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After a long morning at the Louvre museum, tromping through
room after room of priceless goodies, we were starving. My boys were in
that state, "if I don't get food instantly, I'm going to turn into
a growling alien with eight mouths and arms." From the museum, we headed
to the rue de Rivoli. On a side street, people streamed in and out of a
sandwich shop. We ducked into the shop, and 10 minutes later, my food bag
was stuffed with baguette sandwiches and cold drinks. We hustled over to
the Jardin de Tuileries. Despite a cool October day, the park benches were
filled with local Parisians, having their lunch outdoors. We had a wonderful
impromptu picnic. The boys gobbled their food standing up (atrocious table
manners), while I gratefully slouched on a park bench, enjoying my sandwich
– tender French ham and good cheese on a chewy baguette. |
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Food is one of most pleasurable and, potentially most irritating
aspects of traveling with kids. When kids get hungry, they get cranky or
picky, and it doesn't matter where you are, it's no fun. Food is also a
big chunk of travel expenses for a family. Eating out in restaurants all
the time can cost a bundle and little kids may not want to wait for infinity
and beyond to eat a meal. Here's some tips to help you to have fun and save
money. |
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Start the day right – Breakfast can be a simple
affair. As a cost saving, if you're traveling by car, bring breakfast supplies
with you, or shop in a supermarket after you check into your hotel. Many
motels or hotels have refrigerators, so all you need is milk, juice, yogurt,
fruit, dry cereal, paper bowls and plastic utensils. Eating in your room,
breakfast is out of the way – when you leave your hotel, you're ready
to start sightseeing (instead of hunting for a place to eat). And kids can
eat in their pajamas. |
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For a change of pace, splurge on a Sunday brunch or a big
breakfast buffet. Breakfast buffets often have kids' favorites – pancakes,
French toast or waffles, muffins, bagels, fruit salad, along with sophisticated
dishes and local specialties. |
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"On the spot" picnics – Picnics are
fun for everyone in the family. There's no waiting interminably for food
to be served, no spilled milk dripping onto your lap, no nagging at the
kids, "Put your napkin in your lap, hold your fork properly, don't
squirm at the table." Whatever you're eating, it tastes delicious.
Kick back and relax, while the kids run around. You can picnic anywhere
– in a grassy city park, at the seaside, riding on a train, sitting
along a hiking trail next to bubbling stream. And picnics aren't for lunches
only – bring a picnic to the beach at sunset. Wherever you are, there
are possibilities for picnicking, even in a big city. And, picnics are easy
on the budget! |
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Buying your picnic is part of the fun and you can shop to
please individual tastes in your family. Supermarkets are open day and night,
and usually have a deli where you can have sandwiches made, or get roast
chicken, sushi, salads, plus fresh fruit, cut-up carrots and celery, cold
drinks, chips, cookies – everything you need for a first class picnic.
Another easy option is to scout out a delicatessen for sandwiches. If you're
staying in a neighborhood far from shopping, in the morning, ask at your
hotel to arrange a picnic. Hotel restaurants are often equipped to put a
together a packed lunch. |
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Tip: In your luggage, tuck in a packable
tote bag for your "food bag" – to hold all your picnic supplies.
Bring a lightweight bag, preferably nylon or vinyl, so it can be wiped off
if food gets spilled on it. |
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Snacks and treats – While traveling with children,
it's important to take frequent breaks, so parents can relax and kids can
re-energize. And late in the day, don't start in on some huge museum without
a substantial snack first. One way to get to know a neighborhood is to sample
the local treats. What about a local ice cream shop that makes its own ice
cream, or a bakery with cookies shaped like surfers in a beach city, a diner
with the best milkshakes, a fresh-baked bagel, hand-squeezed lemonade, old-fashioned
candies or sodas in an Old West town? A snack break can be a quick stop
to buy a soft pretzel from a street vendor, or a big event like afternoon
tea at a fancy hotel. |
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Eating healthy – On your trip, you may feel your
kids aren't really eating a balanced diet. Too many hot dogs and sodas or
fast food because it's everywhere you turn? Be on the lookout for juice
bars and smoothies, drinks with fresh fruit and yogurt. Popular ice cream
shops often have smoothies. Vegetarian or health
conscious sandwich shops often have fresh-squeezed juices. |
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Picky eaters – If your kids are picky eaters at
home, what to do while traveling? Encourage openness to try new things,
but don't take away choices. One summer when I was young, we stopped into
a little seafood joint in Washington state. My mother ordered the local
specialty, Dungeness crab, but let us kids order hamburgers. When her crab
came, we tried a morsel or two – it was so delicious, our hamburgers
went untouched. (My mother ordered more crabs.) |
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It isn't always easy to accommodate everyone's tastes in a
family. When you ask the question, "What do you want for lunch or dinner,"
one child wants a pizza, another a hamburger, another is vegetarian, one
parent feels like a salad, another is hungry for a stack of ribs. Look for
food courts or "country" markets, where there are kiosks with
all kinds of foods, reasonably priced. The Farmers Market in Los Angeles
has been popular with local kids since the 1930's, and is still going strong
with over 25 different food stalls. The Grand Central Terminal food court
has New York favorites – Junior's Delicatessen, pizza, dim sum, chicken noodle soup, hot bagels, custard ice cream. |
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Splurge dining – At some point in your trip, it's
nice to get dressed up and eat in a "splurge" restaurant as a
special experience. But in a strange city, how do you avoid venturing into
a restaurant, only to have the waiters stare at you with cold frozen looks,
and belatedly you realize you've stepped into a romantic bistro, only whispers
are allowed and there are tables for two. Or, after you're seated in the
restaurant, you discover the menu consists of dishes such as blueberry goat
cheese covered with a durian prune sauce, topped with flecks of dried squid,
something none of your kids will touch and the price is through the roof. |
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Splurge dining can be fun, and worth the expense. Reservations
may be required, so do some scouting in advance. Check out the menu posted
outside or ask to see a menu. When the restaurant has a kid's menu, by definition
kids are welcome. (Use this as leverage if your kids aren't perfectly well-behaved.)
But the lack of a kid's menu doesn't mean that a splurge restaurant won't
be fun. Check out other options on the menu – many fancy Italian restaurants
will do half portions of any pasta dish for kids. Or, sometimes a restaurant
will prepare an item from their lunch menu at dinner. If the menu looks
okay, but you're still not sure if children are welcome, go inside the restaurant
and ask if you can split an entrée for kids. If they answer in a
friendly way, this is a good sign; if the maitre d' is insulted you asked,
that restaurant isn't a good prospect. Some expensive restaurants simply
like kids, and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable, like a restaurant in Beverly Hills, where the waiters will cut up the steak
for kids, so take advantage of good service. |
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Childhood food memories are long-lived, and trips even more
so. It might be a memory of sitting up straight at a restaurant with sparkling
white table cloths, where the waiter hands you your own menu and you feel
very grown up, sitting out by the river eating fresh cantaloupe on a camping
trip, wondering how to politely reach for little pastries on a five-tiered
tray during "high tea" at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC, munching
on a cheese sandwich and hard boiled eggs while riding on a train, or dreaming
of a chocolate river at the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain in San Francisco,
where the ice cream sundaes and banana splits are really big, really cold
and, "My dad stole the banana." |
