Vacations Blog

The Mississippi River Bridge Looking Into Louisiana from Vicksburg, MS

Today’s travel tip is brought to you by that oft overlooked arm of the travel industry, The Office of Tourism.  What office, you may be asking?  Pick your state I answer, for every state has one.  The purpose of the tourism office in a particular state is to encourage vacationing, visiting by both residents and non-residents.   They help to promote the economy by promoting the tourism industry within their respective states.  Some offices even manage the state’s park systems.

They have information.  Lots and lots of information.  And that’s what we really need when planning a trip.   Where to go, what to do, what to eat, schedules of events and festivals.

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Benson Park Sculpture Garden

Most families only visit Loveland, Colorado, because the town is the last stop on Highway 34 before you reach the gorgeous Rocky Mountain National Park, just 30 miles away.

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

But if you’re heading into the National Park, or simply driving through Colorado on Interstate 25, Loveland makes for an interesting stop along the way.

If for no other reason than to see the statues.

Loveland has nearly 300 pieces of public art, mostly sculptures, spread all over, in front of city buildings, dentist’s offices, schools, and private homes.  You can drive around town, playing a game of spot the statues, but I don’t recommend it if you want to keep your insurance premiums down.  Instead, go directly to where the bulk of the artwork is on permanent display, at the Benson Park Sculpture Garden.  And it doesn’t cost a thing to enjoy.

The park is a dazzling site, with over 130 sculptures of all shapes and sizes placed around three large ponds.  When I first took my kids there, their response was the usual, “Oh no, do we have to walk?”  But once they meandered down the trail and spied their first statue, a boy playing marbles with a dinosaur, they were immediately hooked.  Aching feet were completely forgotten as they discovered new surprises around ever corner.

Benson Park is in a quiet, residential area, so it feels peaceful and uncrowded.  On the cold spring day we were there, it was certainly free of people.  The morning snowfall added to the magical air of the place as we took our time walking the trails.

This is the kind of place you’ll want to have your camera ready for memorable poses of your kids with the various sculptures.  They’ll plead with you to take a picture of them with every strange and whimsical creature they see.

There are picnic tables, benches, and bathrooms, so don’t worry about how much time you spend.  We were surprised to find two hours gone by without even noticing.

Granted, we were not in any kind of hurry.  Loveland was an overnight stop for us on our way through the state.  I highly recommend the new Holiday Inn Express just off I-25, which features the usual indoor pool but with a kid-pleasing giant red water slide.

Colorado is an amazing state, with majestic mountains and stunning scenic vistas.  It’s easy to overlook the little things.  But, next time you’re traveling through the area, you’ll find it well worth your time to add Benson Park Sculpture Garden to your list of places to see.

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

Benson Park Sculpture Garden

All photos by Phil Corless

It’s an evironmentalist-eat-dog world where the treehuggers’ latest target is not the hummer or Texas oil men, but poor defenseless pets. That’s right – now they’re saying that you should eat your pets rather than take them on vacation.

Dog's day out

A book by Robert & Brenda Vale, called ‘Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living,’ suggests that dogs and cats have very big eco-paw prints. The book says that the amount of food a dog eats in one year takes up around 1.1 hectares of land.

Measure that against a 6,213 mile (10,000 km) road trip in a 4.6 liter Land Cruiser, which only takes up .41 hectares of land. Basically, what they’re saying is that you can take 3 roadtrips of 6,213 miles each every year, if you stick a fork in your pet.

 The Vales suggest in the book that pets should be recycled for pet food. Imagine the horror, if your precious Persian finds that you have turned it into a cannibal. It’s like something out of a Stephen King book.

And that’s not all. The authors would also have you give up your own vacations, shopping trips and other leisure activities, in addition to cooking up your pets. Apparently the authors are exempt from all this, and they describe their own lifestyle – which includes a trip to Japan and ownership of a cat.

The Vales are eccentric enough to suggest that you shouldn’t go through with a divorce until you find someone else, so that you don’t need separate homes. But the authors apparently have no problems buying a new house.

Hopefully, there won’t be people screwy enough to listen to this pair of nutjobs and actually give up their pets, vacations, or vacations with your pets. These are not luxuries - once you get a pet, you’ll realize that they’re just as necessary as taking care of your grandma.

Photo by br1 ~ br1dotcom

The San Xavier del Bac Mission, located just south of Tucson, Arizona, was built from 1783 – 1797 by a pair of Franciscan Fathers. It has been in continuous operation as a functioning parish church of the Diocese of Tucson since its construction. The mission mixes styles from Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance architectures – its elaborate arches, domes, and towers can be seen on the horizon for miles around the area.

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Thatched roofs of the Park Royal Hotel

The name Cozumel means “land of the swallows” but it should mean “land of the laid back vibe.”  The tiny island is just 30 miles wide and 10 miles long but it’s filled with a quiet beauty that encourages you to linger.

I was invited on a Cozumel media trip by Royal Holiday Resorts a few months ago and I enjoyed a soothing and colorful stay. Cozumel was settled by the Maya over 2,000 years ago and the lush grounds of the Park Royal Hotel where I stayed boasted many tributes to Mayan culture like the towering statue and serene fountain below. Read More »

Perhaps you thought this was Texas.  True, they do everything bigger, but this kernel of candy corn is located outside Disneyland Resort’s second gate Disney’s California Adventure.

Disneyland knows big, too. The two guys in the photo are both well over 7′ tall.  Read More »

County Line Orchard

Grab some fall family fun with a day of apple picking at County Line Orchard in Hobart, Indiana. Apple picking is a Midwest fall tradition, with orchards offering sweet delights in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. For Chicago families like mine, County Line Orchard in charming Hobart, Indiana, supplies the closest orchard, at about a 40 minute drive from the city. What I love most about County Line is that it’s located in a small farming community that draws families from both Indiana and Illinois. Pick up trucks, corn fields and livestock surround the area for a quick country escape for city slickers.

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As I mentioned in my previous entry, I joined my husband last weekend up in Flagstaff, since he had to work a job up there and the hotel room was, therefore, free.

On Saturday night we went out on the town. We’re trying not to spend a whole lot of money, these days – I think everyone is feeling that way, lately. So our goal was to have as much fun and hit as many places as we could, for as little money as possible.

First we stopped at Altitudes and had a beer ($3.25 each – we like microbrews, domestic beer is cheaper), and we split the hummus plate with veggies and pita triangles ($6.99). We lounged there for a good hour, watching college football and conversing with the bartenders. Grand total spent (including a $5 tip): $19.84.

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