This purpose of this blog is simple. It is to get people like you traveling.
Whether you think you are too busy, it’s not worth it with young kids, or the effort it takes to make a trip happen is too great; I am here to help.
I promise you, once you are in the midst of your trip you will realise it was all worth it and hopefully never look back.
You will never regret memories being made from exploring and experiencing new places, either alone, with friends, with your spouse or significant other or as a family.
In this blog, I will share trips that I have planned. I will provide the details and the research I completed prior to the trip and have it neatly packaged for you to use to plan your next getaway.
The trips are separated into destinations and I provide all of the details, so you can use some of my suggestions, such as hotels, restaurants and unique places to visit or even recreate the trip yourself.
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Lets jet set off to Boston from Los Angeles. First things first, we have to book our flights. You know me and my love of a good deal, and we found exactly that on Frontier https://www.flyfrontier.com/ . We chose Frontier due to their promotion of KIDS FLY FREE (up to 16 years) on some roundtrip flights (if you are a part of the Discount Den, $59.99/annually). This promotion worked perfect for our situation, as we were gifting this trip to my mom as a retirement present, so we had three adults and three kids flying and only paid for three round trip tickets. As a note for Frontier, you can find some amazing deals. I once flew from Los Angeles to Denver for $7.00!
On the drive to Chatham, we stopped at Pilgrim Memorial State Park for some slushies and to get a first hand look at Plymouth Rock. It is an actual rock you can view. It does have a fence around it so you are not able to touch it. Plymouth Rock is located next to a gorgeous harbor with boats and a river running near the town in the Brewster Gardens area. If we had more time, I think this adorable spot would be a wonderful place to spend the day.
We arrived to our Airbnbhttp://www.airbnb.com at grabbed some coffee at Monomoy Coffee Company, which is now called Chatham Perk https://www.chathamperk.com/ The entire downtown area is adorable in Chatham and had some cute shops and restaurants.
The next day we walked around fabulous homes in South Chatham and played “if we won the lottery…” and visited a beach with a library style shovel and bucket wall to share. The beaches have “Be Shark Smart” signs all over, which was a bit intimidating, but the water was amazing and we felt safe, even in the water close to the shore.
After our morning at the We ate lunch at Sandi’s Diner, where the motto is “Sandi’s Diner, Nothing is Finer”…however it too has now been sold and it now called Lily’s diner https://lilysdiner.wordpress.com/everday-menu/
After lunch we walked down to the beach near the U.S. Coast Guard Chatham. We found a spot at Chatham Lighthouse Beach and relaxed for the afternoon, building sandcastles, playing in the water and taking pictures with the lifeguards. Being from the west coast, the east coast ocean always feels so warm and refreshing.
That evening we went to Chatham Bars Inn https://www.chathambarsinn.com/ for Happy Hour and to take in the view. This is an absolute must see and was gorgeous! We sat in adirondack chairs, on a hill overlooking the ocean and then ended the day with ice cream and grabbed the http://vineyardferries.com map to plan the rest of our adventures. We would be leaving from Woods Hole, MA to Martha’s Vineyard, with a stop in Hyannis Port along the way.
The next afternoon we drove to Hyannis Port. I have a slight obsession with the Kennedy Family and wanted to see the Kennedy Compound. We were able to drive to the block on Marchant Avenue where the homes are located. Three homes make up the Kennedy compound and Ethel Kennedy still lives in 20 Marchant Avenue; however the “big house” located at 50 Marchant Avenue was donated to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate in 2013.
In Hyannis Port, we found shells, walked on the beach and headed to Woods Hole to catch the ferry. The ferry was an easy trip to Oak Bluffs where we sat on the top level to breathe in the ocean air and feel the wind in our hair as we made our way to Martha’s Vineyard. Once we arrived, we ate lunch at Fishbones Bar and Grille https://fishbones-mv.com/, walked around Edgartown, of course had to visit Lily Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines and made our way back to South Boston after our day trip. I have visited Martha’s Vineyard twice on day trips and would love to stay the night next time. My recommendation is for the Harbor View Hotel & Resort and Kelley House in Edgartown https://harborviewhotel.com/ I worked with the previous general manager at this resort and was able to visit and enjoy some wine and lobster rolls on the wrap around porch and would love to come back to stay. The resort was stunning and the food and beverage experience was first class. I can just imagine the rooms and service would be just as pristine.
Once back in the city, our Airbnb was on Atlantic Street in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester Heights. We were able to walk over to the location of the American Redoubts from our home, which compelled the evacuation of Boston by the British army. The area is close to public transportation and worked well for our large group. We also walked through Thomas Park and onto Carson Beach from our house, which is perfect if you have young kids that love the sand.
While in Boston we visited the Paul Revere House, walked along the Freedom Trail, caught a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, where the kids were able to run the bases and we all joined in singing “Sweet Caroline” for the seventh inning stretch. At Fenway, there is a bar (Bleacher Bar https://www.bleacherbarboston.com/ )that opens up to the field before and after the game that was fun to visit.
One of my favorite things to do in places with a lot of history in the hop on/hop off tour bus. We took it all over Boston, to MIT, Cambridge, walked around Harvard and had lunch at Cheers https://www.cheersboston.com/; which is also a family friendly restaurant. We visited the location of the Boston Tea Party, ate lobster rolls and found a rooftop bar on the water to have some drinks to complete our trip. This is my son on the steps of Harvard, on what should have been his first day of Kindergarten. Flights were best the next day and he is our third kid, so his “first day” of Kindergarten was everyone else’s second day. Life of a third child-ha! I absolutely recommend this area for a family vacation, couples trip or even to explore solo. It is a gorgeous part of the US filled with history and beauty. Safe Travels!
We had the opportunity to join friends for the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. As always, we new it may be difficult to make sure our kids were where they needed to be, practice, games, birthday party’s…the typical weekend stuff, but with the Grandparents to the rescue, we are so glad we made it work.
We booked a few weeks before the trip and used our standard GOOGLE FLIGHTS. I was even emailed with a reimbursement to my google cash, when they saw the $7 price increase. I never signed up for it, but received it. Using Google Flights, I found a direct flight (on a brand new airplane, the A321neo, which basically means it quick, quiet and good for the environment), and had that new plane smell! Our tickets from Los Angeles on a Friday evening were about $60 each and we opted for the $40 upgrade to exit row. Check out this legroom!
Definitely worth the $40!
We stayed at the Westin Nashville https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bnawi-the-westin-nashville/overview/and our friends stayed right next door at the JW Marriott https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bnajw-jw-marriott-nashville/overview/. Both were amazing, but we had previously stayed at the Westin and knew we loved their rooftop pool. Both hotels are walking distance to the famous Broadway honky tonk bars, the gulch for shopping or brunch and those famous Nashville wings everyone takes a picture with, we could see Nissan Stadium from our room and watched people gather in their seats for Morgan Wallen’s concert.
Here are some of the restaurants from the weekend:
Assembly Food Hall is perfect for a group. There was live music, bars and so many amazing choices, we had tacos (it was cinco de mayo weekend, afterall) and they were amazing! https://www.assemblyfoodhall.com/
At Assembly food hall, we went to Velvet Taco, I had a Spicy Chicken Tikka taco which has chicken tenders, spicy tikka sauce, buttered cilantro basmati rice, raita crema, Thai basil, flour tortilla and it was amazing. We also shared a few other tacos and the nachos and everything was amazing!
After time at Tootsies, Kid Rock Honky Tonk, Redneck Riviera, Wanna B’s Karaoke Bar, Rippys, Ole Red, the Westin Rooftop Pool felt amazing to allow our feet to recover from all of that walking in boots.
This trip was just a weekend, but if you have an additional day or two in Nashville I recommend going to the Opry. We were able to see Jelly Roll there a few years ago before he became so popular and that is where I began my love of his music, but more so of him as a person. For that trip, we stayed at the Opryland Resort https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bnago-gaylord-opryland-resort-and-convention-center/overview/ which was the perfect location, if you plan to visit The Grand Ol’ Opry https://www.opry.com/ It is good to know, they only have concerts on Tuesday and Thursday – Saturday.
Grand Ole Opry View of the Grand Ole’ Opry StageOpryland resort interior viewThat is the Westin Pool waaayyy up there on the roof!Can’t forget to shop for boots while you’re in Nashville! You will see party busses like this throughout Nashville…
The Capital One Venture Card is one of my favorites. Credit cards can be tricky, and if you use them…make sure you have cards that PAY YOU BACK in cash or travel rewards.
The Venture card allows you to get unlimited miles on every purchase and offers perks, especially for travel.
Do you have the desire to see our Nation’s Capitol? Having our oldest in eighth grade this year, meant her school participated in an annual class trip to Washington DC. I will preface this post with this tip; if you do go during spring time, you will likely see hundreds of eighth grade students. The cost of her school trip was somewhere between $3.5-4k and if my husband or I wanted to attend as a chaperone it was even more expensive than the cost of the student. With the cost in mind and knowing as a family, we could hit a few more baseball stadiums, we decided that all five of us could attend the trip for just a bit more than the cost of our daughter going alone. Most importantly, we could make it a family spring break trip to remember. I used GOOGLE FLIGHTS https://www.google.com/travel/flights about 3-4 months prior to the trip and started watching for deals for flights for the five of us. If you are planning on visiting Washington D.C., 3-4 months in advance is where you should start reaching out to your local congressman to get some behind the scene tours on your schedule. I went to https://www.whitehouse.gov/visit/ and https://www.congress.gov/members to contact my local congressman and arrange a tour of the capitol and a tour of the white house. I didn’t have this tip (start reaching out 4 months ahead of time), so we were unable to visit the White House this visit, but we definitely want to next time.
Back to the flights, I ended up getting one way tickets to Newark for about $60/person {on spirit…which I have never had an issue with, but do remind people to check your luggage rates as they can add up and it may be less expensive to go with a carrier that includes bags like southwest}. I was also about to find return flights {one way} for about $70 per person. I always leave the dates open on google flights and select a city rather than a specific airport so it shows you various options. Also always start with a one way rate.
My Grandparents live in Pennsylvania so that is where we started for this trip. We rented a mini van (remember, even if you have enough seats for your family, you need to account for your luggage) and headed to Muncy Valley, PA for a few days. Here we could ride ATVs, hang out with cows, horses, dogs, see family and relax after the red eye from Los Angeles. It was the perfect way to start the trip. After a few days with family, we headed to Gettysburg, PA. This was a little over two hours and we drove up after dinner. We stayed the night at the Comfort Suites https://www.choicehotels.com/pennsylvania/gettysburg/comfort-suites-hotels/pa553 {we always stay at Marriott, but this time this hotel worked out and it was inexpensive, large enough for our family, right in the center of town…and came with breakfast}. After a good night’s sleep and a warm continental breakfast, We started at the Visitors Center https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm, walked through the museum and cyclorama https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/museum-film-cyclorama.htm and decided to do the free driving tour using an app on our phone. The driving tour on the app allows you to see each of the highlights as you listen to the history of the location and get out to explore, as you please. I recommend playing the next informational session as you drive to the location, or you will spend a lot of time sitting and listening. When you get hungry, The Four Scores Beer Co https://www.facebook.com/FourscoreBeerCo/ looked like a great place for lunch. We also visited the National Riding Stables https://nationalridingstables.org/home-1, but didn’t ride this time because it was beginning to rain. As a side note, for any of you that like to camp, have an RV or wish to experience this area while camping, the campground where the National Riding Stables were located looked amazing, with vendors, activities for families, fishing on site and much more. As we completed the driving tour, we fueled up on gasoline and road trip snacks and headed to Baltimore, Maryland.
This hotel was right next to Camden Yards https://www.mlb.com/orioles/ballpark, where we would be catching a baseball game the next day. That evening we rented an electric boat (just walk along the harbor and there are multiple rental stands with boats available) next to the aquarium https://aqua.org/ and walked around inner harbor. Baltimore has a lot of restaurants and food options, but we ultimately ate at a restaurant in our hotel, The Yard https://www.theyardbarandgrillbaltimore.com/ and it was really good! We visited chick fil a first, for the kids and ours was comparable in price as well. My husband had chicken tenders and it came with more than he could finish and I had a turkey wrap. There was also a pizza place that smelled amazing BricknFire Pizza Co. https://www.bricknfirepizzacompany.com/ , however the line was pretty long and we were hungry. The next day we walked over to Starbucks to get our Baltimore mug and Dunkin’ Donuts was also right next to the hotel. This afternoon we would be going to Camden Yards for our 15th {the halfway mark} MLB stadium as a family. Before the game we followed the Babe Ruth baseballs on the sidewalk to his birthplace https://baberuthmuseum.org/babe-ruth-birthplace-museum/ and watched the fans pre-game at the bars and restaurants surrounding the stadium. The game started at 1:35, so we made sure to be in line around noon to get in and went straight to Boogs BBQ in the stadium. It is best to go first thing because the line gets pretty long. You can easily share a sandwich with 2, even 3 people. We watched the Angels warm up and were able to get some autographs from the players. It was a Sunday game, so the kids were allowed to run the bases after the game. It was such a fun experience. The parents even get to walk out onto the field. After the game, we drove by the Francis Scott Key bridge to see first hand the devastation caused by the large cargo ship hitting the pillars of the bridge. It was all still there and many others joined us in walking up to the edge of the shore, close to the site of the crash. That night we headed to the Residence Inn Marriott https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/wasxr-residence-inn-washington-capitol-hill-navy-yard/overview/ right next to the Washington Nationals Field https://www.mlb.com/nationals/ballpark. It was opening day and our hotel was in the perfect location for the game. The restaurants surrounding the area were filled with fans and the weather even held out with the sun shining for a few minutes at the game. The Washington Nationals was an amazing 16th stadium to visit. After the game, we went to Pink Taco http://www.pinktaco.com Their chips and salsa was amazing and they even had my favorite wine, Meiomi. I had the chicken tortilla soup and loved it! It was the perfect way to warm up after the game. After dinner we checked into our next hotel where we would stay for the week in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington DC. It was the Residence Inn and was a two bedroom suite with a kitchen and fit our family of 5 perfectly ( https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/wasfg-residence-inn-washington-dc-foggy-bottom/overview/ ). We also had breakfast there each morning and would take up granola, yogurt and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from breakfast to snack on in our room after we returned for the night. The hotel was next to the Watergate Hotel {my husband and I of course had to have drinks there one night, just to say we had been there} and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which had an incredible exhibit about the Kennedy family. It was a 10 minute walk to M Street in Georgetown, a 5 minute walk to George Washington University and the metro, which was our preferred method of transportation. Once we arrived to this hotel, we returned our rental car to the Ronald Reagan Airport and easily rode the metro right back to our hotel. The metro is $2/person, so unless an Uber was cheaper than $10, we took the train and were able to teach the kids how to figure out the rail system. That was all my husband; I just followed his lead and always ended up where we intended to. Once we were checked in, we went down to try and meet up with our daughter’s class and view the monuments at night. The Korean War monument was my favorite, seeing the soldiers in moonlight with their weapons truly made you appreciate all they went through. The Vietnam and WW2 memorials were close by as well. It was sad to hear how poorly our Vietnam Veterans were treated upon their return from a war many of them had no choice in being a part of, as the draft was displayed on television and you had a certain time to report or you would be arrested. The youngest boy on the WW2 memorial enlisted when he was just 14 years old and was killed at 15. My daughter turned 14 on this trip, so I understood how young that truly was. My grandpa also enlisted when he was under 18 so it made me appreciate his sacrifice at such a young age as well. It is amazing how quickly these soldiers had to grow up. There were also 8 women’s names on the wall who died for their country.
The next morning was dreary and foggy. We had Family pictures at the Lincoln Memorial and I was worried they wouldn’t turn out well but the photographer {Taytum Wolfe Photography…who I highly recommend, https://www.taytumwolfephotography.com/ } assured me it was actually better to take photos with cloudy skies than in is in the sun. The pictures turned out amazing, she was absolutely correct. A tip that I have started doing is taking our family photos on vacation rather than in a rushed photo shoot in our home town around the holidays. I go on various Facebook pages to find photographers and message a handful of them and find the one that is available and within our price range. It is my favorite way to capture our family and retain the memories from our vacation.
The next day we were able to participate in a capitol tour by emailing our congressman, Mike Garcia. Emma; one of his staffers was amazing and even came out to find us in the rain when we didn’t know where to go. If you contact them 90 days in advance, they can also assist in getting you into the White House for a tour, both links are provided above when I mention planning your trip 3-4 months out. This trip we had to get pictures from the gates of the White House. When you’re in this area you can also visit the Library of Congress (you also need times tickets for this https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1038417/timedentry-ticket-reservations-washington-thomas-jefferson-building)…we got them for the latest time on Thursday because they have a happy hour in the library that starts at 5pm and in our case, they had an Elton John dance party as well. We also walked over to the Supreme Court, and visited Fords Theatre https://fords.org/calendar/ where Lincoln was shot and the Peterson House across the street where he ultimately passed away the following morning. Later in the day we walked around the tidal basin to view what was left of the cherry blossoms and walked up into the Jefferson Memorial. The Roosevelt and the MLK Jr. memorial are also close by here as well.
The next morning we were able to land Washington Monument tour tickets. We went on recreation.gov right at 10am the day prior; had an account set up and secured the tickets to go up in the elevator and take in the views. If you are not able to get tickets to the Washington Monument, another option is the Old post office tower https://www.nps.gov/nama/planyourvisit/opot.htm, which is in the Waldorf Astoria. It also has a great view of DC for pictures. It is cold and windy; so bring a jacket. The headquarters of the FBI is also near here. You can sign up for the FBI experience https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/fbi-headquarters/the-fbi-experience 5 months in advance and no more than 4 weeks prior, but if you’re lucky like us, just walking by some of the FBI dogs may be out taking their bathroom break and you can say hi. That afternoon we also visited the Holocaust Museum https://www.ushmm.org/information/visit-the-museum/admission-tickets. There was an exhibit specifically for kids, called Daniel’s story which was powerful and showed how this awful part of history affected the kids and families of so many! This was my son’s, (who is in fourth grade) favorite exhibit.
The next day was our daughter’s 14th birthday. We took her to M Street in Georgetown to get a cupcake at the famous Georgetown cupcakes https://www.georgetowncupcake.com/ and to sushi at Bluefin Sushi https://bluefingeorgetown.com/ which is a perfect lunch spot, as you order at the counter and then find a seat, making it quick and efficient. It was so good, we went back down to place a second order. Our daughters enjoyed shopping at Sephora, Brandy Melville, Lululemon and other boutiques unique to the area. We also had Call Your Mother Bagels https://www.callyourmotherdeli.com/order#DC for breakfast on our way to Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Georgetown was walking distance to our hotel, so it’s the perfect place to find some good restaurants and shops. We found the best Mexican restaurant, Guapos of Georgetown https://www.guaposrestaurant.com/location/georgetown-dc/ along the Potomac for our daughter’s birthday and walked back to the hotel after we ate. We had the fried ice cream and churros for dessert and I had the chicken tortilla soup which tasted amazing, especially because it was so cold out!
The next morning was our last day. Our flight didn’t leave until 6:30pm. We took the metro and the MARC straight to the Baltimore/Washington Airport; so we went to the Natural History Museum, which didn’t require tickets or reservations and walked around the National Mall and through a sculpture Garden.
During this trip, we visited Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey {where we initially flew into}.
The places we missed and plan to do next time include Mt Vernon (3200 my Vernon memorial hwy.Alexandria Virginia), a tour of the White House, the FBI experience, The National Archives (Book 1 month prior), Lafayette square, the National Aquarium , MLK Jr. Memorial, the Army Museum, the Washington Mint, the US Botanical Gardens, the Marine Corps Memorial, and the American History Museum.
It’s a good thing we plan to visit two more times with our 8th graders. #spiritairlines #8thgradewashingtonDCtrip #classtrip #familyvacation #washingtondcfamilytrip #todoinDC #tipsforwashingtonDC #springbreakinDC #traveltips
Have you been inside of the Washington Monument? Take a look here!
Take a tour inside the Capitol, the Supreme Court, Fords Theater and the Petersen House where Lincoln actually died, the outside of the White House and the Jefferson Memorial with some cherry blossoms still holding on.
The Smithsonian National Zoo was one of our favorites!
One of my favorite trips came about from finding inexpensive flights into Miami using Google Flights https://www.google.com/travel/flights and coming up with a plan of what to so with a family of five in Florida that would be exciting with pre-teen and elementary age kids.
So with our tickets purchased for around $60 each/one-way on https://www.spirit.com/ the planning began. During the time we went, a curfew had been in place for Miami. It was Spring Break of 2022, so everyone was back in full swing with travel. I knew Miami was beautiful, but may not be as appropriate for a week, with kids and immediately started researching our options. We had visited Disney a few years prior and wanted this trip to be relaxing and tropical.
I have had a life long dream of becoming a dolphin trainer, wrote journals filled with facts about dolphins in my spare time and have a background in environmental analysis of Geography, so the Keys immediately came to mind! After visiting, I can truly say this is one of my favorite places in the world.
So here is what our trip looked like, if you want to go on a similar vacation. First off, we flew into Miami (you can fly into the keys directly, but it is more expensive and the drive is beautiful). The first day we drove to Marathon Florida and stayed at Courtyard Faro Blanco Resort (2146 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL, USA 33050) https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/mthmc-courtyard-faro-blanco-resort/photos/ It is a Marriott property and I am a loyal customer and advocate of Marriott. My husband and I both have the Bonvoy Marriott card and earn points, particularly for trips like this. This property was on the water, had a tiki torch ceremony, rock paintings for the kids (which we have kept pictures of, so we can find our rocks when we return again-hopefully SOON!) and so many amazing amenities. There was a restaurant on property https://www.bluewatersbarandgrill.com/ that was perfect for allowing us to stay in and relax our first night there, a pool that overlooked the gulf and white sands steps from the pool and best of all, it is walking distance to one of my favorite aspects of this trip; the Turtle Hospital https://www.turtlehospital.org/ (we will discuss a bit more about this, soon).
After a relaxing morning and having acai bowls and coffee for breakfast at the The Bistro inside the hotel, we packed our bags and headed thru the Keys to the Southern most point of the continental U.S., Key West. We walked around Duval Street, which reminded me of a mixture of Martha’s Vineyard, Front Street in Lahaina (what is used to be) and Nashville, where live music was playing in open air bars. The ocean was the prettiest I had ever seen, and we were even able to spot two nurse sharks and a manatee. The next day in Key West, we visited Smathers Beach, Fort Zach, Little White House, and of course, booked a photography session, which is another way I like to capture the memories of our trips and do so when we are all together, do not have our extra curricular activities planned and have beautiful scenery we want to remember. While in Key West, we stayed at https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/eywfk-fairfield-inn-and-suites-key-west-at-the-keys-collection/overview/ and https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/eywcy-courtyard-key-west-waterfront/overview/ The Courtyard has restaurants walking distance and was nice being on the water and the Fairfield allowed us to upgrade to a larger room (they were a bit dated inside) and had a great pool. Both were great options at reasonable rates.
After 2-3 days in Key West, we headed back up to Key Largo and stayed at Playa Largo https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/mthak-playa-largo-resort-and-spa-autograph-collection/overview/. This was my favorite hotel and we used points, because it was expensive; but absolutely worth it! There were private fire pits on the sand, shaved ice in the afternoons, an amazing pool, easy access to swimming in the ocean and lots of resort activities. This is one of those resorts that you never have to leave. The dining and activities are all right there and amazing!
On the way to Key Largo, we broke up the trip and visited the turtle hospital in Marathon https://www.turtlehospital.org/. This turtle hospital is the largest in the world, helping to protect through research, veterinary services and education. We were lucky enough to be able to observe a surgery happening while we were there. You need reservations and it is absolutely worth it, such a cool place and you can watch a turtle surgery if they have a patient. In Key Largo we went to Dolphin Plus Marine Mammal Responder https://www.dolphinsplus.com/dolphin-plus-charities/dolphins-plus-marine-mammal-responder and swam with dolphins. Being an animal advocate and lover, I am always selective, visiting places like this. This organization had rescued 685 marine mammals as of Spring 2022, when we were there and the dolphins they have at their center are unable to live in the wild, which is why they are cared for at the facility. The dolphins participate in research and education and are given the option to interact or not with every program offered. If they decide they are not up to it, as displayed by their behavior, they are never forced to do so. It was an incredible experience and I hope to return one day for a period of time to volunteer for this organization.
Back in Miami we went to a beach called Surfside, took a day trip to Everglades Holiday Park, which are the closest everglades to Miami to do an airboat ride, see crocodiles and go for a sunset cruise around Miami to see some of the amazing homes on the water. I cannot wait to return to the Keys!
When my husband and I were married in Newport Beach, we chose this location for the love of boats, the harbor, anything nautical and both of our families having ties to Orange County. We were married on a yacht in the harbor and had our reception at the Harborside https://www.harborside-pavilion.com/. The first tip I will provide for you is letting you in on their amazing happy hour {that lasts all day} that we go to every year on our anniversary https://www.harborside-pavilion.com/menus/food-menus/saloon-menu/. $8 Mai-Tais, Ahi Nachos, Sliders and Coconut Shrimp are just a few of our favorites. When we were married, we stayed at the Newport Marriott Resort and Spa, which is now called VEA https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/laxnb-vea-newport-beach-a-marriott-resort-and-spa/overview/. Many of our guests were also firefighters so their government rate was perfect to have everyone stay together and the room we reserved for the night before and night of the wedding was incredible. It overlooked the golf course, into the harbor and we could see our reception site and the bay we would be married in from our room. Our guests enjoyed the fire pits, bike rentals, restaurants and bars on property, Fashion Island being across the street, Starbucks in the hotel and the option for street parking if you are okay with watching the time. Now that we have celebrated our 15 year anniversary, the hotel has been rebranded, but is still part of the Marriott family and as I mentioned above, called VEA. We still love going to this property or to the Lido House https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/npbak-lido-house-autograph-collection/overview/ to celebrate our annual anniversary trip. We both have the Bonvoy credit card, so this is the perfect trip to use our annual complimentary rooms, and we each have the card so we get to stay for a few nights using our complimentary room perk. Renting bikes, taking an electric boat out in the harbor, paddle boarding, having breakfast in Corona Del Mar, walking around Balboa Island and stopping for salt water taffy are just a few of the activities we like to do in Newport.
I am a huge advocate of having an annual trip. As a kid through college and up until my twenties; Carpinteria State Beach https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30711 was my annual trip and it was camping during the first week in August. I always knew, whatever the year had in store that first week in August each summer would be spent in Carpinteria. There is something comforting about that and it still feels like a second home. I cling to the memories made there and have camped and visited Carpinteria with my own family. Now that we have kids, we have a tradition of spending the first week in August at our girl’s softball tournament in Huntington Beach. Still a beautiful place to visit, but having to be up for early games is not quite as relaxing as camping at the beach.
We do this trip to Newport every year, for just a few days which is a reminder that trips do not need to be long to be meaningful. I look forward to this trip every year and it is typically right at the end of the school year, so it is the perfect start to summer and an excellent way to reconnect and refresh following the school year.
1. Make a list of what you need and stick to it. Too many options make what should be a time to relax require unnecessary decisions. Make the decisions ahead of time and remember, less is more.
2. Have everyone in your family pack for themselves. Yes; even your kids.
3. Weigh suitcases ahead of time before you get to the airport.
4. Roll your outfits together to stay organized and maximize space.
5. Use shoes to protect items that are fragile. Place the item inside the shoe, especially men’s dress shoes or boots.
6. Remember specific items to your trip. If you are going to a concert or stadium, pack a clear bag. If you are headed to a resort bring sunscreen or items that may be more expensive if you need to purchase there.
Packing can feel overwhelming at times, especially if you are doing it for a family. Since my kids were about six years old, I have had them participate in their own packing. At six, I would tell them how many days we would be out of town and what the weather would be like. I had them lay out what they thought they should bring and at first, I usually had to make a few changes. I would have them add or replace what needed to be changed and now at 10, 12 and 14 my kids all pack independently.
If we are going out of town for longer than a week, we plan to do laundry. I am not an overpacker, despite what our luggage from Maui may look like in the photo below. When we go to Hawaii, we take Southwest and bring our own boogie boards, snorkel gear, beach towels and reef safe sunscreen. This allows us to avoid rental costs on items we use daily in Hawaii, but back to packing…It is easier to have what you need and not have to decide between multiple options.
For a week trip, I would bring the following:
Toiletry bag, 3 pairs of PJs, if it is tropical 4 swimsuits, 2-3 coverups, if it is a cold climate 2-3 jackets, 2-3 pairs of shoes, one outfit for each day of the week, 2-3 nice outfits if we go to dinner or do an activity that requires dressing up, like family photos.
As you know, many airlines charge additional fees for luggage. If we are taking southwest, each person has their own bag. If not, we typically each take one half of a suitcase and bring one additional suitcase with shoes and toiletry bags. Having fewer bags also reduces the issue of ensuring your car is large enough to fit multiple bags. We use the rolling system and roll each outfit up with underwear and socks, included.
My favorite method of checking airfare and truly feeling as if I am getting the best value is by using Google Flights http://www.google.com/travel/flights I check this site weekly, just to see what is out there. Often times, I will have dates in mind of when I may be able to head out of town without a destination in mind until I see what deals I can find out of some of my local airports.
Here are the tricks I use to score inexpensive airfare for my family of five.
1. Search ONE WAY rather than round trip at first so you get an idea of what the prices are for the flight you plan to take.
2. Type in a city rather than a specific airport in the search bar, such as LOS ANGELES rather than LAX.
3. Leave the departure date open when you search and it will display all of the prices for the months surrounding your trip. Simply going a day earlier or leaving a day later can save you hundreds💰
4. Check the prices throughout the week. It is known that Tuesdays are typically the best day to purchase flights, but I have seen prices change throughout the week and even throughout the same day. When you think of it, take a look.
5. Be aware of what the airline charges for luggage. In the picture below, it looks as if the spirit flight is the least expensive, however it is actually the third option United if you are taking a bag with you.
*In this example, United charges $40/per bag, Jet Blue $45/per bag and Spirit $65/per bag. Spirit also only allows 40lb, per bag, where Jet Blue and United allow 50lb. per bag.
Checked bag fee for other Domestic flights:Delta is $35/50lb bag, Southwest is 2 bags under 50lbs for bags free, American Airlines $35 (if you pay online) for a 50lb. Bag, Alaska Airlines $35/50lb. bag, Frontier $49/40lbs.
*please note these prices may vary depending on time of booking and your status with the airline.
Trip Trek Go 