Secrets of the Best Family Vacations

Add a little history to your trip, and you'll teach a lesson your children will not soon forget -- plus, you'll all get a break from the high-tech modern world. Just brace yourself for quirky, retro charm. For Sam, age 7, and Ethan Zeigler, 11, of Chesaning, Michigan, a four-hour ride on a vintage train headed for the Grand Canyon was more memorable than the canyon itself. As the train chugged along, a gang of "scoundrels" arrived on horseback and staged a heist: "One of them even tried to steal my son's ball cap!" recalls mom Marnie. For the Zeigler kids -- despite the jaw-dropping view that awaited them -- that old-fashioned train robbery was the best part of the whole trip.

The wonder of seeing history come alive has inspired repeat visits by the Gelecinskyj family of Bloomington, Minnesota, to the Flying W Ranch in Colorado Springs. Onia, 15, and Anders, 8, love the real working mountain cattle ranch, where they can feast their senses on everything from a jailhouse and saloon to turn-of-the-century horseshoeing and Navajo rug weaving. Everybody's favorite is the chuck wagon barbecue supper and a western stage show complete with three-part harmony ("Fantastic!" raves mom Rene) -- all beneath the big, beautiful Colorado skies.

For Kim Leichner's San Jose, California, family, the time-travel vehicle of choice was her father's 36-foot trawler, which they motored up the Erie Canal. "It was just so out-of-this-world different." From the locks on the canal ("All that muck and scum on the ropes! The kids were entranced") to the friendliness of the locals in the tiny towns along the way, Kayla, 14, and Trevor, 11, found themselves in a watery world out of time -- and they loved it. "It was like being in a nonstop Norman Rockwell painting," Kim says with a laugh. "Like our everyday routine didn't even exist."