Get warm with a free trip to the Cayman Islands

by Katie Hammel on

It’s been a doozy of a winter so far, and there are no signs that the temps are suddenly going to increase. You’ve got a long few months to go before you get warm again….unless you happen to win the Cayman Island’s new contest. The lucky winner will receive a trip for four, including air and hotel, to the tropical Cayman Islands.

The winner and friends will stay at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort on Seven Mile Beach, and will receive a free boat and snorkel trip to Stingray City, where they’ll swim with massive stingrays.

To enter, you’ll need to upload your best photo that shows one of your coldest winter moments. Upload it by March 1 and encourage all your friends to vote for you. The ten entries with the most votes will move on to the final judging, and a winner will be announced by March 10. You must be 18 or older and a resident of the US to enter and travel must take place by December 31, 2011.

Of course, for many people, the worst of winter will be over by March 10. So maybe the contest won’t help you escape the cold right away, at least not in the most literal sense. But maybe the thought of a Cayman Islands vacation – especially a free one – will warm your heart just a bit.

One for the Road (04/18/07)

by Kelly Amabile on

A new children’s book adventure series called Incredible Journeys debuts this month from independent publisher Kid’s Fun Press. Although I’m a little leery of a children’s book with the word “criminal” in the title, these imaginative books simply serve as playful teaching tools to engage children’s sense of wonder about the world.

The Criminal in the Caymans and Treasure in Tahiti were written by Connie Lee Berry, a flight attendant for a major airline and school system volunteer who says her chats with children fascinated by other cultures and continents inspired her to create these fast-paced adventures filled with geography fun facts.

In these short books (geared for educators to use in the classroom), Max and Sam emerge as a modern day Hardy Boys duo — globetrotting guys who find themselves in mysterious situations far from home. Smart young fellas, they’ve managed to land on lush tropical islands for their first two travel escapades, in which they must solve a 100-year old mystery and capture a dangerous lawbreaker, all while learning about the lands they travel through. Informative fact sheets at the beginning and end of the story reveal key statistics about the locale, including population, language, currency and other geographic trivia.

If you’ve got an inquiring young explorer in your life, consider introducing this new series the next time you venture to the library or bookstore. You’ll be doing your part to instill a strong sense of place and spirit of discovery in a curious young mind. Additional titles in this chapter-book series for ages 7-9 will be released in October: Adventure in Africa and Pirates in Paradise. Maybe Sam and Max will meet up with an equally adventurous female traveling pair in one of these forthcoming titles?