Mom's Guide To Travel

Trip Planning, Expert Tips, and Fun Ideas For Family Travel.

Baltimore African American Festival: Things For Kids To Do

Do you remember the first time you attended a festival as a child? Can you recall the excitement and anticipation that you felt? Memories of food, music, vendors, games and treats are enough to make any child look forward to attending the next event. The Baltimore African American Festival has been shaping childhood memories for almost three decades and continues to create new ones for kids with various kid-centric activities. 

African American Festival

A Baltimore tradition, the 2014 African American Festival is a free 2-day event, a celebration of African American life, music, and culture. This family-friendly event offers a host of free activities for kids to enjoy aside from the music and food. Dynamic Healthcare is sponsoring Kids Zone, a designated area to entertain children physically and mentally.

Baltimore African American Festival
Photo Credit: Mark L. Dennis

The Activities 

Youth performances: Kids are motivated by other young people. What better way to get them more engaged with what’s happening on stage than to see other young people performing.

Arts & Crafts: For the younger children in the brood, arts and crafts stations will keep them busy drawing and coloring. They may be inspired to create their own masterpieces after seeing various art work on display.

An Obstacle course: What better way to challenge your older child than to get them going on an obstacle course. They can race against their siblings, their friends, other kids, or just themselves. The area is a great resource to get kids moving, keep them entertained and involve them in the festivities around them.

Check out the African American Festival website at http://www.africanamericanfestival.net/ for more information about other events and activities taking place this year.

WHEN: 

Saturday – June 21, 2014 (noon-10pm)

Sunday – June 22, 2014 (noon-8pm)

WHERE:

Camden Yards Sports Complex

on Lots B and C between Oriole Park at Camden Yards

and M&T Bank Stadium

1101 Russell Street, Baltimore MD 21230

COST:

FREE

Traveling Solo: D.C. Without Kids

Traveling with children to cultural meccas is fun, rewarding, entertaining, and educational for everyone in the family. It can also be slightly restrictive if you have really young children. It’s not often that I get to enjoy a hotel room by myself. Family life and priorities rarely afford the opportunity. However, this weekend I got a chance to travel to D.C. without the kids. I was blessed with a few moments to myself at the The Hotel George in D.C. on a blogger arts trip sponsored by the Shakespeare Theater Company.

If you don’t believe in the power of God then feel free to skip this paragraph as I display how He answered a very specific prayer. Several weeks ago, overwhelmed by work, home-life, triathlon training, and everything else in between, I told my husband that I needed a monthly getaway at a local hotel. One full day a month, I would check into a hotel and have quiet time with myself and my computer. This, I told him, was my wish. So we debated briefly about the lack of room in the budget for such behavior, with me strongly arguing my case. After the discussion ended, I left it alone but only after saying, “God, I wish….” Fast forward and here we are to my point about the power of prayer. My very strong feeling and request manifested itself and placed me here, in front of my computer, in a hotel room by myself.

Today I was completely in my element. I enjoyed a day of walking in the city, attended a street festival, watched amazing live theater, tried new and interesting foods, and relaxed in a hotel. Solo.

Traveling alone isn’t necessarily about getting away from the ones I love. For me, it represents a time of solitude, something that I occasionally need which feeds my mind and my soul. That’s just who I am. It is a time to get back to me and appreciate the simple things I took for granted before kids. Like what, you ask? Well, things such as:

  • Long showers in the middle of the day.
  • Uninterrupted self-paced walks through the museum.
  • Non-assisting meals.
  • Extended walks in the city.
  • Experimental eating.
  • Spur-of-the-moment unplanned decision-making.
  • Sustained conversations with new people that I meet.

Here are some of the sites that I saw and foods that I tasted along the way:

The day began early and ended well after midnight. It was filled with extensive walking, relaxed museum-touring, wine and food tastings, evening theater, and good conversation. These are not things I personally would have been able to do with my kids. What are some of the things you seek or look forward to when traveling solo?

Travel To Greece In Three Hours

Let’s face it, as much as many of us are traveling moms and dads, there are just some places that we’re not going to be able to go. Without a doubt, I promote, wholeheartedly, being able to travel anywhere in the world with your children through proper planning and preparation. However, life’s constraints make it difficult for many families with young children to visit multiple countries on a yearly basis. This is where cultural festivals become you and your family’s best friend. The educational value of festivals is often understated and overlooked.

Why do we travel leisurely? Besides the obvious reason, for relaxation, most of us travel to other countries to explore, learn, and experience other cultures and ways of life. The great thing about living in cities that are melting pots is that you don’t have to travel across any border to get that. During the summer and fall months, you can take your children on a world tour for a fraction of the cost of a bonafide plane ticket and a quarter of the frustration to boot.

A recent visit to a local annual Greek Festival gave us the opportunity to introduce our 6 year old to the sounds, smells, and tastes of the old country. He was fascinated by the Aegean Odyssey dancers, got a chance to at least smell a gyro and a souvlaki sandwich. His bravery was in short order when it came to actually tasting it. He’s not quite that adventurous yet when it comes to the savory options of foreign cultures. However, what kid can turn down the irresistibly sweet smell of hot fresh loukoumades dipped in honey and lightly flavored with sprinkled cinnamon? Not mine.

Listening to the tongue of the locals garnered appropriate questions like: what are they speaking and where do they come from? Walking through the food line prompted other questions like: what’s that black stuff (dolmades: traditional Greek grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat) and how do you pronounce this word (“spanakopita”)? It was a great opportunity to have a living classroom for our son that was easy on our pockets and served as a discreet teaching moment as well.

Our trip to the Greek Festival was the cheapest family trip that we’ve taken in a long time. “To Greece and back in 3 hours” was our theme for the day. On an eighth of a tank of gas and for less than a Benjamin, that’s one Mediterranean trip for a family of four that would have anyone shouting “Opa!”

May Festivals in D.C.

Spring and Summer are the best times of year to enjoy festivals and outdoor events in the MD/DC/VA area. The New Yorker in me generally keeps me away from crowds, however, there’s something about the combination of sun, music, mobile foods and a good ole fashioned street party that overrides my slight enochlophobia.

Street festivals are like living, breathing classrooms for your kids. You have the opportunity to walk through warm city streets and charming neighborhoods, enjoying cultural diversity through food, music, and people. What better time to teach your kids about the unique cultures present in their immediate environment?

The following is a list of fun and educational events in the District for the remainder of May:

  • Europe Week:  May 9th-May 16th, 2010
  • The GI Film Festival: May 12th- May 16th, 2010
  • Mt. Vernon Wine Festival & Sunset Tour: May 14th – May 16th, 2010
  • Walking Town and Biking Town DC: May 22nd- May 23rd, 2010
  • National Asian Heritage Festival: May 22nd, 2010

You can also find the following festivals taking place throughout the month in Maryland and Virginia:

  • Gaithersburg Book Festival: May 25th, 2010
  • Blue Angels Air Show at Andrews AFB: May 15th, 2010
  • Taste of Wheaton: May 16th, 2010
  • Blue Angels Airshow in Annapolis: May 26th-May 28th, 2010
  • Rockville’s Hometown Holidays: May 29th – May 31st, 2010
  • N. Virginia Fine Arts Festival: Reston Town Center: May 15th – May 16th, 2010
  • Taste of Arlington: May 16th, 2010

If you stick around throughout the remainder of the summer and hit up the various ethnic festivals between Baltimore and D.C., your child will have traveled the world in the span of 12 weekends. For free.

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