A former railroad headquarters, Roanoke, the largest city in Virginia’s southwest, moves with a new energy. Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, Roanoke offers a weekend getaway that combines interesting shopping and good food.

Island hopping through St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a chain of 32 islands and cays, most of which are uninhabited, rewards you with the Caribbean of long ago. On lush St. Vincent, the largest of the islands, we spent days exploring waterfalls.

Discover the secrets on a Caribbean rainforest on Nevis, a laid-back island with a population of about 10,000. On Nevis the only “crowds” we encounter are the hundreds of goats and sheep roaming free during the day before they return to their owners at dusk.

Discover what it feels like to risk your life for freedom as a runaway slave. “Follow the North Star,” an immersion program at Conner Prairie, a living history museum outside of Indianapolis, IN, drops you into situations experienced by runaways traveling the Underground Railroad in the 1830s.

Explore Krakow with your teens. The city, a less “obvious” European pick than Paris or London, is also less costly. Yet Krakow still offers history, a castle, cafes and trendy shops, all must-haves for European tours with hard-to-please teens.

The islands of the Bahamas bloom with some of world’s loveliest sands. But the real jewel of your Bahamian vacation may be something you didn’t expect: sampling the local culture. Listen to indigenous Rake ´n Scrape music,tour the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas and visit local artists.

On the Big Cypress Reservation within an hour of bustling Ft. Lauderdale wild life means bison, great blue herons, alligators and real Florida panthers. The reservation on the edge of the Everglades belongs to the Seminole tribe who has opened 2000-acres of their natural habitat to the public.

Yes, you can—and should-- eat the street food in DC, but first you must know what to eat and where. Like many cities, the nation’s capital blooms with food trucks. Unlike many cities, DC’s meals on wheels include some tasty eateries that rival sit-down fare and cost much less.

In Washington, D.C., when your kids tire of monuments, memorials and first-rate museums, add some low-brow learning and laughter by touring Madame Tussauds DC and the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.

Enhance your Capitol Hill visit with a treat from The Sweet Lobby, a new boutique bakery that opened in June 2011. The shop justifiably gains fame for winning its own hard-won race: a February 2012 contest on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars.