Last week I had dinner with reps from Chukka Caribbean who run a variety of tours, specfically in Jamiaca's Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. You can find ATV, kayak, canoe, 4x4, and zip-line adventures as well as two more unusual ones that may leave you eqaully perplexed: Horseback Ride n' Swim and the Dogsled Experience.
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The Horseback Ride n' Swim lets you do just that -- horseback ride through the countryside and then right into the ocean. Not only a uniquely bizarre experience, this activity is ideal for those who are a little shy of horses and fear falling off. The horses wear a water saddle and start swimming away while you hang on. If you fall off, you just float off and climb back on.
The Dogsled Experience lets you be a 'musher' for the day while sight-seeing and learning the history and art of mushing around the world. Animal lovers take heart, most of these dogs have been rescued from the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Water Cowboys and Mushers
Waterparks for Winter
As you know, this weekend' s posts spotlight Columbus, OH. Tonight I'm staying at the Cherry Valley Lodge outside of the city. My press stuff said there was a 50,000 square foot water park directly inside the lodge and well ... I had my reservations. Would the place smell like chlorine? Would kids be running around in swimsuits the whole weekend? Or worse yet would their parents be running around in pot-bellies, robes, and speedos?
Turns out, you really have to go looking for their water park called CoCo Key Resort. It's conveniently tucked away and without signs pointing you in the right direction throughout the lodge, you'd get lost and swear the waterpark is its own private entity. But once you do find it, you'll be baffled by how such a big, crazy kid magnet attraction is tucked away inside this lovely lodge.
This place houses pretty amazing slides that go out of the building and come back inside before dumping you out. The slides are enclosed like colorful tubes of a connector set, so the park is open all year round, making it a good family activity for an Ohio winter or muggy summer. And if you have business guilt and want to keep the kids happy on their own vacation, they'll hardly miss you while you're working away. While kids have a blast, there's a bar for parents looking to booze, a pizza-hut, snack bar, arcade, Kids Club, and a ridiculously large screen to catch the Buckeyes play or take-in an evening movie where the kids can watch from the water.
While the rest of the lodge looks like an adult's haven with fireplaces and rustic appeal -- the park really is more for the kids. You'll be hard-pressed to find a couple on a romantic getaway waiting impatiently in line for Barracuda Blast.
Located in the town of Newark, Cherry Valley Lodge is about a 35-40 minute drive from Columbus and also issues waterpark day passes to non-guests provided they're not sold out. If you don't have kids of your own to dump off at the water park, you can swim in the private pool and hot tub (not inside the waterpark), enjoy the spa, stroll the quaint grounds through the gazebo, book a romantic getaway, and hit up their lodge pub or restaurant without ever knowing there are dozens of waterlogged kids teaming with excitement just yards away.
Cherry Valley Lodge has a pretty innovative set-up, they own the market for local indoor waterparks, have WiFi wired throughout the lodge, feature large conference rooms, weddings, a to die for deep tissue massages, full-service salon, and good dining options.
Skip the Audio Guide, Use Your Cell
I'm in Columbus checking out the city to review some museum exhibits and experience the family-friendly resort Cherry Valley Lodge. My first stop took me to The Columbus Museum of Art where they're showing an extensive Monet exhibit (now until January 20th, 2008). The museum is warm and friendly with a cozy atmosphere, like you've stumbled upon someone's jewel of an art den.
But instead of the sterile audio guides that play in a loop while a group of patrons are lead numbly in one direction, the museum is using a guide you can use right from your cell. Guide By Cell allows you to dial in and listen to information on any exhibit that catches your eye. Skip the ones you don't care about and spend time on all your favorites. Best of all, there's no equipment to buy or rent. The staff simply places a card next to each painting with the number to call and a code to identify the piece of art. Then musem goers hear pre-recorded information designed by the staff and perhaps coolest of fall -- you can even leave yourself a message to remind yourself of what you thought. From there the museum can easily turn the recordings into podcasts and stream them from their own website. The Columbus Museum of Art was the first art museum in the state to use this innovation.
But it's not just museums having all the fun, Guide By Cell is being installed in parks, Aquariums, driving and walking tours, even performances at live dance performances. All the more reason to up your plan to unlimited minutes so you can travel and learn in style.
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