A Conference
Disguised as a Vacation?
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 19 No. 9, July-August, p. 150
While you may know that La
Leche League International Conferences offer a dazzling array of world
class speakers in the cocoon of a family-friendly atmosphere, you may
not know that many La Leche League families plan their family vacations
around La Leche League International Conferences.
Often baby attends the Conference
with Mom while Dad and the older children see some of the sights, swim
in the hotel pool, participate in special children's activities such
as Chance to Dance, or interact in the Play Room or Teen Lounge. Since
there are sessions of interest for all, sometimes parents trade places,
with Dad attending sessions and Mom enjoying the family-friendly atmosphere
with the children.
However you plan your Conference
time and vacation, there is much to do in San Francisco where La Leche
League International is hosting its 28th International Breastfeeding
Conference: Strength through Diversity; Creating One Breastfeeding World,
July 3-6, 2003.
Cable Cars, the Golden Gate
Bridge, Alcatraz, and Fisherman's Wharf are often the first things to
come to mind when thinking about San Francisco, but this diverse city
is also home to many other child-friendly attractions that are often
parent-friendly in cost. In the Golden Gate Park area, for instance,
a family can take a fragrant walk through a beautiful rose garden and
children can play at one of the largest and best playgrounds in the
city, the Children's Playground. There, older children can thrill to
the challenge of a colossal hillside slide, and children of all ages
can enjoy a Carousel ride. They will also relish the giant climbing
structure of the park.
When it is tea time and parents
need a little refreshment, the Japanese Tea Garden is only a short walk
away. Enjoy tea and juice at the little cafe surrounded by exotic bonsai
trees and pagodas.
Muni-passes, available from
the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau at Powell and Market
Streets, offer a Golden Gate Park Explorers Pass that reduces costs
further. For the budding artist or computer genius, parents will find
a great deal at the Zeum Art and Technology Center. Multimedia tools
allow children to create animations and movies, as well as view their
finished products. The theater at the Zeum also offers live performances
of dance and story telling. All of this is free for Children under five
and reasonably priced for others. The Zeum is located in the Yerba Buena
Gardens Area, which includes beautiful gardens, a robotic sculpture,
and a fun atmosphere. Free-all-the-time museums include the Cable Car
Museum, named one of the world's 10 best free museums, the Chinese Historical
Society, the Museum of the City of San Francisco, National Maritime
Museum, Presidio Museum, Treasure Island Museums, and Wells Fargo Historical
Museum.
A city pass includes a seven-day
passport for unlimited use on the Cable Cars. It can also be used as
a passport to five popular San Francisco attractions including the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Palace of the Legion of Honor,
which houses the works of masters such as Roden. Something of great
interest to children and others who enjoy beautiful views (also included
in the Passport) is a Blue & GoldFleet Bay Cruise that can be exchanged
ahead of time for the Alcatraz Tour. The Exploratorium is a hands-on
museum that beckons "please touch" to children with 600 blinking,
buzzing, and beeping exhibits. Adventurers who want to see the earth,
sea, and sky will find all this and more at the California Academy of
Science that includes the Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planetarium.
There is so much to see in
San Francisco that it is hard to believe that immediately outside of
this area nature has much to offer. If you drive north along the majestic
ocean cliffs you will find giant sequoia along with the famous wine
valleys. Driving south you find fabled Monterey and Caramel, an ocean
playground to playful otters.
But you do not have to leave
the city proper to enjoy awe-inspiring sights. San Francisco is an incredibly
beautiful city perched upon 43 different hills that break dramatically
toward a breath-taking bay. It is a culinary paradise with almost 3,500
different restaurants featuring everything from famous Californian dishes
to every imaginable ethnic cuisine. It is a city of many museums. It
is a city where you can rent a bicycle or a kayak, catch a ride on a
cable car or a catamaran, or simply enjoy the July temperatures with
an average high of 66 degrees F and a low of 54 degrees F. It is the
city where you can attend LLLI's 18th International Conference.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:23 UTC 2007.
