Lisa’s Travels

Not everyone stays in a hotel when they go on vacation. I know several people who look into vacation rentals by owner when they are heading out on vacation. Instead of staying in a stuffy hotel, they get to be comfortable in someone else’s house. The owners sometimes use their second home for this or if you live near an event (like the Olympics) will give up their primary home. I know if Chicago gets the Olympics that I will definitely be looking into vacation rentals. We will find someplace else to live for that month! The cool thing about home rentals is that they are available all over the place: you can find Florida rentals all the way up to Alaska rentals. Pretty much anywhere you want to go, you can find a rental property.

When you use Vacation Home Rentals, you are able to see exactly what you are getting.  There are pictures, a list of what the house has, and how much they are wanting monthly, weekly, daily, etc.  For example, the house that I have pictured above rents for $700 a night, $3,100 a week, or $15,000 a month.  It has 4 bedrooms and 4 bath.  It has full listing of all the amentities like high speed internet access and the activities that are located in the area.  Now, if this is little above your price range, there are tons of other listings you can choose from.  They have houses, condos, and apartments that you can choose from for your rental.

Next time you go are planning a vacation, check out Vacation Home Rentals.

How can you travel without luggage?  You really can’t.  Bill and I have starting looking at possibly getting some new luggage since I think we got ours when we got married (which was 7 years ago).  We have taken several trips with it, and it is starting to show its wear and tear now.  One of the suitcases doesn’t even zip up anymore!  With having 4 of us needing suitcases now, we definitely need some that close and look up to the task.

While checking out Luggage Online, it definitely looks like Travelpro Luggage is the way to go. With 851 reviews, they score 4 stars on all the important categories such as durability, design, buy again, overall, etc.  The picture you see to the left here is one of the Travelpro luggage sets that I really like.  at a sale price of $152.96, it is a great deal.  You can get it in black or blue (and honestly, I would go with blue.  Everybody has black luggage, and it makes it incredibly difficult at the airport to figure out which luggage is yours!)  I love all the extra storage pockets.  I like to be organized and this would allow me to do so.  All these suitcases also fit into one another, so they are a spacesaver once you get home.  Besides this cool luggage set, Travelpro does have several other kinds of luggage — from duffle bags to computer briefcases on wheels.  There is a little something for everyone here, so make sure you check out Travelpro Luggage the next time you need luggage.

Bill and I have been struggling this whole summer so far trying to decide where to take the kids on vacation this year.  With my kids only being 4 and 1, it is a hard call.  I do not want to be spending a ton of money on a trip they are not going to remember.  That being said and with gas prices being so high, we have decided to stay home and vacation.  We live right next to Chicago, and never have any time to enjoy it!  Being that Bill hates to drive downtown more than he has to, we are looking at staying maybe one night (maybe even two) with the kids downtown.  There is a ton of stuff to do in Chicago like Navy Pier, Children’s Museum, The Museum of Science and Industry, The Aquarium, and The Field Museum.  This is just a few things that are just a few blocks away from one another.  On top of there being a ton of things to do, there area also a ton of hotels to pick from.  I personally think we need one with a pool and continental breakfast if we have the kids with.  I love that Hotels Combined has the ability to search on the very parameters that I want.  It makes it so easy to find exactly what I want.  Our plan is to become a tourist in our very own town and visit all the places we never have time for!

Where are you going on vacation this summer?

When traveling abroad, make sure you know the customs in the area you are in.  Here are a few tips for you:

• Argentine humor can be insulting.  They poke fun at your appearance, weight, and/or attire.
• Don’t kiss the hand of an Austrian woman unless you are Austrian.
• Don’t make the “OK” sign in Brazil since it is considered a rude gesture.
• Don’t give a Chinese person a clock as gift, because it is viewed as a sinister action.  Clocks are associated with death.
• Don’t be too touchy-feely in Denmark.
• On the other hand, Italians like to hug.
• Don’t use your left hand to eat in Egypt.
• In Ghana, dont blow your nose at the dinner table.
• When in India, make sure you leave a small amount of food on your plate.  If you clean it off, they think you are still hungry.
• However, if you are in Kenya, you do need to finish everything off your plate, because it is polite.
• Don’t talk with your hands or put your hands in your pockets while talking in Thailand.

Happy traveling!

I have never been a cruise ever.  However, this is one of those things I would love to do.  My inlaws went on a Royal Caribbean(I think) cruise several years ago and absolutely loved it. They actually told us that we need to take one ourselves one day, because it was one of the best vacations they had ever had. After doing some research, I have found that there are several different kinds of cruises you can take. They range from Celebrity Cruises all the way to just using the Norwegian Cruise Line. Currently, my inlaws are in Hawaii. Now, if they would have used a company like Direct Line Cruises, they could have taken a cruise there instead of the forever long airplane trip (which may be a great option for my family with two little ones under the age of 5)! Direct Line Cruises include destinations such as Alaska (which I would seriously love to do!), Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe — just to name a few. Personally, I have always wanted to take an Alaskan cruise. I have heard it is absolutely awesome to go and do. Direct Line Cruises has been around since 1995, so they have been around the block a few times. This is definitely not a fly by night company. They also make booking super easy — it is a just a phone call away or a couple of clicks online!

I never knew there were so many Things to do in New Jersey. If we didn’t already go to Arizona this year, we sure would have a lot of fun at the Wildwood events and the new jersey water parks.

There are going to be Magic Mondays (July 7th, 14th, and 21st). On the Morey’s Piers, Radio Disney’s musical artists will appear. These free concerts (yes, I said free!) will take place next to the Giant Ferris wheel at 1 pm and 4 pm. The Series Finale will be July 26th (which is a Saturday) at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oceanfront Area. Plan on seeing stars such as Raven-Symone and Mitchell Musso there. If you do get tickets for the concert, make sure you get the savings that are also offered with it. On July 26th and 27th, show your summer concert series finale ticket at guest services, and you will get $10 off an all day waterpark ticket for Raging Waters or Ocean Oasis, or $10 off an amusement pier wristband, or $15 off a one day splash and ride combination ticket. How can you go wrong?

If you are in New Jersey in July, make sure you check all the cool happenings that are going on!

If you are looking for the places to go for awesome wedding pictures here in Chicago, look no further.  Here’s the top ten list from professional photographers in this area:

1.  Adler Planetarium — The grounds are especially popular due to the postcard perfect skyline.

2.  The Bean — The Millennium park sculpture is very popular.

3.  Buckingham Fountain — This is a fountain complete with Beaux Arts style landscaping.  It also has a lakefront location.

4.  The 400 Block of North Michigan Avenue — You are able to get pictures at North Michigan Avenue, the Wrigley Building, and the Chicago River right here.

5.  Lincoln Park Lagoon — This is just south of the zoo.  It has a bridge with skyline views.

6.  Lasalle and Adams Streets — The Chicago Board of Trade is right there and makes a great backdrop.

7.  Chicago Botanic Garden

8.  North Avenue Beach

9.  Rosemont Waterfall — Officially, it is known as Monument Park.

10.  Art Institute of Chicago — Both the landscaped gardens the bronze lions make for awesome pictures.

Even in you aren’t getting married, these places you should go check out anyway!

Towards the end of our trip in Arizona, we visited the Verde Canyon Railroad. This was, I think, a four hour train ride into the wilderness of Arizona. We were able to see areas of Arizona that you would only see if you were on the train. There are two classes of tickets you can buy for this ride. First, there is coach which will run you $54.95. When we booked this, they didn’t have any coach available, so we had to buy first class tickets which ran us about $79.95 a piece. First class does include appetizers and a glass of champagne. Honestly, I wish we could have saved our money and went coach. We spent a ton of the trip on the outdoor car where you could see out better.

This is a trip that older people and people with kids would want to do. I also recommend doing this trip early in your vacation. By the time we did this, we were almost sick of seeing the “red rock” since that’s all we had done for six days at this point. However, this did end up being a great relaxing day.

The customer service here is excellent though. We got lost on the way there (since this is located in Clarksdale, and we were staying in Sedona). Their customer service representative stayed on the phone with us until we got there.

The Verde Canyon railroad (formally the Verde Valley Railroad) was financed by Senator William Clark. It was built in one year for $1.3 million dollars in 1911. (Today, the cost would be $38 million). The railroad was not used for several years until Dave Durbano bought it. To quote him,

“I purchased the rail line from Clarkdale to Drake, sight-unseen, based on freight figures alone. Like many of the railroads built at the turn of the century, I knew this one had played an important role in Manifest Destiny, but when I made my first trip through the canyon, I was awestruck at the natural beauty and undisturbed wilderness through which we passed. I knew others would want to see the Verde Canyon in this same, unique way, where history was only a part of the journey.”

The views are beautiful from the train.  Here are few of the pictures that we took:

If you are looking for a nice relaxing day, I would recommend the Verde Canyon Railroad.

Bill and I are trying to decide where to take the kids this summer for vacation. With money being tight due to our basement remodeling project, it is really hard to decide where to go. We also have the other disadvantage that Will is only going to be one. There is not a lot of things that are going to hold both Madison (who is 4 years old) and his attention. He hates to be in the stroller too. One of the places that we were thinking about taking the kids is Wisconsin Dells. I know, its a tad pricey there. However, I think both kids would enjoy the water parks. Instead of going to all the travel sites like Orbitz or Expedia, I have been using Hotels Combined. They have the largest database available. Nothing is more annoying than having to look at 10 different travel sites just to find the best deal. As a mom with little ones, I don’t have time for that.

There are a couple of different things I am looking for in a hotel room. Now, if it is only Bill and myself, I don’t normally care. However, when the kids are with us, we need a lot more room. They need room to play and walk around. I also really like having wifi. I also do not like having to pay extra for it. I also like not having to look at the fine print of the hotels to make sure they have wifi. I like a site that allows me to search according to my parameters not theirs.

Now, I am checking out hotels that Hotels Combined gave me, and there is a ton of information to comb though. One of the hotels I was actually able to check out and get a way better price is the Great Wolf Lodge. This is one of the hotels we are seriously looking at. I was happily surprised to find out that the prices offered here are way less than go through their site. They list all the different prices that all the travel sites are offering, so you can pick which one you want to use. One you pick which place you want to go through, Hotels Combined directs you to their site so you can book. They definitely make it much easier and less time consuming to book your trip.

Montezuma’s Well is somewhat of a surprise. You don’t expect to see a lake and lush vegetation in the middle of the desert. This is another place that we stopped while we were visiting Arizona. The well is a limestone sink formed by the collapse of an immense underground canyon. The springs that feed it flow continuously. The Sinagua used this to irrigate its wells.  Can you imagine having to get your water like this?

The Sinagua dwelllings that you see here vary in size. There are some large pueblos that house 50 rooms. there are also one room houses. Between 1125 and 1400, 150-200 Sinagua people lived here.

The cool thing you need to make sure you do to climb down into the well. It is an awesome site from up top. However, it is even more interesting once you get below. It is quite a walk, but well worth checking out.