Plan the Perfect Staycation
No- and low-cost local experiences!
Written by Beryl Meyer
A great family getaway is closer than you think - especially with the Miami area's abundance of attractions. Here are just a few suggestions...
Take to the skies. Let the adventures begin aboard the Metromover, a free, electrically powered, driverless sky train that makes 20 stops in the downtown vicinity.
Why go: Kids will love pretending to be the train conductor and you'll love the easy on/off access to various sights.
What to do: Explore the Freedom Tower, Bayside Marketplace, Bayfront Park, Riverwalk, Brickell City Centre and the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center.
Fun fact: With close to 4 ½ miles of track high above the city, Miami's automated people-mover is only one of three in the United States and transports an average of 105,500 passengers daily.
Plan ahead: No need, as the sky train runs from 5 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.
miamidade.gov/transit/metromover.asp; 305.468.5900
Photo: Aurum/stock.adobe.com
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Protection is priority #1
Written by Beryl Meyer
It's a sobering fact: Over 175,000 men and women will be diagnosed with a melanoma this year, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). And everyone is vulnerable, regardless of the color of their skin. With numbers consistently increasing over the last three decades and new findings on the effects of sun exposure - experts say almost 80 percent of a person's lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18 - it's never too soon to take preventive measures to safeguard your family.
Maximize Your SPF Power
Using sunscreen is common sense, but to get the most protection you need to do your homework. Application to little ones should start at 6 months and be used liberally on all areas not covered with protective clothing, UV sunglasses and a hat. Infants, toddlers, older children and adults benefit most from a water-resistant, broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher to block the sun's skin-damaging UVA and UVB rays.
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Photo: galitskaya/stock.adobe.com
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Written by Beryl Meyer
Freckle, age spot or mole? Knowing the difference between these distinguishing marks can clue you into the warning signs of skin cancer. Brush up on the basics for the best preventive measures.
Freckles reveal themselves in a random sprinkling of small, brownish-colored spots caused by an increase in melanin production.
Age spots show up as either small red dots, flat tan-to-brown discolorations, or flat or raised often scaly spots, pale to dark brown or black in color. All can be the result of sun exposure, the aging process or heredity.
Photo: WavebreakMediaMicro/stock.adobe.com
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It's National Family Reunion Month!
Written by Beryl Meyer
It's become a summer pastime for many families: gathering relatives near and far to barbecue or picnic, reconnect and catch up on each others' lives. Together-time across generations is not only for sharing stories of growing up, but also for teaching your children the value of kin.
"When you're a kid, you think you're the most important, the only person out there and that the world revolves around you," says A.J. Jacobs, author of It's All Relative: Adventures Ups and Down the World's Family Tree, TED talk speaker, and creator of The Global Family Reunion, a historic project whose goal was to prove the entire human species is related. "[A family reunion] is just one way to show [children that] no, you are part of this massive world. You are just one link in the chain."
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Photo: jackfrog/stock.adobe.com
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