Farsighted Fly Girl

It's October and if you live in the Midwest, that usually means it's time to drag out fall gear --sweaters, boots and coats. If you happen to be a Chicago girl that likes to journey into the country once in a while, October also means apple picking time. Typically, I meander over into Michigan to pick apples with my family but when we don't feel like a full 3 hour trip, we head to nearby Indiana. County Line Orchard in quaint Hobart, Indiana,(lots of corn fields and pick-up trucks) supplies the quintessential apple picking experience. You start with a short tractor ride to the orchard area of your choice. Despite the popularity of Red Delicious and Granny Smith, there are dozens of apple varieties to choose from. The tart, slightly sweet Gala and Honey Crisp varieties are my favorites. The orchard brims with apple trees studded with red, yellow and green fruit. But from a distance, it just looks like a vast field of green bushes. Bright signs identify the apples and ripenin...

I pride myself on staying current with all Windy City events so I was shocked to discover bright yellow water taxis coasting down the Chicago River a couple of months ago. When did that start? I wondered. Apparently, in 2007, when Wendella boat tours decided to provide taxis for downtown commuters. If you never stop to gaze at the Chicago River between Michigan Avenue and La Salle, you will never see them. It looked like a fun excursion to me, even if you have no where in particular to go. So I grabbed my kids and headed toward the underground labyrinth to the water taxi stop. We hopped a taxi, which costs $4 for rides all day. We glimpsed landmark buildings, crowded tour boats and the famously murky, green water of the Chicago River. The boats are equipped with indoor covered seats as well as more scenic outdoor benches, which my kids preferred. On a sunny day, the ride is relaxing and breezy, there's even a bar for hardcore unwinding. We wandered on the water taxi f...

Covered with palmetto trees, hydrangeas and Lilly of the Valley, South Carolina resembles a swampy Garden of Eden. One of the best places to catch a glimpse of the state's natural beauty is at the National Historic Landmark of Brookgreen Gardens. Nestled between Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island, the 9,200-acre outdoor museum boasts swamps, marshes,sculptures, fountains an aviary and a zoo. I had no idea how massive the place was until I arrived and was handed back my ticket because it's good for 7 consecutive days. You need a day to devote to just one of the half dozen areas so I chose the sculpture garden and the lowcountry zoo. At the zoo filled with indigenous animals, we saw a red fox snuggled in a tree. Eagles perched on a branch. And a fountain decked with loons in flight. The Huntington Sculpture Garden opened as the country's first public sculpture garden in 1931 and continues to display one of the most diverse collections of 1,200 works by 350 sculptors. The garden ...

I love music and I love amusement parks. I've never seen these two loves come together quite as well as in the Freestyle Music Park. Formerly Hard Rock Amusement Park, it's 55 acres of music, roller coasters and fun. Myrtle Beach has a lot of amusement parks, from water parks, to a NASCAR playground but I enjoyed Freestyle the most, just because of the overall music theme. The rides, shows and park areas all reference some aspect of pop music. The Time Machine is Freestyle's signature roller coaster, with a 155 foot lift and six inversions and loops. I didn't get any where near this monster but my daughter rode it 3 consecutive times. The highlight is that the tracks have five separate audio tracks that you can choose while riding-60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. I found it difficult to believe that riders would remember what tunes were playing as they whooshed through stomach-churning loops but my daughter reported hearing the Supremes for the 60s track, Michael Jackson for...

So this is the thing. I have always been irritated by "Gulf and Western" singer Jimmy Buffett's broad stereotypes of the Caribbean. Palm trees and well-placed "yeah mon's" do not a culture make. Even though his music is acknowledged for its island escapism theme, the cheesy tropical rhythms and overly languid delivery just gets on my nerves. So it goes without saying that I never considered stepping foot in Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville restaurants. But there it was, the first item on my Myrtle Beach itinerary. It seems that Margaritaville is the anchor for the bustling Broadway on the Beach shopping district. And since the focus of my trip was family-friendly activities, Margaritaville apparently topped the list. Here's the other thing. I love kitsch. Silly, tongue-in-cheek decor, childish and whimsical knick knacks, always make me smile. So when I was greeted by the swirling hurricane above (I thought it was a giant margarita since it was next to a...

My idea of a family vacation always involves some cultural immersion. I don't go for that walled resort, only guided tours, eating -the-same food-you eat-at home stuff. You never get a true sense of a place if you only experience it from such a limited perspective. So I was pleased as I watched my 11-year-old daughter splash around in Dominican turquoise water with a new friend. They jumped out of the sea and decided to hunt for seashells. Next, they head to the hotel's theater to watch movies. It could be a typical family beach vacation except that my daughter's new friend Madeline is from Lyons, France and doesn't speak a word of English. Neither do most of the staff at the Oasis Canoa Resort in La Romana-Bayahibe, Dominican Republic. My daughter and the rest of my family were forced out of our cultural comfort zone and into the welcoming aura of Dominican friendliness. Nestled into the Southeastern corner of the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic, La Romana i...