Celebrate the winter season at Yosemite National Park (tel. 559/253-2023; www.yosemitepark.com) and take advantage of one of several deals on offer. The all-new Stay 'N Play package allows you to add a Winter All-Access pass for just $29 for adults and $19 for children under 12 when you stay one midweek night or more at any of the Park's lodging venues. The pass includes everything you need to have fun in the Yosemite snow, including a one-day lift ticket, one-day equipment rental, one group lesson, one tubing session, one ice-skating session and one valley floor tour. The pass is valid during your entire midweek stay at The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, Wawona Hotel or Curry Village. Or, if you stay four or more consecutive nights in the Park, you'll receive up to four Winter All-Access Passes for free. Yosemite's Chefs' Holidays event at The Ahwahnee is held each year in January and features an array of innovative and acclaimed chefs, including three from the Food Network's Iron Chef. Each session features a "Meet the Chefs" reception, cooking classes, three cooking demonstrations presented by the guest chefs, behind-the-scenes kitchen tours and the fabulous five-course Chefs' Holidays Gala Dinner, paired with wine to complement. The Ahwahnee will present eight sessions: January 6 to 8, 9 to 11, 13 to 15, 16 to 18, 20 to 22, 23 to 25, 27 to 29 and January 30 to February 1. Two and three night lodging packages are available at The Ahwahnee (from $839 and $1,076) and Yosemite Lodge at the Falls (from $570 and $665 respectively). Two and three night packages include overnight accommodations for two, admission to culinary presentations, admission to private Meet the Chefs Reception, two tickets to the Gala Chefs' Holiday Dinner in The Ahwahnee Dining Room, split of wine, two keepsake glasses and a guest chef cookbook. Gala Dinner tickets are also available without a lodging package for $155 per person including tax.
You don't have to go all the way to Alaska for dog sledding and a chance to spend a beautiful weekend away at a park resort. Head to Newbury, Ohio and Punderson Manor State Park Resort (tel. 800/282-7275; www.pundersonmanorresort.com) for the annual Great Sled Dog Classic of Northeast Ohio (www.siberiancleveland.org), scheduled this winter for January 5 and 6, 2008. Held from 9 am to 3 pm both days, the Sled Dog Classic attracts mushers from across Ohio and other states. Teams will cover one to six miles through woods and across open fields and the races are considered one of Ohio's premier wintertime sporting events. Participants and spectators can indulge in the Punderson Manor Resort's Buckeye or Bed & Breakfast packages. The Buckeye package includes two nights of lodging, two breakfasts for two, one dinner for two and a $25 gift shop certificate. That package is priced at $379 plus tax per couple in a double room for a Friday and Saturday night stay. The Bed & Breakfast package includes overnight lodging and breakfast for two for $125 plus tax in a double room on Friday or Saturday night. The park also offers sledding and tobogganing hills as well as trails for cross-country skiing and snow-mobiling.
Still in Ohio, six Ohio State Park resorts are offering New Year's packages, to help take the stress out of trying to decide what to do this holiday season. The packages include lodging, entertainment and meals as well as plenty of opportunities to enjoy the parks' winter activities, including cross-country skiing, bird-watching or simply relaxing in a cozy chair by a roaring fire. The resorts are all located within an easy drive of the region's major cities including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Detroit and Pittsburgh. At Hueston Woods State Park Resort (www.hsresort.com) at College Corner (near Cincinnati and Dayton) get one night of lodging, a buffet dinner for two, a New Year's Eve dance with DJ and a separate party with pizza and entertainment for children from $275 per room.
At Punderson Manor State Park Resort (www.pundersonmanorresort.com) in Newbury (near Cleveland) spend one night of lodging on December 31, 2007 and receive a buffet dinner for two, breakfast buffet for two and a bottle of champagne with souvenir glasses from $240. Stay at Salt Fork State Park Resort (www.saltforkresort.com) in Cambridge for two nights for their New Year's Eve Couples package and enjoy the New Year's Eve buffet dinner for two, one breakfast for two and admission to the Wildlife Lounge for the New Year's Eve celebration from $319. Salt Fork's New Year's Eve 2007 Family package includes two nights of lodging December 30 and 31, 2007, New Year's Eve buffet dinner for two, one breakfast for two, a $20 gift shop certificate and parties for adults and children. Rates start at $309 for a double room and $369 for a bunk room. At Shawnee State Park Resort (www.shawneelodgeresort.com), the New Year's Eve Package features two nights of lodging December 30 and 31, 2007, a New Year's Eve buffet dinner for two, champagne toast at midnight, New Year's Day breakfast buffet for two and admission for two to the party. Rates start at $375 for a lodge room and $450 for a cottage. At Maumee Bay State Park Resort (www.maumeebayresort.com) in Oregon (near Toledo) the package includes one night of lodging, buffet dinner, dancing, entertainment, party favors, champagne toast at midnight, $20 gift shop certificate and a breakfast buffet for two. Children under 18 stay free in the same room with parents and rates start at $242. And finally, the Mohican State Park Resort (www.mohicanresort.com) in Perrysville has a New Year's Eve package that includes one night of lodging for two, buffet dinner for two, New Year's Eve party with a DJ, champagne toast at midnight, brunch the next day and a welcome gift, priced from $225.
The Grand Canyon Railway (tel. 800/843-8724; www.thetrain.com) has a four-day, three-night "Romance-to-the-Rim" package available from January 6 to 31, 2008. Romance-to-the-Rim includes an overnight stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams, Arizona; dinner and breakfast at the Railway's Max & Thelma's Restaurant; round-trip first-class train travel from Williams to the Grand Canyon; narrated motor coach tour of the South Rim with lunch; overnight stay in a standard queen room at the historic El Tovar; a bottle of California sparkling wine and fruit basket in the room; and dinner with a bottle of Grand Canyon label wine in the El Tovar Dining Room. After the return trip to Williams, the package includes another night of lodging at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and dinner and breakfast at Max and Thelma's Restaurant. Rates are $390.50 per adult and are based upon double occupancy. Taxes are additional and this package is only available by calling to make reservations.
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