Tawanna, Author at Mom's Guide To Travel

May 14 2014

Baltimore Family Travel: A Staycation And The Monaco Baltimore

The Hotel Monaco in Baltimore hosted my family for a one-night stay in order to review their product. Visit Baltimore supplied me with passes to local area attractions. This is not a compensated post. All opinions expressed are my own.

When the school year is in full swing and the kids aren’t due for a holiday, we tend to shake things up around the house when it comes to travel. Keeping my mind on my money and my money on my mind, I stay on the lookout for things that the family can do locally as well as day trip options. When your wallet is tight or you’re short on vacation time, staycations are the way to go.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you need to save on travel expenses, explore your backyard.

More: Saving on Travel – Three Tips For the Family

Staycations Rock

People underestimate the value of the staycation. Travel is whatever you make of it and you can’t always make it half-way around the world with your kids. Most of the times, children aren’t even concerned with the “where”, they’re more concerned with the “what.” They want to know “What are we doing today?” “What are we eating today?” “What does the hotel have for us to do?” The destination is just an added bonus.

Last week, ahead of what I’m guessing will be a busy summer filled with travel, and in honor of the break in the weather, we decided to explore our backyard in Baltimore. I’ve written about things to do, see, and eat in Baltimore for the past several years for two separate online publications and I still haven’t done it all!

Our first stop was the Check-In desk at the Monaco. I visited the hotel earlier in the year and when I saw that they had family suites with a separate kids’ room complete with bunk beds and an Xbox, I knew that we had to stay here.

I was also sold on staying at the Monaco Baltimore after my February stay at the Monaco Independence Park in Philadelphia. I enjoyed an adult wine hour in the hotel’s cozy living room an hour after the kids’ “happy hour”, complete with candy, snacks, and games.

More: Philadelphia Hotel Monaco Family Fun Night Package

The Monaco Baltimore doesn’t offer a separate kids’ hour, however, they have the games set out, Goldfish snack packs (a nod to the borrowed pet you can place in your suite), and GoGo Squeeze applesauce pouches. I carried snacks up to my kids and opted to spend my hour alone, enjoying a glass of wine.

They were content with hanging out in the room, playing on the Xbox after a fun afternoon in the Inner Harbor.

Baltimore Family Activities

There are several attractions that you can visit with your kids within a 1-mile radius in Baltimore. A few blocks away from the hour, you have Port Discovery. Next to Power Plant Live, this children’s museum is all about the kids. It is interactive and engaging from toddlers up to school-aged children. It is definitely one of my favorite attractions in the city, specifically because they set aside special Autism days for kids like my youngest to enjoy.

In addition to Port Discovery, other attractions include: the Baltimore aquarium – the most popular attraction in Maryland; Historic Ships in Baltimore; Ripley’s Believe it or Not!; the Maryland Science Center; the Star-Spangled Banner Flag house; the Walters Art museum; Urban Pirates; Federal Hill Park and more ideas available on Visit Baltimore’s site.

More: Sneak Peek At Baltimore Family Travel

This time around we decided to go to Ripley’s Believe it or Not! The oddities in that museum are very entertaining and kids have opportunities to engage in interactive exhibits. Our favorite areas were the Mirror Maze and what I’d like to call the disco dance room, complete with a strobe light and dozens of mirrors.

Pricing: See everything (maze, odditorium, 4D theater) for $25.99/pp or pick 2 attractions and pay $22.99.

On Sunday we checked out the Maryland Science Center, a top-5 for me as far as Baltimore family travel attractions go. The Science Center is another totally interactive place for kids to explore. It’s diverse enough that adults can learn something and be engaged as well. This is a stark difference from Port Discovery. Three floors of science fun kept our whole family engaged for hours. We left with a new piece of knowledge and a need to feed our hungry stomachs.

Pricing: See everything at the Science Center (exhibit halls, planetarium, demo stage, IMAX) for $22.95 (13-61) and for $19.95 (3-12).

I Heart Kimpton Monaco Hotels

One of the many perks of the Hotel Monaco Baltimore is the building’s rich history. The story behind the building is mapped out in the hallway just before you check in. It’s worth a stop and a read.

The hotel houses 202 rooms in the historic B&O Railroad headquarters. As soon as you walk in you get a sense of the grandeur of the building. A grand marble staircase, ornate oversized crystal chandelier, and early 19th century craftsmanship at every turn are an elegant contrast to the luxury modern decor that you’ll find in the hotel’s suites, living room, check-in and common areas.

Here is my complete list of “thumbs-up” for the Baltimore Monaco:

Proximity to attractions
Adult wine hour, kids treats, and board games
Family suites with separate kids’ bunk beds, Xbox system and games
Borrow a goldfish for the night
On-site restaurant

The next time that you’re visiting Baltimore for a solid few days of family travel fun, whether for vacation or staycation, consider the Hotel Monaco Baltimore for history, comfort, and a well-rounded family experience.

May 06 2014

Speaking At New York Travel Festival And Winning With Omni Hotels

Two weeks ago I spoke at New York Travel Festival, a weekend travel event for travel industry, media, and consumers to gather and discuss the inspirational aspects of travel. It’s also an opportunity for travel industry folk to learn from and workshop with one another.

My Panel

I sat on a panel with two other family travel writers discussing ways to make a better family travel product. We all were in different stages of parenthood, one speaker has an infant, another teenagers, and myself my 6 and 10 year olds so our workshop provided a more three dimensional look at what families need to improve the vacation experience. As a very brief synopsis of our three points of views:

More sensory experiences for infants and toddlers.
Educational and transformative experiences.
An updated and expanded view of the family unit.

If you take a look at the slideshow accessible at Creating A Better Family Travel Product, you’ll see my specific speaking points, so I won’t bore you by recapping everything here.

What’s the Point?

My point in writing this post is to share with you why I enjoy travel shows similar to New York Travel Festival, and why you should consider attending a local one.

There’s usually an educational component to these travel shows, whether it be about new products or industry trends.
Travel shows provide a unique opportunity for intimate interaction with industry experts. A young woman was able to pull up a chair and sit with me and pick my brain just the same as I was able to chat with Samantha Brown at the D.C. Travel and Adventure Show four years ago.
You’ll get the chance to hear at least one inspirational story and may consider new travel possibilities.
(This may be the best part) You usually have a chance to win free travel, products and prizes, or book discounted travel.

I had the pleasure of working with the Omni Hotels and Resorts in awarding a free night’s stay to one lucky attendee at my panel discussion. You may have seen me write about Omni properties several times. I view Omni as a brand that “gets it” when it comes to family travel, so I thought a stay at one of their properties was a befitting reward.

Takeaway

Travel shows are great resources for travel inspiration, discount travel, and possibly a free night’s stay at a luxury hotel. If you’re in the market for any of the above, grab a ticket for the next show nearest you and share with us your experience.

If you’ve attended a travel show in the past, please share your experience in the Comments below. I’m always grateful to hear your thoughts.

May 05 2014

Inspired By Americas Farmers: Pasta And Fresh Peas Recipe

As an Americas Farmers Advocate, I am sharing the America’s Farmers story. This post was created in partnership with America’s Farmers. All opinions are my own.

Do you ever think about who produces the food that you eat? I’m a big fan of reading labels and seeing where my food comes from. I like to buy fruits and vegetables that are in season, although it’s not always possible and convenient. And my preference is to buy from an American farm if not a local one. The importance of American farmers is invaluable. They feed and fuel our nation in many ways. When I travel through Maryland on the back roads whether East, West, or North, I past at least half a dozen farms.

The stories of America’s Farmers are fascinating – their dedication to an under-appreciated and demanding lifestyle, admirable. There are two families that I’m particularly inspired by: The Haynie and Sneed families. Both of these farming families are African American and have achieved great successes through even greater obstacles.

The Sneed family is out of Millington, TN and grows cotton, soybeans, sorghum and wheat. The family owns 9000 acres of land but they remain humble and hardworking. The Haynie family lives in Reedville, VA and have owned their farm for five generations dating back to 1867. The farm started with 60 acres of land and today has grown to a couple thousand acres. They grow soybeans, corn, wheat, and barley.

Both the Haynie and Sneed families are an inspiration. Using products grown by these two families as well as other America’s Farmers families, I cooked up what I consider a farm-fresh Italian dish – pasta and peas.

I’m a big fan of peas. Farm fresh, green plump peas. Not the mushy peas you’ll find if you travel to London. The only vegetable I’ll eat smashed into the consistency of baby food is potatoes.

This recipe is simple, quick, and delicious. I use a wheat-based pasta and farm fresh peas. Choose any pasta that you like, I prefer to use a spaghetti or cappellini noodle. Although I cook with a dry pasta, whenever I have this dish out, I order it with a fresh made pasta. Last week I had it with a hand cut tagliatelle and the week before, it was fresh straw and hay pasta which is classically made with prosciutto but I substitute with smoked turkey bacon.

You can check out my Pinterest board of the cooking process through this link.

Ingredients

Salt for the pasta pot
1/2 onion diced small
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 pats of butter
1/2 cup shelled fresh peas, blanched
2 slices smoked pepper turkey bacon, diced
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound dry pasta of your choice
1/4 cup marscapone cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.
Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add in onions and diced turkey bacon until onions are soft and bacon begins to crisp.
Add dry pasta to boiling water, cooking until al dente.
Add in peas, coating with butter and olive oil from pan. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Add in chopped garlic cloves and sautee for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove bacon, onions, pea mixture into a separate dish.
Melt 2nd pat of butter in same pan as what bacon was cooked in.
Heat heavy cream in pan until liquid begins to simmer.
Add marscapone and Parmigiano cheese, stir until cheese is melted and sauce thickens.
Stir in the pasta from the boiling water to coat it with the sauce.
Toss in peas, bacon and onion mixture, also coating.
Remove from heat, top with grated parmesan cheese (if you desire), and serve immediately.

Apr 30 2014

A Video Review of The Prip App: Cool for Travelers

Disclosure: This is sponsored content. As an influencer I am being compensated to test out and review the Prip app. All opinions expressed within are my own.

Earlier this month I had a chance to play with the Prip app and share some of the challenges that I faced using it. In general, I liked its ease and I believe that the app is a cost effective option for travelers who don’t want to pay exorbitant roaming and international calling fees when calling back home.

~~Watch this short video and interact with any of the links~~. When you click on any of the elements that come up in this video, they will be enlarged and the video itself will become smaller. It’s another cool new app that I’m trying out (as you can see I love new apps and new technology). I did have a short interactive video that you could watch but unfortunately my new platform doesn’t agree with the player so I had to take it down. For more information on my review of the app, check out my other blog post HERE.

Test Prip out for yourself and see if it might serve your telecommunication purposes for your next trip. I didn’t get a chance to mention this in my video but one of the things that I like most about the Prip app is that I don’t need to sign any contracts, I can stop the service any time that I want. I can’t wait until my next overseas trip to test it out across the water.

Apr 30 2014

Three Instances Where Prip App Can Work For U.S. Travelers

Disclosure: This is sponsored content. As an influencer I am being compensated to test out and review the Prip app. All opinions expressed within are my own.

Last week I posted about the Prip app, relatively new to the U.S. market but with familiar Nextel technology. As I mentioned in my post, I noticed that there were a lot of users in Mexico who were using the app. One reader messaged me and said that he uses the app with his colleagues and it helps him to avoid annoying roaming fees.

He lives in Mexico.

Fortunately for us here in the states, the cellular communications marketplace is extremely competitive and we worry less and less about roaming charges. On a day-to-day usage, I don’t know how valuable Prip would be to the average U.S. customer. The niche user such as an emergency worker would find it valuable but outside of that group, it doesn’t seem as obvious.

That being said, there are instances in which I think the Prip app can be extremely useful for U.S. consumers: when we are traveling and subject to international cell carriers and their fees.

Cruise Ships: My husband and I take our walkie talkies with us when we cruise so that we can keep in touch with each other’s whereabouts while we’re on the ship. It’s easy, only takes batteries and free. Limitations: Ships are huge and if you’re on opposite ends and don’t have enough mHz, you won’t hear each other. As long as we’re on the ship’s WiFi, we can continue to use our cell phones with the Prip app and not carry an extra device.
Traveling Abroad: I refuse to purchase an expensive international cell phone plan for short jousts outside the country. These plans can be ridiculously expensive. The same way I use a WiFi connection to talk for Free on FaceTime or iChat with another iPhone user, I can use Prip with another Prip user. Limitations: I need to be somewhere that I can jump on a connection for free. This tends to be tricky in Europe. There aren’t as many open and FREE WiFi connections as we have here in the states.
Local Travel: I’ve used Prip on my 3G while I’ve been traveling locally. It’s worked sporadically but I have been able to get messages through and receive them as well. Limitations: If you’re in an area where the cell reception is weak, Prip will absolutely not work for you. You will have to find a WiFi connection to talk.

Issues

The app is really useful for travel but it also has a couple of shortcomings.

One of the issues I have with the app is that if the other Prip user doesn’t have it open in order for me to be able to “prip” them, I get a “User not reachable. Dismiss.” message.
The download process for the app is a little clumsy. Many of us Android and iPhone users go through only one or two steps to download an app to our phone. We hit the “Install” button (in the App Store), a message comes up from iTunes asking us to Verify with our password and then the app is downloaded. With Prip, first you have to create an account through a separate landing page complete with creating a username, then you go to Google Play or the App Store and download the app and THEN plug in your username. If people find the app straight from Google Play and the app Store, they maybe confused that they need to go to prip.me first before being able to use the app. The process needs to be simplified.

I think for the Prip app to really catch on for U.S. customers, we may need something more. You can download it here and play around with it for free for the first month and see how you like it. What more do you think you’d need to make this app a home-run for you if it already isn’t?