List everything you really want in a spring vacation. The destination should be easy to get to, have something for everyone to enjoy (even if your kids range in age from 2-15), sun and affordable prices. A road trip to Paso Robles, California, is the perfect solution.

Maple Syrup Festivals celebrate the first signs of Spring, even as the temperature can still be more reminiscent of winter. Expect all the hallmarks of a great festival: agriculture celebrations at their finest. Food, demonstrations, craft booths, farming education, entertainment and family fun.

Somewhat obscured by palm trees and a stucco façade whose color blends in with most buildings in Florida, exceptionally Vine Dining awaits for you at the Naples Tomato in Naples, Florida. Once you leave the strip-mall and enter the building, drying noodles and an olive bar are should be the first clue you are about to experience Italian cooking straight from the old country.

Whether you agree or disagree with the obsession, you can’t fight it. At some point your daughter will want to take a pilgrimage to one of the American Girl Stores. And, since even the reality TV celebs are pinching their pennies, you’ll want to make the trip as cost effective as possible, but also really enjoy every minute.

If you’re looking for the secret ingredient in the crabby patty recipe, Parrot Key Caribbean Grill in Ft. Myer’s, Florida won’t budge. They even have pirates on staff, ready to take the secret to the grave.

Back in the day, parents handed fussy toddlers their keys, a teething toy or maybe a rattle. Now, we hand over the iPhone. The most common question asked by parents who look for travel advice isn’t about what highway to travel or even about kid-friendly luggage. It’s about iPhone apps. So, we decided to do some research and let our fingers do the downloading as we tried out some of the top contenders and a few more obscure apps. Here are our recommendations for the apps worth downloading. Let the happy road trips begin!

All the rumors about a new movie starring the Griswold family are apparently true. Vacation (1983) featured the cross-country drive to Walley World, and the new movie will be from the perspective of Rusty Griswold (the son in the original movies), and his quest to take his family to Walley World before it shuts its doors forever.

Houma, Louisiana is really what Mardi Gras is all about. Not the nudity and public intoxication of modern New Orleans, although that certainly has a place in another type of vacation. Instead, it’s several generations of families enjoying the parades, food and party — together.

On the top of a hill, smack-dab in the middle of suburban sprawl sits the same restaurant on the same spot it claimed over fifty years ago. If you think, “this can’t possibly be right,” take faith and keep driving. You’ll see a sign for The Lookout Bar and Grill around the next bend.

Be honest now. Back in the day (before the mini additions to the family) you rated the best places to watch any game, no matter how big, by how sexy the servers were, how cold and cheap the beer was, and obviously, how plentiful the TVs were. Now you worry whether your kids are even invited, and dream of a place with cold beer, TVs, sexy servers and a gigantic game room or daycare.