Skagway was our longest port day (7:15 am to 8:00 pm), so even though we had a 7.5 hour excursion we still had plenty of time to explore the town. After getting off the White Pass & Yukon Route train, we walked down Broadway, the main road through town. Broadway ends in the Port of Skagway. Historic buildings line the street leading to the cruise ships, with Mount Harding standing tall in the background. The street is lined with Gold Rush era buildings and wooden boardwalks, making you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Two of the town’s most …

When gold was discovered in the Klondike River in 1896, it set off the Klondike Gold Rush. Some 100,000 stampeders came to the area between 1896 and 1899 in search of gold. They had two options to get to the Klondike, located some 600 miles from Skagway over treacherous mountains: the Chilkoot Trail or the White Pass Trail. The Chilkoot Trail was shorter but steeper, and since the Canadian government required each person to carry a year’s worth of supplies (weighing roughly one ton) on their journey, it was extremely challenging. The White Pass Trail was longer but less steep. …

Although our Skagway excursion was about the journey more than the destination, the Caribou Crossing Trading Post was the main stop along the way. We had lunch there, took a dogcart ride, played with puppies, and explored the trading post. Formerly known as Frontierland, Caribou Crossing Trading Post is a tourist attraction just north of Carcross. There is nothing historic or authentic about it, although it has an old-timey feel. It exists simply for tourism. The main draw (for us at least) was the sled dog puppies and dog cart rides, but there are also two museums (the Wildlife Museum …

We booked the “Yukon Rail & Bus Excursion with Dogcart Experience” with Chilkoot Charters & Tours for our Skagway port day. (Read my full review of the tour company here.) We opted for the “bus first” tour, which started later and would frontload the more active part of the trip, allowing the kids to rest on the train ride home. We met our (surprisingly Irish) tour guide Anne at the end of the cruise ship dock and boarded the bus. Driving out of Skagway, she gave us a brief history of the town. We learned about the masses of people …

Glacier Day! A slow, scenic cruising through a fjord to a glacier is a key feature of all Alaska cruises. The most sought-after glacier cruising in Alaska is Glacier Bay, but the National Park Service only issues a limited number of permits to cruise ships each year and Disney Cruise Line does not have any of them. For years, Disney has had Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier on their itinerary, but after several cruise seasons of being iced out of that narrow fjord, they officially changed their destination to Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier for the 2019 cruising season. Of …

I had one last stop planned for the final day of our road trip – Natural Bridge, VA.  The namesake feature of a Virginia state park, Natural Bridge is a 215-foot tall limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek.  In addition to the bridge itself, Natural Bridge State Park includes hiking trails, waterfalls, and an Indian Village. Easily accessible from I-81, the park is reached through the Visitor’s Center, which has plenty of free parking out front.  Admission fees are $6 ages 6-12 and $8 ages 13 and up.  We were there on Father’s Day and all dads got in …

“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” RB, age 11 after leaving the Luray Caverns. “Mom, can you please tip the tour guide because I asked him SO many questions.”  Also RB, just before leaving the Luray Caverns. As parents of growing travelers, there are many ways to rate the success of a trip.  The smiles on your kids’ faces.  The family memories made.  The kids asking to go back again.  But it’s hard to find a better indicator of a trip’s success than a statement like that.  “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”  And it’s hard …

Our Newport schedule was thrown off when we could not take a Fort Adams tour on our arrival day.  We pushed the fort tour to the next day and pushed the trolley tour back another day.  But when our third day arrived and it was dreary and rainy, we decided to skip the trolley tour altogether and hit the road.  Since we weren’t doing an activity in Newport and the trip up from NJ to RI had been a long one, I wanted to be sure we stopped somewhere on the way home. On the drive up I noticed that …