When in Scenic Seattle

It is no secret that I love to travel to the Seattle area. Unfortunately Seattle is like a lot of cities and does a majority of their road construction during the summer. What this means is that it really messes your travel routes up with many detours. My family and I have found a sneaky trick to get around this. If we want to go downtown and do some shopping but do not want to hassle with the downtown parking, we simply park over by the Seattle Science Center (actually across from the EMP) and hop on the monorail that goes downtown. Sure from there you have to walk some but that is actually good for you to do. Also if you have a child who loves trains as my son does then it is a special treat on both ends of the shopping trip that he/she may not have wanted to go on in the first place. Keep this in mind when you are deciding to travel to a larger city. Most cities now have vamped up their mass transit systems due to more users do in part to the hike in gas prices.

On a side note I want to thank all of the readers who have followed me over the years. I have just hit 1000 page views, which might not seem a lot to some of you. But to me with this specialty blog it is incredible. I will continue to give out travel tips and ideas for vacations as fast as I can. Looking forward to many more trips together.

Day Tripper

Well here it is almost officially summer and here in the beautiful Northwest it is (you guessed it) cloudy. That is OK though because there are always some indoors activities to do. My wife and I are doing a day trip to Seattle to see the King Tut exhibit at the Seattle Science Center located by the world famous Space Needle, and Experience Music Project (or EMP). I have posted in the past that these mini vacations are extremely important for one's sanity (specifically if you have a small child). I was really glad to hear that it was being shown in Seattle and we booked it for my birthday. Will hopefully post  some pictures of it. Enjoy the links until then. 

Where to vacation next?

There are so many places that I would like to take my family on vacation I just do not know how to narrow them down. My wife is graduating next year with her masters degree and i really want to take her on a special vacation that will also be fun for my son. Here are some of the places we are discussing.

5. San Diego, California Pros: Sun, Beaches, Zoo and aquarium, Legoland, Comic Con (during summer) Con: not really relaxing, can be an expensive place, no place where we can drop the kid off.

4. Yellowstone National Park Pros: beautiful natural surroundings, sty in a lodge, plenty of space for kid to run around, peaceful and relaxing. Cons: can be expensive, we would have to drive to see places, no place where we can drop the kid off.

3. West coast cruise Pros: Be pampered and only have to unpack once, get to see more than one destination, Kids clubs, almost everything is inclusive. Cons: limited number of places to sail to (Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, up the coast (transition cruise)

2.Sanibel Island, Florida Pros: relaxing, warm, kid friendly Cons: long flight, can be expensive, no place where we can drop the kid off.

1. Bahamian or Caribbean cruise: Or maybe both. We decided to book a cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line that departs from New York and visits Nassau, Bahamas fir two days then their own private Bahamanian island, Afterwards it loops over to Port Canaveral for some theme park fun, or beach combing, and back to New York. The itinerary really spoke to us as we are on a mission to take my son to every state in the U.S. before he is 18 years old (at the ripe old age of three he has already been to Washington, California, Hawaii), and this will knock two more off the list.

I am so excited about our next big adventure! I will make sure that I post more information as I find it. As always happy travels!

Even More Travel Bug Bites

After having such a wonderful trip to Disneyland with my wife and son, we decided that we couldn't wait until next year to have another travel adventure. We wanted to book a vacation a little closer to home and just a little bit more relaxing.

So we have booked a fall get away to the San Juan Islands of Washington State. My wife and a co worker were discussing family trips when she (the co worker) mentioned their annual trip to Orcas Island. Her children (who are now adults) have amazing memories going out every year and meeting up with newly made friends.  They stayed in very nice waterfront cabins that are completely cut off from the internet. This may scare some of you but there is an appeal to not being reachable by every website on the universe.

After some quick looking around we discovered that they have an accessible cabin that sleeps 10, and also an apartment attached to their lodge. Unlike most accessible rooms these are both waterfront. After contacting them on Friday asking them about the accessibility of the apartment (door width, is there a ramp, how wheelchair friendly are the grounds) and getting a reply on Easter Sunday (cheerful and full of major details including an offer to move some furniture and creating a make shift ramp),  we booked the apartment as we do not need room for ten. I will share what I find about the area in future posts but let me just say that I am very much looking forward to cooking some seafood, Riding my handcycle, taking some pictures, and hanging out in a beach chair watching my kid play in the cold water of the Puget Sound.

Not that I don't love my Disneyland vacation but it will be very nice to connect to nature again.

Return the Conquering Heroes

It has taken me several weeks to figure out exactly what I want to post about this vacation. After all, this is my frst trip to Disneyland with a little kid (all  previous trips were with teens or adults), the first trip as a family. So it seemed to deserve a special post.  I can say per usual that the new and referbished Disney rides are gettting better accessibleized every trip I go. The Little Mermaid ride is prime example of that with it's roll in car with room for the family. The King Arthur Carousel has had a ramp added so that I could ride it along with my wife and son whjich was nice. The fear that my son wouldn't like the rides or be afraid to go on an atraction were totally unecessary, as he is quite the daredevil (whom I will have to keep up with when he is a little older and a little taller). It was a wonderful family vacation with the great Disney magic that I have beome spoiled to expect. The staff at the parks and hotels were top notch. My travel agent let them know that it was my son's first visit so that he had a special pin he could wear which blew his mind. He even got to meet the mouse himself. All in all it was a great vacation until we got sick. Yep we were exposed to a bug before our trip and went full blown sick the day before we were suppose to fly out (which really puts a damper on the close down on your vacation).

I have to say that it was still great to go down there. I rode some rides that I never had any interest in (until my son came along I had never explored the kiddie rides). It's a Small World has a specialized boat for people who want to stay in wheelchairs (which I knew, but it is still nice), I have heard that Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland both have a vehicle that has a wider opening for easier transfers (although we didn't ride it so I cannt tell you how easy the transfers are), in Toontown Mickey and Minnie's house are accessible for wheelchairs (if not a little tight in spots). In DCA the new Little Mermaid  ride has it's own ride vehicle that I can roll up on and ride with two other passengers. The Monster's INC ride has a roll up ride vehicle too and if you plan it just right you can go on it more than once in a row. SWEET!

There is a lot of construction going on with the addition of Carsland, and Buena Vista Street. This leads to some bottle necks and weird detours that do not flow as smoothly as previous trips. All that accounted for it was still a great family vacation with  wonderful Disney magic. We will definately go back....when my son is a little taller.

Kid Friendly restaurant choices in Disneyland

Here is a handy list that we had on our phones and on laminated index cards for food choices inside the Disneyland Resort. These were great when trying to find food that wasn't fried and also that were kid friendly. I hope they help you if you are heading to the happiest place on earth. Please excuse my shorthand but I am not quite a proficient smart phone typer.

Disneyland food choices



Main Street

Plaza Inn BLD

Refreshment Corner (Mikey pretzel + chili) Blue Ribbon Bakery ( yogurt veg) Fruit Cart


Adventureland

Bengal BBQ

Tiki juice bar ( Dole Whip)

Tropical Imports ( fruit stand )

New Orleans Square

Blue Bayou ( lunch )

French Market ( salad lunch)

Royal Street Veranda( soup)

Critter Country

Hungry Bear (L/D)

Fruit Cart (Kids power pAck)

Harbor Galley (soup&salad)

Frontierland
Riverbelle (BLD) fruit
Fantasyland

None

Toontown

Clarabelles (power pack salad sandwich)

Daisy's Dinner (pizza, applesauce )

Pluto's Doghouse (Mac-n-cheese, apples )

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow land terrace (fruit plate, vegiburger, sandwich)
 Reds Rocket Pizza Port (pasta/salads)
Fruit Cart tomorrow land terrace


DCA

Backlot

Fairfax Market ( fruit)

Schmoozies

Studio Catering Co. ( sandwich, salad)
Golden State

Taste pilots grill (burgers,ribs,)

Cucina Cucamonga (Mexican)

Lucky fortune cookery (Asian)

Pacific Wharf Cafe (Powerpacks, kids turkey wrap, soup,sandwich)

Paradise Pier

Boardwalk pizzeria & pasta (l/d)

Corndog Castle

Paridise garden grill ( l/d, kids meal, skewers)



Hotels

PP

PCH grill ( character breakfast, dinner)

DLH

Coffee House (breakfast fruit yogurt)

Goofy's Kitchen ( buffet Mac n cheese)

Tangara Terrace (bld, Hawaiian food yogurt. Vegi and to go)

GCH
White water snacks

Storytellers cafe

5 Fave Friday - Travel Apps

Where ever you look today it seems everyone has a smart phone. From IPhone, Droids, to Blackberry people want to stay connected. This seems particularly true for travelers who use apps for everything from checking in to the airlines to playing games while waiting for a cab, or even messaging someone and sending emails. I am no exception to this technological craze having had a quad band Blackberry that I could instant message my wife even when she was in Europe. I am now using an IPhone (mostly so I can message my wife without having a texting plan) but I do so like the deals of the apps while I am traveling. I am new to the apps so my experience is limited but here are my 5 for this trip:

5. Alaska Air check in app - I like the idea that I can check in for my flight while waiting on the plane for the isle seat. This is handy because I am the last one off the plane and that can make it difficult when trying to make the connection.

4. Angry Birds (free edition) - My 2 year old gets squirmy when we have to wait in lines so we discovered this game. He likes the sounds that the birds make when they are tossed into the air, and also yelling "BOOM!!" when the buildings are knocked over. I see us playing this while waiting for Dumbo, or Smallworld.

3. Packing (+TO DO!) by Quinn Genzel - We are list people. A smooth trip starts out with many lists and this is a great one for figuring out what you have and where it is. basically it gives a item by item inventory of your luggage and gives a guesstimating of weight. In this age of pay by the pound luggage and no frills flight it really is nice to have things organized.

2. FlightTrack - Live Flight information by Ben Kazez - This will be great for being able to see departure updates when I am away from the big board, it has great maps that I can zoom in on gives me gate numbers and much more. I figure I will have at least one more big trip in a year and this will be very handy to have for it.

1. Disneyland Magic Guide by VersaEdge Software LLC - I am going to Disneyland with a toddler for the first time so it is very important for me to know where things like "where is the closest bathroom" or "where can I get a kids power pack". This program (which offers a free version) is full of information like ride waits, GPS location tells you where you are, it shows a map with restaurants and restrooms, and has useful things like park hours, and priority dining reservations. All in all I will probably get my three bucks worth out of it on my trip, and future Disneyland trips to come.