Taking the Kids: How to have a safe and sane family vacation this winter

Nashville, Tennessee, is a great family destination because of its music venues and museums. Did you know the clubs on lower Broadway, known as Honky Tonk Highway, offer live music free of charge until 7 p.m. nightly? Kids will love the one-of-a-kind cars at the Lane Motor Museum and the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, along with this town’s great barbecue.

Take time in Denver on your way to the mountains to see the new Meow Wolf, created with the help of 300 local artists, that is a hit for its immersive experiences. The Denver Art Museum (kids 18 and under are free) has just opened its huge expansion, years in the making, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science has a new exhibit would-be rock stars will love — all about guitars.

Celebrate Black History Month in February with a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and other historic sites and museums devoted to Black history, including the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the first built by a major U.S. city to interpret the life and work of African Americans, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

The National Park Service Network to Freedom program includes more than 650 sites that have a connection to the Underground Railroad. Remember that many museums continue to require reservation to manage crowd size.

Now that there’s been snow, families are flocking to snow resorts not only to ski and ride but tube, cross-country ski, snowshoe, ice skate and more. Outdoor activities have a lower risk of COVID transmission, and you have plenty of condos to choose from where you can social distance.

January, incidentally, is National Safety Month for the ski industry, so in addition to virus transmission precautions, it’s a good time to remind the kids of general slope safety.

Look for kids-ski-free packages like at Keystone Resort in Colorado where kids 12 and under ski free (book two nights and get a day of free skiing for the kids; get an additional day free for each additional night booked). Have you tried night skiing? Stay a Thursday night and get a free First Tracks experience Friday morning.

Explore the outdoors on horseback at a dude ranch — popular for 2022 because they are nature based and offer small group numbers. Guests feel safe in individual cabins and lodge rooms that have undergone enhanced cleaning procedures. Rates are all-inclusive which means parents don’t need to worry about shopping, cooking or hauling tired kids to restaurants. Consider the family-owned White Stallion Ranch in Tucson, which we visited last year.

If you prefer sun and sand, you can’t beat Florida with 825 miles of beaches. Visit Florida, in partnership with Expedia and select Florida hotels, are touting 20 percent-off deals with more discounts at restaurants and theme parks, including Bush Gardens Tampa, Disney, LEGOLAND Florida, SeaWorld (where the new Ice Breaker Coaster debuts in February, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida – a 93-foot-tall spike with 100-degree angle)

Happy (safe) travel in 2022!

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)