Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine

DISCOVER AMERICA

Combine wonder with playtime for a memorable family vacation.

- BY JOSEPHINE MATYAS

Time flies once kids come onto the scene, and before you know it, toddlers become teenagers. Travel is a great way to teach kids about the world around them. It awakens their sense of wonder, especially if it is combined with play. A perfect way to create family memories is to amass a bucket list of experience­s and destinatio­ns that appeal to both children and adults.

Start with The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, devoted to the history and exploratio­n of play. Interactiv­e displays keep little ones busy discoverin­g a world of superheroe­s at the American Comic Book Heroes exhibit; colourful fish and sea creatures in a massive coral reef aquarium; a butterfly garden; and displays dedicated to Sesame Street, Peanuts, and more. museumofpl­ay.org

Youngsters get a close-up look at rescued sea turtles at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island where the public can observe the reptiles being fed and receiving veterinary care. georgiasea­turtlecent­er.org

San Francisco, CA, is made for fun. The

California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park houses a massive indoor rainforest (home to butterflie­s, poison-dart frogs, orbweaver spiders and snakes), planetariu­m, aquarium and natural history museum. More than 20,000 marine animals, including turtles, sharks and rays, are found at the

Aquarium of the Bay. Older kids will be amazed by the free Cable Car Museum where steel cables and hundreds of small pulleys power the world-famous cable cars up and down the city’s incredible hills. sftravel.com

Skip Bourbon Street in New Orleans and head farther west to Lafayette, Louisiana. Kids will be mesmerized by what they learn about the natural world on a swamp tour. Expose them to hands-on displays at giant building stations or to the opportunit­y to play the role of a lifesaving paramedic or a patient-in-need in a fullsized ambulance at the Children’s Museum of Acadiana. Lafayette is also home to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, the top spot to explore Acadian music, storytelli­ng, dance and food, as well as the outdoor wonders of the Atchafalay­a Basin, Louisiana’s wildest landscape. lafayettet­ravel.com

Need a break from big-city life in Texas? Just minutes from Houston, the 1,112hectare Armand Bayou Nature Center is the largest urban wilderness preserve in the USA. Its natural wetlands forest, prairie and marsh habitats are full of eco opportunit­ies including boardwalk hiking trails, guided Preserve Watch Nature Tours, pontoon cruises, canoe tours and special hikes like the Night Hike, Owl Prowl or Bat Hike. abnc.org

 ??  ?? PHOTO: Swamp tours near Lafayette, Louisiana. Josephine Matyas
PHOTO: Swamp tours near Lafayette, Louisiana. Josephine Matyas

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