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Search Posted Wednesday, Aug. 01, 2012

Pack Your Bags ARTICLE

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By Elaine Glusac There's still time to squeeze in a last-minute trip with the family before school starts and more regimented schedules resume. Whether you and yours are thrill-seekers, history buffs, outdoorlovers, sun-worshippers or culture vultures, the following destinations offer new incentives to get packing.

For theme-park fans San Antonio Already home to SeaWorld, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Morgan's Wonderland, San Antonio now boasts yet another theme park, with Aquatica. The tropics-channeling 20-acre water park from SeaWorld opened in May with pools on three levels, plus a separate wave pool, current-fed river, View photos slides and a four-person rafting ride. The emphasis is on water and beaches, but animal habitats, including those of tropical birds and reef fish and a stingray pool visitors can wade into, share the marine interests of the sibling SeaWorld next door (800-700-7786; aquaticasanantonio.com).

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Stay: Stick with the water-park theme by booking a room at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. The 1,002-room resort packs in the amenities, including its own six-acre water park with a beach-entry pool and lazy river, plus parent-pleasers like 36 holes of golf, a 26,000-square-foot spa that dispenses margaritas with its manicures, and seven restaurants.

Rooms from $249. 210-403-3446; www.jwsanantonio.com.

Do: Take a tour at dusk to Bracken Cave to see one of the planet's largest bat colonies, with a population in the millions, spiral out of its diurnal lair to hunt by night (brackenbatflight.com).

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For mountain-lovers Vail, Colo.

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As transplanted locals like to say, they came to Vail for the winters and stayed for the summers.

While the rest of the country melts this summer, Vail, home to a new resort hotel, mountain trails and a spate of outdoor family programming, keeps its cool. The KEEN Vail Kids Adventure

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trails and a spate of outdoor family programming, keeps its cool. The KEEN Vail Kids Adventure Race, Aug. 12, invites teams of two, ages 6-12, to compete on an obstacle course that includes hiking, mountain biking, zip-lining, tubing, archery and slacklining over a mud pit (vailrec.com).

Out-of-competition families can ride the Eagle Bahn Gondola up to Adventure Ridge, the 10,000-foot-plus-elevation home to pony rides, a slackline park, a nature center and trailheads to miles of wooded footpaths (www.vail.com).

Stay: The new Four Seasons Resort Vail ups the ritzy destination's already high luxury level.

Dual whirlpools -- one reserved for kids -- flank the 75-foot outdoor pool, the site of Saturdaynight "dive-in" movies, and rooms come stocked with a tent and flashlight for kids to make camp indoors. Rooms from $305. 970-477-8600; www.fourseasons.com/vail.

Do: Book a sitter (or cart the crew) and a table at Matsuhisa Vail, the latest from chef Nobu Matsuhisa, with sushi, sake and mountain views on the side (matsuhisavail.com).

For city people Chicago Mix big-city culture with more than 30 miles of lakeshore and a warm Midwest welcome, and you get Chicago. The city's artistic and architectural assets are all-ages accessible, starting with the video fountains and reflective sculpture at Millennium Park (millenniumpark.org). Ogle the buildings that tower above the Chicago River in a boat tour from the Chicago Architecture Foundation (www.architecture.org). Chicago's biggest tourist attraction, Navy Pier, hosts a slew of rides, a beer garden and other attractions, including the Tony-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which devotes its summers to family fare (www.chicagoshakes.com). Through Aug. 26, Disney's Beauty and the Beast brightly condenses the popular musical to a 70-minute one-act in all-matinee shows.

Stay: The new Hotel Lincoln opposite leafy Lincoln Park, home to a free zoo and petting farm, features a rooftop lounge with morning yoga classes and two-bathroom family suites with bunk beds for the kids. Rooms from $159. 312-254-4700; www.hotellincolnchicago.com.

Do: Rent from Bike and Roll Chicago and cruise the beach-bordering Lake Michigan path (www.bikechicago.com).

For beach freaks Key Largo, Fla. The northernmost of the Florida Keys is often overshadowed by the party-hardy Key West. But Key Largo, a breezy 55 miles from Miami, is the laid-back isle, popular with snorkelers and divers keen to witness the wonders of the nation's only living coral barrier reef. Summer, with its calm seas and warm water, is the time to dive in at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (pennekamppark.com), which offers boat tours to the reef for divers and snorkelers. Board another boat, the historic and recently restored African Queen, used in the eponymous 1951 movie, for 90-minute canal cruises, offered several times daily (africanqueenflkeys.com).

Stay: Rent one of the 18 elegantly appointed beach bungalows at The Moorings Village. The former coconut plantation features a tennis court, private beach and pool. Amenities include beach-cruiser bikes for getting around onshore and kayaks and stand-up paddleboards for trolling offshore. Cottages from $275. 305-664-4708; http://themoor ingsvillage.com.

Do: Watch the sun set from Morada Bay Beach CafĂŠ, where heavy wooden tables and tiki torches stake the sand, allowing diners to catch sundown over local grouper and snapper dinners (moradabay-restaurant.com).

Lagniappe: New Orleans for history buffs The Big Easy lets the good times roll anytime, but especially in 2012 with the 200th anniversary of the TremĂŠ neighborhood, considered the birthplace of jazz (treme2012.com). Kids can hear history nightly in all-ages shows at Preservation Hall (preservationhall.com). Explore the mysterious side of the city in a voodoo tour with Racontours (www.racontoursinn ola.com).

Stay: The newly renovated Windsor Court hotel is ideally located for walks around the French Quarter or streetcar rides through the time-warped Garden District. Rooms from $190. 888596-0955; www.windsor

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