This picture of Teddy dressed in colonial costume from our 2011 visit to Williamsburg is one of my all-time favorites (I liked it so much that it made it onto our Christmas card last year). We’re headed to Williamsburg again today for the long weekend as part of my newly launched partnership with Marriott; I’m a member of their Resident Mom Club. We’ll be staying at the Residence Inn, which fits very nicely with this month’s theme of smarter family travel: Our suite is economical, spacious, and has a kitchen. I’ll have a full review of our stay next week, and next month will be offering a chance for my readers to win a Residence Inn gift card.

If you’d like to follow me in real-time this weekend as we visit the Jamestown settlement, the battlefield at Yorktown, and return to some of the places we loved in Williamsburg, be sure to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter where I’ll be sharing our story using the hashtag #RIMoms.

Before I go, I thought I’d share a few travel items that interested me this week.

-The New York Times published their list of 46 places to go in 2013. While I don’t think I’ll be making it to Mongolia or Sri Lanka anytime soon, there are numerous intriguing options on this list including Oslo, which Matt and I are both dying to visit. What places would you most like to see?

-Have you read any of the stories about the grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners? My friend Amie from Ciao Bambino recently flew one to Tokyo. She’s got a wicked fear of flying, but makes a persuasive case for why the Dreamliner is a big deal.

-Matt and I have tentative plans to travel without the boys this fall (in celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary).  Nicole at Arrows Sent Forth has rounded up a bunch of posts from family travel bloggers about traveling without the kids, including one I wrote last summer after Matt and I went on a cruise.

-Are you on Pinterest? I really like it as a place to find inspiration and ideas. If you hang out there, you might want to consider following the Family Travel Inspiration board from Pit Stops for Kids – it’s loaded with great posts.

-See my list of top things to do in Williamsburg with kids.

What are your plans for this inaugural weekend? Hope they include something fun and maybe even historic.