A summertime rite-of-passage, roasting s’mores around the campfire has been a family tradition since marshmallows found their way onto grocery store shelves in the early 20th century. Road Trips for Families offers some suggestions for getting your marshmallow on, just in time for Nationional S’more Month.

Independence Day. Whether it means a weekend getaway to eat watermelon, watch a small town parade and wave a flag or a week-long dirt bike excursion like Sandfest, it’s all about family and making memories. Here are our picks for this year’s best hometown celebrations and trips for the 4th of July.

Whether you’re going out of state, leaving the country or just packing a picnic and watching the fireworks, the weekend revolves around founding father President John Adams’ call for ‘pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations” in celebrating Independence Day. Here are our top picks for this year’s pyrotechnics.

It was almost impossible to narrow down our list of wish-we-were-going-this-year summer festivals to only 10 favorites. In the end we chose some iconic, famous festivals sprinkled with a few you’ve probably never heard of. We aimed for geographical diversity and road trip friendly ammenities or locations. If we didn’t include your favorite, tell us what it is and why you love it. We promise to check it out for next summer’s list.

You’d never know that St. Patrick’s Day is technically a religious holiday. For families, it’s mostly a time to celebrate the Irish side of the family (or pretend like you have one) and enjoy the festivities. Do you go all out and dress in green from head to toe? Cook anything special? Green eggs and ham anyone? If you’re looking for the biggest family-friendly celebrations, here’s the master list.

Summer and Fall are prime festival seasons, since so many have agricultural themes and that’s harvest season. However, Spring has some fine offerings, and this year is no exception. Pack up the family and head out for a weekend of fun and even a bit of education. Insider tip: many of the festivals have Facebook and Twitter accounts where you can ask questions, get up to the minute information and connect with other fans. If you’re a newbie to a particular event, this is the best place to learn all the local secrets for parking, eating and to find lodging specials and packages.

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.

It doesn’t really matter whether you think the recession is over or not. The kids still want to see Grandma for the holidays. Heck, you probably want to see family or friends for the holidays too. But, airline tickets and rental cars might not be in the budget. The perfect solution could be a multi-family road trip. Just rent a condo, pack everyone in, and celebrate like you live there.

It’s called The Great American Road Trip for a reason. There’s no better way to celebrate Independence Day than to hit the road and experience history. The fireworks are an added bonus.