Renovated National Aquarium offers an inexpensive option

by Jamie Rhein on

Gas prices aren’t the only expense of a vacation that pinch the finances. Admission fees can be a real downer. If one is traveling with young children, huge, expensive museums can be overwhelming.

These are two reasons why the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. sounds appealing to me.

At $5 for adults, and $2.50 for children, the admission is not even close to the $18.75 amount for adults to the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. The Newport Aquarium, the last one I visited, is quite impressive, but sometimes I’d rather opt for a simpler venue for less money.

Last year, when we went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, much of our time was spent finding a bathroom and each other. Due to time constraints, we hurried through sections where I wanted to linger. When mixing children with large museums, it’s often necessary to leave out entire exhibits in order to not have a kid meltdown halfway through.

With a smaller museum, like the National Aquarium that claims you can see the whole thing in 45 minutes, you don’t have to pick and chose among options. At the end of an hour you can end up at the gift shop satisfied and have time and energy left to take in something else close by. I’d head to the outdoor sculpture garden at the National Gallery of Art for starters.

Along with the aquarium’s renovations that include new signage, carpeting and exhibits is a new theme–“America’s Aquatic Treasures.” Look for alligators, eels, sea horses, a baby loggerhead turtle and more. [see Washington Post article]

If you can make here on August 9, it’s Shark Day. There are several activities geared towards kids and talks adults would enjoy.

Oklahoma is O-K

by Jamie Rhein on

L-A-H-O-M-A , Oklahoma! Yow!

The fact that the song Oklahoma is playing in my head at this moment is John Ur’s fault. Of course, I do still know a song medley of the musical by heart thanks to high school choir days, but over at Intelligent Travel, John Ur’s mention of the lyrics to “Oklahoma” in his post about movies filmed in this state, put me in a red gingham dress and cowboy boots looking for a surrey with fringe on the top.

When I read Ur’s post, I flashed back to my own Oklahoma experience sitting in the audience of an outdoor production of “Oklahoma!” This outdoor theater in Tulsa uses real horses and wagon and a building was set on fire. At least that’s what I remember. Discoveryland’s season runs June 6–August 16, so you still have time to plan your trip here.

This is a professional production with crowd pleasing appeal. It’s also kid-friendly. I only went to the main production, but you can add a western-style dinner and before show entertainment.

Salt mine tours for health and fun

by Jamie Rhein on

Tom Barlow over at Wallet Pop and I started talking about salt mines a few days ago. He mentioned a post he wrote about the health benefits of salt mines and places one can go to see them. An impressive one that neither of us have been to, but agreed that we should is the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow in Poland. It’s a World Heritage site, and part of it has been carved into a salt cathedral. Our talk reminded me of my own salt mine tour in Germany.

Touring the salt mine in Berchtesgaden was a totally funky, touristy thing to do, but one I have remembered over the years as a high point. Perhaps, it doesn’t take much for me to be amused.

We donned mining outfits (over their clothes), put cloth mining hats on our head and gathered with the other English speakers at various points along the way to listen to recorded messages about the history of the mine and how it works. The guides spoke in German. Part of the tour involved sitting, one of us in front of the other, astride two wooden chutes which we slid down to get to a lower section. One of the reasons for the mining outfits was to protect our clothing from the salt. Plus, it was a chance to play dress up and add some ambiance to the experience.

Berchtesgaden may sound familiar. It is also where Hitler hung out at Eagle’s Nest. This area in the German Alps is gorgeous.

Other salt mines to tour:

Also in Poland, there is the Bochnia Salt Mine which is older than Wieliczka, and from the comments people have written about it, sounds like it’s worth a visit.

There are three mines near Salzburg, Austria. Here’s the link that leads to info on all three of them: Salzwelten Salzburg, Hallstaat and Altaussee. There are discount tickets for family travelers. Rick Steves has recommended Hallstaat, according to what I’ve read.

The Kansas Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas. The museum is housed inside a working salt mine where you can learn about salt mining first hand.

Another reason why flying is frustrating and driving is a plus

by Jamie Rhein on

When I lived in Albuquerque, going to New York to visit family meant flying there. It’s too far to drive for a quick trip. Then, when I moved to Singapore from Albuquerque, flying was a definite must. The first time I visited New York after moving to Ohio, my brother asked me in a phone conversation, “So what time is your flight?”

‘We’re driving,” I said.

“Oh, that’s right. It seems weird that you’re driving.”

It did seem weird, but what a relief to not be rushing out of the house to try to catch a flight. When the car is loaded, we go. If we forget something and remember it by the time we get to the highway, we go back and get it. If we leave by 9 a.m., we arrive (with stops for a sit down lunch and gas) about eleven hours later. Along the way, we can see where we are going and know what has passed behind us.

There is such freedom in driving knowing that one can control time variables–unless of course, there is road construction or a wreck that slows down progress.

My dad about an upcoming trip that has reminded me, once again, why we’ve decided to drive to Montana this summer. In May, my dad is flying to Albuquerque from New York on a vacation, and he just received notice from Delta that his 6:40 a.m. flight is now at 6:00 a.m. His new departure time means a three-hour wait in Atlanta. As he said, “You can’t count on airlines when you’re making plans.” Because he has to drive a couple hours to the airport, this earlier flight is not welcome.

The unforeseen travel circumstances because of flying is one reason we’re getting our car tuned up and relying on our own volition to go from point A to point B during our summer trip. Flights have gone up in cost. Baggage costs more and delays are almost guaranteed. The past two years, we’ve flown, but it doesn’t seem worth it.

One beauty of driving is that we get to choose the places we may want to hang out for three hours or so to break up the scenery. My choice is an historic site over an airport. We’ll depart when we leave, and we will arrive when we get there. We can chose our route. Simple. We don’t charge extra for more luggage either.

The thing about driving, though, is that you have to have enough time to get there. We have the time and have friends we can stay with along the way to cut down on motel costs. Sometimes, you have to fly. In that case, make sure you check your departure time. It may be earlier than you think.

Check Flight Arrivals.com. It’s a Web site that lists the commercial flight schedules in the U.S. and Canada.

Travel with kids in Denmark: AAA virtual trade show tidbit

by Jamie Rhein on

One of my forays at cyberspace trade show through AAA was to email a travel agent about traveling with kids in Europe. In particular, I asked about Denmark since this is one place we’ve thought about going the summer of 2009.

I picked Bernadine Kenny from the travel agent icons in the lounge and she emailed me back immediately with a few more questions, promising to get back to me today which she did.

As it turns out, Bernadine’s office is with AAA Auto Club and located in Worthington, Ohio not far from where I live. From our e-mail conversations , I found out that if one is traveling with kids in Denmark, if you’re staying in a hotel, it’s cheaper to get two rooms with two beds than one room that will sleep three or four. Bernadine found that a centrally located three-star hotel with two twin beds in Copenhagen is $178 per night, on average. The cost includes taxes and breakfast. A room for four people is $467. With two rooms you’re spending a total of $356. I haven’t checked out hostel prices, but I do know that Denmark is probably one of the more expensive places to go in Europe. Luckily, we have friends who will probably let us stay with them. If not, there’s a villa in Italy that looks pretty spiffy.

Asking Bernadine for information was a good move. I never would have thought about splitting up a family to save some bucks.