great takes on family travel in the U.S.

Sleeping pig at the Marin County Fair on July 4th, 2007 –preparing for the pig race.

Tara Cosgrove is our most recent “local” contributor. Tara works for Sticky Fingers Travel Ltd an Irish company dedicated to providing information to parents who wish to travel with their children. Sticky Fingers is run by parents and all of their travel is researched by parents for parents. They provide independent and unbiased advice on family friendly holidays and accommodation, activities with children and things to do and see so that you can plan the perfect family holiday. It is a great site and Tara gives us great insight into her hometown of Dublin.

1. Give 5 adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of your town and its residents.
Vibrant, young, friendly, changing and fun

2. What is your favorite neighborhood in your town?
Dublin has so many great areas but my favourite has to be the heritage town of Dalkey which is about 10 miles from the centre of town. It is on the sea and has castles, artsy shops, great beaches, hill walks, an island with a Martello tower on it and seals in the harbour. It also has great restaurants and bars. Despite the fact that it is now home to lots of rock stars and formula one drivers it has retained a great village atmosphere (my granny still gets stopped on the street at least six times a day for a chat!).

3. Which cuisine do you think your town does best? What is the runner-up?
I am not sure if Guinness qualifies as a cuisine but it is definitely Dublin’s signature dish. It is still made right in the city centre and the smell of the hops can waft all the way down the river life on occasions. As a runner up we do great seafood here and several Irish restaurants have been awarded new Michelin star this year. A word of warning though for a Friday or a Saturday night book weeks in advance as the best restaurants get booked up really early.

4. What is the best free thing to do?
The beaches are great and as Dublin is on a bay there are plenty of them. Killiney beach is my favourite and you can get the Dart (our train system) right to the entrance. Walking the pier in Dun Laoghaire is also a great day out and you can reward yourself with a legendary Teddy’s ice-cream if you keep up the pace. Our Festivals are also great and we have just had the World Street Performance Championships here and there is always of course the St. Patricks Day Festival.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?
A night out with friends or family to relax and absorb the great banter and atmosphere of Dublin nightlife. There are often four or five conversations going at the one time so it is hard to keep up sometimes. The Irish still love to talk.

6. List the best family friendly activity.
A day at the beach or at the park with a picnic would be my top pick followed closely by Dublin Zoo which is always a great day . We all come home exhausted.

If you are interested in parks, my favourites would be St. Stephen’s Green which is right at the top of Grafton Street, the best shopping street in Dublin and Herbert Park in Ballsbridge which has ducks to feed (but you need to get there early as they get pretty choosy as the day goes on) playgrounds, tennis courts and great planting. Further out I love Powerscourt Waterfall which has a 121 ft. waterfall and is a favourite area for family picnics, with woodland walks, a playground and masses of space and Knocksink Woods in Enniskerry which is quieter and great for a crispy winter walk in your wellington boots.”

7. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?
The Merrion Hotel in Dublin 2 is a splendid hotel in a Georgian terrace just opposite our government buildings. The rooms in the older part of the building are best if the budget can stretch to it. There are great common rooms with log fires for lounging about in and two in house restaurants so you do not have to set foot outside.

8. Describe a perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about. In 3 sentences or less.
Breakfast at home with the kids with a sneaky look at the Irish Times Saturday edition. A walk in the local park followed by some lunch or a BBQ with friends or family to catch up on all the craic (that means fun here in Ireland) during the week and then a few drinks to finish off the day at home or out for dinner

9. Tell us about a place that you love to go, whether it is in the guidebooks or not.
Dalkey Hill has the most amazing views of Dublin and takes my breath away every time.

10. What should we have asked, but didn’t?
Where not to go–like every big city Dublin has an edgy side so do get local knowledge about areas to avoid if you are not sure.

OVERVIEW:
UpTake’s Director of Online Research and Knowledge (DORK) is looking for a personal assistant to manage his identity on social networking sites. If you are a twittering, blogging, online socialite with mad skillz, this is an exciting opportunity to work closely with an industry leading DORK.

REQUIREMENTS:
* You are the Emily Post of social media. Well you’re actually not anything like Emily Post because she would be way too uptight for social networks, but if she were born in 1980 or so and applied her craft to social networks, that would be you.
* Not only will you be able to return (on DORK’s behalf) and respond to all the ridiculous new high-tech ways of saying “Hi” on Facebook (e.g. Vampire Bites, Pie in the Face, Movie Quiz, Wedgie, Super-Duper-Wall) you must also be able to initiate barrages of new “hey what’s up, dude”? attacks to all DORK’s friends.
* Specifically be good at playing that which-celebrity-belongs-to-which-buttocks game. The DORK longs to be known as a celebrity-buttocks-guessing champ. Experience in outsourcing to lower cost and more buttocks-knowledgable countries is a bonus.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Make key decisions and define policies including:

* Should the DORK be a link-hoe and accept links from anyone who offers? Or should he at least know the people he is linked to? Is it wise to play hard to get?
* Should the DORK reject people who he doesn’t want to be friends with, or just ignore them? Is there a difference? (Like, if you reject a request, do they get a message “dude, you got so flushed”?)
* Initiate weekly spam attacks against friends who have in the past sent more than three stupid application invitations to the DORK.
* Establish a policy for DORK’s family – when he sends a link request to his children, how much should the bribe be to accept?
* A side responsibility would be to help the DORK keep track of which lies about himself he told on which dating sites and figure out how to keep that girl from Lavalife from posting online date reviews about the DORK.
* If the DORK twitters more than 5 times in one day, does that mean he’s a narcissist?

COMPENSATION:
* If the DORK can have the feeling that Facebook is once again a useful tool for staying in touch with friends instead of being spammed by them, then you will have done a great job and will be paid handsomely.
* For each new real-life friend that the DORK actually knows (and doesn’t just have a link to) you will get a bonus.
* Each time one of the DORK’s online friends compliments him on his Facebook, LinkedIn, or My-Fashizzle web site, you will receive one ringtone.

We welcome suggestions on how to improve our service for you. Please email us your feedback - the good, the ugly, the things we should add and what needs to be fixed! We appreciate your input.

Rob Roberts works at UpTake and has lived in Boston all of his adult life. He helped start two companies focused on travel recommendations. I think these are the kind of credentials that make him the ideal local to give us a few insights into this renowned city. I like his suggestion of the perfect day starting at 11:00 a.m. with a big budget…

Give 5 adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Boston and its residents.
Historical, frigid, scholarly, tough, geeky…

What is your favorite neighborhood in Boston?
That would have to be Harvard Square…shoot, that’s Cambridge. You can walk around through Harvard Yard, go window shopping at lots of little shops, hang out at a café…

Which cuisine do you think Boston does best? What is the runner-up?
Italian. The North End is filled with tiny little places with amazing food. Ooooo…runner-up, not sure. Probably some kind of new food that I don’t eat. I’m sure about the Italian though.
What is the best free thing to do?
To make up for botching the last question, I’ll answer this one twice. Walking around Boston Common is really fun and free. There are gardens, ducks, statues, etc. Also it’s really great to tool around Harvard Square and Faneuil Hall during the summer…there are great sidewalk entertainers everywhere. (You should tip them, so that’s not technically free. But just between us, I’m really cheap and often just listen for free.)

What is your favorite type of entertainment?
That’s tough. Is eating entertainment? OK I’ll have to say the theater. The Theater District in Boston is great.

Describe the best family friendly activity.
Really depends on the time of year. The Museum of Science is a safe bet year-round…they have lots of cool interactive exhibits. But then there’s Fenway and the Red Sox during baseball season.

What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?
I think a nice hotel on either the harbor or the Charles River. Maybe a romantic walk along the Charles when the flowers are out in the spring (we really flip out here when we see green in the spring…it’s easy to forget how nice it can be outside when you’re buried under a foot of snow). Oh, and a harbor cruise. Or ditch Boston and go to the Cape.

Describe a perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about. In 3 sentences or less.
Alright…the perfect day. Does a budget come with this? My perfect day would have a big budget. How about a nice walk around Harvard Square in the late morning (no perfect day starts before 11am), then lunch in a café in Harvard. A quick T ride over to Faneuil Hall for window-shopping (or buying depending on the aforementioned budget), then walk over to the Theater District to catch some great performance. And what would make it really perfect is if the parking was free instead of $40.

Tell us about a place that you love to go, whether it is in the guidebooks or not.
OK here’s a secret place. It’s about an hour outside the city. It’s a small, family run water/picnic park on a lake. They have a huge lawn, a lake beach, and 3 awesome water slides. You can bring your own grill, your own food, and your own booze. It costs about $15 to get in. That’s it. No I’m not telling you the name of it…then everyone would go and it would be jam-packed!

What should we have asked, but didn’t?
Tips for going to Fenway Park and Museum of Science: leave extra time, they’re hard to find.
I have lived in Boston over 20 years, and still get lost around Boston. There’s one point on the highway where you swear you’re going the right direction and the Museum of Science is right in front of you and then…swoosh…it’s gone and you have no idea which direction you’re going. Secret parking is REAL hard to find in Boston. There’s a short strip of West Newton street in the Back Bay where you can park for free on weeknights…but you have to get there between 5:50 and 6:00 to get a spot. Before 5:50 you can get a ticket because there’s no parking before 6…after 6 it’s all full.

To those of you visiting us from Wordless Wednesday, my photobucket account has gone awry. As a result you are seeing a photo of killer whale courtesy of the U.S. government in it’s natural surroundings by Dr. Robert Pittman, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Protected Resources Division and not a photo by me of a killer whale at Marine World. All I can say is you gotta love public domain. Personally, I prefer this photo. Hope you do too.

All the best, PatriciaJ.

Sam Barrett has lived in Detroit for nearly five years and has spent nights and weekends exploring the city with his wife and friends.He gives us a fascinating glimpse into this famous, yet somehow mysterious city and its environs. You can find out more about Sam at his website here. I especially like his suggestion to take the family to the roller derby–a fun day for everyone? I wonder if he will still recommend that when he has a two year old in tow? I think he would and if I ever get to Detroit that will be first on my list.

1. Give 5 adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Detroit and its residents.
Hardworking, rough, loyal, forgiving, enthusiastic

2. What is your favorite neighborhood in Detroit?
Royal Oak is a hip neighborhood with trendy shops, a community college, and many production studios used to cut commercials for the auto industry.
Hamtramck is a blue collar German town right north of downtown that is home to a few famous dive bars where the MC5 played.
Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan and is the liberal hub of Michigan with many professor types and a new Google office.
Personally I love Hart Plaza downtown with the giant matte black arm swinging from a pendulum, and all the old relics of a once thriving powerful city.

3. Which cuisine do you think Detroit does best? What is the runner-up?
Detroit has the best burger joints in the nation. In fact I saw in a poll, 3 out of the nation’s top 20 burger joints were in the Detroit metro.
A close second would either be Greek salad or Mediterranean food. La Shish is a hugely popular Mediterranean restaurant chain in MI.

4. What is the best free thing to do?
It used to be the Detroit Electronic Music Festival which was the largest free Electronic Music festival in the world. Now it would be the Dream Cruise, a summer event where car enthusiasts gather around Woodward Avenue to see classic and current hot rods drive the strip.
Visiting one of the Great Lakes is free and beautiful. Michigan has the longest fresh water coast line in the world. Looking at the state on a map you’ll see it is made up of two peninsulas.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?
Roller Derby – Detroit has the best roller derby teams in the nation.
Hockey – Detroit borders Canada and the Red Wings just won their 11th Stanley Cup.
Music – World class rock legends have come out of Detroit. The Stooges, The White Stripes, Bob Seeger, Kid Rock, MC5, Patty Smith, Eminem, Detroit Cobras, etc.

6. List the best family friendly activity.
Roller Derby – The bouts can be brutal but the musical chairs, hula hoop, and high school gymnastics in-between periods make it fun for everyone.
Detroit Auto Show – The biggest most influential auto show in North America. Showcasing cool future cars, new green technologies, and tons of people, the whole family could spend all day dreaming of their next ride.

7. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?
Either Traverse City, South Haven, or the Renaissance Center downtown.

8. Describe a perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about. In 3 sentences or less.
A perfect day in Detroit would be attending the Blues festival at Hart Plaza, swimming at Belle Isle (a ten minute drive from downtown), and watching an old black and white at the Detroit Theatre.

9. Tell us about a place that you love to go, whether it is in the guidebooks or not.
Ann Arbor art fair. It is huge and it envelops the entire college town for a week.

10. What should we have asked, but didn’t?
• What’s your favorite sports team in MI? Detroit and the Midwest in general go nuts about sports.
• A question related to the auto industry. People here live and breathe by the success of the Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler).
• A question about Canada or Ohio to drive people crazy.

Want to share, brag, or tell about your town? If so, send an e-mail or comment on this post–then you can be our next local expert!