Vacation - Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip

Lucas “Do-dah”

July 2, 2009 by Mary Cardwell

After a rather sleepless stop over in Rochester NY, we decided to pull up our bootstraps, buckle down the hatches and head to our friends in Sullivan OH, an hour southwest of Cleveland. At the time, we had no idea just how smart of a decision this was. Due to technical difficulties, our visit was extended by a couple days but thanks to Cindi and Bill, nothing dampened our vacation spirit!

Dennis drove all the way from MA to OH, so when he asked me to take over the wheel somewhere west of the OH border, I gladly obliged. Most of the roads to this point were long, long stretches of straight highway with little traffic so as a novice RV’er I figured even I could do this. Little did he know (…or did he?…) we were only about 15 miles outside the Cleveland city limits. After hours of silence, Betty (we named our GPS) starts screaming at me to prepare for a left exit, then a right exit, then a keep on the current road followed by a highway change. We went from 2 lanes to 4 lanes down to 3 lanes – traffic entering from every direction! I’m still not sure the real reason for Dennis’s sinister laugh – maybe he was nervous for me? Maybe because my knuckles were the same shade of white as my grandmother’s hair? Maybe it was my colorful commentary about each vehicle that came within 200 feet of us? Or maybe it was his relief that I was behind the wheel and not him?

Ohio Amish

Either way, we made it to Sullivan without a scratch and a promise that I’ll never have to do that again!

Central Ohio was more beautiful than I expected. Acres upon acres of rolling corn fields and dairy farms intertwined with Amish farms. It wasn’t uncommon to see horse and buggie traveling past the house. We decided to take a drive to Akron and see the Cleveland Indians AAA team, the Akron Areos. For sports fans, I highly recommend minor league ball games. The cost is a fraction of major league games, parking is a breeze and the crowds are minimal. The kids were jazzed that we were only 6 rows behind home plate.

Winning smiles

There were enough open seats that the adults scooted back a couple rows to spread out and give the kids some much appreciated independence. We were close enough, however, to hear the laughter when the announced the first batter for the opposing team…”Now batting, number 34, Lucas Duda” and Luke’s new nickname “Do-dah!” was born.

Future Inductees

The next day, we took the opportunity to head to the big city. This time Dennis drove and we were both mentally prepared. We set the GPS to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Downtown Cleveland. I visited the Rock Hall last time I came to see Cindi and I was very excited for the kids to see everything. It did not disappoint. Cam loved Bon Jovi’s motorcycle and Dennis and Luke bonded over the stage props from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Anything to make Mom happy

For our last full day in OH, we decided to take in the local sights. Passing through a small portion of Amish country, we visited an old fashion cheese barn and candy store. Luke said he was so excited he felt like a kid in a candy store, literally! I couldn’t resist the blueberry cheesecake fudge. Yum! Dennis got a real chuckle out of the local version of the washer toss gamed called “corn hole board.” He may have even bought one if it wasn’t $75!

Next stop is Mount Rushmore for the July 4th Celebrations. If the moon and stars align, we should be there in plenty of time to see the country’s largest fireworks display Friday night. Internet access may be limited but we’ll get something posted as quickly as possible.

Thanks again Cindi, Bill, Maddie and Zack. We loved every minute of our visit and can’t thank you enough for being such wonderful hosts!!!

TIPS:

Visit local attractions not just big city or tourist areas. You may find a hidden treasure like Grandpa’s Cheese Barn!
Take in a local minor league or college sporting event. Prices and crowds are reasonable.
If you do visit popular tourist spots, plan ahead by knowing the hours, where to park and featured exhibits.
Be flexible and relax enough to enjoy your current situation. Plans change and make sure you are able to roll with the punches and not let the little things spoil your good times!

Or maybe this year it’s a Staycation

June 2, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Unless they’ve been saving for the trip of a lifetime this summer, many families are opting for staycations this year. They may also be cutting back on expensive summer camps, leaving more time for idle hands to get into trouble (or on your last nerve).

Here are some ideas for how to enjoy the summer, and your kids, without dipping into what’s left of your retirement savings.

If your work situation permits, don’t take all your vacation days in a single week. Instead, spread them out over the whole summer. This gives the kids something to look forward to, not to mention something you can use to motivate good behavior.

Consider taking some days off in the middle of the week rather than bracketing a weekend. Popular attractions like amusement and water parks tend to be less crowded mid-week so you’ll get more for your admission dollars.

Check to see if the local swim/tennis/country club has a summer family membership. The chi chi swanky ones may not, but smaller health clubs rely on the extra income to pay for the outdoor pool and required lifeguard staff. Even if you work full-time at an office, there are a few hours every night plus weekends, giving every day a little vacation feel.

Coordinate with the parents of your children’s friends to take a groups of kids someplace one day in exchange for them taking the kids another. This is harder to organize if you have more than a couple kids, as the group can get somewhat large, but if you work out of a home office, those extra days of peace are well worth the one or two harried days with a gaggle of kids at the science museum or aquarium.

Looking for ideas on where to go? Consider going back to the places the kids went on field trips during the school year. They’ll generally be within an one hour drive, and guaranteed, your kids did not see everything in the couple hours they had at the attraction unless it is very small. They’ll also enjoy showing you around a place they’ve already seen, plus getting to stop in the gift shop. Give them a budget in advance ($3-5). If they earn an allowance, tell them you’ll supplement with a few dollars but they are spending their own money. Otherwise you’ll be spending the end of a lovely day arguing about crummy souvenirs.

We’re spoiled, living in eastern Massachusetts. Old Sturbridge Village, Plimoth Plantation, Fruitlands, Strawbery Banke, Concord and Lexington, Boston, Salem and the North Shore, Falmouth and the Upper Cape are all located within a 90 minute drive. Not to mention hiking and swimming, lakes, ponds, mountains and ocean.

But every region has its charms, history, activities. If you’ve already hit all the obvious ones in your area , dig around a bit. There’s bound to be something you haven’t discovered yet.

For example, recently I was a speaker at a local chamber event held at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts. Yes, you read that right. Museum of Russian Icons. Over the years and many trips to Russia, local businessman Gordon Lankton had acquired a large number of Russian icons. He considered donating them to established museums, but they would only exhibit a few at a time. So, he founded the Museum of Russian Icons. The collection includes about 340 Russian icons, the largest collection of its kind in North America and one of the largest private collections outside of Russia. They offer kids’ activities of the scavenger hunt variety, so good for older kids, but I would not recommend it for very young children. Local folks might want to combine it with a visit to the Davis Farmland Corn Maze in August/September.

Discounts & reciprocal admissions. If you are a member of AAA or other travel clubs, check for discounts at attractions (and hotels too). We saved money on our Gatorland tickets this spring due to our AAA membership. We’ve also saved money at places like the LaBrea Tarpits in LA and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh due to our memberships in home museums like the Museum of Science and Museum of Fine Arts. It never hurts to ask what discounts are available.

Overnights. Sometimes the place you want to go is just a little bit out of comfortable driving range. Do an overnight, but don’t skimp on the hotel. At a minimum, make sure it has a pool. Many attractions will have a two-day ticket that isn’t that much more expensive than the one-day admission. Drive down in the morning, spend a few hours at the attraction and then adjourn to the hotel pool. In the morning, you can swim and then sightsee, or just go right to the attraction. Drive home in the afternoon; you’ll be home for dinner.

Bottom line? It’s about spending time together as a family doing things you all enjoy. Your kids will remember a long weekend that everyone enjoyed with as much — perhaps more — joy than a forced march through Disney. Some of my best travel memories are of short trips taken with my mom and brother when I was a kid. Perhaps not the most luxurious (lawn furniture in the motel room) but good times.

That’s what we want to duplicate for our kids. Regardless of the economy. The good news? You can. You just have to be clever and flexible about your plans. Whether you take a vacation or staycation, there are lots of options for those who look.

What To Pack

May 25, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. On one hand, it’s a somber holiday during which we remember and celebrate those who’ve served in our nation’s military.

On the other, it’s the traditional start of summer, although the calendar doesn’t catch up for another three-four weeks. Backyard barbecues. The beach. Hiking in the mountains.

The family summer vacation.

After you’ve decided where to go and what to do, you still have the really tough decision ahead of you: What To Pack.

Here are some tips I’ve gathered over about 30 years of regular travel, including the last nine packing for my son as well as myself.

Make a list and pack early. This prevents last minute laundry because you (or your child) wore something you really wanted to bring. Lay out everything by category (underwear, pajamas, swim clothes, shoes, socks, dressy clothes if necessary, casual clothes, sports clothes, even jewelry). Then put about half of it back. Folks almost always pack too much, forgetting that unless you are going totally off the grid, you can probably find a place to do laundry or a store to pick up extra socks. And if you are totally off the grid, who cares if your clothes aren’t exactly… pristine. Just do us all a favor and pack extra underwear.

Exceptions to this rule:

Packing the diaper bag for a baby or toddler if you are not going to have access to your luggage for more than a few hours. Add a couple extra outfits and more diapers/pull-ups than you think you could ever possibly need. I learned this lesson the hard way. When Douglas was one, we were flying home from Europe, starting in Paris, changing in Zurich and then home. I packed the carry-on with enough stuff for a full day. Then our Zurich to Boston flight was delayed by SIX hours. Douglas got sick to his stomach and blew through two outfits in an hour. Literally. At the time (don’t know about now), they did not sell baby clothes or diapers inside security at the Zurich airport. We were hanging on by a thread with only one diaper to spare when we finally landed in Boston.
Short trips, especially business trips. Pack exactly what you plan to wear for every day and then add one business casual outfit in case the trip gets extended or someone dumps their soup on you.

Car trip versus plane trip: There’s a temptation to bring more when you are traveling by car versus flying to your destination. Resist! You still have to get it from the car into your accommodations.

If you are flying, try to keep everyone to one checked bag, a backpack and another small carry-on (purse, camera bag). Pack a spare bag for the inevitable souvenirs, but unless you are flying Southwest with free checked bags, consider mailing your souvenirs home. Costs about the same as that second bag on most domestic airlines, with the added convenience of not having to deal with it at the airport. We once shipped our hiking boots back from California. This was well before all the added bag fees; we did it because once we left Yosemite, we didn’t need all our hiking gear in Sacramento and San Francisco.

Sports gear: If you are driving, you can bring your own. If you are flying, consider renting when you get to your destination, especially if you don’t plan to do the activity every day. Typically, we’ll bring our ski boots and golf shoes/gloves, but rent skis and clubs at our destination. If you are going on a golf vacation where the entire time will be spent golfing, you probably want your own clubs, but for a family vacation where you might play once, maybe twice, renting at the course is fine. On a ski vacation, renting the skis lets you try the latest models, but you’ve got the comfort of your own boots.

Staying in a timeshare or rental with a kitchen? If you like to, and plan to, cook, on your vacation, bring some of your favorite spices in small jars or baggies. A lot easier than buying full size jars of everything.

Lifesavers:

DVD player, some favorite shows, and if budget permits, one new DVD just for the trip. Especially useful for younger children who can’t yet read or play video games. Be sure to road test the headphones before the trip. Kids can be picky about the headset and you don’t want to find this out at 30,000 feet. You can also get a splitter so two people, each with their own headset, can share the same screen.

For older kids, portable video game player of your choice. We’re a Nintendo family and Douglas just got a new Nintendo DSi. Be sure to get a spare charger and a car charger. Rocketfish has a combo pack that includes both, available at Best Buy.

A netbook. If you are driving to your destination, and plan to work (or blog), by all means bring the big ole laptop. Flying? Even only now and again. Get a netbook and a high capacity USB drive to transfer your work from home machine to netbook. There are lots of choices — I have an Acer AspireOne which I love, and my brother recently got an HP netbook.

At the moment I do not have a lot of domestic trips planned where I won’t have Internet access already (Vermont house, BlogHer) so I can’t justfy it, but if I were doing a lot of US travel, I also would definitely invest in a MiFi wireless router. Many US hotels charge you $10 per day for Internet. Do the math. Verizon’s MiFi plans are very affordable if you are on the road a lot, and doubly, triply so if you are with colleagues or family members who also need access.

Last words. You will forget something. Don’t sweat it. Even prescription medications can be dealt with remotely, though it can be a pain in the ass so try to NOT forget those. What do I tend to forget? My hairbrush. It’s always in the “other” suitcase, the one we didn’t bring on this trip. Luckily, you can buy hairbrushes almost everywhere in the world. Trust me. I have.

Theme Park Survival 101

May 7, 2009 by Susan Getgood

A theme park holiday — whether Disney, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens or Universal — is a bit like a forced march. You pay so much for your multi-day ticket, you feel like you have to go every day, all day.

NO. You don’t.

On our last vacation to Orlando, I took a sanity day and let everyone else go off to Disney’s Animal Kingdom while I stayed back at the timeshare, did a little work and got a massage. They all came back full of the new rollercoaster Expedition Everest, and while I am sure I would have enjoyed the ride, I enjoyed my day off even more.

Don’t be afraid to take a day off. Hang out at the pool, go shopping, visit some local attractions. Every day doesn’t have to be a theme park day.

Really.

An oddball attraction that we really enjoyed on a visit to Orlando in 2006 was the Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud. We didn’t make it back on the most recent trip, but I highly recommend it. Don’t miss the twice daily shows when they extract venom from rattlers for use in various medicines.

Reptile World

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Destination Orlando (April 2009)

April 21, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Susan and the Gatorland Python

This year, we decided to spend April school vacation at our timeshare in Orlando, Florida, and invited Dave’s sister and her family to join us. We figured we could handle the confusion of the adults basically sharing two names among us — his sister is Suzanne, I’m Susan and both men are Davids — in exchange for the kids, our son and their two daughters, being able to spend a week together.

I’ll have all sorts of stories to share, including how I ended up at the tail end of the python at Gatorland, but for now I want to share two tips.

First, if you are flying Southwest, and plan to check-in online, be sure you do it EXACTLY at the 24-hour mark when the window opens. We forgot, didn’t try until 10 pm, about 22 hours before the flight. and couldn’t check-in because the airline had already used up its quota of online check-ins. As friends on Twitter last Thursday night already know, I was pretty irritated, mostly because I was worried that Douglas might have to sit by himself.

The happy ending to our story is that the Southwest employees on the ground at Manchester Airport were very accommodating and let us board at family boarding. Lesson learned though. Southwest has online check-in for a brief window 24 hours prior to the flight time. After that, you have to check-in at the airport; we got there four hours before the flight and were in the top of the C group. I’m almost certain we would have been split up.

I’m a Southwest shareholder, and it kills me to say this, but: if you are flying with kids between four and 10 years old, who really should not sit alone, and you can’t make that 24-hour check-in window, you might be better off paying more to one of the other airlines with assigned seating and baggage fees.

Tip number two is Orlando specific. If your flight arrives late in the evening, consider staying at the Hyatt in the airport your first night. It is literally right in the airport between the two terminals. Our flight arrived at 10pm, we got our luggage and rolled it over to the hotel and by 11pm we were having a snack in the hotel restaurant. The next morning we had a quick swim in the pool and watched the planes before rolling our bags over to the car rental counter.

—

Travel Tips in this post:

Don’t miss the brief window for online check-in for Southwest. Twenty-four hours before the flight EXACTLY or plan on a middle seat.
Arriving in Orlando on a late flight? Consider the Hyatt for your first night.

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