June 20, 2008
We’re only taking a short vacation this year. Not quite the “staycation” that plenty of folks are doing to save on gas, but almost. We’ll be driving a few hours to a port on the other side of Florida and getting on a cruise. Previously, we had looked at renting a vacation home or cabin and driving somewhere for a week, but gas is way too expensive to think about going on a 1,000 mile drive.
If you’re thinking about your own vacation plans, and want to try having a “staycation”, you don’t need to stay at home. Just think about places within a short drive of your hometown that will be like a vacation to visit. Siesta Key hotels are one such option for residents of Tampa Bay. Siesta Key is located in the Sarasota area, just two hours south, but it’s a whole ‘nother world. Or even Destin vacation rentals up in the Florida panhandle. Live in Denver? Check into Breckenridge lodging and take advantage of the summer sports and outdoor activities that a ski area offers. No matter where you live, you can find vacation homes and rentals are Rentalo.com, and what I’ve found is that many owners are offering GREAT deals to entice people to rent in this time of economic crisis. We’ve watched the price on the rental we almost got drop several times. No matter if you want to rent a house, or a hotel room, or a bedt and breakfast - Rentalo.com can give you the hookup to make your staycation a bit more interesting.
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May 9, 2008
We’re finally firming up our summer vacation plans!
We only have enough time for a quick getaway. With Jim and I both attending school full time through the summer, and the kids starting back in August, we’re almost going to be too busy for a vacation. I think we’re going to do a cruise, but it got me thinking about the great vacation we took last summer to Canada. I’d love to go back. Toronto was fab, Montreal was amazing, and Niagara Falls was incredible. If we ever went back, I’d love to go further north into Quebec City!
One of the reasons we’re not taking a big trip like that, aside from the time factor, is that I’ve already got a weekend trip to Orlando in the works for September, and another trip to New York City for October. The Orlando trip is for IzeaFest, which was held in Las Vegas last year under the name “PostieCon”. I’m so excited that it’s going down in Florida this year! Not only does it mean I can drive there instead of fly, but Orlando is home turf for Izea, meaning all of their staff can attend! I’m planning on hooking up with quite a few bloggers there, so my peeps better be on the lookout for a cheap flight to Orlando! Those of you entertaining the thought of coming from the U.K. should check out the deals on DialAFlight.com. Come for IzeaFest…stay for Disney!
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April 24, 2008
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Boston for a business trip. I can say I’ve “been to Boston”, but I didn’t exactly see the sights. My plan got into Logan Airport in the evening, and it was already dark by the time we got a rental car. I drove out to the suburbs (Waltham) to my hotel and checked in just before midnight, and then spent 2 days at the Boston office of my employer. Back to the airport and the trip was over…wheee!
I am a HUGE history geek so Boston is a place I want to get to soon! (Watching John Adams on HBO these past few weeks has only reinforced that interest) There are all kinds of fun and historical things to do in Boston! How about a ghost and gravestones tour? Or walking along the Boston Freedom Trail? There’s even a walking tour of Plymouth that will give you insight into how the pilgrims once lived in the area. Sightseeing tours are such a great way to learn about a city like Boston.
If you’re worried about finding your way around town, enter to win a handheld GPS from Trusted Tours & Attractions just by signing up for their newsletter!
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April 7, 2008
IzeaFest 2008 is in just 5 months, and the event is being held in Orlando this year. There’s been lots of discussion on the Izea message boards about where to stay and what to do, and I’m right in the middle of it. My friend Julie wants to stay on Disney property, near Downtown Disney, so I gave her the scoop on the Disney owned hotels closest to Downtown Disney, as well as the non Disney hotels just around the corner. Hey, you make enough trips to Disney, you learn a thing or two!
Now, I thought I knew about every single hotel located near Downtown Disney, but I didn’t know about all of the Lake Buena Vista Hotels. (The Lake Buena Vista hotels are the ones closest to Downtown Disney, and are right off I-4 - close to Sea World and Universal too! These hotels are so popular when it comes to meetings and events. I went to a conference at one years ago, and it was such a great location. The Orlando Vista Hotel is now the latest to become one of the official
American Urological Association hotels…because they’re hosting the 2008 American Urological Association Annual Meeting.
The Orlando Vista Hotel is the hotel of choice is you’re attending the AUA convention. It’s walking distance to restaurants like Olive Garden, Pizzeria Uni, Chili’s, Chevy’s, and more. There’s a Gooding’s super market close by, and you’re just a half mile from the entrance to Downtown Disney® Pleasure Island!
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March 24, 2008
I’m just itching to plan another vacation. We can’t settle on the family vacation just yet, due to scheduling conflicts, so the next trip I’ve got on the books is my Avon Walk in New York City this October. At this point it looks like the friend I’ll be traveling with is agreeable to staying an extra day in the city to explore (provided we’re not too exhausted from the walk), and I’m excited about that! I haven’t been to New York City in years and years, not since I was in high school. On that trip, we visited Ellis Island, walked all over mid town Manhattan, and caught a Broadway show…but we skipped the Metropolitan Museum of Art - no time!
I think before our walk starts on Friday it would be neat to take a quick tour of the city to get our bearings. Trusted Tours & Attractions offers tours in NYC and also lists things to do in New York on their tours page, for those of you who want to go it alone. Jim is dying to take the kids on a trip to the Big Apple, so I’m all for hearing about family vacation ideas, but October will be an adults only trip. Sex and the City tour, anyone?
While I’m on the topic of NYC, I should tell you about my 2nd trip there. I was 9 or so, and my parents took me to the city for the day, along with our exchange student we had that semester. While we were eating pizza at Sbarro, my mom put her purse on the floor…guess what was missing when we got up? We never saw anyone come NEAR our table or the chairs, so we were shocked to realize her purse had been stolen. When we got back to New Jersey that night, where we were staying with my grandmother, a man got in touch with us - he had found the purse under his car and tracked us down! Her money (only $10) was missing, and she had already canceled the credit cards, but it’s amazing that someone found the purse and went through the trouble of finding her, isn’t it?
Trusted Tours is also giving away an IPod Nano to one lucky newsletter subscriber. Just visit the Trusted Tours & Attractions newsletter sign-up page to get registered and win!
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February 28, 2008
My son recently watched all of the Lord of the Ring movies, and after I told him the movie was filmed in New Zealand, he’s been hot to travel there. That combined with his love of the Crocodile Hunter (may he rest in peace!) means that the boy would be quite happy with a vacation down under. I won’t be booking the family on a flight to Australia anytime soon though - that’s a major undertaking! We’d need passports for the kids, for starters, and Australia is a big place. It’s definitely the kind of place you’d need at least two full weeks to really enjoy all that the country has to offer. Visiting Australia and just seeing two of it’s major cities would be like visiting the U.S.A and only seeing New York and Washington, D.C. - you’d miss out on everything else the place has to offer!
I’d love to spend a few days in Sydney, and then go into the outback to see kangaroos and koalas in person. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef would be a must do - just keep me away from the dangerous sea creatures! Speaking of sea creatures, another must see would be the whales migration along the Sapphire Coast. The whales can be seen in September, October, and November as they migrate to Antarctica.
Last but not least, we’d need to visit the Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, made famous by Steve Irwin. My kids were (and are) huge fans of his programs. I think it would be neat to visit in person and see the animals and people we’ve only seen on TV up till now!
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February 27, 2008
We frequently entertain the notion of buying property out of state, in the mountains “somewhere”. Up until last year, “somewhere” was always defined as being North Carolina or Tennessee, in the areas of either Boone or Gatlinburg we’ve visited so often on vacation. Both vacation spots are only a (long) day’s drive from our home in Florida, acreage is still affordable, and the views can’t be beat. It was only after my friend Amy’s trip to Virginia that it occurred to us we might be missing out on something in that state as well. Amy went to Catawba, Virginia, and the pictures she shared with me later were amazing. I never realized that corner of Virginia was so pretty, having only enjoyed the state from my drives along I-95 in the past.
I immediately went online to check out the major real estate sites for listings in this pretty area outside of Blacksburg, Virginia, and was sorely disappointed by the options. I don’t even think Realtor.com recognized that the area existed, and I found two parcels for sale - TWO! By comparison, Drodio.com provides you with every single town in the state, from Arlington real estate to Yorktown, Virginia. The area around Blacksburg is represented as part of Roanoke, and you have the option of browsing all listings, viewing listing locations on a map, or creating a custom search for properties you’re interested in. All of the listings are shown on a Google map, so you can see at a glance what listings exist, and in which towns. It’s very user friendly, and I can see the site becoming a huge distraction for me!
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February 17, 2008
With one “adult only” vacation under our belt, there have been several dinner table discussions in our home about where our next family vacation should take us. Last year we went to Canada, visiting Toronto, Montreal, and Niagara Falls. Before that it was the mountains of North Carolina, for a week long skiing trip. And before that, it was a cruise to Grand Cayman, Mexico, and Jamaica. The cruise idea has been brought up more than once, and the children are raring to go out onto the seas again. Even Jim is chomping at the bit, which is funny to me, considering I had to practically drag him on our first cruise together back in 2001. He was convinced he’d be bored and wouldn’t enjoy it at all. That’s exactly why I love cruising - you can either have a mellow experience, reading books and relaxing for a few days, or you can take advantage of all of the activities planned on board and go go go for a week straight!
We’ve pretty much exhausted our travel options in the Caribbean, having been to the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Mexico. Or sure, there’s the Southern Caribbean, and the Eastern Caribbean tours, but I’m itching to see something different. We checked into Alaskan cruises, but the idea of a Hawaii travel cruise has my interest piqued as well. There are new cruises which start in Hawaii and end in Hawaii, meaning that you get to see only Hawaii for 7 days of cruise. The other cruise start in the Pacific, so part of your cruise time is spent staring at nothing for several days. The all Hawaii cruises would be my first preference, and they visit Oahu, Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui. You can even add to your experience by booking a hotel room for before or after your trip.
Sounds like pure heaven…but hey, if Hawaii isn’t your thing, there are any number of vacations to luxury destinations around the world…just pick one and go!
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January 30, 2008
While we were in Amsterdam this month, we had the chance to visit the Anne Frank House, or Anne Frank Huis as it’s known in Amsterdam. I’ve always been fascinated with Anne Frank, the Holocaust, and World War II in general, and since I was unable to visit a concentration camp on this trip, I was extremely excited to be able to see the house instead.
I’ve probably fail at putting it into words, but it was definitely one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. Not “getting married” overwhelming, or “having a kid” overwhelming, but overwhelming in the sense that I was standing in the same place where people hid for 2 years in order to save their lives. Standing and walking around in the same place where this girl wrote in her diary, not knowing what would happen to her family. It was an amazing feeling and I felt as if I had stepped back in history.
I can’t share any pictures of the inside of the home unfortunately, because it is a museum now and taking pictures isn’t allowed. I did snap some photos of the outside of the Anne Frank House and they’re on Flickr. The outside is very nondescript, and had it not been marked with a sign and the entrance to a museum, we might have walked on by. We actually had trouble finding it because there was no one outside, waiting in line.
Let me back up though - we left our hotel and walked across town, through Dam Square, and down Raadhuisstraat, which turns into Rozengracht. Once we got to the church at Westermarkt, we turned right and walked down Prinsengracht to the museum, which is located just south of Prinsengracht 263, the address of Anne’s House. The museum foundation has purchased the homes next to Anne’s in order to build a museum and offices in which to run the museum from, but the Frank house remains as it was back in the 1940’s. You enter into a museum display area, and then into the house, walking through the lower levels first, where Otto Frank’s business was run during their time in hiding, and then up the leg breaker of a staircase to a room at the back of the building. There’s a doorway built into the walk, with a bookcase covering it up. This is the doorway to the secret annex.
Now, some of you may have heard this story with a secret attic. The family didn’t really hide in an attic, it was more like an addition at the back of the office building that was only accessible by this staircase. The annex looks just as it did on August 4, 1944, the day the family was taken away by the Gestapo. Anne’s movie star pictures are on the wall, there is one small toilet for 8 people to share, and the windows are covered with heavy blackout curtains. It was literally like stepping back in time. Each of the rooms in the annex and the office is marked, giving information about the people who worked in the offices downstairs, and the people who hid upstairs. Videos play showing the co-conspirators telling their own story of how they helped the 8 in hiding. One in particular, Miep Gies, is still living! She’s going to be 100 years old and she not only provided the family with food during their time in hiding, but she found Anne’s diary when they were taken away and saved it for Otto Frank.
At the end of the tour, you exit the house and enter the museum, where videos are shown of the concentration camps that victims ended up in, and actual records of the Frank family from the camps. As you probably know, Otto Frank is the only one who survived, and he decided to honor Anne’s wishes to become a famous writer by publishing her diary, with minor edits.
When I returned home, I pulled up the official Anne Frank Museum website to show my children the pictures and stories. 
It was there that I found this picture, taken when Nazi troops entered the city of Amsterdam. It was an eerie feeling to recognize the street in this picture as being one I had just walked down, and as a street just one block away from Prinsengracht 263. The church in the center of the frame, with the tall steeple and trees, is in a photo I took here, behind the flower market. The street looks very much the same today, and never before have I felt such a sense of history as I looked at a photo. Looking at it now almost gives me the shivers, to know that I’ve stood in the places where history happened.
Anne Frank’s House was easily the best thing I saw in Amsterdam, and probably the highlight of all of my travels across the world. If you’re ever in Amsterdam, you can’t miss seeing the house.
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January 28, 2008
At dinner earlier this week with the kids, talk turned to planning our next family vacation. Catherine suggested a trip to the British Isles, Grace wants to return to Tennessee, and Matthew would like to go to France. I don’t foresee any overseas travel in our immediate future, and apparently, neither does Jim, because he’s proposed returning to Canada. Since we saw Ontario and Quebec this past summer, he’d like to take a flight to Vancouver and see the Canadian Rockies. He had a friend who went last year and enjoyed it quite a bit. The mountains my kids have seen thus far aren’t anywhere near as big as the Rockies, so I’m sure my little flat landers would be taken with them.
In the winter of course, there’s skiing and other snow sports to keep you busy, and in the summer there’s hiking, biking, boating, and more. Just outside of Vancouver is Hell’s Gate, where you can take an airtram over the white water rapids below. Since Matthew didn’t like the Maid of the Mist at Niagara (too wet) perhaps he’d like a birds eye view of rushing water instead?
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