Thrifty Mommy » vacation

My favorite family portrait!

kellys — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:11:44 +0000

Hope this helps you brave the cold this week.

Lands’ End Great Get Together Contest

Karen Weideman — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:23:22 +0000

Lands’ End would like to make planning family holiday get togethers a whole lot easier this year by giving a chance to win a great family get together for 7 nights for up to 12 people at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana! Hurry because Lands’ End will accept entries at this website through noon October 30, 2008. Prizes include:

Grand Prize: A get together for 7 nights for up to 12 people at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana, which includes round-trip airfare, meals and four half-day wilderness adventures per person and also includes a new waterproof Windfall outerwear package
Second Prize: Cashmere Great Get Together package with Lands’ End’s high-quality cashmere sweaters and scarves for the family
Third Prize: Fleece Great Get Together package with cozy fleece jackets and accessories for the family

Just fill out the online entry form and submit an up-to-300-word essay and photo.

Good luck everyone!

image from Lands’ End contest

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Thrifty Entertainment in Western North Carolina

Karen Weideman — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:21:55 +0000

I’ve lived in North Carolina for most of my life. I know that there are a lot of beautiful places to see. Here are a few inexpensive places to visit in Western North Carolina.

Hendersonville:

Take a stroll through downtown Hendersonville. There are some nice shops and antique stores. I’m sure the old soda shop is still there too. They also have a general store.
Visit the Carl Sandburg home. I’ve been there several times and always enjoy the tour. A guided tour is only $5.
Stop for a show at the Flat Rock Playhouse.
Take a drive up to Jump Off Rock. The view is beautiful and admission is free.
Historic Johnson Farm has a farm festival in April. Admission is $4-6.
Each fall, Hendersonville has their annual North Carolina Apple Festival.

Lake Lure:

Just 25 miles from Asheville, you’ll find Chimney Rock Park. Some of The Last of the Mohicans was filmed at the park.
Book a beautiful boat tour.
Visit “the beach”. lol I grew up near the coast, so I wouldn’t really consider this a beach, but that’s what they call it. It’s beautiful though.
Go camping.
Visit one of the locations where Dirty Dancing was filmed.

Asheville:

While this may not be a thrifty place to visit, you’ll want to stop at the Biltmore House. It is the largest mansion in America. I hope to go there some day.
Visit The Botanical Gardens. It’s free!
See lots of critters at the Western North Carolina Nature Center. Prices are about $5-7.

Hickory:

In Hickory, you can visit the Catawba Science Center.
Hickory is one of the nation’s largest furniture distributors.
Stop by the International Spring Fest.
Each fall, Oktoberfest features concerts, arts and crafts, caricature artists, street vendors, a variety of food, and rides. Admission is free, but of course you must pay for the food and rides.
Shop at art galleries, look at pottery, browse through downtown.
Listen to live music outside each summer at Union Square.
Visit the Hickory Museum of Art for FREE.
Board Queens Landing (in Mooresville) for a sight-seeing dinner cruise.
Take the kids to Buffalo Beal’s Animal Park in Maiden. You can pet and feed some of the animals.
All of you racing fans can stop by the Hickory Motor Speedway, “Birthplace of the Nascar Stars”.
Travel to the nearby town of Valdese for Friday Family Nights. In the parking lots of Myra’s and Wachovia Bank you’ll find oldies music playing, old cars, and people chatting. Myra’s hosts a cruise-in and raffle.

These are just a few of the many frugal entertainment options for Western North Carolina. I plan to continue my research and have more information for you soon.

Would you like to write a guest post on thrifty entertainment and vacation options? If so, please contact me for more details.

image: This beautiful picture of Chimney Rock was taken by me about 12 years ago.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Not the typical thrifty vacation

kellys — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:22:31 +0000

Kate over at Babylune has a great writing project going on that I wanted to let you know about. So let us know about your favorite family vacation as a parent or as a kid and get in on the prize money.

I can sadly say that we don’t take family vacations. Or at least not since we have been married. I also didn’t grow up with family vacations. I hope to give that to our kids though. We are actually planning on my husband’s side of the family going to the beach every year starting next year so I hope that pans out. But let me tell you of our last vacation.

My husband had a business trip to Phoenix planned and I got to go. Before we got to his business trip, we went to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. It was the most beautiful site I ever saw. I couldn’t believe it. I do have to laugh at the look on my DH’s face when at 110 degrees, the lady told us we didn’t have air conditioning in our room. He was devastated. Turns out, it gets pretty chilly at night at the Grand Canyon. Who would have known that?!?! We slept just fine and I had the time of my life on that trip.

Once we got to Phoenix, we stayed at the Phoenician Resort, a 5 star resort that was to die for! They had more pools and staff than you could shake a stick at. I got up in time to make it to water aerobics and then to lounge by the pool until lunch. That consisted of raising my flag so that someone would bring me a menu and I could just charge it to my room. Then I only had to walk to my luxury suite to get ready for whatever evening activity my husband had planned for us… Well that was what happened but it wasn’t reality. The hot dogs were $8 per dog and the pitcher of tea was $12. I had to pay for everything myself so it wouldn’t get charged to our room and the nightly activities usually worked around his schedule. But the pool was great!

I do have to admit that the sand storm that covered us was really cool. We watched it come over the mountains and could literally not see our hands in front of our faces when we walked to the conference center that night. Every afternoon, we would take off and go driving somewhere. We really put the 4 wheel drive into action that week. We rented 4 wheelers and took all kinds of tours that the regular cars couln’t get to. We had the best time of our lives. I loved that vacation.

Don’t get me wrong, we have taken little trips now and then but not anywhere fancy like that resort. Not since our honeymoon in Jamaica have I felt so spoiled. Of course, now we have kids but no money so being frugal with our vacations is more important than being spoiled. The idea of going to the beach with my in-laws and their side of the family sounds like a dream because they are great with the kids! Funny how life and the idea of vacation changes after a kid or 2. HAHA!

So, Kate, I hope this is what you were looking for. I know I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Last minute travel savings

kellys — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:30:50 +0000

Every once in a while, you get a great deal on a long weekend at the beach towards the last part of the summer. One way to save money when you are there is to get a room with a kitchen and make a bunch of frozen meals to take with you. Freeze them, load them in a cooler, put them in the freezer when you get there. That way there is not any prep work. Just stick them in the oven when you want to cook them. No extra time needed. Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Great free fun even on a business trip

kellys — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:05:16 +0000

Washington DC is a great place to visit. There is so much to do that we can’t do at home. My family is here for a business trip. But let me tell you what I have found to be my favorite things to do so far.

We are staying at my BIL’s house so watching my little girl play with her cousin that she doesn’t get to see very often has lifted my heart.
Sidewalks! We live on the side of a mountain so walking on a somewhat flat surface with sidewalks has been awesome.
Hanging out with my daughter. I don’t have to work and feel like laundry is ganging up on me.

That has been the best part of my trip and they don’t cost a thing! Even on business (granted, my husband is working like a dog) you can have a great time without spneding any money if you look for it.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Summer vacation doesn’t have to be skipped because of hi gas prices.

kellys — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 02:49:53 +0000

I love it when a great article is written to point out the advantages of sky-rocketing gas prices since the goods side is usually hard to find. TulsaWorld.com has a great article on how they expect people to stay closer to home and tour Oklahoma instead of traveling any distance. Makes good sense to me. My home state of Virginia has a ton of great vacation spots within a couple of hours from us. Just a thrifty idea for summer vacation.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Don’t throw that junk mail out. There might be discount airline tickets in there.

kellys — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:42:34 +0000

Anybody looking for a great deal without looking for one? Confused? So was I until I stumbled across a hidden deal on airline tickets. Do you ever actually go through your junk mail? You know what I am talking about – all those flyers you get with all kinds of coupons for stuff you will never use like gutter cleaning or electric toothpicks. I get what is called Val-Paks all the time. I usually thumb through them in case I can get a Chick-fil-a coupon or something like it that I can use and then throw the rest away. Well turns out, there are hidden gems in there so be careful. So far this year, I have received 3 coupons in the mail like that, 2 from Northwest Airlines and one from Delta. They give discount tickets to any region in the US and Canada for around $200 or less. My aunt used hers one time to get cheap tickets to Finland. I gave 2 sets away and we used one set to go home to see my family in Missouri last weekend. There are usually some restrictions like a required Saturday night stay and if you travel on a Tuesday or Wednesday, it is even cheaper. The moral of this story is not to take for granted all that junk mail you so quickly throw away. Go through it a little more carefully and if you can’t use the discount, send them to me, I am always willing to go home.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Travelocity saves you money on airfare without any hassle.

kellys — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:31:42 +0000

I love going home to visit the folks and grandparents. Unfortunately, nobody lives near anybody. So we fly to wherever we go. This gets expensive for just my DH and I but next year, we will have to start paying for my DD as well. Lucky for me I found Travelocity. For the last few years, I have signed up for their travel alerts. This means that I set certain destinations and they notify me when the price of airline tickets drop by whatever price I set. I love it. This way, I don’t have to keep checking and I get great deals. Got to love it when you save both time and money in one shot! Just go to Travelocity and register. Then sign up for their fare watch. I love it! Let me know what you think.

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Thrifty Car rental has a good deal worked out with Delta Arilines for triple miles.

kellys — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 04:18:04 +0000

If you travel a lot and both fly and rent cars, then Thrifty has a great deal for you. From March 1 – May 31, 2006. Thrifty Car rental is offering you triple miles with Delta Airlines when you make a reservation online for a minimum 2 day rental and use the referred code. Why would I post this on a thrifty mommy site? Because we parents get homesick for our mommies just like our little ones get clingy to us (Daddies not excluded). Any why not enjoy a little bonus if we have to spend money on flights and car rentals. Just thought you would want to know.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy