For some Americans, Presidents Day is a low-key holiday spent shopping the sales and catching up on sleep. For others, it’s a great opportunity to spend the long weekend visiting historic sites, museums, restaurants and hotels with presidential pasts.

But where to go? You might head for one of the official presidential libraries and museums operated by the National Archives or choose a spot from this list of presidential sites around the country put together by Lonely Planet.

There are also these special Presidents Day events to consider:

Washington, D.C. 
In Washington, D.C., Ford’s Theater, the site of the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, is hosting a Presidents Day open house on Feb. 20. Among the free activities scheduled are storytelling, Civil War-themed ranger talks and a presentation by costumed actors that includes a reconstruction of Lincoln’s assassination.

Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press, a new exhibit opening at the Newseum Feb. 17, traces the way the media has covered presidential campaigns from "William McKinley's 1896 front porch campaign to Barack Obama's 2008 Internet campaign." In addition to notable TV campaign ads, the exhibit includes campaign artifacts such as handwritten notes taken by John F. Kennedy during a 1960 presidential debate and the "Florida, Florida, Florida" white board used by NBC's Tim Russert on election night 2000.

Bonus: The Newseum’s exhibit, First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Pets, runs through 2012.

George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee, Alexandria, Va.

An actor portrays General Washington during a previous George Washington Birthday Parade in Alexandria, Va.

Virginia
As the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents, Virginia proudly calls itself the “The Mother of Presidents” and has dozens of historic sites paying special Presidents Weekend tribute to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.

There will be free admission on Feb. 20 at George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon, where a costumed General Washington will be on hand for activities to include the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Washington's Tomb, music and military performances and a (shh!) surprise birthday party.

During Presidents Weekend, actors portraying founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will be visiting Colonial Williamsburg.

Alexandria will be marking the 280th anniversary of George Washington's birth with a celebration that includes a Birthnight Banquet & Ball (Feb. 18), a Revolutionary War Reenactment (Feb. 19) and the George Washington Birthday Parade (Feb. 20). Historic sites around Alexandria, such as Gatsby’s Tavern Museum, where early patrons included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, will offer free admission on Presidents Day as well.

Bonus: A free, self-guided walking tour of 21 of the 140 sites in Alexandria associated with George Washington is available for free (PDF).

Massachusetts
In Boston, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is celebrating Presidents Day with discounted admission from Feb. 18-26. An activity-filled Family Festival Day on Feb. 21 includes the opportunity to meet actors playing presidents and first ladies such as Thomas Jefferson and Dolley Madison.

Sleep like a president
Presidents Day weekend activities can include sleeping where a past president got some shut-eye.

“Every president from Eisenhower to George W has stayed at the Greenbrier in West Virginia, a historic hotel that still brings in weekend splurgers,” says Robert Reid, U.S. travel editor for Lonely Planet. 

Another option: the Presidential Suite at the Waldorf Astoria New York. Every American President since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the suite, which is decorated with the personal desk of General Douglas MacArthur, one of John F. Kennedy’s rocking chairs and other presidential artifacts.

Presidential treatment doesn’t come cheap. A weekend night in a two-bedroom executive suite at the Greenbrier is about $900, while nightly rates for the Waldorf Astoria’s Presidential Suite begin at $10,000 – and include a background check.

Find more by Harriet Baskas on Stuck at The Airport.com and follow her on Twitter.

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Courtesy of Harriet Baskas

The Russian-themed Christmas town inside Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This year, the traditional red-suited Santa Claus will not be in his sleigh greeting children at Tivoli, the amusement park that opened in the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark in 1843.

Instead, the world’s second oldest amusement park, with annual attendance topping 3.7 million in 2010, is hosting Santa’s Russian counterpart, Father Frost. He dresses in bluish colors and adheres to the familiar holiday program with a white beard and a penchant for distributing presents.

Why the Santa-switch?

For the past 18 years Tivoli, which is traditionally closed for the fall and winter, has opened during November and December all decked out in its Christmas best.

This year, a temporary Russian-themed town has been set up inside Tivoli. Built at the cost of $10 million Danish krone (about $1.75 million in U.S. dollars), it is inspired by building styles popular in the Czarist days and includes onion domes and towers that are lit-up at night. 

Inside Tivoli’s version of St. Basil's Cathedral (the popular attraction on Moscow’s Red Square) visitors can ride a miniature Trans-Siberian railway that takes them through Russian landscapes, passing pixies, choirs and sparkling Fabergé eggs along the way.

“Events create unique experiences and attract tourists,” Lars Bernhard Jørgensen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen said in a statement, “and with the new Tivoli initiative the tourists get even more good reasons to visit Copenhagen in the wintertime.” That includes the increasing number of tourists who are making a stop in Copenhagen as part of a Christmas cruise.

Tivoli is closed on December 24th and 25th, but festivities pick up again on the 26th, when the first of a five-night fireworks festival kicks off.  

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Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.

Stressed about facing the holiday crowds at the airport this week?

Turns out you may need less courage than you might think. Contrary to accepted wisdom, the idea that the holidays represent the busiest days in air travel may be more myth than reality.

With few exceptions, the Christmas travel season is off to a smooth start. According to the Associated Press:

• A winter storm blanketed parts of New Mexico with more than a foot of snow on Friday, closing parts of some major highways and canceling flights; 
• snowfall was forecast for Dallas and some cities in West Texas by early Saturday;
• mountainous areas of New York state and New England were expected to get several inches of snow Friday;
• severe thunderstorms were expected Friday in the southeast part of the country;
• heavy snow forced the cancellation of more than 100 flights Thursday at Denver International Airport, but that tapered off by Thursday evening.

“The days around the holidays are still among the busiest periods,” said Steve Lott, spokesman for Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade group formerly known as the Air Transport Association. “But on a random Friday in July you can often see travel numbers that top, say, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.”

“Our busiest day was Sunday following Thanksgiving with about 89,000 passengers,” said Perry Cooper, spokesman for Sea-Tac International Airport. “That didn’t even come close to what we have daily during the summer.”

On Tuesday, A4A forecasted that 43.3 million travelers will fly on U.S. airlines during the Dec. 21–Jan. 4 period. That’s a 1 percent drop from last year which works out to about 20,000 fewer passengers per day.

That should translate into fewer people in the terminal although it may not always feel that way. “Airports may appear busier because of travelers who are unfamiliar with the kiosks or security or how the boarding process goes,” said Debby McElroy, executive vice president of policy and external affairs at Airports Council International, a trade group.

“It may seem like it’s taking longer when, in fact, there may not be more travelers at all,” she told msnbc.com.

To help facilitate traffic flow, airports are beefing up their staffs of volunteer ambassadors, keeping travelers advised through social media and rolling out programs to minimize hassles. At Los Angeles International Airport, for example, 70 red-vested volunteers will be roaming the terminals offering assistance as part of the airport’s N.I.C.E. (Neutralize Irritations Customers Experience) program.

Across the country, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is offering free gift-wrapping post-security on Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to forestall situations where passengers slow down screening procedures by trying to bring pre-wrapped gifts through security.

Even TSA is expected to play a role in easing the airport experience as new procedures — including a new helpline for fliers with disabilities and medical conditions and recently announced regulations allowing children under 12 to keep their shoes on — should help cut security wait times, providing some relief to both parents and other travelers.

Of course, all the pre-planning in the world will be for naught if travelers are subject to a repeat of “Snowmageddon,” the holiday storm that slammed the East Coast last winter and led to the cancellation of thousands of flights. In that case, airports will once again fulfill their reputation as madhouses jammed with masses of angry, frustrated people.

“The struggle nowadays is that planes are so full that if you do run into a problem and have to cancel a flight, there’s nowhere to put those passengers,” said Cooper. “Trying to put those 200 people into [seats the airlines] don’t have can take days.”

But even there, suggests Lott, summer still trumps the holidays in terms of passenger inconvenience: “A bad thunderstorm in July is oftentimes more disruptive than a bad snowstorm because there’s usually little advance warning,” he said. “At least with a snowstorm, you can sometimes have several days of advance warning that a weather event is on its way.”

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Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

'Tis the season for traveling like Santa and his elves, with tons of gifts and packages in tow.

The Transportation Security Administration has several reminders for travelers bringing their holiday gifts onto a flight.

First off, remember that any liquid, aerosol or gel items are subject to the 3.4-ounce limit for carry-ons.

That includes these popular holiday foods, treats and gifts: cranberry sauce; cologne; creamy dips and spreads (including cheeses and peanut butter); gift baskets with food items such as salsa, jams and salad dressings; gravy; jams; jellies; lotions; maple syrup; oils and vinegars; perfume; salad dressing; salsa; sauces; snow globes; soups; wine, liquor and beer.

Pies and cakes can be brought through security, but are subject to additional screening (whatever that means! A TSA taste test maybe?).

Fliers are permitted to travel with wrapped gifts, but if the gifts set off the security alarm or there are any red flags, security officers may have to peel away your pretty paper take a closer look inside.

“We recommend passengers wrap gifts after their flight or ship them ahead of time, to avoid the possibility of having to open them during the screening process,” TSA advises.

So, really think about what’s in those packages, as it’s easy to forget about the contents once they’re wrapped.

Case and point, I was flying with gifts for my brother and his family one year, when airport security pulled me aside to tell me there was a foot-long knife in my carry-on. I couldn’t believe what they were telling me, and turned bright red and flustered. As it turned out, I had packed an at-home, sushi-making set for my brother that, indeed, included a foot-long sushi knife. But because it had been a couple weeks since I had wrapped it, I forgot about the knife. They confiscated the blade and I had to gift the sushi set minus one of its main ingredients.

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Santa is in the house.

At least it may feel that way for travelers staying at some hotels this Christmas. From hosting private shopping events to delivering actual gifts, hotels and resorts are helping take some of the stress out of holiday shopping.

“Hotels are trying to figure out ways to simplify people’s lives while differentiating themselves from the competition,” said Glenn Haussman, editor-in-chief of HotelInteractive.com. “They’re saying, ‘We’ll take care of some of that holiday worry you’re feeling.’ ”

Consider some of this season’s more distinctive deals:

The Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel: Stores across the country are out of stock on this year’s hot kids’ gift — the Let’s Rock Elmo and Leapfrog LeapPad tablets — but this hotel on New York’s Upper East Side has them. Through December 31, guests booking the Santa’s Shopper package will receive the Let's Rock Elmo or LeapPad of their choice and other special amenities upon arrival. Nightly rates start at $780.

AKA Rittenhouse Square: On Monday, Dec. 19, this extended-stay hotel in Philadelphia will host a private shopping experience in conjunction with Kiehl’s, the maker of skin- and hair-care products. Guests can enjoy complimentary cocktails and appetizers, browse products that can be delivered to their suites and receive $20 in credit for purchases of $65 or more. Nightly rates start at $195.

The Peabody Orlando: During the hotel’s second annual “Stop In & Shop” event (Dec. 20–23), the hotel spa will create and wrap gift kits and baskets designed to help men find appropriate last-minute gifts for their significant others. Kits are $10 and up; nightly rates start at $150.

For The Peabody, the Stop In & Shop event continues a tradition of going above and beyond to ensure guests enjoy the holidays. Last year, for example, after a family staying at the hotel missed their flight home, the father expressed his dismay that his children wouldn’t get their presents on Christmas morning.

To prevent that, the hotel staff helped the guest track down gifts, wrapped and placed them under the large decorated tree in the lobby and invited the family to come down and open them at midnight on Christmas Eve.

“They got to celebrate Christmas under the tree,” said Marshall Kelberman, director of rooms, “and it was nice for us to be part of their family like that.”

Not surprisingly, The Carlyle’s LeapPad project took a bit more advance planning. According to managing director Erich Steinbock, the hotel attracts many guests who are visiting family in the area and, as a result, is well-integrated into the neighborhood.

“We talked with some of the mothers and fathers in the neighborhood in October and asked them what they thought the hot toys would be this year and what they thought the stores would run out of,” he told msnbc.com. With the two LeapPads topping the list, the hotel bought a dozen of each.

“It’s wonderful for parents or grandparents coming to visit family to know they already have the toy and don’t have to be stressed out about it,” said Steinbock. “The stores are so crowded now that if someone doesn’t enjoy that atmosphere, this is a great way out.”

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Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.