Poor little Augusta. Who really remembers that Augusta is Maine's capital city? Well, on the 4th of July, it's Augusta's time to shine with its Capital City Riverfront Fourth!

The day is packed with all-American fun so rise and shine, hit the road, and make accommodations to stay over - Augusta's got it going on. A pancake breakfast starts things off, followed by the annual parade at 11 a.m. From noon to 5 p.m., there is an Old Time Independence Day celebration at the Old Fort Western, including a Town Ball game, which is a 19th century version of baseball. For dinner it's a chicken BBQ, where lickin' yer fingers is required while you watch some great area bands perform live. The day is topped off by the Westside Waterfront Park for more vendors and live music, as you await the riverfront fireworks show, which begins about 9:15 p.m.

For more information call 207-626-2352.

East Lyme, Ct. gives you three good reasons to spend your long holiday weekend within its town lines. First and second, is the Niantic Lions Club 30th Annual Lobsterfest and Chicken BBQ which is held in the same location as the 48th Annual Niantic Outdoor Arts & Crafts show. Anyone cooking lobsters in mass quantities for nearly 3 decades is surely to have it down pat, and if you couple that with over 100 artists and crafters spread over vast green lawns, you've got the makings for a wonderful summer tradition. Both events will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 5-6, on the East Lyme Town Hall grounds.

Those same days, not far from all the lobster and art, the East Lyme Historical Society will host their Annual Flea Market, Crafts and Collectibles Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the grounds of the Thomas Lee House on West Main in Niantic. These kinds of markets where donations are collected randomly, sometimes provide the most rich shopping experiences. And all of the above benefits some of Niantic's best charitable organizations.

I get tired of hearing about the various “risks” of international travel, and I get pumped when I see books pushing travel, especially one aimed at girls and young women prepping for their first big journeys. That’s why I’m promoting "The Girlo Travel Survival Kit” by Anthea Paul.

Yes, travel and everything has its risks, but I’m a statistics kind of gal, not a fearful one. (As in, there’s a greater chance of getting killed on the highway than by a …. take your pick.)

If you’re over 40 and daughterless (ahem), you likely don’t know about Paul and her “girlosophy.” She’s dished out her sassy, big-sister advice around other earth-shattering teen topics, namely romance, food, and soul-searching in seven earlier books.

I know this book is cool because the youthful graphics bug me, plus it talks about packing hoodies, tracksuits and iPod chargers. See what I mean? (Though I do have an iPod!) I love the funky color photos and the upbeat “get-going-girls” ‘tude. Leave it to those travel-crazed Aussies. (Paul lives in Sydney.)

Though Paul's vibe is breezy, there’s real information here, on everything from choosing a destination, preparing, travel tips on the road, safety, and the shock of reentry. If you want to inspire a young woman to travel, give her this book!! (She’ll think you’re really cool, too.)

Deets: $19.95 in USA, published by Allen & Unwin, distributed by Independent Publishers Group. Please consider buying it directly from IPG at www.ipgbook.com, 800-888-4741, or at your local indy bookstore!

Delta recently sent my husband Wessel and me information via email (they called him also, but not me!) about a change in our flight schedules from Durham, NC, to Oslo, Norway next month.

“We have bolded the affected flights,” it read. Only one flight was in bold, from Atlanta to Newark, and it was only a 10-minute change. We’d booked this trip months in advance, and these kind of changes are quite typical. No biggie. I noted it and went back to work.

Unfortunately, Delta and yours truly were dozing on the job, but wide-eyed Wessel caught another, much bigger change that was not highlighted but should have been.

On the final leg of our journey home in late June, instead of our original flight leaving at 4:50 p.m. from Cincinnati to Durham it was now scheduled to depart at 3 p.m. And guess what time we were arriving into Cincinnati from Paris? At 3 p.m. Argh….

I called Delta for the low-down. Turned out the 4:50 p.m. flight had been scrubbed.
The representative, who then put us on a later flight, was not the least bit apologetic.

The May issue of Parents magazine has compiled of list of what it considers the 10 best US and Caribbean beach resorts for families. Lo and behold, a Cape Cod resort clocks in at number 8, competing alongside heavy hitters in Florida, Hawaii, California, and the Caribbean. The rankings are based in part on cost, quality of supervised children’s programs, variety of family activities, and quality of pool and beach areas. In order of their rankings, here's the list:
1. Sheraton Grand Bahama Island Our Lucaya (Bahamas)
2. Club Med Punta Cana (Dominican Republic)
3. South Seas Island Resort (Captiva Island, Fla.)
4. Atlantis, Paradise Island (Bahamas)
5. Disney’s Vero Beach Resort (Florida)
6. Beaches Negril Resort and Spa (Jamaica)
7. Hilton Hawaiian Village (Honolulu)
8. Ocean Edge Resort & Spa (Brewster)
9.Loew’s Coronado Bay Beach Resort & Spa (San Diego)
10. Rio Mar Beach Golf Resort Casino & Spa (Puerto Rico)

It's no wonder. Expedia is out with its eighth annual Vacation Deprivation Survey, and of the more than 1,600 Americans responding, nearly 30 percent say they are vacation deprived and 31 percent say they won't use all of their vacation time.

And Americans are woefully behind our counterparts abroad in receiving and taking time off. On average, workers in the States have 14 vacation days, 26 in Great Britain, 27 in Germany, 31 in Spain, and 37 in France.

Of those 14 days, the workaholics among us report that they will leave 3 vacation days unused.

Ever since I first rented a car some 30 years ago, I've been doing battle with car-rental companies. I think they have some of the most blatantly unethical consumer practices in the country. (Enterprise is the only company I sort of trust.) I’ve given the industry dozens of opportunities to disprove that, but so far that hasn’t happened. Here's a recent example:

On April 3, I rented a car through Budget at Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport). Here's part of my exchange with the Budget counter clerk regarding insurance coverage for the car.

Budget: Would you like full coverage or just on the car?
Me: What about no coverage?
Budget: So you're declining coverage?
Me: Yes. You didn't give that as an option, did you?
B: You're declining coverage?
Me: Yes, but I'm asking, did you offer me that option?
B: It's not part of my dialogue.
Me: What do you mean?
B: It's not part of the dialogue we're told to use.
Me: That seems wrong to not give people the option because some people would think they have to buy insurance coverage through Budget, which of course they don't.
B: It's not part of the dialogue.

The following week, once I was home, I followed up with Budget about this "dialogue." Here's the answer I received via email from corporate spokeswoman Alice Pereira:

Keep ’em busy during school vacation week: Black Sheep Knitting Co. in Needham is offering a two-day April vacation knitting workshop for kids ages 8 and older on April 23 and 25 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Beginners will learn to cast on, knit, purl, bind off, read a pattern and more. The cost is $45 including materials — come in the day before to prepay and pick out a project. Call 781-444-0694 for details. There’s a popular beginners’ class for adults as well (6 classes for $72) Work at your own pace and learn new techniques.

For those of you not paying attention, Easter comes early this year. It's a perfect time to put all your eggs, a dash of piety, and a weekend getaway into one basket. (Don't forget the jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps.) At 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 23 Sunset Hill House in Sugar Hill, N.H., is hosting an ecumenical sunrise Easter service. Then from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., the inn will hold a brunch, with part of the proceeds going to a homeless shelter in nearby Franconia. The brunch is $17.95 for adults, $12.95 for children. There will be an Easter egg hunt at noon (free for all children) with prizes awarded. The inn's stunning view of the White Mountains is worth a trip to the Sunset Hill House. Room rates range from $115-$360.

As far as cool neighborhoods go, Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown is near the top of my list. The shops, boutique hotels, restaurants, bars, and bookstores could make you forget it’s almost cherry blossom time over at the Tidal Basin. Hotel Monticello (on Thomas Jefferson Street off M Street) is a comfortable, spacious, quiet, recently renovated all-suite small hotel that offers packages for weekends of pampering, romance, or traveling with family. A deluxe king suite starts at $149 (but prices go up as the weather warms up). The Old Stone House, D.C.'s oldest known dwelling, is just up the street. Nosh on sushi, gourmet pizza, or pastry with a mean cup of cappuccino at Marvelous Market (on P Street at Wisconsin Avenue). Snack on shawarma or a falafel at George’s, King of Falafel on 28th Street off M. Next door is a great place for dinner: Zed’s Ethiopian Cuisine, where you’ll scoop up spicy chicken and beef dishes with injira, a spongy bread. A romantic dinner for two, with drinks, is around $50. If you don’t mind the 15-minute walk to the Foggy Bottom Metro station, Georgetown is a great area to stay for a weekend getaway.

If you know me, you know I have a big thing against most rental-car company practices. Jacking up, up, up the prices during peak season is one of my beefs. For you folks flying to Florida (and I'm sure this works elsewhere) in the spring and renting a car, here’s a little trick of mine you might be able to use.

In January I booked flights to Tampa from Manchester, NH, (where my friend Kristin is flying from), and Durham, N.C., (where I’m flying from) on Southwest, and both were about $200 round-trip. Not bad for Easter weekend! But get this. Car rentals from the airport for five days were around $500!! Unbelievable.

Here’s what I did. As you probably know, Enterprise has little neighborhood offices all over the place, and they’re often (usually? always?) cheaper than airport rentals. I reserved a car at a location on my way to where I’ll be staying (Indian Rocks Beach). I’m paying a mere $30 extra to then drop it off at the airport when I leave. The grand total? $156!! Now that is a deal. If I picked the car up at the airport, still using Enterprise, the price would be $438. Other companies were charging even more!!

Some holiday weekends are coming up and you’ve got no place to go. Think again. The Ocean Edge Resort & Club in Brewster has a Family Escape package that offers a little something for everybody. Available Jan. 18-20 (the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend) and Feb. 15-17 and Feb. 22-24 (school vacation week), nightly rates start at $149. The activities are what makes this package interesting. There’ll be a kids’ Jeopardy event, craft time, and a family pool party and movie. But the free Saturday-night baby-sitting makes it worth the price of admission. To give parents a little time out from 6 to 9 p.m., kids (4 and up) can play games, eat pizza, and watch movies while parents have a quiet guilt-free dinner that blissfully won’t involve chicken fingers or mac ‘n’ cheese. So everybody wins.

Being housebound has its advantages. With the holidays approaching
faster than the snow that’s accumulating in my driveway, I only have to
click my mouse to travel far and wide for holiday gift ideas.

Two friends who love to travel recently wrote me with opportunities
that benefit good causes.

Wellfleet Artist Ellen LeBow, a frequent traveler to Haiti, has worked
for years with the village of Matenwa to set up a women’s artist
collective. The organization sells brightly colored and imaginatively
designed hand-painted silk scarves which you can see here.

For the person who has everything on your list, a “gift of trees” is
just the thing. Maraleen Manos-Jones, formerly the “butterfly lady” of
Ptown, sent the holiday newsletter of the La Cruz Habitat Protection
Project. This organization has helped to plant over 3 million trees in
Central Mexico, in order to improve the forests, soils and watersheds
in and around the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and its buffer
zones. You can read more here.

Now, after thoughts of sunny climes, I’m heading out to chipping ice
off my windshield. Sigh.

(Posted by Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent)

We've lived on Cape Cod since 1984, and even in the past couple of decades we've seen "the season" extend from long before Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Back in 1955, summer on Cape Cod began on July 4, and ended Labor Day -- simple as that. Naomi Turner and her daughter would drive to the Cape July 1, make fudge, dip chocolates, and open their Chatham Candy Manor for business on the holiday. They’d sleep in the back room of the store or the back of their station wagon, and if they made enough money by Aug. 1, they’d rent a house for the month. Either way, they’d close up shop and head home by the day after Labor Day. The Candy Manor's business model has changed just a bit since then -- it's now open seven days year-round in downtown Chatham. Naomi Turner passed away in 1998, but her family recipes and her penchant for “putting on a show” as she chatted up customers are carried on by her daughter, also named Naomi Turner, and the staff. For instance, the Candy Manor does candy-cane making demonstrations during the run-up to the holidays. Here is the video... The chocolates are still hand-dipped, and made in small, slow-cooked batches, and they have a full complement of candies and fudge, too. The chocolate "clambake" assortment ($12), complete with candy pebbles, is sure to leave a smile and wistful thoughts of a warm beach. If you enjoy trolling Route 6A for gift ideas, it's just a short ride to the Candy Manor. Otherwise, their full complement is available here. Chatham Candy Manor, 484 Main St., Chatham, 800-221-6497, 508-945-0825.

When it comes to over-the-top holiday gifts it's hard to beat the fantasy gifts in the Neiman Marcus catalog, but Andrew Harper has come up with a strong contender.
Harper, editor and publisher of the Hideaway Report, is offering an Ultimate Paris itinerary for those with money to burn.
The seven-night extravaganza includes a private jet, the Imperial Suite at the Hotel Ritz, reservations at restaurants like Le Pre Catalan or Le Voltaire, and a private museum tour.
And it doesn't stop there. Guests will also get a session with custom-perfume designer Francis Kurkdjian, a couture fitting at Chanel or Dior, and so much more.
And the cost for this holiday treat? Well, rates start at $300,000.
Too pricey? Try giving a bottle of fine champagne.

Did you know the top marriage proposal season is between Christmas and Valentine’s Day? If you’re pondering how exactly to pop the question and your loved one happens to be fond of Ireland and expensive timepieces, pay attention here: The luxurious Merrion Hotel in Dublin is offering a Will You Marry Me package for about $7,000 per couple that includes a deluxe room, a welcome bottle of champagne, a full Irish breakfast for two, and rose petal turndown service (spelling out ‘‘will you marry me’’ if desired). But wait: You also get a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Lady watch with case, engraved with ‘‘will you marry me.’’ The hotel says the watch has a retail value of about $7,000, thereby canceling out that chunk of change you just spent on rose petals. An engagement ring is not included, but the hotel says it will scheme with grooms about the creative delivery of one. Who says romance is dead?

We had the opportunity to visit Hildene, the home of Robert Todd Lincoln and his family, last summer. A trip to the Manchester, Vt., estate in December provides a couple of potential added benefits: seasonal cheer and a respite from the frenzy that accompanies the holiday of today. Florists and home decorators from across the region contribute to making Hildene a Victorian Christmas showplace. The simple elegance of the period enhances the 24-room mansion and gives guests the chance to ponder whether we have indeed improved on the ways of 100 years ago. Candles, pine garlands, wreaths, and winterberries provide the visuals, and on the evenings of Dec. 28-29 from 4 to 6:30, holiday music will accompany guests as they tour the home and grounds. It's no wonder Mr. Lincoln was reluctant to leave Hildene in the winter months, even for warmer climes. http://hildene.org

What to get those hard-to-gift people who already have everything? If they’re remotely interested in paleontology, throw ’em a bone! A dinosaur bone, that is. Through the Adopt-A-Bone program at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, patrons can can adopt bones from their favorite fossils in support of the renovation of the museum’s Dinosaur Hall. Adopters receive a personalized certificate of adoption for each adopted bone (it will take a few weeks to arrive) and name recognition on a donor plaque in the new exhibit hall. Hurry, the good bones are going fast. Get as fancy as you like: The skull of a tyrannosaurus rex will set you back $10,000; a rib on a triceratops is $250; a neck vertabrae of a baby apatosaurus is $50; a tooth of a stegosaurus armatus is $25. (Bonus: the adoption fees are tax deductible.) It’s also a good time to visit your adopted bone: the first phase of the museum’s way cool $36 million permanent exhibit ‘‘Dinosaurs in their Time’’ is complete; the second phase of the exhibit will be finished in the spring. And remember, nothing says ‘I love you’ more than the right fibula of a diplodocus!

Those thoughtful folks at the T plan to juice up Silver Line service during peak airport travel times before the holiday and on the following Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. They've also released the rest of their Thanksgiving schedule, which starts tomorrow and runs through Friday.
So now you can plan your tryptophan-inebriated escape from the orgy ahead of time. Lord knows you won't be much good for anything when it comes time to lurch out of Mom's with your food buzz on, arms laden with shopping bags full of tinfoil packets of leftover bird and that last untouched pumpkin pie from Shaw's.
Remember your Charlie card.

I am a serious off-season adventurer, which is reason enough to mention Block Island's island wide, 18th Annual Christmas Shopping Stroll Nov. 23-25. Everyone gears up for early bird 4am shopping on Black Friday any how, so why not pack some turkey sandwiches and hop the ferry on over to Block Island for some carefree holiday shopping that poo-poos any big box store sales. Over 25 unique shops are open and decorated for the holidays, offering special sales for this three day occasion. Shops will be open from 10am to 5pm each day, and are an easy stroll from the ferry landing - so no worries about the typical holiday parking woes!

Best of all, shoppers can stop by the Chamber of Commerce office at the ferry landing on Nov. 23-24 between 10 am and 3 pm to pick up a sheet that makes them eligible for great prizes that will be raffled off on Sunday at noon. (You do not need to be present to win.) Check out the following list for superb island accomodations!

Don't fret about those pies for Thanksgiving...plan your day around the Upper Cape Family Networks' famous Pie Auction Fundraiser on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 10am at the Oak Ridge School in Sandwich. This event gains in popularity each year as those around the Cape have found the secret to their Holiday success - pack their apron away, go bid on over 60 pies and hear their Thanksgiving guests ooh and ah. [Not to mention the money for those oohs and ahs goes to incredible family programming!]

Some pies offered are in disposable tin pans and others are offered up in handmade ceramic pie plates, shrink wrap and ribbons - the selection abounds and presentations are surprisingly creative which makes for even a better dessert to bring over to Aunt Elizabeth's on Thanksgiving. Don't have time to stick around and raise your bid card?...no problem, visit the sale table and buy from over 100 pies and get on to the rest of your errands! And no fundraiser is complete without a silent auction table, and here you can find bountiful baskets from local businesses and families, gift certificates and of course, more pies! Love to bake? Even better - call the Mastermind of the event, Tina Toran at 1.508.548.0151 ext. 172 to donate your own pies, then go and pick up someone else's culinary treat.

This auction is devoted to raising awareness, raising funds of course, but also as a family fun day as the Toe Jam Puppet Band is the entertainment, and let me assure you, this is a show your kids will cherish - heck, adults will cherish this performance too! Everyone even has a chance to play with the band. Bring your wallet, your kids, other's kids and if you can manage, other people's wallets? and have some fun for a great cause.

Thanksgiving is always one of the busiest travel times of the year. But not everybody is heading home to mom. Some folks go skiing, some head to Orlando or Vegas, others cram the streets of New York and Chicago to watch parades. And some far-flung families gather at a hotel instead of grandma's house.

Here in the Bay State, more than 70,000 people visit Plimoth Plantation each November to learn about life among Colonial settlers and the native Wampanoags . Here you'll find costumed interpreters plucking the feathers off real turkeys and chatting about a harvest celebration that took place in 1621.

Plimoth also hosts a variety of Thanksgiving celebrations, including a Victorian-style dinner where President Lincoln's 1885 proclamation declaring Thanksgiving to be a national holiday is read aloud. Other holiday meals at Plimoth include a walk-in courtyard buffet ($37.95 including admission to the historic site), a more formal buffet ($58.95), "1627 Dine With the Pilgrims" ($55.95), and an "Eat Like a Pilgrim" program ($38.95, eating with fingers encouraged). The Victorian dinner ($79.95) is sold out for Thanksgiving Day but seatings were added for the day after. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the historic site's last day of the season.
With kids off from school and families getting together, Thanksgiving is naturally a busy time at Walt Disney World. The park

serves up more than 100,000 pounds of turkey during the month of November, from elaborate Thanksgiving meals at the park's sitdown restaurants to turkey drumsticks, a popular a la carte item on Disney menus year-round.

Among the more unusual Thanksgiving traditions at Walt Disney World Resort is a gathering of some 20 families at the park's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. For more than 30 years, they've been erecting a village of tepees there and cooking several dozen turkeys in big open pits.

In New York, the balloons and floats of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade attract thousands of spectators. If you'd rather avoid the crowded streets or the weather - which can range from balmy to freezing - you can watch the spectacle from inside the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The building has four floors of glass windows, and some of its stores will be open Thanksgiving Day if you want a head start on Christmas shopping. Chicago has its own Thanksgiving Day parade, with 300,000 people lining State Street to watch.

Denver shows up in top 10 lists for both Orbitz and Travelocity for Thanksgiving travel bookings, and skiing is undoubtedly part of the reason. Slopes scheduled to open Nov. 22 or earlier include Aspen Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Crested Butte, Snowmass, Telluride and Vail.

In Vegas, restaurants offering Thanksgiving meals include Top of the World at the Stratosphere; Spago at Caesars Palace; David Burke at the Venetian; the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris; and MIX at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. Tony Bennett and Wayne Newton are both in town for shows, and the Bellagio Conservatory has a spectacular autumn-themed scene on display through Nov. 24, complete with a 35-foot-tall cider mill, babbling brook, a bed of pumpkins and 1,000 red and green apples. I

You can celebrate Thanksgiving with a horse and carriage ride at the landmark Biltmore estate in Asheville, N.C., which will already by decorated for Christmas by then. For meals, you have a choice of venues - Bistro or, if you're staying at the Inn on Biltmore Estate, you can have your turkey at Deerpark, Stable Cafe, or The Dining Room. Three-night packages at the Inn start at $1,760 for two.

In California, the annual San Diego Thanksgiving Dixieland Jazz Festival, featuring two dozen Dixie Land bands, takes place Nov. 21-25. And wine-lovers can spend Thanksgiving Day aboard the Napa Valley wine train, which offers lunch and dinner excursions; details at 800-427-4124.

Finally, if for some reason you'd prefer to celebrate this most American of holidays on the other side of the Atlantic, head to Italy. Francesca Bortolotto Possati, the owner of the Bauer Hotel in Venice, lived in America for many years and holds a traditional Thanksgiving meal at the hotel each year for guests and friends. Rates begin at $2,500 for a four-night stay. (AP)

Before you hit the road during Thanksgiving week, you might want to chew on this. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s “Sleep in America” poll, 37 percent of Americans admit to actually having fallen asleep at the wheel in the past year. Whoa. That is scary.
Until recently, I had never gotten drowsy when driving. Quite the opposite. A while back, when I was working a god-awful overnight shift at a newspaper, I was the designated driver on every road trip. Because I was used to staying up all night, I would drive for hours while my friends snored away.
These days, sometimes I get sleepy .... very, very sleepy. I always pull over because I’m terrified of falling asleep at the wheel. I know of too many tragedies, one close to home, that were caused by drowsy or zonked-out drivers.
So wake up and read about warning signs and remedies at the website set up by the National Sleep Foundation, which instituted the first-ever Drowsy Driving Prevention Week™ Nov. 5-11.
Remember: friends don’t let friends drive drowsy.

Posted by Diane Daniel, Globe Correspondent

It's the season for art shows. Nov. 23-25 come celebrate some 55 of Maine's premier artisans at the United Maine Craftman's 33d Annual Arts & Crafts show in Rockland. Don't deny any show with free gift giveaways every hour! This show is three days long so plan to spend a night in this gorgeous coastal town. Many historic inns and B&Bs dot this region - try The Berry Manor Inn [Bobby Flay was here with the Pie Moms!], the Captain Lindsey Inn, or the LimeRock Inn for starters. And if your shopping is still not done, swing on over to Camden, one of my all-time favorite places in New England.

Bradford, NH's Rosewood Country Inn is offering an enticing 4-night Harvest Home Thanksgiving Package from November 21st-25th. The elves must be working extra early this year, as the Rosewood Inn has made an exclusive arrangement with the popular Tanger Outlets in Tilton, offering guests more than $300 [yes that means a lot of free Christmas presents!] in store discounts. And if that's not enough, the Inn will also provide ribbons, wrapping paper and bows to wrap all those gifts for Aunt Betsy, Cousin Rachel and Uncle Jimmy. You'll need to put your feet up and fill the tummy after all that shopping, and that's when you'll visit a nearby Inn for a full course Thanksgiving dinner. Forget about basting that bird this year - the Holidays just don't get any easier than this - book your room today!

I usually spend Thanksgiving with my husband’s family (who are scattered across Massachusetts and Rhode Island) but last year, all his siblings spent the holiday having dinner with various inlaws. So my husband and kids took the holiday ‘‘off’’ and stayed at the Eagle Mountain House in Jackson, N.H. They offer a nice, low-key brunch buffet on Thanksgiving. We took a long walk, drank hot chocolate by the fire, played ping pong in the game room, and vegged out in the Jacuzzi. It was one of the most relaxing holidays I’ve ever had.
This year, The Balsams in Dixville Notch, N.H., is open for Thanksgiving (in the past it has closed between Columbus Day and the Christmas holidays). There will be live entertainment, movie showings, and a Thanksgiving feast. Doubles start at $258 (including Thanksgiving dinner) and kids under 10 stay free. Sure, extended family is wonderful and I’m grateful for each and every one of them. But sometimes wonderful is someone making your bed and cooking your dinner.