Jacksonville Florida

     We're ready for the "best summer ever"! Last week of July is our big vacation every year because my daughter, Abby, and I celebrates our birthday. This year, we're going on a cruise again. So we packed our bags and after 18 hours of drive, we finally reached Jacksonville Florida. This is where our port will be but we decided to stay in town for a couple of days before our cruise.

     So day 1, we got to our hotel at almost 3pm. After eating late lunch, we decided to start our fun by heading to Jacksonville Beach. This was about 10 mins drive from our hotel and closer to downtown. There's plenty of free parking and the boardwalk to the beach was next to it. The weather was perfect, the beach was not so crowded, the place was clean and there were lots of hotel. A "must bring" when you go to the east coast beach is a boogie board. The waves were just right that kids had so much fun! We stayed there until almost 9pm. And yes, we still went swimming in our hotel for another hour.

     

     Day 2, in the morning we went to check out the downtown. We drove to Jacksonville Landing where there's shops and restaurants. Of course, the first restaurant I saw was Chicago Pizza. What are the odds!

But we didn't eat there, instead, we went to Cinco de Mayo mexican restaurant. Surprised? Huh!

     Then we strolled along the riverwalk and took the water taxi for a quick tour. Roundtrip fare $7/adult and $5/kid. You can actually go down to 3 different places if you want to try the other restaurants but we decided to just stay in the boat and enjoy the tour. We saw the skyline view of Jacksonville and it was beautiful. The best part of it was that we saw several dolphins swimming. Awesome!

     We went to Immaculate Conception church afterwards. It's a catholic church closest to Jacksonville Landing. Did you know that everytime you go to a new church that you can make 3 wishes? There was a mass but its in spanish so we didn't stay long, Oh one more thing, it was the first time I've seen a credit card machine to make a donation to church. Cool!

     In the afternoon, we went to Atlantic beach. It's the same shoreline as Jacksonville beach but up north and there's more residential houses in here. Again we enjoyed boogie boarding, making sand castles, and strolling along the shore. The white sands were so soft and there's lots of sea shells and some sort of jelly thing that the kids saw for the first time. It was such a nice day!

    I must say, we really had a blast at the beach! This is one thing that our family can pretty much do every single day and will never get tired of! PRICELESS!!!

    Until next time! We'll be heading on our 5 day cruise to Bahamas! Happy birthday to me and Abby!

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ST. LOUIS "The Gateway to the West"

     Are you from the Midwest? Do you have a 3 day weekend and you don't know where to go or what to do with your kids? Think no more! Pack your bags, get in the car and drive!

     I'm from Chicago and St. Louis Missouri is only 5 hours drive from us. And yes, I used the word ONLY because this is a short drive compare to all our other trips in the US. We've been to this place several times. It's a beautiful city and there's tons of inexpensive activities for my kids.

     Where to stay?  I recommend staying in DRURY PLAZA HOTEL AT THE ARCH (2 South 4th Street, St. Louis, MO 63102). Let me talk to you more why I choose this hotel here all the time.

     1. It is walking distance to the Gateway Arch and other attractions
     2. Free hot breakfast (sausage, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, pancakes) - 6am-9:30am
     3. Free soda,coffee and popcorn in the lobby
     4. Free Kickback hot foods and cold drinks (macaroni and cheese, hotdog, baked potato, salad, soup) 5:30pm-7pm
     5. Each adult gets 2 Free alcoholic beverage (beer, wine, mixed drinks) during Kickback 5:30
     6. Covered parking $16/day. No need to pay multiple parking fees because of reason #1.
     7. Other amenities includes swimming pool, hot tub and fitness center

DAY 1
      When you arrive at the hotel, most likely after lunch, just check in and relax. Then go out, get a popcorn for snack and head to the Gateway Arch and just walk around the trail and riverfront. You can also stop by the Old Cathedral Museum in the same area.
      Then go back to the hotel to eat dinner and have a nice drink (tequila sunrise is my fave!). After you digest, change to your swimming clothes and splash in the pool.

DAY 2
     Make sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes. Start your day by going to the Old Courthouse. Check  http://www.gatewayarch.com/experience/old-courthouse/ for hours. Admission is free and the kids can earn their badge for the ranger program.

    Start walking behind the courthouse (either on Market or Chestnut Street) and just enjoy the Kiener Plaza and City Garden.





     Walk until you reach 14th St. then turn right until you hit Washington St. This is your final destination:  CITY MUSEUM (citymuseum.org). Admission fee $12, Hours: M-Th 9am-5pm, F-Sat 9am-midnight, Sun 11am-5pm. This museum is good for all ages (kids or adults) and you can spend pretty much the rest of the day here. There are lots of educational activities, slides and tunnels, it's just so awesome! My favorite here is the 10 story slides. I sure had a workout climbing up those stairs! Goodluck to parents on convincing your kids to go home because they never want to leave this place!!!



DAY 3
     Everybody had fun for the past 2 days and now you're ready to go home. Take a short break driving by visiting the Home of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, IL(426 S 7th St, Springfield, IL 62701). Admission is free but you have to get your free tour ticket guide at the visitor center. Parking is also available at the visitor's center for $2/hour.

    Have fun on your St. Louis trip!

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Summer Day Trip and Water Fun

      Few more days left in the summer and kids will be back to school soon. Have you enjoyed the sun yet? Are you planning for a day trip or two? Or do you have small kids and want a family friendly place but you're too scared to drive too far from home? Here are some suggestions within 1-3 hours drive from Chicago.

 Beach Getaways - make sure to bring picnic blanket, umbrellas, sunscreen, shovel and pale, cooler, grill and yummy foods

     1.  Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore - 1453 N. Tremont Rd, Chesterton, IN 46304

     2.  Warren Dunes State Park - 12032 Red Arrow Highway, Sawyer, MI 49125

          

     3. South Haven South Beach -  Monroe Blvd, South Haven, MI 49090

   

     4. Silver Beach County Park - 101 Broad St, Saint Joseph, MI 49085

     5. Lake Geneva Beach - Wrigley Drive, Lake Geneva , WI 53147

Waterparks and Resorts - most of these places require at least an overnight stay. Some resorts allows day pass but others don't so check the website before you go.

 1. Key Lime Cove - 1700 Nations Drive, Gurnee,IL 60031
          

 

2. Timber Ridge Lodge Waterpark -  7020 Grand Geneva Way, Lake Geneva, WI 53147

    

   

3.   Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park - 1701 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

     - This is my personal favorite because not only that they have the waterpark, they also have indoor and outdoor theme park included when you book your hotel. Lots of rides for kids of all ages.

     There are many other waterpark resorts in Wisconsin Dells such as Wilderness, Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge. You can also book any of the smaller hotels and usually you get a priviledge or deal to use the other resort's waterpark. While you're at the Dells, check out the downtown for shops and restaurants. You can also find places to go for a picnic, fishing or boating.

4. Coco Key Water Resort -  7801 E. State St. Rockford, IL 61108

5. Splash Universe - 800 South Van Buren Street, Shipshewana, Indiana 46565  or 100 Whitetail Dr. Dundee, MI 48131 

 

6. Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort - 2643 IL Route 178, Utica, Illinois 61373

          - We've never been on this waterpark because it's usually expensive to book their resort. But they sometimes have a deal in Groupon so maybe I'll purchase it next time.

Local Waterparks - Don't forget to check out your park districts if you just plan to have a few hours in the pool. Some of my recommendations are:

1. Cypress Cove Family Aquatic Park - 8301 Janes Ave, Woodridge, IL 60517

2. Pelican Harbor - 200 Lindsey Ln, Bolingbrook, IL 60440

3. Sea Lion Aquatic Park - 1825 Short Steet, Lisle, Illinois 60532

4. Paradise Bay Waterpark - 433 E Saint Charles Rd, Lombard, IL

5. Coral Cove Waterpark - 849 W Lies Rd, Carol Stream, IL 60188

HAVE A SUPER SPLASH SUMMER FUN!!!

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Last Week in Philippines

   Here I am with my part 2 blog about my Philippine vacation. I stayed everyday of my first week sleeping in the hospital with my mom. I saw the other side of my work, I was the family member of a patient and not the staff. It was hard and exhausting physically and mentally. I didn't even know how I survived, needless to say, I have very high respect to those loved ones who were so devoted taking care of their family.

      My mom was finally discharged home and was so much better than when I arrived. So I planned to have some time with my cousins and friends on my last week of stay. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad. It was raining hard almost every single day. There were typhoons one after another. First it was Egay then Falcon. If you noticed, the typhoons were named alphabetically. That means, the next one will have to start with letter G, and if I'm not mistaken, it's already coming soon. Believe it or not, kid's school were suspended almost the whole week because of the weather. The good thing back home was that there's always somebody in the house, whether it's the parents or the maids.

     Oh yes, speaking of maids, it was awesome to have someone doing stuffs for you all the time. To be honest, it felt weird to me at first because I was so independent in US. But then it didn't really take that long for me to be in the princess mode again. I loved every minute of it! Guess it's about right to enjoy it while it last.

     Let's talk about how I made this last week an awesome and affordable vacation. Almost everyday, I had either friends or relatives with me. Since the weather was bad, we decided to do a lot of eating out and shopping in the mall. I craved for a lot of authentic Filipino foods that we didn't have in Chicago. We went to many of my favorite restaurants such as Goldilocks, Jollibee, Greenwich, Chowking, Cafe Marcelo, Dencio's, Gerry's and Countryside. I was with at least 3-8 people each time and believe it or not, our bill just ranged from $10-40 each time, and that's already eating to the max. Isn't that awesome? I also enjoyed home cooked as well as street foods. I had pork barbecue on the stick, pandesal (bread), chicharon (pork skin), taho (soy drink with vanilla and tapioca), halo-halo (mixed sweets with crushed ice and milk) and even the famous Balot (premature duck egg). They were all MASARAP (yummy)!

     Shopping, it's what every woman loved to do. I was so excited that I bought lot of things for really unbelievable cheap prices. I got panels and sheers for almost my whole house for only $150, 10 pairs of scrubs for $150, clothes ($5-10 each), and lots of hair accessories for my girls for I don't even know how much I spent because I bought gazillion of them (ranging from .25cents to $3 a piece). My two luggage bags weighed more than 50 lbs each that I had to leave some of my clothes to my mom. And oh, I want to mention too that I had a pedicure for $3. I was planning to have a haircut ($3) and hair color and treatment ($50) but I ran out of time.

     So there's my Philippine vacation, eating, shopping and spending time with families and friends. Please check my Photos section in my Facebook Page "Awesome and Affordable Family Vacations". Next time, I'm planning to take my whole family with me, on a much better season, of course, and explore the tourist spots in the islands. Now I'm back in Chicago and looking forward on our upcoming cruise to Bahamas in a couple of weeks for my daughter's 10th and my 30something birthday celebrations. 

                                         MABUHAY!

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