Vacation Mamma Where You been?

Whew,
I need more vacation, more mamma, less work...If you want to see what I've been doing that keeps me from writing (not so much from travel), check out my company: BETTER Vacation Rentals. We've managed to grow even in this economy, launch a new web site, add properties, and still get BETTER at satisfying our guests and owners. Top it off with a family and company move 40 miles south...and a year flies by.

Where have I been exploring? Sequoia NP CA, Athens Greece, Temecula CA, Canyon de Chelly AZ, Painted Forest National Park AZ, Five Islands ME, Cape Cod MA, Washington DC, San Diego CA , and my new home town of Encinitas / Cardiff CA. Next up: Cape Town South Africa.

Promise more trip info to come...until then.

Cancel my Flight: I want to be in Georgetown ME on July 11, 2009

Doggone it! The Georgetown Maine annual auction at the Five Islands Station is on July 11 this year...and of course that's when I'm due to fly home from almost 3 weeks at our great waterfront cottage just a few minutes down North End Road. This auction was my first experience with a live auction and I look forward to it every year. Mainers have lots of interesting stuff in their barns and it ends up at this auction... My list of buys include:
-a gas grill with a rodent nest that ended up at the transfer station
- a rabbit hutch we drove home 3000 miles - our bunny loved it but we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies for sure
- a collection of Harry Potter books on tape that have given my daughter hours of enjoyment
- some antique linens that probably saw many ladies play bridge, and now grace my bunco tables
- a wicker settee that looked cute but flaked paint and lasted a few seasons
- a custom name paint job for our boat that my husband never had done (I wonder if it expires?)
- a Hopper print that graces our cottage wall whose frame is worth more than I paid, but is matted in a slightly odd way
- a limited edition lighthouse serving tray from Georgetown Pottery

I'm small time at this auction...I'll never forget the year that the Moorings B&B was furnishing their place - they spent thousands...or all of the original artwork...and the dinghies, canoes, and even a sailboat now and then.

All proceeds benefit the Geoergetown Maine VOLUNTEER fire department who have saved many at Reid State Park. You can always count on some great live lobster packages, or just visit one of our in the rough lobster joints after the auction. Maine governors and officials have been known to auctioneer as well!

Where: Just left off 127 on Five Islands Road.
When: July 11 9 am.

Get there early to preview the merchandise or get the best of the White Elephant and bake sale. Buy a few chances for the Georgetown Working League's one of a kind quilt. To donate items (not stoves, fridges, washers, a/c, used mattresses) call David Knauber at 207-371-2020. Deadline is just a few days before the auction - so clean out the barn now!

Another Vacationer Discovers Vacation Rentals Apartments in NYC!

Summer of 2006 I took my girls to Manhattan and rented an amazing flat in midtown Manhattan for far less than a hotel, and with far better flavor and our own back yard. I'm pleased to see the following article as others discover the joys of vacation rentals in urban settings. In fact I stayed at a rental in the Belltown District of Seattle for just 3 nights last month while looking at colleges with my high school junior, and an Central Athens Apartment 2 weeks ago while accompanying my husband on a business trip to Athens Greece. Vacation rentals are no longer just for beach stays, golf getaways, and ski vacations. Check out the full article at:

Catholic Online - Travel: "Manhattan walk-up let us feel like native New Yorkers
By Joan Chrissos
3/16/2009

McClatchy Newspapers (www.mctdirect.com)
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - I was at the point of canceling our New York City family vacation.

I had scoured travel Web sites, checked my American Express deals, talked to New York friends about bed & breakfasts _ yet couldn't find a place to stay in the Big Apple that was reasonably priced and could accommodate seven people, or two families traveling together.

Then a friend told me about Vacation Rental By Owner, or VRBO.com.

Thus began my journey into renting a New York apartment for four nights. By scrolling through VRBO.com and Googling 'New York City vacation rentals,' I discovered a cottage industry of New Yorkers who rent out apartments to travelers _ often for less or comparable rates to a New York hotel room, plus all the comforts of home, including a kitchen and washer-and-dryer.

A caveat, however: Know your neighborhoods. One listing was for a 'Beautiful Upper West Side 4-5 Bedroom, 2 baths,' with hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and a photo of a lush tree-lined street. The catch: The apartment was on West 171st Street, about 71 blocks north of the neighborhood most people would call the Upper West Side.

As we wanted to be near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park and a few subway st"

Scott Harrison Story & Charity Water

Currently in Athens Greece, I came across this story while taking a break instead of my afternoon siesta. It moved me. Read it if you like.

Scott Harrison Story & Charity Water: "Scott Harrison Story & Charity Water


Just more than two years ago I left the streets of New York City for the shores of West Africa. I'd made my living for years in the big Apple promoting top nightclubs and fashion events, for the most part living selfishly, thoughtlessly. Unhappy, I desperately needed a change in my life."

Expired Passport and a Ticket to Greece in 8 Hours!*$@

For 48 hours I worked diligently to get ready for a trip to Athens Greece this week. As a mom and business owner it's not a simple task to go away anywhere, never mind a this far away. I emailed the itineraries, the medical releases, called the schools, notified my clients, and arranged for everything...everything but one minor detail!

At 11:24 am the day of my trip, I ducked into my home from the garage office to use the facilities, as I ran quickly, my husband called out "it's important come here." I ignored him like any good wife of many years, and strolled over a few minutes later. He shows me my passport that expired in May and says "do you have another? I've searched and can't find it." I didn't see the telltale hole punches in the passport that they give to expired ones, and my heart sunk. "No - I don't - Oh my God!" No panic, just amazing disappointment and functionality ensued. I knew what had to be done, and thanked my lucky stars that we were flying out of LAX. My husband knew what had to be done as well, and contacted the US Passport agency - fortunately LA is one of the 6 regional centers that can do passports quickly (but they didn't say in hours).

Did I mention I hadn't started to pack for my trip to Athens? Nor had I showered! Gone to the bank? Had new passport photos taken? Post office? Picked up my boots that needed a new zipper or returned my overdue library books or movie? Yes, we did all these things, and kissed our youngest daughter goodbye, and by 1:30 pm were on the road for a 2 pm passport appointment a mere 70 miles away...we have never been such fools! What were we thinking?

I walked in to the US Passport office at 2:45 pm on a Friday afternoon. They close at 3 pm. I have never encountered nicer people in a government office. They were helpful and compassionate. Apparently it usually takes 2-3 hours to get a passport in person. I had mine before 4 pm!!! By 5 pm I was comfortably settled in the Admiral's Club at LAX courtesy of my husband's status as platinum (international flights, the club is complimentary), and paid my upcoming bills online... By 8 pm after a little delay...we were eastward bound.

My advice for booking international travel:

1. Check your passport
2. Check your passport
3. Check your passport
4. When you realize your passport is expired, do not pass go, just go get it.
5. Remember to pack your medicine and glasses in your carry on luggage! Where the heck did I leave that bag of stuff? The kitchen table maybe?

See my next post for more on Greece, and hopefully getting medications while in Greece (waiting for Monday).

Art Galleries in Odd Places - Dana Point, CA

The life of a suburban mom includes a lot of "travel." Travel to practice, school, friends, library, and the grocery. Mine includes a lot less to practice and games these days, but there are music lessons in Dana Point, CA twice a week, which are just far enough and long enough that I don't want to drive back home to San Clemente after dropping off. The week before Christmas I had my younger daughter in tow and we decided to check out a local strip mall type plaza nearby Danmans Music School. Mind you, Dana Point is the kind of place many people dream of going on vacation, and we just take the ocean view from this strip mall for granted. After I bored my daughter with stories of how we used to toss the football around on this cul-de-sac during half time of football games (before TiVo), we checked out the fish store, and then moseyed over to "The Mint." The Mint is an art gallery in an obscure corner of a strip mall on an obscure slice of the Del Prado/Pacific Coast Highway area. That said, it's a cool little place.

We met the owner, Mark, and were drawn in by the art work of Paul Bryan Jr. (who we never heard of) and were pleasantly surprised to see more than the local standard of surf and beach art. There was a large black and white Bob Dylan image and a Jimi Hendrix image in a window, and we went right in. Now, I grew up humbly, and am completely intimidated by art galleries, and love museums. My 13 year old however, thinks nothing of trying on $1000 dressed in boutiques for fun. We enjoyed the pop art from Bryan, but especially these wonderfully accessible "hoola hoop" pieces. They were stacked against the wall, and the canvas was framed around a hoola hoop. Images of the Gerber Baby, Smilee Face, the world, a clock and more Andy Warholesque pop art were fun to explore. Like all galleries though, I think artists and owners are out of touch with us real people. Without prices, it's fun like a museum, but we were too embarrasses to ask. No idea if these were $10,000 pieces or $100 pieces. Never-the-less, it was a fun way to burn a half our and act like tourists in our own backyard - and free!

If you are in the Dana Point area: visit The Mint at 34085 Pacific Coast Hwy, #109, Dana Point, CA 92629