Summer camp, cancelled. Museums closed. Planes are scary. But you have time you want to take off and kids to entertain. How do you enjoy a safe summer staycation in the San Francisco Bay Area? We have been working to enjoy our summer and I have a few ideas that are safe and help you…
“Fern Grotto is the most romantic place on earth. I always wanted to come back here with someone I love”. This was my husband. He had visited Kauai years ago with his parents, a short while before he met me. After years of promising, we were finally in Kauai and he was finally able to…
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the river and the lakes that you are used to”. Well I don’t know what TLC was talking about because in Kauai we went chasing some beautiful waterfalls. And it was worth every minute! Waimea CanyonWaimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. Kauai is a small island, and…
One thing we discovered about Kauai is that while you are on a island, much of the beaches have rough surf and are not suitable for swimming. Although we had a resort by the beach, the waters near us were rough. That’s what had us in the Poipu Beach area, looking for a beach to…
Dining / Hawaii / Performances
“Let me tell you about the best luau in Kauai. Let me just start here, unlimited Mai Tais!” That was how my friend let me know about the Smith Family Garden Luau, a family run luau in Lihue in business for over 50 years. I looked online and I liked what I saw. Beautiful location…
As the alarm rang at 6 am on our vacation, I really questioned the decision to go on this boat tour. Why did it have to be so early? And such a long drive away? But finding a tour that would do snorkeling and sailing around the Na Pali Coast AND welcomed children turned out…
“Stop, let me look at that. That looks amazing! I want to do that!” That was my son’s first reaction when he saw the pictures of the tubing down the irrigation canals in Kauai. It came up on a list of top things to do with kids in Kauai. I wasn’t sure. It looked expensive.…
In my family, we believe in celebrating milestone birthdays with travel. So a few years ago, we told my son, “For your 10th Birthday you get to pick a trip to celebrate. Anywhere in the world”. Over the years he was all over the place. A few places he considered were: The Philippines, Paris, London,…
If you are anything like me, you may have thought that travel agents have gone the way of the Dodo. While you don’t see travel agencies on every street corner anymore, travel agents certainly still exist. Not only do they still exist, but they have a very real place and need in our society. I’ve…
We have spent over 50 days sheltering in place here in California, but we have been able to successfully flatten the curve. Just like the rest of the world, we are slowly, slowly talking about reopening and what that looks like. The thing is, for the foreseeable future, our reopened world looks a lot different…
Our final stop in our trip to Gold Country was to do some wine tasting. In California, known for it’s incredible wine all over, there were several wineries in the area. We found that Ironstone Vineyard was nearly and known as a family friendly place for it’s grounds, and it’s museum that held the largest…
Sometimes in life everything works well. You career is on track, your home life is on track, and you are happy and healthy. Sometimes things are all off balance making you off balance. Work is hard, family has issues, health is not on track. Sometimes things get so off balance, you feel like you are…
When the early miners came out to California, gold was not the only thing they found. They found hills and giant trees like nothing else they had ever seen. After years of ravaging the forests for these enormous giants, the Calaveras Big Trees State Park was created to both protect them, and educate us on…
You’ve spent weeks or months planning the first best spring break vacation. Flights or train tickets are bought, hotels reserved, you have tickets to your tours and shows, reservations at great restaurants. Then you hear the news. A little virus in China. Then Thailand, Singapore, no Europe and the US. It happened so fast. What…
On September 1, 1885, Walter J Mercer, like so many before him, went to California looking for gold. And he got it, but in a most unexpected way. Under a tree, he found the enterance to a huge natural made cavern. Immediately thinking he found a gold cavern, he staked a claim and had his…
