family travel Archives - Page 2 of 6

Jun 23 2015

Speaking About Managing Family Travel – Interview

Last week, on I Heart Radio’s Speaking of Travel show, Marilyn Ball from News Radio 570 WWNC interviewed me about managing family travel.

On the show we talked about what inspired me to pursue a life of travel and how I make the adjustment with kids. You can read a snippet of the transcript from the show below.

Marilyn Ball:

Well, how many times have you boarded a plane behind a parent with a child or God forbid, two children? All the other passengers on the plane are holding their breath hoping that the family doesn’t sit with them.

But now that parent is you.

How can you avoid fulfilling the other passengers worst fears and your own? Traveling is stressful enough for people without kids add restless impatient and messy little ones and it’s a whole new ball game.

Much of your fear is probably due to having seen those daggers of hate which other travelers throw at parents and their children. And maybe you’ve even thrown those invisible daggers yourself before. Part of it also is you just don’t know what might happen when you’re trapped ten thousand feet above ground. Even if you usually do have well-behaved kids and so you might imagine the worst from diaper blow outs and vomit on a stranger’s laptop to a six-hour screaming session.

You know with a little preparation you can mitigate many of the biggest concerns about traveling with your kids. You don’t have to be the most hated person on the airplane.

All right, true, traveling with your family might seem pretty scary and even though you feel like you’re herding cats, the experiences you have and the memories you make just might change your life for the better. Well, the good news is my guest today is not only a traveling mother of two children, she’s very familiar with the challenges of pulling off that much-needed vacation.

Tawanna Browne Smith is the founder and editor of Mom’s Guide to Travel, a cite that provides multimedia content aimed at encouraging parents to continue exploring the world with and even without kids. Tawanna works with hotel brands and tourism boards to experience and market their products. She produces travel video content. She’s the author of an e-book on travel with young kids and self-published the Mom’s Guide to Saving Money on Family Travel. Tawanna is originally from Brooklyn, New York and is now based in the Baltimore Washington area where she joins us today.

Welcome to the show. Thank you for being here Tawanna.

Me:

Thank you so much Marilyn, I appreciate it. I’m very happy to be here.

Marilyn Ball:

Well Tawanna, you do a lot of traveling and now you have two children of your own. Tell us a little about your love of traveling and how you’re pre-kids traveling influenced how you travel today.

Me:

Well, I would say that I’ve always been a dreamer. I’ve always been that kid who was looking out of the window, and you know, just saying to myself, OK there is definitely more to the world than New York.

I went to a boarding school when I was thirteen. And when I was in school, I met kids from around the world. My best friends were from Liberia. I had another friend who was from Korea and one who was from Mexico. And it was always very interesting to have conversations with these other kids, finding out what they’re life was like in their own country, it was just so different from what I’d known.

It was always great to hear them talk about where they were going for vacation and so that created a spark in me. And I thought, “when I am older and able, I want to travel.” So after boarding school, I went to college as far away as I could but still staying in the United States. I went to school in California. And it was a ball that started rolling from there…

You can catch the rest of the transcript by listening to the audio above or on the News Radio 570 website by clicking here.

Jun 15 2015

10 Ways To Make Your Chattanooga Visit Exceptionally Fun

Last Fall, I spent an action-packed 3 days in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a city I knew nothing about except for a reference to the Chattanooga Choo Choo. In my brief research on things for families to do in Chattanooga, I learned that it was a popular city for outdoor enthusiasts such as rock climbers, hikers, and kayakers. Go figure.

Here I thought I’d just be learning about trains.

Below is a short list of what I found were ten of the best things to do in Chattanooga for a four-day visit with your family. This list will help you with your trip planning should you decide to get some family travel in to this dynamic and scenic South East city.

Take the free electric shuttle around town just to get your lay of the land. Free transportation is always a gift from a city’s Visitors Bureau and you should take full advantage of it.
Ride a bike using the Bike Share program. Not only is it good exercise but you’re decreasing your carbon footprint on the city when you walk or ride a bike over driving everywhere. It’s a nice way to explore at your leisure. You’ll need a credit card to rent the bikes. The company puts a $101 hold on your card but refunds the hold once you return the bike.
Learn or practice your rock climbing skills at High Point Climbing and Fitness. Conveniently located downtown, just two blocks away from the Riverfront, you can tap into your inner daredevil and either climb an exterior public art piece or practice indoors. You’ll find a 28,000 climbing space filled with 23 auto belays, 100 top ropes multiple bouldering rooms, sport climbing, and a speed-climbing wall as well as a standard gym area. All-in-all, climbers have access to practice on 300 routes. Don’t worry if you or someone in your family has a disability. They’ve hosted events before where they’ve worked with people needing special assistance. Just inquire within.
Let your children roam free at the Creative Discovery Museum. It’s been ranked among one of the top 20 children’s museums in the U.S. since it opened in 1995.
Hunter Museum of American Art in the Bluff Art District
Explore the Bluff View Art District at 212 High Street. Roam the outdoor sculpture garden for a peaceful stroll. This quaint district is made up of cute homes, two restaurants, a bed and breakfast, coffee shop, and two museums. Enjoy delicious coffee and pastries (or a delicious bagel breakfast sandwich to go) at Rembrandts. Laid back and quiet, you may find yourself pulling out a book and just relaxing for a spell. If it’s later in the day, treat yourself to a plate of handmade pasta at Tony’s Pasta. After gorging on fresh bread, I kept my meal simple and enjoyed an inexpensive plate of handmade fettuccine with garlic and olive oil.
Get your hiking shoes out and spend a few hours at Rock City Gardens. You’ll have fun squeezing through narrow pathways etched between massive boulders and ancient rock formations. Follow wispy signs and smiling gnomes as you cross fairytale-style bridges on your way up to Lookout Mountain. There are over 400 native plant species in the garden. You’ll get a chance to see them all while you make your way to Fairyland Caverns where miniature scenes of favored fairytales are displayed. At the top of Lookout Mountain I had a chance to take in panoramic views of the valley below and the horizon leading to six neighboring states.
If you like fish, you have to check out the Tennessee Aquarium. It’s the world’s largest freshwater aquarium. Inside are giant tanks filled with sharks, barracuda, stingrays and more.
Ride the Tennessee Valley Railroad’s restored vintage trains. The short ride takes you on a trip through history along one of the original railroad lines in Chattanooga. We crossed over four bridges and passed through pre-Civil War Missionary Ridge Tunnel. Our trip took us to a stock yard where they fix and clean old trains and engines.
Travel deep within the caverns of Lookout Mountain to find Ruby Falls. After an elevator ride and a half-mile walk you’ll come upon a spectacular underground waterfall, among the highest in the United States. Learn about stalagmites and stalactites as you pass by mineral pools, limestone and ancient rocks on the way to the Falls. If you want to do something a bit more daring, try your hand at ziplining through the treetops of Lookout Mountain. The course includes 30 high-wire challenge elements including ladders, nets, walkways, bridges, tunnels and more. Personally, walking through the caverns to the Falls was enough exercise for me.
The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway rising from beneath the cloud bank.
“Climb” Lookout Mountain again. This time make the climb on the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. It’s known as the world’s steepest passenger railway with a 72% grade. It’s a beautiful mile-long ride to the top of Lookout Mountain where you’ll peep secluded mountain homes and panoramic views of downtown Chattanooga.

Sample Chattanooga Itinerary

If you’re short on time or are trying to pack in as much as possible in 24 hours (something I don’t recommend), here’s what one of my days in Chattanooga looked like. If you’re enjoying some family travel time, I’d cut these activities in half, go slow and enjoy your surroundings.

6:30 am Breakfast

8:00 am Ruby Falls

9:30 am Lookout Mountain Incline

11:00 am Chattanooga Market

12:00 pm Lunch at Taco Mamacitas / Dessert at Milk & Honey

1:30 pm Zoo

3:00 pm Hunter Museum of American Art

5:30 pm Dinner at Tony’s Pasta

Important Addresses in Chattanooga

1. High Point Climbing and Fitness

219 Broad Street

Chattanooga, TN 37402

2. Creative Discovery Museum for children

321 Chestnut St

3. Bluff View Art District

212 High Street

4. Rock City Gardens

1400 Patten Road

Lookout Mountain,GA 30750

5. Tennessee Aquarium

1 Broad St

6. Tennessee Valley Railroad

4119 Cromwell Road

7. Ruby Falls

1720 South Scenic Highway

Chattanooga, TN 37409

8. Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

3917 St. Elmo Ave

Check out more of my photos of Chattanooga on my Findery Notemap – just click above.

Apr 09 2015

Family Trip Planning And Travel Fun in Williamsburg VA

Spring has arrived so now it’s time to start planning for our summer family travel.

I can remember traveling with my family every year for three or four summers to Williamsburg, VA. I was a teenager at the time. We’d explore Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, a few restaurants, an outlet center, and then pretty much spend the rest of the time at our timeshare resort.

Today, family travel in Williamsburg VA is so much more.

Pack the kids in the car for a road trip to Williamsburg and turn your family vacation into an immersive educational experience. The Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center are living history museums that tell the story of our nation’s beginnings through interactive experiences, exhibits, and outdoor settings re-created for the time.

These educational living history museums are excellent ways to bring the classroom to life for your child. We’ve taken our son to destinations like Gettysburg and Prince Williams County, VA where he had a chance to walk onto a preserved battlefield and preserved slave home, respectively.

Having those experiences strengthened his understanding of the stories that he learned and placed them in different contexts. Our trip were both fun and educational.

Here are some activities that you can do in Williamsburg at the Jamestown Settlement and at Yorktown Victory Center:

1. Climb aboard replicas of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607.

2. Try on armor and play quoits inside a re-created colonial fort

3. Learn how to grind corn in a Powhatan Indian Village.

4. help fashion a dugout canoe in a Powhatan Indian village

5. Take a private tour with your family or small group (less than 14) for a customized and in-depth experience with a personal tour guide. Best thing: with an advance reservation, the tour can be added to any admission option. If you have a particular theme you’d like to focus on, opt for a premium theme add-on.

There are 4 combination ticket options to choose from in order to take advantage of all that the settlement has to offer:

1. Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center

Unlimited admission to each museum for seven consecutive days when purchased online and represents a 20 percent savings over single-visit, individual-museum admission. The ticket is $21.00 for adults, $10.50 for ages 6 through 12.

2. Jamestown and Yorktown Four-Site Value:

One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited admission to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Yorktown Battlefield and Yorktown Victory Center is $35.00 for adults, $23.00 for ages 13-15, $12.50 for ages 6-12, and can be packaged with lodging.

3. America’s Historic Triangle:

One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits to five historical attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, and the Yorktown Victory Center – is $89.00 for adults, $41.00 for ages 6-15, and can be packaged with lodging.

4. Williamsburg Flex:

One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits, spring to mid-fall, to six attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown Victory Center, and Busch Gardens® – is $193.50 for adults, $152.20 for ages 6-15 and can be packaged with lodging. From mid-May through Labor Day, the Williamsburg Flex ticket includes Water Country USA® as a free bonus.

The Williamsburg Flex ticket is pretty awesome because you’re seven day-itinerary is pretty much planned out for you. Talk about the ultimate in trip planning! If you have a family of four like mine (two adults and two kids, ages 6-15), this would cost $692 for your activities for the week!

Kids are busy, learning, and you don’t have to stumble on the question: “what are we doing today?”

Information about private tours and premium themes is at www.historyisfun.org/visit/special-experiences/private-tours/.

Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until 6 p.m. from June 15 through August 15. For directions and more information visit www.historyisfun.org. If you want to relax and need help planning an amazing week with your family in Williamsburg and the surrounding area, consider working with me for trip planning services.

Feb 02 2015

What To Know About A Lake Placid Winter Getaway #PerfectDayADK

Last week I wrote about ways that you can enjoy a winter getaway in Lake Placid, New York. With over a dozen different winter activities, you have your pick of how you can play in the snow.

It was funny to read all the comments from people who don’t like the snow. I feel you on that.

I grew up around snow so it doesn’t bother me. Now, do I want to be driving to work in it or trapped in my house because of it? No. However, I don’t mind watching it come down while tucked under a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate, marshmallows and whip cream.

I also don’t mind traveling TO snow for a three-day winter getaway. I love to play in the snow. We do it every year. The key is, I get away from it in 72 hours and leave it behind.

That’s how I appreciate snow the best.

This week I interview a local expert to find out what you need to know about vacation planning for Lake Placid. Check out the interview above for more details about the area and its offerings. I added some visuals, courtesy of the Lake Placid Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The contest for the Lake Placid winter getaway is anew with a second prize. You can enter the giveaway directly for your chance at a trip for two and a stay at the Lake House, the newest lodging property in town.

If you won the winter getaway to Lake Placid, how would you play in the snow? Who would you take with you?

Now that that’s settled, enter the giveaway –> http://bit.ly/15Ik819

Disclosure: As a brand ambassador with Lake Placid, Adirondacks USA, this content was written in conjunction with the “Play in the Snow” winter vacation campaign. All opinions expressed are my own.

Jan 19 2015

The Mountain of Despair: Traveling to the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in DC

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is one of the most beautiful memorials in Washington, DC. It is located at 1964 Independence Avenue in West Potomac Park. The address commemorates the year that the 1964 Civil Rights Act became law.

I remember when it first opened in 2011. We, like so many others, were excited to visit. It was DC’s second proudest moments in recent years.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Finally, a man who had done so much for advancing the civil rights of blacks in America, as well as other disadvantaged communities, was being memorialized on the National Mall. It’s an honor that’s usually reserved for presidents.

The Walk There

The air was infectious. People were selling all kinds of paraphernalia on the roads as crowds of different nationalities walked eagerly to set eyes on the park. You could feel the excitement.

My mother, sister and nephews came to visit from New York. I had their weekend completely planned out. We were going on a family day trip to check out the memorial together.

My Mother’s Journey

I could tell that my mother, the only one in our little group who had experienced it all, was beyond excitement. I remembered her recounting the day of Dr. King’s assassination. She was 20 years old at the time. My sister was a newborn. She said that when she heard the news all she did was cry.

I could only imagine.

In her lifetime, she’s seen a lot. She knows what it was like to grow up in a Jim Crow society, to read about lynchings on the regular, church bombings, blatant segregation. The America that we live in today, although some wrongs have been righted, is still struggling with the same issues and injustices. The country has come a long way but there’s still deep-rooted problems infesting our society. All they do is hold us back from progressing further.

Watching my mother’s face as she took it all in was a blessing. I wondered what that was like to live through such stark social transitions irregardless of us not being there yet.

The walk to the Memorial from the North part of the National Mall (the closest place where we could find parking) was bright and open. Although visiting in August of 2011 can be hot, it’s also convenient. The tulips are in bloom and nature is just as energetic as the people who make their way to the National Memorial.

MLK Jr. Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park sits on 4 acres of land. It is an open and beautiful layout of stone and white granite blocks. When you enter the park from the Northwest corner, you walk past a 450 feet long crescent shaped granite wall inscribed with excerpts from Dr. King’s sermons and speeches. Those fourteen excerpts were pulled from various speeches of Dr. King’s ranging from 1955-1968.

You’ll read in the National Park Service’s brochure for the Memorial that the inscriptions were chosen to highlight four of Dr. King’s primary messages: “injustice, democracy, hope, and love.”

A 30-ft. high relief of King is called the Stone of Hope” and is the centerpiece of the Memorial Park. There are two quotes on this behemoth of stone, one on each side:

“Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope.”

“I was a Drum Major for Justice, Peace, and Righteousness.”

I couldn’t help but lay my brown hands on the stone, to absorb the power of his words and pray for the best in this country. I watched my mother read the inscriptions, taking quiet moments of pause. I was happy that I brought her here.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial is a must-see if you’re traveling to DC, with or without kids. Our generation doesn’t have a leader of the same caliber of Dr. King. However, this doesn’t mean that we should stop striving to recalibrate ourselves.