The Fred Rogers Memorial Statue in Pittsburgh, PA is dedicated to the work and memory of Fred McFeely Rogers, host of the popular show for children (and those that love them), Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The statue was created by Robert Berks, stands about 11 feet high, and was dedicated on November 5, 2009.

I, like many Americans, grew up watching Mister Rogers, and to be honest I still think about him when I come home and trade my sneakers for slippers. You know what I’m talking about.

If you find yourself in the North Shore area of Pittsburgh, close to Heinz Field (home of the Pittsburgh Steelers), do yourself a favor and pay your respects. I’m sure Mr. Rogers would love to see you.

This post is part of Uptake’s Monday Museums, Monuments and Memorials Series.

Photo: daveynin via Flickr

A Seaport Village Sunset

Looking for a getaway to warmer climes this winter, for you and your significant other? Consider San Diego, California! You can have a FANTASTIC time for around $300! That includes lodging, meals, and entertainment – if you drive, you’ll have to figure in the price of gas. If you fly, you’ll have to figure in the price of airfare and vehicle rental. This is for a two-night stay, including two breakfasts/lunches/dinners, and two days of activities.

Here’s where you stay:

I used Expedia to find hotel rates at around $80 per night – trust me, there are a TON of them. The Best Western Mission Bay and the Wyndham Garden San Diego are each a couple of blocks from Mission Bay, and fifteen minutes from the Gaslamp District or the ocean. The Pacific Shores Inn is a mere 100 yards from the Pacific ocean and San Diego’s famed boardwalk.

Total Cost: about $175

Here’s where you eat:

Breakfast:
Each of the hotels above offer complimentary breakfast – for this budget to work, you need to count on eating a free morning meal at your hotel of choice.

Lunch:
Day One: The Boardwalk Bistro (on Mission Beach) – grab two lunch combos (salad, soup and 1/2 sandwich) and a drink for $10.00 each.
Day Two: Greek Island Cafe (Seaport Village) – share a Combo Platter which includes Gyros, Souvlaki, Salad, Pita, Dolma, and Spanikopita. Add a couple of drinks and get out of there for under $20.

Dinner:
Day One: Split a pizza and a house salad at the Sidebar in the Gaslamp District. Throw in a couple of glasses of wine and spend about $35.
Day Two: Time to spoil yourselves a little bit! Indulge in dinner at the Coronado Boathouse – seafood entrees are about $25 per person, so if you add drinks you’ll probably spend about $65.

Breakfast = $0
Lunch = $40
Dinner = $100

Total Cost: about $140

Here’s what you do:

Day One: Hit Mission Beach and the Oceanfront Boardwalk. People watch, wander shoeless in the sand, soak up the sun, and be lulled by the sound of the waves. In the evening enjoy the culture and vivacity of the historic Downtown Gaslamp Quarter.

Day Two: Check out Seaport Village during the day – watch the boats meander about, window shop, and enjoy the fresh sea air. In the evening cross the bridge over to Coronado Island and experience the energetic yet serene island atmosphere.

Total Cost: The $35 you have left in spending money! The perfect amount for some San Diego themed souvenirs!

Photo credit:

- Seaport Village by Jay Martinez on Flickr Creative Commons.

Staten Island Ferry

Any list of “things to do in New York City” will include a mention of the Statue of Liberty.  And how could it not?  Lady Liberty is the very definition of iconic and it’s difficult to imagine leaving NYC without at least a glimpse.  But how much time and money should you devote to our gift from the French?

Most New York City locals will advise you to skip the official tours to Liberty Island while more sentimental tourists will insist that a trip to the statue’s base is a must.  Personally, I come down on the side of seeing the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry – and here’s why.

4 Reasons To See The Statue of Liberty From The Staten Island Ferry

View of Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry

1. Save money. The Staten Island Ferry is designed to shuttle commuters between Manhattan and Staten Island, and it’s absolutely free.  A ride to Liberty Island will run you at least $10 per person and you’ll pay an additional fee for access to the museum in the statue’s pedestal or access to the crown.

2. Save time. One of the nine ships in the Staten Island Ferry fleet leaves from Battery Park in lower Manhattan at least once every half hour.  During commuting hours ships leave more frequently.  The process of getting onto a departing ferry is ridiculously simple: show up, get in the loading area, walk on the boat with the crowd of other people getting on the boat.  Getting on a Statue of Liberty cruise, on the other hand, can require hours of waiting in line and pre-planning as daily admission is limited.

3. See more. Alright, it might not be fair to argue that you see more from the Staten Island Ferry since you’re not seeing the museum or Ellis Island up close.  However, you do have a chance to see plenty.  In addition to a clear view of the Statue of Liberty, you’ll also get an amazing view of the lower Manhattan skyline and New York Harbor.  Once you’ve docked at Staten Island, you can either hop the next ferry back to Manhattan, or check out some of Staten Island’s attractions, like the free Staten Island Botanical Garden.

4. Drink beer. Yes, the Staten Island Ferry sells beer.  And other basic concessions and beverages – but it was the beer that my husband, at least, was most impressed by.

Of course, the Staten Island Ferry will not give you the opportunity to tour Ellis Island. The ferry is a good option for someone who is looking to check “see Statue of Liberty” off their bucket list, but a trip to Ellis Island – the home of the first tired, hungry, huddled masses – can certainly provide some historical and cultural insight that a free ferry ride can’t.

Photos by Britt Reints

The Kancamagus Scenic Byway

New Hampshire may have some great skiing, and some family-friendly theme parks, but the state really shines during fall foliage season.  Are you looking for New England’s best foliage?  Then, definitely take a trip to my favorite leaf peeping spot in New England – the Kancamagus Scenic Byway which goes right through the White Mountains.  This byway, which stretches from Lincoln, NH on the west to Conway, NH on the east, is about thirty-five miles.

If you start in Lincoln, consider stopping at Clark’s Trading Post, which has a great trained bear show (only through mid-October), and a huge gift shop filled with New Hampshire kitch.  The Lincoln Village Shops, right at the start of the Kancamagus Highway, is also a worthwhile stop.

Before heading through the Kancamagus, make sure you make any necessary pit stops for rest rooms, food, or gas, as there are virtually no services on the Kanc.  However, on the byway, you will come across several scenic photo stops and scenic areas, including the Swift River, Sabbaday Falls, Lower Falls and Rocky Gorge. In addition, you’ll travel to an elevation of just under 3,000 feet at the byway’s highest point.

The Kanc ends in Conway, New Hampshire, where you’ll find shops, restaurants, resorts, and much more.  It’s a great “home base” for your New Hampshire foliage trip.

Photo credit: Nealaus on Flickr

Our hosts.

Like many families that visit Walt Disney World (WDW), we planned it for years. Okay, months. We had books. Lots of books.  We visited websites. Daily. We had countdown apps on our phones and desktops.  We set aside a fund to pay for the trip. We thought we had it all figured out. Top of the world, Mickey!

Here’s what we learned — we didn’t allow for everything. Shortly after we made all of the major purchases required for a trip of this magnitude my wife and I lost our biggest account at work, roughly 80% of our household income (that’s what this is about). It was, obviously, unexpected. Did I mention that the major purchases we made were non-refundable?

We had airline tickets, park tickets and a hotel room bought and paid for, all without a paycheck in sight. The money that we had saved toward the trip now had to go toward bills. Suddenly, our air of anticipation was replaced with the foreboding of fear.  For the record, the anticipation was a lot more fun.

Luckily, we had already taken some steps to ensure that our trip was relatively sound, financially speaking. Relative being that we were planning a cross-country family vacation for four to Walt Disney World, quite possibly a once in a lifetime trip, and some corners couldn’t be cut.

How we did it:

Did we need the Rescue Rangers?

We were flying from Seattle, which, if you don’t have access to a map, is far from Florida. The average price for most airlines was, generally speaking, very expensive. We saved money on the flight by choosing an overnight option for our trip into Orlando. It actually worked out quite well.

We bought round-trip tickets for our family of four (two adults, two kids ages 4 and 7) and that made it all official.

The night of the flight we boarded our plane at 10 p.m. our time, the boys were asleep within the hour and when they woke it was 7 a.m. in Orlando. They never knew what hit them.

Total cost for our family of four to fly round-trip across the country: $1,575 (including taxes, fees and a travel insurance add-on of $16 per ticket). Could we have flown cheaper? Probably, but not by much, and doing so would undoubtedly involve stops along the way, which are nice to avoid when traveling with children. Or ever, really.

The Park Tickets

Here’s the thing about buying park tickets at Walt Disney World. The more days you buy the cheaper they are. Yes, the price seems staggering at first glance. Also, at second glance, but when you factor in what you’re getting for the buck – admission, shows, parades and rides, not to mention the characters and magic of Disney, well, I’ve paid more for less.

There are many options to consider when purchasing tickets. How many days will you be visiting the parks? Do you want to add on a meal plan? Do you want to visit more than one park per day? What about the water parks?

We didn’t care to visit the water parks (the pool in our hotel was sufficient for our young children) and we didn’t opt for a meal plan for reasons that I’ll outline later, so we chose the 9 Day Magic Your Way Tickets with the Park Hopper for two adults and two children (that’s ages 3 – 9 by Disney standards, under 3 are free). The hopper part meant that we could go in and out of all four parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, respectively) on any given day, which we never did.  However, we did hit at least two parks every day and the hopper was a good decision for us.

Total cost for four 9 Day Magic Your Way Tickets with Park Hopper: $1,173. We had planned on spending our 10th day at Universal Orlando, but their PR department dropped the ball, quite rudely, and they lost the opportunity to get my money.  Their loss was Disney’s gain.  We added a 10th day to our ticket plan for an additional $12 and some change. That’s $12 total for the four of us. Yes, as I said earlier, the more days you buy the cheaper it is, and adding a 10th day meant that we each received a one day hopper pass for about $3 (retail value of an adult one day hopper pass at WDW is $136).

The Hotel

We’re members of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). Basically, it’s a timeshare, and it’s bloody brilliant. My wife and I first purchased our DVC membership about 10 years ago. We added on to it just a few years later. Even before we took this trip to WDW the memberships had more than paid for themselves.  With DVC we’ve stayed in luxury hotels and inns across New England, and numerous times at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Someday we’ll use our DVC membership to book passage on the Disney Cruise Line, which, according to everyone, is awesome.

At the risk of trying to sell you a timeshare, here’s how it works. We paid about $5k both times that we bought into DVC, at which time we were allotted X amount of points to use each year for 40 years (from the date of purchase).

The points are used to for overnight stays at hotels (among other things). For example, we wanted to stay on Disney property at the Boardwalk Inn and Villas which is within walking (or boating) distance from Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. A one-bedroom suite with a full kitchen cost X amount of points per night. We called DVC, told them when and where we wanted to stay, they put our points toward it and that was that. We, in the vernacular of the Disney Vacation Club, were home.

Just for the heck of it I tried to book the same room for the same dates and duration via the traditional channels (traditional being my credit card over the internet) and found that a stay would have cost us well over $5,000.  That’s not a typo. Five thousand bucks. Plus.

We didn’t pay anything out of pocket for our room, and it felt pretty damn good.

Ducks in a Row, with Mouse.

Now, if you recall, all of the above was taken care of prior to the change in our financial situation. What followed was the realization that we were going to be at WDW for 10 days on a very shoestring budget. Very shoestring. I’m talking frayed laces, people.

In the second part of this series I’ll tell you what we did, why we did it, and if it worked. Stay tuned, Mouseketeers!

Photos by Whit Honea

Grand Central Station - New York, NY

I recently wrote about how I managed to vacation in New York City for just $60 a day, including all meals and entertainment.  A big part of my cost saving strategy was to use public transportation and walking as much as possible.  I spent a week touring Manhattan and paid for a cab only once for the ride out to Newark to catch my flight home.  I went everywhere else by train or foot at all hours of the day and night.

Taking advantage of mass transit when you visit cities that are smart enough to have it available is a great way to save money, but it can also be intimidating.  How will you know what bus to get on?  Are there signs telling you which trains go where?  Who will tell you when it’s time to get off at your stop?  These tips will help take some of the mystery (and terror) out of navigating public transportation in a new city.

New York City Subway Car

5 Tips For Using Public Transportation On Vacation

1. Don’t let the lingo scare you. Listening to New Yorkers talk about the subway is like listening to rocket scientists explain how the space shuttle was built.  Or, like listening to your parents discuss driving around town when you were 10.  It sounds much more complicated than it is because you aren’t (yet) familiar with the system.  It’s really not as bad as it sounds.

2. Look at a map of the city before you leave. Getting familiar with the layout of the city you’re going to visit will make understanding directions and locations much easier.  I like to use Google maps to plot different locations I’m interested in visiting – this includes my hotel, any restaurants where I have reservations, and major tourist attractions; this helps me visualize where everything is in relation to other locations.  In most cases (thought not always), you’ll find that the city is a variation of a simple grid model that you’re already familiar with.

3. Download maps of the local public transportation systems.  You can get these maps through various iPhone apps or direct from the transportation authority websites.  Again, this will help you get familiar with the routes and how the city is laid out.  It’s also a good idea to have this map handy when you’re traveling so you can review it if you need to make quick decisions without the help of a…

4. Public transportation navigation program. I relied heavily on the HotStop application in New York City, which allowed me to put in my current location and destination and which modes of transportation I was willing to take.  It then gave me detailed directions for using mass transit to get to where I needed to be.  Google maps has a “by public transit” option when you click “get directions” and a “walking” or “bicycling” option.  It’s a good idea to doublecheck these directions with the map of the public transit system; you may find a better route as you get more comfortable with the system.

5. You can always ask for instructions. It’s OK to ask for help if you end up hopelessly lost.  Even New Yorkers are happy to assist if you use your manners and start with “Excuse me, can you help me?”  If you’re uncomfortable approaching a stranger, ask the workers at bus and train stations for assistance.

In addition to being a great way to save money, I’ve found that learning to use mass transit in a strange city can be an empowering experience.  It gives you a sense of accomplishment, security and confidence knowing that you can get yourself from point A to point B using your powers of observation and problem solving.  Mastering a skill that seemed overwhelming when you were first listening to the locals swap subway stories in shorthand is a reminder that you’ll figure this out; you’ll be OK.

And isn’t that what travel is really all about?

Photos by Britt Reints

Portland Maine

The Amtrak Downeaster Rail begins in Portland, Maine and ends in Boston, Massachusetts. In between there are stops in Old Orchard Beach ME, Saco ME, Wells ME, Dover NH, Durham NH, Exeter NH, Haverhill MA, and Woburn MA. This is a FANTASTIC vacationer’s option, for those who seek a broader New England experience without having to navigate from town to town. It’s easy to stay parked in Portland, hop on the train, hop off at any town in between to enjoy their entertainments, and meander all the way down to Boston. Spend the night in Boston in order to enjoy all of its attractions, then hop back on the train the next day to head back up to Portland.

The Boston Skyline

The great thing about each stop along the Downeaster tour, is that each station is positioned within walking distance of fantastic area attractions. The Old Orchard Beach stop dumps you right off on the pier; the Durham stop is right on the University of New Hampshire’s campus; the Boston station is on the first floor of the TD Banknorth Garden, home of the Celtics and the Bruins.

The full train schedule offers five round-trip routes per day, and tickets are required prior to boarding. One-way fares are as little as $6.00, with the most expensive one-way fare being $24 to get from Portland all the way to Boston. However, purchase round-trip or multi-trip passes to get in on great savings. Right now the special offer is $39.00 round trip from any Maine stop to Boston. You can also purchase a ten-ride pass that is good for 45 days and requires no advanced reservations. Other options for frequent train travelers are available – a great way to commute for work or college!

In upcoming articles I will expound upon the merits of each stop along the Downeaster Amtrak tour. Keep this great travel option in mind for your future visits to the Northeastern United States!

Photo Credits (in order of appearance):
- “Portland (Maine, not Oregon) Spectacle” by kennymatic on Flickr Creative Commons.
- “Skyline Boston” by Rene Germany on Flickr Creative Commons.

Surf’s Up

One of the great things about living in California is our proximity to both the mountains and the beaches. In fact, just last month I mentioned our plans to hit a local beach to a friend of mine, which prompted him to relate to me his family’s plans to head up to Lake Tahoe that same weekend for some spring skiing. Only in California, baby.

Anyway, the girl had wanted to do a beach trip with her friends for quite some time, so on the recent Spring Break holiday we loaded up five girls and made the short jaunt to Stinson Beach.

Located on Highway 1 just north of San Francisco, (and at the end of a long and winding road down the hillside) Stinson Beach offers ocean lovers a quick, convenient get-away. It also offers plenty of sandy beach for walking, playing, and sun-bathing. If you’re brave enough to brave the cold waters, then there’s plenty of water to brave; an ocean’s worth in fact.  On this particular day I was feeling somewhat cowardly – what with it only being about 70 degrees. Certainly warm enough to enjoy the sand and sun, but a wee bit too cold to do so wet, in my opinion. The kids, however, had no qualms at all about pitching themselves headlong into the surf.

Stinson’s public beach offers bathrooms, showers and good-sized changing areas.  We brought a cooler with our own drinks, sandwiches, etc., however if you prefer you can make a stop at the Stinson Beach Market, literally an eight minute walk from the public beach.

If you’re looking to spend more than just the day, Stinson offers several motels for your lodging pleasure. You’ve got  The Sandpiper ,  The Stinson Beach Motel, your Ocean Court Motel, and the Redwood Haus B&B. Of course if you’d rather, you can just hop back on the highway for the relatively quick trip back to San Francisco, where there are oodles of great hotels to fit your every need.

The afternoon flew by, and we adults found ourselves making the difficult decision to leave by 4-ish in hopes of avoiding some of the commute traffic (not everyone gets spring break vacation, right?). The kids were all for hanging around for a few more hours. And as the long days of summer approach, that is definitely a viable option.

Next time you’re looking for a quick and easy beach trip, grab your boogie boards and head for Stinson.

Keeping Watch

Catching Waves

Queens of the Sand Dunes

(All photos by Lisa Romano)

UpTake on "My Crossroads"

Continuing on my May blog theme (my pocket of heaven on the Northern California Coast) here is an ’UpTake’  from the Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel.  I may be over 7,500 miles from Cairo and over 6,200 miles from  Rome, but when I am visiting this hostel there is no place I would rather be then right there listening to the waves crash on the rocks and the salty air filling my nostrils.

AND it’s inexpensive to sleep there!!!

Imagine your private room with a window opening out to the Pacific Ocean for $64.00 a night or only $23.00 a night if you stay in a dorm style room. Enjoy cozy lounges, a secluded beach cove with tide pools, and landscaped native plant gardens. Amenities include DSL Internet and free WiFi, on-site laundry, free parking, and an espresso bar.

This hostel is a gem of a find and one of the most unique in the world. The 30 foot lighthouse tower was built in 1818 in Cape Cad, Massachusetts where it stood until the light was decommissioned in 1922. Then the lighthouse traveled 3,000 miles to Point Montara in 1928. It is currently the only known lighthouse to have stood watch on two oceans. Eventually automation led the abandonment of the lighthouse and it fell into disrepair until 1980 when it was renovated and reopened as a hostel for guests of all ages and all nationalities.

Montara, California is located approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco and 8 miles north of Half Moon Bay making this a fantastic jumping off spot to explore the coast and San Francisco. You can explore Fitzgerald Marine Reserve for tide-pooling, surf some of the local beaches in Pacifica or El Granada, kayak Princeton Harbor and then finish the day with a bowl of chowder and a lobster roll at Sam’s Chowder House!

After a night or two in Montara, travel 20 miles south on the Pacific Coast Highway to another fantastic, unique and inexpensive place to lay your head at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel. Budget Travel magazine says that this hostel offers “the most spectacular hot tub on earth.” The hostel provides comfortable, affordable accommodations in the restored lighthouse keeper’s quarters. Guests can opt for shared or private rooms, and also enjoy cozy lounges, fully equipped kitchens, and amenities including satellite Internet and free WiFi.

Around Pigeon Point you can visit the enormous elephant seal population at Ano Nuevo, stop for soup and pie at Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero, sip wine at Boony Doon Winery and hike in the redwood forests at Butano State Park. Continue 30 miles south and you will then be in Santa Cruz!

So many place to see!! Or you can just sit here all day with a book and relax….sun on face, crashing waves filling your ears and yup, salty air in nostrils. That sounds pretty awesome as well.

Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel

Photos courtesy of: Amandaj

The chart below shows the costs and distance to the best family ski options. Tahoe Donner is the most affordable and Dodge Ridge is the closest from mid-peninsula.

San Francisco Bay Area Family Ski Options

Saving Some Money

Note the rental costs listed above are for renting on site, but you’d often do better to rent nearer to home like Helms of Sun Valley in San Mateo. Note also that discount lift tickets for each ski destination can be found somewhere, often at a local rental shop, or sometimes at a super market along the drive to the hill.  See SlidingOnTheCheap as a good starting point or just Google “discount lift tickets at _(ski hill of choice)_”. If both parents don’t want to ski all day or at the same time the parent interchangeable tickets are a good option, and more convenient than trying to share the one jacket with a lift ticket stuck to it.

Bear Valley

If your ski trip is about getting your kids up on skis for the very first time, a great place to go is Bear Valley.  At Bear Valley you are free to use the magic carpet as much as you like. Parents can ride up the carpet wearing skis or boots. It’s a no pressure situation. Bear Valley offers on site day care too if you want to take a break and get a few runs in yourself. Although it used to be free to ski if you only used the magic carpet hill, it now costs $5 per kid, still a good deal.  Discounted lift tickets for Bear Valley can be had in a few places – see SlidingOnTheCheap for options.

A great Bear Valley option is a half day of sledding ($8/sled at the Bear Valley cross country ski and sledding area which is a couple miles before the downhill area on Hwy 4). There is a picnic table near the sledding hill and it’s a great place to have lunch after a morning of sledding. Unfortunately you don’t save much when you do only a half day of skiing, but on a two day trip a half-day of sledding and full or half day of skiing can work really well.

The drive to Bear Valley is about 3 hours from the San Francisco peninsula. It’s a beautiful drive through Calaveras county. A great place to stop along the way is in the town of Murphys. When you get to Angels Camp, ignore the commonly suggested driving route of Hwy 4 (unless there is heavy snow, in which case 4 is more likely to be plowed) and turn left at the edge of town on Murphys Grade road as shown on this map. This will take you right through the town of Murphys which has a great little main street with shops, restaurants and wine tasting. You’ll pick up Hwy 4 again right after Murphys.

Dodge Ridge

Dodge Ridge is another great family choice. It’s better if your kids are past the magic carpet phase and ready to ski. Dodge Ridge has a magic carpet, but they seem pretty uptight about using it outside of the ski school. They have one great chair lift for kids – a double – and the operators are well-tuned to giving boosts to kids who need it and can stop it on a dime for a dropped ski or mitten. The run from the lift is great for the kids. There are a couple variations on it (a high road and a low road) both are easy. Runs off the higher lifts are more challenging. Dodge Ridge also has a rope tow in clear view of the lodge. My seven year old mastered it right away and could ski by herself where I could sit and watch and take a break with my six year old.

The drive to Dodge Ridge is mostly the same as the way to Yosemite. If you have an extra day, a trip to Yosemite is also a great option with downhill and cross-country skiing at Badger Pass. A visit to Yosemite Valley in the winter is peaceful and largely empty of crowds. Dodge Ridge can be reached in three hours and the drive offers beautiful views with no traffic craziness like Interstate 80. On the drive, be sure to buy lift ticket passes at the Save Mart  supermarket right off the highway in Oakdale. It’s a 1 min stop and saves $10/adult and $4/kid.

Tahoe Family Options

Of course, there are lots of options for family skiing in the Lake Tahoe area. If you can handle the chance that driving home on Hwy 80 might take eight hours, but is usually more like a frustrating white-knuckled four, then you’ll appreciate that Tahoe is cheaper and has more variety. Some of the more family friendly options and some of the best priced options are Tahoe Donner and Donner Ski Ranch. Of the Tahoe options these are also some of the closest to the Bay Area.