July 4 reopening of the Statue of Liberty, the Ritz-Carton’s hotel package “Liberty for All” includes two ferry tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, some in-room treats and amenities, and the introduction of a martini called “The Libertini.”

Now, I remember taking the subway downtown to the South Street Seaport area and looking out at the Statue of Liberty.  This was around six years ago, right before we moved out of the city. She seemed so remote then, and far away. This summer, on July 4, it would be wonderful to vacation NYC, get down to Fulton Street, and know that the Statue of Liberty is open for visitors once again. Just thinking about it is healing.

New York City is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States, and for good reasons; the winter holidays, fast-paced culture, Broadway, and museums both famous and funky. A lot of Americans can trace their roots in this country to Ellis Island, making family travel take on extra poignancy. There are, of course, no shortage of super-luxurious hotels to stay in, as well as more reasonably priced rooms and suites (the Mudslide family is partial to the Affinia Gardens hotel in the mid-60s). But there are are also a bunch of cheap hotels -and anyone traveling to NYC on a budget would be smart to research these before making reservations. Case in point: The Hotel Carter, on West 43rd Street. Yes, basically a Times Square location. This hotel is, quite possibly, the absolutely worst hotel in New York City.

While planning a spring vacation week in New York, I stumbled across some reviews of Hotel Carter on Trip Advisor. Now, keep in mind that I haven’t stayed in this hotel myself (and certainly don’t plan to any time soon!) so these reviews were written by other visitors’ experiences and not mine. Their reviews are so descriptive and …impassioned, though, that I need to help spread the word.

A Tripadvisor reviewer calling herself “cvbabygurl” wrote, “Horrible hotel! Horrible Horrible Horrible…Stay away if you love yourself.” She also describes the person at the front desk as rude (though a lot of us have had that experience at hotels), the two double beds too close to each other (again, when we stay at a budget hotel, that’s not unexpected), and “something” left in the toilet (okay, that’s disgusting!) when she arrived in her room. Andreas, from Denmark, wrote that bed bugs infested his luggage, and infested his home when he returned from his vacation. And that’s just one of the Hotel Carter experiences with bed bugs; this issue comes up again and again in the reviews, along with photos. Various people wrote reviews that included the fact that, despite many many bedbug bites, they were offered no refund.

Some of you may be thinking that a budget hotel is a budget hotel, and that high expectations shouldn’t be had for a way to cut costs during a vacation in New York City. Sure, that’s true – to an extent. But there’s a world of difference between shabby and filthy: Someone wrote that she saw a rat in her room. Someone else described the hotels in the walls, stuffed with steel wool, and dead cockroaches on the floor. Is that really worth the savings? Alysha wrote, “I am very frugal and I read the bad reviews, so I have no one to blame but myself…I will never stay there again. Not even if they offered me a free room.” Please, consider yourself warned.

Never before has the term “fleabag hotel” seemed so fitting. I plan to try to swing by the Hotel Carter when I’m in New York City in the spring. I’ll take a camera, and possibly a hazmat suit. It will be interesting, to say the least, to get a first-hand look at what seems to be the worst hotel in New York City.

We go to New York City several times a year, but we try to make these vacations during the warmer months. Once, a cold rain turned to hail in April, and my California daughter said, “This rain hurts my nose!” That’s when it really hit home for me that my kids really aren’t being raised in the same climate zone as were their parents. That surprising weather led us to spend a lot of times in the great museums in NYC (hey, they’re indoors, aren’t they?) and my children enjoyed all of them, albeit in different ways.

The Best Museums for Children in New York City

American Museum of Natural History, 79th St and Central Park West – It goes without saying that the Hall of Biodiversity is a big hit with kids of all ages. The giant blue whale hanging from the ceiling practically compels younger children to run in maniac circles underneath it, and the walk-through diorama of a rainforest is really interesting for older kids (it looks accurate, but lacks the humidity, buzzing insects, and soft squishy ground of the real deal). Time it right, and the Butterfly Conservatory will be open, too. I credit an early visit to the Butterfly Conservatory with my older daughter’s long-standing interest in entomology. The small Children’s Discovery Room is only appropriate for younger kids.

The Hayden Planetarium, 81st St and Central Park West – Renamed the Rose Center for Earth and Space several years back, this is part of the AMNH, but with a separate entrance. Younger children may get scared at the Big Bang Theater – mine freaked out – but older kids will love it. The narrators of the Hayden Planetarium shows are Tom Hanks and Jodie Foster. The Space Theater’s Field Trip to the Moon is beyond cool for kids (and, admittedly, plenty of adults) who are interested in outer space.

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, 212 W. 83rd St – This one is best for the younger set. Even my freaked-out-by-the-Big-Bang 6 year old was bored here after a few minutes. But preschoolers have lots of fun running around this museum, playing with balls, on tables with water, and the like. On a cold or rainy day, simply giving kids the physical space to run amok is worth the price of admission. Hotel rooms (and apartments) are too small!

New York Transit Museum, corner of Schermerhorn St and Boerum Place – My children don’t fall in this category, but I know plenty of little boys who are endlessly fascinated with all things transportation-themed. For kids who love trains, subways, and the like, this museum is worth a trip out to Brooklyn. The New York Transit Museum is based in a real station from the 1930′s.

The South Street Seaport Museum, 207 Front St – If your kids enjoy modes of transportation, they’ll probably also like looking at examples of New York’s maritime history. Most tourists visiting NYC plan on getting a good view of the Statue of Liberty, which is easily seen from the South Street Seaport. The city feels different down here – more open, with the smell of sea in the air. There’s still plenty of bustle of course – this is New York City we’re talking about – but the whole area is a living testament to New York’s shipping past. The actual museum is an exhibit on board on board one of the two tall ships permanently docked here – the Peking, to be exact. Kids can examine what it was like during the heyday of NYC’s prominence as a shipping port, and what life was like on the ship. There are two onshore galleries as well.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5th Ave and 82nd St, and Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St – These are two world-class art museums in NYC, and no museum-loving, art-appreciating adult should miss them. However, taking the kids to these museums can be a chore. Some children may be fascinated by the mummy exhibit at the Met, while others’ attention may momentarily be held by MoMA’s Jasper Johns retrospective. But kids are kids, and we can’t expect them to have the same tolerance for long, studied strolls through what seem to them to be an endless parade of portraits and the like. Leaving these famous museums off the list seemed remiss; please make sure your children know that there are behavioral expectations at these stolid old museums, and if need be, a reward for good behavior at the end.

Sony Wonder Technology Lab, on 56th St between Fifth and Madison – Older kids (I’d estimate ages 8 and up) will be totally thrilled here – there’s a robotics lab, an interactive design lab – this means creating video games – and a very, very cool nanotechnology center, using forced perspective. Exploring the Sony Wonder Technology Lab easily brings out the kid in many grown-ups too… Please, mom and dad, remember to take turns! Other interactive exhibits here include a Virtual Surgery room, a Timeline of the evolution of technology through the ages, a Motion Capture room, and more.