It’s the Guy’s Turn for a Father and Son Getaway

Move over gals, it time for the guys to get away for a few days of male family bonding. Mother/Daughter “girls getaways” have become all the rage – so it’s only fair that we propose a memorable Father/Son summer escape. The good folks at AAA Southern New England suggest a sports-minded mini-vacation that will guarantee memories to last a lifetime.

You may have heard that the Baseball Hall of Fame is coming to Boston this summer! The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, has created a traveling exhibit that will be at the Boston Museum of Science until September 1st. Over 500 exhibits of treasured memorabilia include: record-breaking home run bats of Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, and Mark McGwire, Curt Schilling’s bloody sock from game two of the 2004 World Series, and the hat worn by Mike Lowell when he was the 2007 World Series MVP.

If you’re in for some great entertainment and a spirited discussion, plan to get tickets for the August 9th visit by Red Sox legend “The Spaceman” Bill Lee for his spirited discussion of the Art and Science of Pitching. Read more

Orbitz To Send Automatic Refunds If Your Air Fare Drops

I know, I know, might as well hold your breath for gas prices to come down – but it DOES happen. Orbitz has added a great new service that guarantees a cash refund if the price of your flights goes down after booking. This makes Orbitz the leading ‘go to’ online site for booking airline tickets in my book!

Called the “Price Assurance Program”, Orbitz guarantees that you are paying the absolute lowest fare for your dates and flights now and right up until flight time. If another Orbitz customer books the same flights for less at anytime before you depart on your trip, they will send you a cash refund check automatically – very nice! So instead of booking your ticket and then registering in a fare tracking system (if you remember to), it’s all built right in. Check out all the details on the Orbitz site and purchase your tickets knowing no one will pay less than you for the same flights.

Continental and United Airlines Become New Best Friends

Continental Airlines announced last week that they will be changing affiliate partners. Continental and United airlines will become alliance partners scheduling code-share flights and sharing frequent flier and elite club reciprocity. Until now, Continental has been a member of the Sky Team Alliance with Delta and Northwest Airlines, but with the announcement of Delta’s intention to merge with Northwest, Continental obviously feels it’s time to move on. Continental will now join the Star Alliance with United Airlines and US Airways.

The regulatory process and transition to the new alliance will take up to a year to complete, so there’s plenty of time to think about how best to use your One Pass frequent flyer miles. At present you can redeem Continental miles for flights on CO, DL & NW. In the future you’ll be able to redeem for flights on CO, UA & US, as well as a variety of international carriers in each alliance.

It will be interesting to see how this change effects Continental’s participation in the American Express Membership Rewards Program. Currently miles from Amex can be transferred to Continental Airlines frequent flyer accounts, (as is the case with Delta and Northwest). Since United and US Airways do not participate in the American Express Memberships Rewards Program, it will be interesting to see if Continental drops out in the coming year.

A Glimpse Inside the Historic Inns of Kennebunkport, Maine

I’m just back from touring the 4th annual Arts in the Inns in Kennebunkport, Maine. For the unbelievable ticket price of $5 you get to visit 16 historic inns and meet some of Maine’s premier artists as they display their works. The two day festival is called a “pairing of palettes and palates” as culinary events punctuate the weekend festivities. While we made a valiant effort to get to all 16 lodgings, we fell a bit short. Nonetheless, we saw some fabulous inns and met some truly talented artists. Here’s a rundown of the Inns we liked the most:

The Kennebunkport Inn – Gets my vote for the best in all categories. This stately inn is located just a block off Dock Square, sitting proudly on a slight hill overlooking all the activity. With rates starting at $199 in the mansion and $99 in the Riverhouse/Wharfside it’s hard to beat the price. The interior is elegant with lots of wood detailing and classic New England period furniture. The inn is large enough to offer the amenities of a fine hotel (swimming pool, wood paneled pub, fine restaurant) while maintaining the feel of a welcoming private mansion. If you want to be in the middle of all the town’s activity, park your car once and walk everywhere – this is the inn for you.

Inns of the Historic District (about a 5 minute walk to Dock Square)

The Captain Lord Mansion – This sophisticated (4 Diamond) inn is all about refined elegance. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more stately, exquisitely decorated mansion turned inn, in all of the United States. With rooms starting at $285, they offer distinguished accommodation that is “not appropriate for young children or pets”, but guests seeking a romantic inn experience will be delighted with their warm gracious welcome. In fact many guests return again and again, trying out one gorgeous room after another. The inn has built a memory garden where guests who have stayed at the inn 10 times or more have a cobble stone engraved in their honor (and the delightful winding path has MANY names on it). Read more

Gas Saving Vacations Just In Time for Summer!

Whether you’re trying to moderate the effects of global warming, or simply attempting to reduce the volume of dollars flowing into your gas tank, we’ve got terrific gas saving vacation ideas for you to get away without leaving all your hard earned cash at the gas station.

#1 – Windjammer Sailing Adventure
Sail along the New England coastline aboard an historic Windjammer sailing vessel. The Maine Windjammer Association provides lots of information on over a dozen historic tall masted sailing schooners that ply New England’s craggy coast all summer long. As you step aboard one of these grand wooden ships, you’ll step back into an historic lifestyle filled with lobster bakes, scenic fishing ports, sheltered bays for swimming and the camaraderie of enthusiastic shipmates. Windjammer companies offer 3 to 6 day sails starting at $300 per person for a 3 day sail in off season (and for your nervous sailors, they never loose sight of land). Varied itineraries include sailings highlighting photography, folk music, light houses and wooden boats to name a few. After just a few days of sailing you’ll feel like you’ve been away for ages.

#2 – Hop Aboard a Scenic Train
The glory days of train travel are still alive and well, even though we’re often so accustomed to hopping in our cars, that we don’t even consider sitting back, relaxing, and getting there by rail. Take a look at this wonderful site Vacations By Rail, to gather information about scenic train vacations across the United States, Canada, Europe and famous rail journeys of the world. Read more

Theme Park Reviews Around The Globe

Nothing says summer like a trip to a theme park. In fact, visions of giggling children and smiling parents, mingled with sheiks of delight, cotton candy and dare we eat it, fried dough, are the essence of childhood summer memories. Millions of children replay this daydream every spring as they sit at their school desk waiting for the final dismissal bell to ring.

With everyone staying a bit closer to home this summer, it’s a good bet more families will be heading to an amusement park to entertain the family. We’ve found some excellent sites to help you evaluate which parks will give you the most heart pumping thrills, newest attractions and jazziest water parks.

Turn to the Theme Park Insider, to find which attraction readers have voted “Best Ride in America”. You’ll find reviews and insider tips for parks across the United States and Canada, including how to purchase tickets online in advance, reviews of best rides, and best strategies for touring the park to avoid long lines.

For parks across Europe (of which there are many – and often missed by traveling families), have a look at Theme Park Vision. This terrific sites reviews 81 theme parks in 14 European countries. Did you know the oldest amusement park in operation is in Denmark? Bakken has been delighting visitors for 400 years!!! From famous Tivoli Gardens, to Britain’s Legoland, and Spain’s life-size dinosaurs, you’ll find park information, trip reports and reader ratings.

Enjoy the summer thrill seekers everywhere!