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  We're Traveling Mamas sharing our adventures with the world. We offer tips on great (and not so great) places to visit with children and how to have the best family vacations -- but it's not all about the kids, of course! Romantic escapes, girlfriend getaways, and solo trips are also important to us. Plus, we cover industry news and review travel gear, and we love to give things away!

  
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Family Friendly Florida Keys Resort

Little CajunMama (LCM) and I decided that we needed to get away from our men folk and take a girls trip. I was looking forward to spending quality one on one time with my daughter. She was excited to just GO (her favorite word). We both love the sun and beach, but needed someplace that would enable me to relax and yet also provide activities for a ten year old. My friend Denise told me about her visit to Cheeca Lodge, a 27-acre luxury resort that was ideal for couples and families.

We flew into Miami and had arranged for a ride with Emerald Transportation. I didn’t want the hassle of renting a car and navigating through Miami traffic. LCM imagined herself as a tween tv star and having a “driver”. The drive from Miami to Islamorada took about two hours, so of course my little tween star fell asleep on the ride. As the car slowed and turned into the drive of Cheeca Lodge, her little head popped up and her eyes were big as she looked around.

Cheeca Lodge is set on the Atlantic side of Islamorada and offers a variety of lodging, from deluxe rooms to bungalows. There is an onsite spa near the adult pool, a number of restaurants, tennis courts, a small golf course, a family pool, a kids club, water sports, and of course a beach. Now, be aware, the Florida Keys are full of coral and rocky shores. If you are looking for a pristine white sandy beach that slowly dips into the water, then you will be disappointed. However, there is a man-made lagoon that provides a safe place for little ones to snorkel on the property.

Our room was a courtyard view, but it was newly renovated. There was no need for us to have an Ocean view, which costs more, because they only time we would be spending in the room was to sleep. LCM was excited to see that the bathroom had a soaking tub with doors that open into the bedroom. She thought it was cool.

I signed LCM up for Camp Cheeca, the property’s little people activity center. My plan was to take advantage of a spa treatment to start the trip off. This is what she had to say about Camp Cheeca in her travel journal:

My mom and I got to go on a mother daughter trip to the Florida Keys. We stayed at Cheeca Lodge Resort.

My favorite part was Camp Cheeca. Camp Cheeca is a really cool place. At first I didn’t want to go because there were probably going to be 5 year olds. But, it turned out the kids are all ages. You do arts and crafts, swimming, fishing, and so much more!

But besides Camp Cheeca they had tennis, snorkeling, kayaking, a lot of stuff. The food was excellent and I made some friends and we did everything together! And also they had a sunset cruise. Where you go and watch the sunset on a big boat. If I could go to Cheeca Lodge again, I would. –LCM

We really did have a wonderful time together. One afternoon, I took her on her first kayak trip. She was nervous, but once we were out on the water, she loved it.

Cheeca Lodge does charge a $39 resort fee, but when you look at all that is included in that fee, it really isn’t that bad. It even includes wifi, which at some hotels can cost as much as $24 a day. Plus, greensfees at the golf course are included. Cheeca also offers a variety of kid entrees at each restaurant, and at an affordable price also. The average kid’s meal was $5US, and the adult prices weren’t too bad for a resort either.

There is so much to do and see in the Florida Keys, but this trip to Cheeca Lodge was about mom and daughter. I have special memories with just my daughter and I know that when she grows up, she will always remember this special trip that was just about us.

Update 01/01/2009: Cheeca Lodge experienced a fire in the main building on New Year’s Eve. The Resort is temporarily closed for renovations. We’ll update this page when the resort reopens for business.

Snowmass Balloon Festival & Boycott the Staycation Giveaway

Doesn’t this photo just make you giggle? It’s the tallest hot-air balloon in the country: 166 feet (that’s 15 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty). And this humongous Energizer Bunny will be at the 33rd annual Snowmass Balloon Festival, September 12-14, 2008.

The ears on this Energizer Bunny (aka the “Hot Hare Balloon”) are the size of most regular hot-air balloons. This thing is going to dwarf all of the other multi-colored hot-air balloons that will be flying around Snowmass and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley that weekend. It’s truly a spectacle for viewers when the dozens of balloons launch right after sunrise, and hover all together in the sky in the early morning light. Gorgeous!

This beloved annual festival coincides with the Saturday Snowmass Wine Festival: more than 80 wineries are on hand for tastings, and the cool sounds of jazz can be heard throughout Snowmass Village. Add to that some beautiful fall weather in the Colorado Rockies (typically crisp mountain air and bright, sunny days ideal for hiking) and you’ve got yourself a stellar weekend getaway!

And I’ve got a prize that will knock the socks off any reader who’s planning to visit Snowmass, Colorado, this summer or early fall or NEXT summer or early fall: 4 passes to ride the chair-lift up Snowmass Mountain, PLUS 4 passes to the Snowmass Recreation Center.

All you have to do is leave a comment below about your favorite place to visit in Colorado. This random giveaway is not open to any Roaring Fork Valley residents (anyone who lives between Aspen and New Castle; including Redstone and Marble). But if you’re from elsewhere in the state, and planning to visit the Snowmass area soon or next summer, OR you live anywhere in the U.S. and will be in my neck of the woods during the warm-weather months of 2008 or 2009, please feel free to comment. (But if you’re not really going to be able to use these passes, please let someone who can use them win! We’d prefer not to see the passes for sale on eBay or something… make sense?)

Comment until 6 p.m. (EST) Tuesday, August 5, and I’ll announce a winner Wednesday, August 6.

Tips for Easy Green Travel

While I’m not the most environmentally responsible person in the world, I try to do the simple things. You know; recycle, use those canvas shopping bags, buy locally grown produce – the sort of easy lifestyle changes that reduce my so-called carbon footprint. And while a “green” ecologically sound vacation is a great fit for some people, I like my air conditioning and flush toilets too much to stay in a tent when I travel. Most people who take week-long vacation are with me on this, as is seen by the relatively few yurts out there. The travel site boo.com has some tips for people like us, and put them together in a Green Getaway Guide.

Tips for Easy Green Vacations

Towels and Linens - Check if your hotel has a linen reuse service for guests staying more than one night.

Water Supply - Ask to see if the hotel or resort participates in a water conservation or recycling program.

In-room Recycling - Ask ahead of arrival if the hotel supplies in-room recycling bins, and if the hotel has an environmentally responsible waste management plan.

Lights out! - I know you’re on vacation, so there’s no need to make your own bed in the morning. However, you can turn off your hotel room’s lights before leaving for the day.

Transportation – Many hotels and resorts offer free shuttles to and from local points of interest; sharing use of the shuttle (instead of your rental car) is a great way to cut down on CO2 emissions.

Dining - Check to see if the hotel’s on-site restaurants serve food that is organic or locally grown. Some hotels – notably the Fairmont family of hotels and resorts – grow food in rooftop gardens. This ensures freshness and cuts down on transportation costs (financial and environmental) of getting the food from the ground to your plate.

Energy - Some eco-friendly hotels are beginning to use alternative energy sources, such as solar panels. Others offer deals to guests who pull up in hybrid cars.

Getting Around - Talking about cars, if it’s appropriate for your vacation destination, forgo the rental car altogether and use a bike, public transportation, or even a Segway to see local attractions.

These are my favorite of boo.com’s tips for making green(er) trips easy. We can travel in environmentally friendly ways, and still have the luxurious vacations we work so hard for. That way, the guilt we may associate with vacations can be confined to how much weight we’ve gained, or how much we’ve spoiled our children. That kind of guilt, we learn to live with!

Family Travel Adventures by Disney – Montezuma Castle National Monument

The Mudslide family is feeling lucky to be starting one of the Adventures by Disney; we are part of a group touring the US Southwest National Parks in an Adventures by Disney trip called Southwest Splendors. This is only the second year of the Southwest Splendors Disney vacation package, but so far, our guides Brian and Joanne are doing a terrific job keeping the group (12 families!) organized and happy, and learning a lot.

The Adventures by Disney Southwest Splendors travel package is a week-long soft adventure vacation which includes in-depth visits to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Moab, and Arches National Park. Today’s just the first day, though; the group gathered together by a Starbucks in the Phoenix Airport and were taken via tour bus up to Montezuma Castle, then to our hotel in Sedona.

Montezuma Castle National Monument and Park is a Sinagua Culture cliff dwelling. The ruins show the intriucate setup, agriculture, and architecture that the vanished civilization created. It’s believed that it was built in the 1100s and inhabited until the mid-1400s AD. Now, Montezuma was never here, and this was never his castle – but the name’s been there too long to change it. The ruins of the cliff dwelling indicate that it was once a 5-story structure with areas set aside for grain storage, an intricate ladder set-up to get around, and the best protection from both the harsh desert heat and traveling marauders alike.

Adventures by Disney arranged for a Red Rock Jeep Tours guide named Doug to show the family group around, and the old pro really knew the right pace and level of discussion for a group of travelers with a wide range. My younger MudslideDaughter is one of two 7-year olds, and kids up to teenagers are here too, along with parents and grandparents. No surprise to learn that Doug is a 3rd generation ranger and guide – it’s not easy to wrangle such a disparate group! He had the children answer age-appropriate questions related to Montezuma Castle National Park, such as “Why did the Sinagua people build this cliff dwelling,” and a word search. Upon completion, there was a short ceremony in the gift shop in which the children and teenagers pledged to uphold the US Park Ranger credo, and they all received “Junior Park Ranger” badges. It was pretty heart-warming, even for an old cynic like me.

It rained this day – an unusual event. The bad news is, my photographs can’t show how spectacular the Montezuma Castle National Monument is, because it was still overcast during our Adventures by Disney tour. The good news is, the desert animals that usually hide underground or under rocks during the day weren’t shy. Instead, they came out to enjoy a brief respite from the searing summer sun. We saw lizards, a velvet ant (which is really a wingless wasp), a huge beetle, cliff wrens, cliff sparrows, and one toad casually hopping down our path. We stopped to admire each desert animal, and our guides seemed to enjoy the critters, too. I wonder: Does it take family travel with young children to really enjoy the small details of a soft adventure vacation? If so, I’m sure glad that Adventures by Disney has put together a tour of the Southwest National Parks in a way that not only includes the under-10 set, but embraces them, as well.

Do NOT Stay at the Hotel El Pescador, Puerto Vallarta

Note to self: Do not book ultra-low-cost hotels in Puerto Vallarta.

For our two week sojourn in the Puerto Vallarta area last month, we planned on three different sets of accommodations 1) because I love sampling different offerings in any area and 2) I couldn’t make a decision on just one and 3) we had different needs at different points in our vacation.

For the first three nights, we stayed at the Hotel Buenaventura. We loved this all-inclusive property just a few blocks from Puerto Vallarta’s oceanfront boardwalk, the Malecon, lined with shops, restaurants and nightclubs (not that we partook in the late-night action on our family trip). This moderate property is value priced, and contained everything we needed: a pool, beach access and plentiful dining options on the all-inclusive plan.

For the last six nights we stayed at Casa Manana in Bucerias, a rustic fishing village north of P.V. Our condo-apartment a half a block from the beach had a thatched roof a la Giligan’s Island. Loved it!

For the middle part of our stay, we wanted accommodations within walking distance of the downtown Spanish Experience Center, where we studied the language for five mornings. While we’d considered some condo offerings from Puerto Vallarta Vacation Services, ultimately we decided on a room at the Hotel El Pescador and locked in a rate of $57/night. We knew it was cheap and were fully prepared for a budget property.

What we weren’t prepared for was the ickiest hotel room I’ve ever seen. The bellboy showed us our dingy, interior room with a view of decrepit buildings across the street (above left), a bathroom with no toilet paper (above right), fingerprints all over the walls (left), a balcony door handle that fell off, scuffed shelves and old wire hangers in the closet. ICKSVILLE!

Since I’d emailed a note that we’d like an oceanfront room when I booked the reservation online, I asked about availability. We got the old “bait and switch” I’d read about on TripAdvisor! The bellboy called down to the front desk (who knows if he actually talked to someone), and told us, “Sure you can have an oceanfront room, for an additional $20/night.”

The front desk said that since we’d paid the “Internet rate” we’d booked the interior ick room. I said there was absolutely NO VERBIAGE on the site detailing that if I paid the $57/night, we’d have an interior room. They said, in essence, “Too bad,” and if you want the oceanfront room, cough up the bucks. So we did, as the room was marginally better. (The oceanfront had toilet paper.)

However, the “air conditioning” did not work in the room! We had the unit on the highest and coldest setting, but with no ceiling fan in the room to help circulate, it was like sleeping in a concrete shoebox. We even had hotel staff come up and check it at 11 p.m. to confirm, “Yes – it’s working just fine.” HA! Though the kids slept through the night (spending the day at the pool will knock you out!), MountainDad and I were miserable.

With the help of the kind staff at the Spanish Experience Center, we revisited the condo-rental website and we got into a GLORIOUSLY beautiful, two-bedroom, two-bath, full-kitchened condo with an amazing view of downtown and Banderas Bay (left) and still within walking distance of our school. For $105/night, just $28 more a night than the icky El Pescador, we got plenty of room to spread out, blissfully cool air conditioning, laundry, a pool and wireless access. Heaven!

Moral of story: In many, many instances, you get what you pay for. Going for a budget hotel south of the border is not the best way to save money. Instead, eat like the locals do or take public transportation to shave a few bucks off your vacation. Don’t try to cut costs with sketchy, budget accommodations. It’s not worth the headache!

Desert and Mudslide Families Meet

A few weeks back I began a string of posts about the DesertFamily’s West Coast Swing Roadtrip. We covered a lot of miles. We stopped in Huntington Beach, San Mateo County, the Mendocino Coast, San Luis Obispo, Solvang and San Diego.

Our first stop in Huntington Beach was extra special because we were able to spend a day with the MudslideFamily. While MudslideMama and I have of course met and even spent time together in Maui, our families had yet to meet until this trip. MudslideMama and Dad have two beautiful girls who my son and daugher call simply “the girls” (even though they know their their names).

The first thing we did in Surf City USA wasn’t surf, but eat at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. The kids had grilled cheese and peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches while the adults had more grown-up food, like salads and sandwiches. When we were finished we all loaded up and headed over to Brewbakers, a brew-your-own beer joint. You’re probably wondering why we brought four children to a place where beer is the focus. Well, it just so happens Brewbakers hosts kids birthday parties. The kids can brew their own rootbeer and make pretzels. While we didn’t brew anything we did make pretzels and have some of the tastiest rootbeer I have ever had.

After our Brewbakers stop we returned to the hotel, changed into our beachwear and hit the waves. The kids of course loved playing in the water and finding new seashells to add to their collections. It was a day of fun and memories. My kiddos keep asking when they can go to the beach and see “the girls” again and I tell them soon, very soon.

A Traveling Mama’s Treasure: The San Diego Omni

Everyone loves San Diego. The weather is great, the people are cool, it has a city, beaches and a harbor. But no matter what city or town you are in it’s always terrific to find accommodations that are, well, a Traveling Mama’s Treasure. What exactly does the it mean to for a hotel to be a “treasure”? It depends on what type of vacation you have in mind. But I can tell you some of the things I look for when planning a family vacation: location, area transportation (trolley, bus, train), cost/specials, noise and its overall kid-friendliness.

The San Diego Omni meets every standard above and we knew it from the minute we pulled up. Once the car was taken by valet we didn’t need it again. The hotel is located on the southern edge of the Gaslamp Quarter where we had our choice of restaurants and even a local drug store for when we realized we were running low on Pull-Ups for nighttime. The San Diego Trolley is a one block walk and the Seaport Village is only 1/2 mile away as is the New Children’s Museum (NCM).

Upon check-in the bellboy or, “the really, really nice guy who helped us with the bags” as my son says, retrieved two children’s “backpacks” filled with an assortment of delights for all of the senses: glow-in-the-dark gummy worms, jacks, kaleidescope, a scented bracelet and a kids cup that gets free refills in the hotel’s restaurant. As we rode the elevator the kids were anxiously awaiting the moment they could peek inside. When we got to the room the kids ran and jumped on a bed and explored their bag’s content – a perfect distraction while we grownups unpacked.

The next thing that grabbed their attention was the view from our 21st floor room, which included city views and the PETCO Park where a Padres game was just wrapping up. The hotel connects to the park via a skybridge.

The San Diego Airport’s flight path skims downtown, and is pretty far from the hotel, so there isn’t any airplane noise. The kids had a blast watching the planes play “peek-a-boo” behind the downtown buildings.

The hotel’s restaurant has a terrific kids’ menu (don’t forget that free refill cup!). The great menu also shows up on the room service menu.

The Omni has various packages but the one that stood out for me was the SeaWorld Family Package. The promotion includes luxurious room accommodations, complementary valet parking, breakfast for two adults and two children, and SeaWorld passes also for two adults and two children.

In the mornings there wasn’t a need to go searching for our must-have Starbucks, because it is served downstairs in the coffee shop. The staff was also super friendly. The concierge was there to answer all of my questions and even gave me a map of the area and the valet guys were terrific. You can tell by the photo they were great at entertaining the kids as we waited for our car to pull up. You can’t buy service like that.

And those are the reasons the San Diego Omni is a Traveling Mama’s Treasure.

Stay Free at Starwood Hotels

The word “free” always piques my interest. So, naturally I had to ‘click through’ when I received this interesting offer in my in box. Indeed (oooh, can I use the prefix “in” anymore?), at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts throughout the U.S., the Caribbean and Hawaii, you can get a free night’s stay, with a minimum booking of two nights.

Some of the properties in Hawaii and the Caribbean require four or more nights’ stay. But still, this is a pretty darn good deal at hotel brands like Westin, Sheraton, Four Points and W throughout North America.

Click here to see the lengthy list of rules and regulations, as well as links to the participating properties. You need to book and travel by September 29, 2008.

“Boycott the Staycation” Random Giveaway – Snowmass Goodie Bags

When I received a press release from the Snowmass Village Director of Public Relations (and friend) Allison Johnson titled, “Don’t Settle for a Staycation This Summer,” I knew I found a partner in crime. (Or, at least, someone who might offer up some goodies to help us promote the Traveling Mamas “Boycott the Staycation” campaign.)

Indeed, with Snowmass Village a few hours’ drive from Denver (hey! maybe those superdelegates should visit after all their convening) and many other points on the Front Range of Colorado, Snowmass makes an awesome summer weekend destination. Heck, there’s so much to do in the Aspen/Snowmass area, it would be easy to fill a full week full of outdoor activities, fine dining, kick-butt music and other fun.

Snowmass Village is festival central in the warm-weather months: Snowmagical Family Fun Fest, Mountain Masterpieces Art Fair, Snowmass Wellness Experience, Oktoberfest and the Snowmass Balloon Festival are still on the docket this season. Then there’s the summer-long free concert series on Fanny Hill (pack your picnic and a blanket and listen to live music under the stars) and the world-renowned Jazz Aspen Snowmass concerts over Labor Day Weekend. Oh, and the authentic Snowmass Rodeo with BBQ and petting zoo every Wednesday night.

All summer long you’ve got activities on the ski mountain — disc golf, chair lift rides, guided nature walks and mountainboarding. And the best part? Prices for accommodations take a nose dive in the summer months — it’s much cheaper to stay in a slopeside condominium in August than it is in February.

So, in celebration of summer at Snowmass, and courtesy of Snowmass Village, I’ve got FOUR nifty gift packs to give away to folks who have already commented on TravelingMamas.com this month. April, KristalH, Melanie T and Lynn H will all receive a water bottle, chap stick, amazingly cool corkscrew (I am totally coveting), umbrella (that I am also coveting), tin of mints (that I need after my garlic-filled dinner tonight)… seriously, this is some super schwag. (I’ll be emailing you ladies to get your snail-mail addresses.)

Stay tuned, I’ve got a killer prize-specific Snowmass-related giveaway coming up by the end of the month, as well. So keep reading!

The Four Seasons Silicon Valley – Palo Alto, California

When people think of traveling to San Mateo County, they usually think about San Francisco. San Fran is a popular California vacation destination, of course. Why, then, is there a relatively new 5-star hotel in East Palo Alto, south of San Francisco and east of most of San Mateo? Based in East Palo Alto, the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley is an unlikely contender for luxury travelers to make reservations. East Palo Alto, after all, is the antithesis of a high-end destination; mostly known for a high crime rate, office parks and possibly the ugliest highway offramp in California, East Palo Alto has the looks of a city that should sport Days’ Inns, not Four Seasons.

This is the sort of question that arouses curiosity in a travel writer’s mind. A visit to Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley quickly cleared up my confusion. Granted, the Four Seasons here is almost directly across from that above-mentioned offramp, but inside is a bustling, popular spot. With the standard Four Seasons luxury amenities offered here, this hotel is the best upscale hotel for work meetings/business travel and romantic weekend getaways for locals in the entire region. Yahoo, Facebook, Electronic Arts and other high tech businesses are based in Palo Alto, and those young internet-rich tech guys have to spend their huge paychecks somewhere, after all.

What I liked best about the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley:

The ambience is the most fun of any Four Seasons I’ve stayed in. The youthful crowd are at once relaxed and happy, and the bar scene is incredible. Seriously; this is the best hotel restaurant-bar I’ve experienced. The head bartender makes astonishingly creative drinks, and is up to the challenge of spontaneous drink invention. The Quattro Restaurant and Bar is becoming a destination spot for residents and Silicon Alley tech guys alike.

The entire hotel is set up for wireless internet, including the cabanas along the rooftop pool. Those tech guys (and gals) come here for a reason; meetings literally can be had anywhere. This hotel knows its pull is the luxury business crowd, and supports this with a 24-hour business center and tech-savvy staff as well.

The Spa at Four Seasons Silicon Valley is luxurious and pampering. Four Seasons really knows how to hit all the right notes in spa design and treatments; this is no exception. An appointment here is a vacation in and of itself.

What I liked least about the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley:

Like I said, the hotel is right off the highway. East Palo Alto is not a tourist destination by any stretch; there is truly nothing to walk to from the hotel. People who live nearby may want to spend a long weekend ensconced here, using the spa and enjoying the fabulous food and drinks. Other than that, it has got to remain purely a business travel hotel, albeit an extremely high-end one.

The crowd here is so hip, young ,and exuberant, that it might be a little intimidating for an older couple.

The Four Seasons Silicon Valley really is the best luxury hotel in Palo Alto, California. I recommend it, but only for high-end business meetings and work travel, as well as a weekend getaway for romantic couples who live nearby.

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