Beth Blair

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

This summer during our Princess Cruises Cruisetour through Alaska my mom and I had the opportunity to land on Yanert Glacier by helicopter. It’s serene and stunning and will take your breath away if you ever get the chance to travel to these amazing parts. Photos and video don’t do the experience justice. But I do try in the following video.

You can’t visit Philadelphia without indulging in a Philly cheesesteak. During our quick visit to the City of Brotherly Love we did better than that. We ate cheesesteaks twice!

We rolled into Philadelphia on a drizzly August evening. Our car’s navigation had sent us out of the way from NYC and we didn’t realize it until it was too late. We made the most of it and swung by Atlantic City for some saltwater taffy but by the time we arrived in Philly we had grumbling stomachs, overly-tired kids and there didn’t seem to be an end to the rain. However, we didn’t  let the precipitation stop us from heading over to Pat’s – King of Steaks: The First and The Originator of the Philly Steak and Cheesesteak on 9th Street. Pat’s is open 24/7 and offers covered outdoor seating. We went for it and had the classic Philly Cheesesteak. My cheesesteak was good, really good. Unfortunately, we started off so hungry we ended up too full. But it was worth the venture out.

That night I took this next photo of competitor Geno’s Steaks, located right across the street from Pat’s. Tagline: The Best Cheese Steak in South Philly since 1966.

The next day we went to Geno’s for lunch. The rain was long-gone but the customer line was very long. The cheesesteaks were good here, too. The biggest difference, compared to Pat’s, was more onions -  a lot more onions. Luckily, I love onions. And there wasn’t as much cheese as Pat’s. While I liked Geno’s a tad bit better, my husband voted for Pat’s.

We saw Geno working through the window which was cool. I have to give credit to  all of the employees, they work hard. Lunchtime is very busy and fast-paced and yet the wait from order to mouth was pretty quick.

Ever since I was a child the first thing I would do upon entering a hotel room was run to the window and look out at the view. Today, when my family travels it’s no surprise my children do the same. Sometimes during our stay I will catch them simply staring  out the window watching the sites. They’re also a big fan of balconies, especially the rare time a hot air balloon floated by. (Just as a reminder to parents, never let your children go out onto a hotel balcony alone.) Here are a few photos I’ve taken over the years of my children enjoying our hotel rooms with a view during our travels. The last photo, taken this summer, is my absolute favorite.

Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort 2008

Omni San Diego 2008 (watching the planes land on the other side of the city)

JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa 2009

Hyatt Regency Downtown Albuquerque 2009

Hyatt Regency Downtown Denver 2009

Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate 2010

Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate 2010

Hampton Inn and Suites Buffalo Downtown 2010

We couldn’t have picked a prettier day to visit Niagara Falls and take a ride on the Maid of the Mist. The mist wasn’t too bad on the boat ride, but the walk up to the falls was another story – we left drenched! My husband took some beautiful photos during our journey as you can see below.

Niagara Falls

Rainbows

Maid of the Mist

Stairway along American Falls

Before departing on Maid of the Mist

American FallsHorseshoe FallsBase of Horseshoe FallsDream come true! Visiting Niagara Falls and riding Maid of the Mist

Wet and Wild at Niagara FallsRainbow Bridge

The last time my husband, kids and I were in Chicago my sister-in-law was showing us around her beloved town. Unfortunately, as she was giving us a tour of Millennium Park it started to rain and the kids never got to experience the Bean firsthand. This time as we cruised though Chicago we decided to give it another shot. The kids had a blast and it was a great way to stretch our legs and break up the monotony of the road miles. Here are some of my favorite photos from this stop:

My family recently cruised through Wisconsin during our travels to the East Coast. Along the way we came across this random pink elephant with black geek glasses next to a gas station somewhere in the middle of the state. We had to stop a check him out. Here are a couple of the photos my husband and I shot of our kids and this random Wisconsin elephant…

Amongst the numerous highlights of my Alaskan Princess Cruisetour this summer our summit flight around Mount McKinley was indeed one of the more memorable experiences. Flying around this massive mountain was humbling, especially when I felt I could reach out and touch the snow resting on the peaks, only to discover the plane was still at least two miles away.

View from Denali National Park – looks like a cloud

Talkeetna Aero Services

Pre-Flight

From a distance

Oxygen

Getting Closer

Summit

14ers Camp (14,000 feet climber base)

14ers Camp

Returning

After the flight

The other side of the mountain: View from Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge

This winter my family booked and took a trip to Orlando, Florida via LastMinuteTravel.com (our sponsor). We had the typical fun-filled, over-stimulated, non-stop time.  We stayed at the Omni at Gates Pass and the kids are still asking to return to this Omni because of its family-friendly recreational area which consists of a swimming pool, water slide and lazy river (my idea of a good time after a day on roller coasters). The weather was much cooler than we anticipated (it was the week there was snow in all 50 states). While it rained the entire day we were at Disney World, we managed to make the most of it. You can read about it on my Rain at Disney World post on The Vacation Gals.

Our other adventures on this trip included Sea World, Gatorland, Downtown Disney and Pirates Dinner Adventure.