Puttin’ on The Ritz
Jul 8, 2011 Travel
I’m just going to say it right at the beginning: we’re not Ritz-Carlton people. I want to be a Ritz Carlton person, but I’m not and I don’t think I ever will be. I’m the kind of person who will say “Screw it!” and book a really expensive hotel room for no reason other than I like to treat myself sometimes. And believe me, the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas is a huge treat. But staying there causes a few problems if you’re not “one of them.”
Arriving at the Ritz-Carlton is like arriving at no other hotel. We pulled up to the entrance and were met immediately with damp towels and drinks. Our luggage was taken and our car whisked away. We were checked in and brought on a small tour on the way to our room.
This was without a doubt the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Our room was fantastic,
our balcony was huge,
and the view was breathtaking.
It was the bathroom, however, that made me not want to leave.
I’m that person who leaves every hotel with as many toiletries as possible, and the toiletries in this bathroom almost caused me to pass out.
At some point during check in we had been asked if we were here to celebrate anything special, and the answers were “No” “No” “No” and “I’m turning seven in only ten days!!!” Which of course was not why we were in St. Thomas, and was not happening while we would be at the Ritz, but nevertheless this appeared in our hotel room later:
It was Rice Krispies Treats made to look like coral, and it was delicious! A great way to start our stay.
The pool area was just perfect. There were thick, lush chair covers and big, fluffy towels, and lots of floating lounge chairs that the kids loved piling on top of each other to make big rafts.
The gorgeous beach is just steps away from the pool, with more comfy chairs.
The hotel’s resort fee is mandatory, so take full advantage of it. On the beach it covers snorkel gear, paddleboards, and several kinds of small watercraft. You just have to sign them out. Be aware, though, that there is a “rescue fee” if you take out more boat than you can handle.
We took out paddleboards. That’s my husband in the picture below, the only one of us who was able to successfully stand up for more than a few seconds. He was actually quite good at it.
I was not. I mostly paddled around on my knees, because if I even thought about standing up, I would fall over. And let me tell you, heaving yourself back onto that thing and getting into a kneeling position half a dozen times is worth about an hour in the gym. Plus, the waves kept pushing me towards a big patch of coral and rocks, which we were warned to stay away from. I tried! I paddled in the other direction as hard as I could! But I ended up running my paddleboard into a big rock and getting thrown off into a bunch of sea urchins. If you’ve never seen a sea urchin, imagine a big chestnut with spikes that break off in your skin.
So there I was, trying to hold on to my paddle board, trying not to move my legs at all because they were touching the sea urchins, and trying not to panic. The waves were pushing me harder, so I had to give myself one good push off of the coral (I know! I know! I’m so sorry!) so that I could start kicking and get myself away from that spot. Finally I got far enough away to get myself back on my board.
When I got back to shore I examined my legs and found a few spots on my ankle where the sea urchin spikes had broken off. This had happened to my sister before, and she told me there’s nothing you can really do except wait while they get absorbed into your body. It took about a month. Fun.
Service everywhere at the hotel was exemplary. Even the kids’ souvenirs were taken good care of.
The trouble we ran into though, what I was alluding to at the top of the page, was that the hotel was just a bit too formal for us. During the day it was fine, but after 5pm I felt out of place. The first night I took the kids around to the different restaurants trying to get something to eat. There was not a single casual place open for dinner. We didn’t have clothes with us that were nice enough for a couple of the restaurants, and even if we could’ve sat down, the food was just too fancy for my kids (and, honestly, for me too). We ended up ordering room service for dinner twice. I love room service, but it’s kind-of a bummer when it’s not your first choice.
This is a first-class hotel and if your family is used to that kind of atmosphere, you will absolutely love it there. But when I go on a beach vacation I like to relax as much as possible – I don’t want to worry about what I’m wearing to dinner. Other than that, though, we had a thoroughly enjoyable time in one of the most picturesque places I’ve ever visited.
Next up: Easter at the Ritz
Thank you to the Ritz-Carlton for upgrading our room to one with a water view, and to the USVI Department of Tourism.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Kids, St. Thomas, Travel
High atop St. Thomas
Jul 7, 2011 Travel
The first time I visited St. Thomas I stayed with my sister. She happened to live near the bottom of Flag Hill. She made me walk up it. I hated her for that. On this last trip, I got to go up the hill on the Skyride, a tram that takes you up to the top of the hill to Paradise Point, a popular tourist destination with the absolute scariest Ferris wheel in the history of Ferris wheels. More on that later, when I can bring myself to look at the pictures again without screaming.
The tram ride was a lot of fun for the kids, and a nice way to see the harbor below us.
Once at the top, we dove into some drinks and snacks. Fiona was thrilled with her virgin drink, which made her feel very grown-up.
An all-day pass for the activities is definitely the way to go, otherwise you will spend a fortune. I’ve shelled out as much as $8 per kid per ride for the sky jump in many a mall, so Jake couldn’t quite believe that he got to go on this one as many times as he wanted! And the kids took full advantage of that.
In between rides we took in the view. This is a fantastic way to see Charlotte Amalie, spread out below you. We went around dinner time because sunsets from Paradise Point are legendary. As luck would have it, this was the only cloudy day we had our whole vacation!
Fiona did some hamming for the camera.
Around this time the musicians started warming up.
The Ferris wheel was next, and I’m not going to lie to you: I was nervous. This simply wasn’t like me. I go on the tallest, fastest, craziest roller coasters! Why was I afraid of a Ferris wheel? Because this one is on the edge of a 700-foot hill, that’s why. When you come over the top there is no ground in front of you. It is absolutely terrifying. And the kids dragged me on six or seven times between them. And, since it wasn’t that busy, they were giving us really long rides.
The view was pretty though…
As the sun went down the music started, and the locals packed the place – it’s not just for tourists. Then, the hermit crab races started! This was insane. Honestly it was late at that point and we were trying to leave, but the kids wanted to know what was going on, so the crowd let them get to the front so that they could see. They each got to pick a crab and name it and we all cheered our heads off during the heats! There was a hilarious guy with a mic calling the races.
Fiona’s crab even made it into the finals! Sadly, it didn’t win. That’s him down there in last place, taking his sweet time – must have been tired out from totally kicking ass in his qualifying heat.
Finally we had to go, with one last look at the Ferris wheel.
You can follow Paradise Point on facebook!
Next up: the gorgeous Ritz Carlton St. Thomas
A big thank you to Paradise Point for giving my family tram tickets and all-day ride passes for the Ferris wheel and Sky Jump, and to the USVI Department of Tourism.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Kids, St. Thomas, Travel
The delightful characters of Coki Beach
Jul 5, 2011 Travel
You never know who or what you might run into on the beaches of St. Thomas. Ex-Brooklynites, chickens, and the nicest machete-wielding man I’ve ever come across.
After spending the first half of the day at Coral World swimming with sea lions, we went right next door – literally steps away – to Coki Beach. It was yet another gorgeous day, so we wanted to make the most of it.
There’s a shack right at the entrance closest to Coral World that rents snorkel gear and other water stuff, so I rented masks and snorkels for the kids. We set up our towels and things under a tree so my little niece could be out of the sun, and hit the water.
Jake took to snorkeling like a fish to water, and we ended up buying him his own set later in the trip.
Fiona liked looking at things in the water while wearing the goggles, but didn’t actually want to put her face in the water…hmm…
The water on Coki Beach was some of the clearest I’ve ever seen. You almost don’t need snorkel gear! You can just look right down to your feet and see the fishies swimming by. Since it’s in a bay, the waves are gentle. You can explore around the coral without smashing into it.
We played in the waves for a while, then Fiona decided to build a sand castle.
It was around this time that a machete dropped from the tree next to us, followed by a couple of coconuts, followed by a skinny man. Nobody else seemed alarmed by this, so I pretended to ignore it too. I acted like I was actually watching the chickens that were hanging around near us, but I was really keeping an eye on machete man, at least until he was out of the immediate area.
Actually, the chickens were fun to watch – they had babies with them!
After a while I walked down to the other end of the beach, to explore a bit. The side of the beach closest to Coral World is very quiet, but the other end is where the partying happens. There’s music, and a bunch of different places to get food and drinks, and more snorkel rentals.
I wanted to take in a little of the local flavor – so far on the trip most of the people I’d talked to on St. Thomas were from somewhere else. A woman at one of the drink shacks gave me a sample of the best smoothie I’d ever had: mango, strawberry, banana, and coconut. I bought one, and we started talking, and it turned out she wasn’t originally from the islands either: she used to own a place in Brooklyn less than a mile from where I live!
If you’re on Coki Beach, go get an all-natural smoothie from Jabrina at Virgin Island Perfection – you will not be disappointed! Tell her Amy from Brooklyn says hi.
On my way back to the other end of the beach, I stopped and took a picture. I wasn’t really thinking too much about it, I take pictures of everything. And I thought that everyone in the picture was far enough away that I wasn’t invading anyone’s privacy.
A second later, though, one of the people in the picture – the guy with the wheelbarrow – started yelling at me to come to him, so I did. It was machete man. He scolded me a little for taking a picture of him without asking permission first. So I apologized, and introduced myself. He said his name was Leon, but that everyone called him The Black Bull, and he offered me a coconut.
Now, pretty much everything I know about islands I learned from years of watching Gilligan survive on his, so I didn’t realize that coconuts were green and fairly smooth on the outside. Where were the brown things that girls wore as bikini tops? He explained to me that that was inside. But before we could get to that part, we had to drink off the coconut milk. He opened up a coconut with a few whacks of his machete.
I tasted the sweet juice, and then brought him over to my mom and kids, because they had to try this.
Even Jake, who never wants to try anything new, tried the coconut juice. Because when a man with a machete tells you to try something, you do it! I’ll have to remember this when I introduce a new vegetable…
After that Leon cut a couple of the coconuts up for us so that we could eat the flesh. If you’ve never had fresh coconut before, you have to try it.
After that we splashed around in the water some more, until we had to get going – it had been a long day, but a fantastic one. We were all exhausted.
I think the kids were asleep in the car before I even got out of the parking lot.
Next up: Screaming my head off at the top of Paradise Point
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Kids, St. Thomas, Travel
Swimming with sea lions in St. Thomas
Jul 4, 2011 Travel
If you want to get kids excited, tell them that they’ll be swimming with some kind of sea creature on vacation. If you want to confuse them, tell them they’ll be swimming with sea lions. Fiona was asking us questions about swimming with dolphins for weeks before our St. Thomas vacation, and I kept gently correcting her. I started to wonder if a sea lion would end up being a disappointment, since she really seemed to have her heart set on a dolphin.
At Coral World in St. Thomas, there are no dolphins to swim with. Sea lions are the main attraction, and I needn’t have worried about anybody being disappointed. It was quite possibly the most amazing afternoon of my life.
If you don’t know anything about sea lions (I sure didn’t) they’re big, for one thing. Our guy was four hundred pounds. They have very whiskery faces that give them a bit of a kindly-old-grandfather look. They’re playful and excitable, and seem very patient around silly tourists.
There are four sea lions at Coral World, and how they got there is an interesting story. They started out in the warm waters near Uruguay where fishermen were killing sea lions because they were eating all of the fish. These four were rescued and sent to Thailand to be trained as rescue swimmers – they wore harnesses and would swim out to struggling swimmers, who would grab onto the harnesses and be towed to shore. But after the tsunami hit Thailand in 2004, tourism dropped so much that the sea lions’ services just weren’t needed any more. They were looking for a new home, and Coral World happened to have empty tanks that were originally meant for dolphins, so they took the sea lions in.
Kids over 50 pounds can participate in the sea lion swims, and every child under twelve must have an adult with them. We signed our waivers, got a safety briefing and learned some background info on the sea lions, and were on our way to the tanks. Since my husband hadn’t joined us on our trip yet, my sister Cara came along to be the other chaperone for Jake and Fiona.
One of the sea lions doesn’t like to be around people, so he sits out the swims and encounters with Coral World guests, but the other three seemed eager to get the show on the road. Yes, I know, they probably were just looking forward to all of the fish, but it was exciting to see them pressing their noses against the netting and getting a sneak peek at who they’d be playing with as we were getting our gear on.
First we were introduced to our sea lion, Remo, and got to play with him up on the deck. We learned some hand signals and got him to do some tricks.
I couldn’t believe how well Remo could handle himself outside of the water, seeing as he was huge. We got to pet him, and pose for pictures with him, and whenever he got too hot he just hopped into the tank, swam around for a minute, then came right back out and joined us for more playing and posing.
He even hammed it up for some goofy pictures (Fiona couldn’t quite get the hang of the “fake scared” idea):
Then we got into the water with Remo, which was incredible. We played ball with him, 
and got him to spin around on our command,
and petted him some more.
Then, for the grand finale, we held on to a rope, and all four-hundred pounds of him jumped over us! It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
I would have considered myself lucky if the entire encounter had lasted ten minutes, but it was actually about forty minutes. It doesn’t feel rushed at all – we really got to know Remo!
After that we had to say goodbye and get out of the tank – we were all sad to go. We spent a couple more hours wandering around Coral World, watching a shark feeding (the trainer drips blood into the water to tell the sharks it’s feeding time!) and petting some starfish.
It’s a very hands-on place, which delighted the kids.
The setting is gorgeous, right on the water, with parts of it jutting out into the ocean:
One of the most interesting things about Coral World, though, is how much money it loses ($800,000 last year alone) and that the owner doesn’t care. School kids on St. Thomas are allowed to visit for free on class trips as often as they like, and some go six or seven times a year. Everyone we met was so enthusiastic about the creatures all around them, and we had a wonderful time. It’s not a huge place, making it perfect for splitting the day between Coral World and Coki Beach, which is right next door.
If you go, a few things to keep in mind: make reservations early for the sea lions, they’re popular. The tank is very salty, so if you have sensitive eyes you might want to bring goggles. There are no observers allowed on the deck, but the trainers take plenty of pictures so you can purchase a CD about half an hour after your swim.
If you’re in St. Thomas, this is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. The memories will last a lifetime.
Don’t forget to follow Coral World on facebook!
Next up: a strange encounter on Coki Beach with the coconut man
Thanks very much to the wonderful people at Coral World and the USVI Department of Tourism for giving us complimentary access to the sea lion swim.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: animals, Kids, St. Thomas, Travel
The Marriott Frenchman’s Reef, St. Thomas
Jul 3, 2011 Travel
Yesterday I mentioned the great balcony view from our first hotel in St. Thomas. When I look for a family hotel I look for a few key elements. Everything else is fairly optional, but I need these things in order to survive on vacation with my kids: a pool, easy access to food, and a balcony (OK, that last one is more for my husband, but I’ve been known to escape out there too, when the kids are driving me crazy). The Marriott Frenchman’s Reef had all of that, plus more, at a great price. It’s situated on a cliff, which gives you amazing views of the water.
The Pool
When I was a kid the hotel pool was the vacation. My kids feel the same way. Any old relatively clean pool will do for them, but now that I’m a grown up I also need a deck with lounge chairs that isn’t insanely crowded. What I loved about the pool at Frenchman’s Reef was it wasn’t the kind of place where someone had to get there early and reserve chairs. We never had a problem finding two or three together, whatever time of day we went.
The pool is huge, with two sections, and a foot bridge dividing them. Between the two sections is a swim up bar, so you don’t even have to get out of the water. The smaller section has a volleyball net (at least it did the whole time we were there) which Jake absolutely loved.
There wasn’t always a towel attendant, but there were always fresh towels that we could grab ourselves behind the counter, and everything was well-kept and clean. I was very pleased with the entire pool area.
The Beach
I’m more of a pool person than a beach person, so I didn’t mind that the beach was a bit of a trek. If you anticipate spending most of your time on the beach, though, you might want to look into staying at the lower half of the Marriott resort, Morningstar. If you’re staying at Frenchman’s Reef you take a glass elevator down the cliff to a boardwalk, where you take a nice walk to the beach.
You pass the hotel’s tennis courts, and yet more iguanas…
And then you get to the huge, gorgeous, clean beach.
It’s actually a pleasant walk, and the kids especially enjoyed it.
It’s just not hugely convenient if you want to go back and forth a lot from the beach to your room. But since we only visited the beach a couple of times it was fine for us.
The Food
The best thing ever when traveling with kids is the breakfast buffet. For one thing, I can usually get my picky son to try something new, since it doesn’t involve committing to an entire order. There’s no waiting for someone to take our order, then waiting for the food – we drop our stuff and grab plates. And since I’m fairly cheap and like to sleep in, when we hit the breakfast buffet on the later side we’re all full until dinner. Plus, I only like to eat fruit when someone else has washed, peeled, and sliced it for me, which is my favorite thing about breakfast buffets – the giant platters of sliced fruit.
This is Fiona, eating a breakfast sandwich she made from just about every meat and cheese on the buffet.
The buffet at Frenchman’s Reef was possibly the best I’ve ever been to. With every kind of bread you could ask for, an omelet station, oatmeal, pancakes, French toast, both hot breakfast meats and cold cuts, cheeses, lox, yogurt, cottage cheese, fruit (of course!) and much more, we ate there every single morning. The kids were able to eat at a discount making it even better.
The Renovation
Much of Frenchman’s Reef is actually closed right now for a huge, forty-eight million dollar renovation that was due to start just after we left, and will be completed in October 2011. I thought that the resort was already very nice, so it’s possible that everything I saw will be even better by the time you get there.
I got to see a model room, and it looked beautiful:
On our next trip to St. Thomas I’m almost positive we would pick this hotel again. Our room was spacious, the balcony was very nice, the pools and beach were fantastic, and the staff was very friendly. I’d highly recommend it.
Next up: swimming with sea lions at Coral World
Please note: after choosing and booking this hotel on my own I received discounts not available to the general public. Thanks very much to the USVI Department of Tourism and the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Kids, St. Thomas, Travel
St. Thomas–an intro to family paradise
Jul 2, 2011 Travel
When I mention St. Thomas to most people they say something like “Oh yeah, I was there for a couple hours on a cruise – but isn’t St. John beautiful?” I’ve also stopped in St. Thomas on a cruise and if that’s the only way you’ve seen it, I can understand why you would think it was one of the lesser Virgin Islands. I, however, have been able to get a more complete view of St. Thomas, on two trips about a dozen years apart. The first time it was just me and my husband staying with my sister Cara and her husband Kel (who have lived there for about fifteen years); the second time it was us and our two kids splitting our time between two of the island’s best hotels.
I was very nervous before this trip because I’d never driven on the left side of the road before (at least not on purpose) and that’s where they drive on St. Thomas. My husband wasn’t joining us until the second half of the trip so I was facing five days of fighting my natural instincts to drive on the “right” side. Other than that, though, I was looking forward to this trip like you wouldn’t believe. Aside from getting away from the routine, I was also going to be meeting my new niece Chloe! Plus, after a long winter, we were all ready for some uninterrupted sun and heat.
We were able to book non-stop four-hour flights from JFK to St. Thomas on American Airlines for about $370 per person, including all taxes and fees, making this a really convenient trip. (Delta also has daily non-stop flights out of JFK, and Continental flies daily non-stops out of Newark.) We were in St. Thomas in time for lunch our first day.
This was the kids’ first time getting off a plane this way, which they found very exciting.
The wrong side of the road
Our rental car situation was kind-of comical when we first arrived: booking a car that will fit four people was apparently not specific enough for the people at Budget Rent-a-Car. It did indeed seat four people, but had pretty much no trunk – it couldn’t fit even our smallest suitcase. Since we were short one person and could pile the bags next to Fiona in the back seat (and try to take corners slowly so that she didn’t get crushed) I decided to just keep the car until I had to go back to the airport and pick up The Ass – it was hot, we were hungry, and we’d already waited about 45 minutes at the rental counter. We just wanted to get to our hotel ASAP. (It’s worth noting that we had no trouble booking a larger car with Budget Rent-a-Car for just a little extra, and we traded this one in with no problem later – now I know to be more specific when booking.)
I pulled out the hotel directions I’d printed before leaving Brooklyn – I’d suspected that my phone’s GPS wouldn’t work, and I was right. Driving on the left side would be weird enough, but everyone uses American cars, so the driver’s seat is in the same place. I kept muttering to myself that I just had to keep my “shoulder to the curb” and I’d be fine. I warned the kids to be silent, that if they talked to me or bickered with each other I’d likely drive head-on into someone else. I took a deep breath, and off we went. I had scared them so badly that Fiona was quiet for the entire ride. If you know Fiona, you know what a feat that was.
Driving on the left isn’t bad until it’s time to turn. Lefts are easy, but right turns made me feel like I was back in driver’s ed. At least for the first drive. I’m happy to say that by the end of the first day I’d gotten completely used to it. Of course, I didn’t know what kind of crazy twisty hilly roads were still in my future, which were scary enough on their own (St. Thomas is all hills), but really I was worried about the whole driving-on-the-left thing for nothing.
We managed to get from the airport to our first hotel, the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef, in about twenty minutes, despite almost none of the roads we needed being marked – we mostly just followed the water. This route took us through the main tourist area, where the cruise ships dock.
There’s a great shopping area near the dock called Havensight Mall, where you can pick up pretty much anything you forgot to pack – flip-flops, sunscreen, goggles, etc. plus all kinds of souvenirs and clothes. (Check the hours before you go – many of the most tourist-dependent businesses are closed when there are no ships in.) There’s also a K-Mart a short drive away, which we hit up our second day for snacks and drinks.
Marriott Frenchman’s Reef
We had originally booked our hotel, on the south-west side of the island, because of its amenities and price. We ended up getting further discounts through a blogging connection (huge thank you to the USVI Department of Tourism!), but based on our original booking rate I would highly recommend this hotel for travelers not wanting to spend a ton. I found a deal on the Marriott website for an ocean-view room with a balcony that was buy-one-night-get-one-free, which would have averaged out to under $300 per night including all taxes and fees.
Our room was spacious – more than enough room for three or four people. In addition to all of the normal amenities you would expect in a good hotel room, it also had a little fridge, which makes things so much easier when traveling with kids (and moms who want easy access to cold pop). The views from our balcony – which had a table and chairs – confirmed that I had made the right hotel choice:
We headed for the restaurant where the kids let out some of the goofiness they’d been holding in during the drive, and Jake declared this the best hotel ever when they made him a triple-decker grilled cheese sandwich.
After that I finally got to meet my new niece, while the kids did their best to overwhelm and scare her. But of course she just laughed and laughed.
One very fun thing to do over the course of our hotel stay was to spot lizards and iguanas. They’re everywhere.
OK, one of those might be staged, I don’t remember. 
Next up: Water and relaxation at the Frenchman’s Reef
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1 (for our room at the Marriott). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Kids, St. Thomas, Travel
Today’s agenda: lazy pool edition
Jul 2, 2011 Today's Agenda
So I’m lazing by the indoor pool at our hotel with Jake (the outdoor one is closed because somebody broke a bottle into it – nice). Fiona spent the night at my mom’s. Since at this point 90% of my energy as their mother is spent keeping them from killing each other, Jake and I had a very pleasant evening and morning. And since Fiona wasn’t kicking me all night, I feel refreshed and energetic and…yeah, still just want to lay around by the pool. But at least I’m not sleepy.
**********
I had a bit of a wordpress fail. I set up my St. Thomas posts to post automatically each day, and right before we left for Buffalo I went back in to a few of them and to change and add pictures. They still appeared to be scheduled and I forgot all about them, until this morning when I decided to tweet about them. And the first two weren’t posted. Hmmmm. I hadn’t planned on posting over the weekend, but I’ll be posting the first one right after I hit publish on this and then the next one tomorrow, so that by Monday they’ll be back on schedule. You don’t want to miss these posts: not only are the pictures gorgeous, but this is the perfect time to start booking travel for fall and winter. I know it’s tough to think about freezing temperatures in July, but you’ll be glad come February that you planned ahead.
[Update: Actually, based on the monumental amount of trouble I just had posting, I'm thinking that wordpress is just being wonky. But the first St. Thomas post is finally up - you have to check out the lizards!]
**********
And that’s pretty much the plan for today. We had room service breakfast, followed by lunch at the pool. Followed by watching Jake do cannonballs. Followed by more time with family. Life is good.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: St. Thomas, WordPress
Today’s agenda: travel edition
Jun 27, 2011 Today's Agenda
So after falling asleep on the couch after 3am I had to hit the ground running this morning to get as much done as possible on the kids’ last full day of school. Yes, for all of you saying “Why are your kids still in school? Mine have been out for a month!” NYC Public Schools are still in session. Until tomorrow. But they go back ridiculously late – this year it’s September 8th!
The kids and I will be leaving for Buffalo in a few days to meet up with just about all of the family we have! Yay! But I have a lot to do, starting with figuring out why my car is making a high-pitched whining noise. I rarely drive so I can handle it around Brooklyn, but if I had to listen to it for 400 miles I would arrive in Western New York completely insane. The kids will supply all the whine this road trip will require.
About a dozen other errands and I’ll be ready! Except for the packing. And the loads and loads of laundry before the packing. Sigh.
This morning I’m also kicking off two solid weeks of posts about travel. I’ll be starting with the first of three posts about the amazing and beautiful Congress Hall in Cape May NJ, which I visited earlier this month with some other bloggers. That will be followed by a week of posts about our amazing trip to St. Thomas. Then I’ll wind up with posts about Disney World – not really about one specific trip, just all of the reasons to take your family.
This is the perfect time to start thinking about trips for fall and winter, and I’ve got three exciting destinations covered. So please check back!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 7. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Cape May, Disney World, St. Thomas
