TripCart's US Travel Blog » Family Fun Ideas

Support our Nation’s Zoos!

TripCart — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:26:39 +0000

In the midst of a financial meltdown, we’re seeing budget cuts all over the place. Projects are being abandoned, jobs are being lost, houses are not selling…and zoos and aquariums are being neglected. Zoo budgets all across the country are being cut nearly in half in some cases, even more.

What can you do to help? Visit your local zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden! Bring the whole family and make it a fun, not too expensive outing. Don’t take our hardships out on the animals – they need visitors too!

I came across this article on foxnews.com that explains further:

SYRACUSE, New York — Even porcupines could get pink slips in the slumping economy as U.S. states consider cutting or eliminating funding that supports zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens.
As part of his plan to help New York address a potential $15.4 billion budget shortfall, Gov. David Paterson has called for cutting funding for the Zoo, Botanical Garden and Aquarium Program from $9 million to $4 million in the state’s 2009 budget and for eliminating funding in 2010.
“We can’t fire our bears or furlough our sea lions,” said John Calvelli, executive vice president of public affairs for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the Central Park and Bronx zoos and the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn, among others.
New York isn’t the only place where hard financial times threaten government support for zoos, aquariums and gardens — known collectively as “living museums.”
In California, city council members ordered work halted late last year on a new $42 million elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo because of the city’s fiscal woes. In North Carolina, state lawmakers recently told the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro it won’t get $4 million for repairs and new exhibits because of a budget shortfall.
Last year, city leaders slashed the Kansas City Zoo’s budget by 20 percent, while The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore closed four weeks early this winter to save money and offset budget cuts from the state Legislature. In Florida, state lawmakers cut $2 million for manatee hospitals at Lowry Park Zoo, SeaWorld and the Miami Seaquarium.

Click to read the entire article on FoxNews…

Further Reading:

Holiday Shopping – online vs. the mall? Part Two

TripCart — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:11:42 +0000

And even more reasons to get up, get dressed, and brave the crowds at your local shopping mall:
6. It’s social. Bring your kids to see Santa and you’ve got a fun afternoon activity during a long activity-less winter break. Bring your BFF and you’ve got hours to catch up on girltalk. Bring your boyfriend and all of a sudden shopping is a date.
7. Movies. Sure you can watch a movie online, but we all know that’s not nearly as much fun as the big screen.
8. See if it works. The last thing you want is to buy an ipod online, get it in the mail a day before Christmas, and then realize that you’ve gotten a dud. You’ll end up running out the mall anyways. Why not just avoid that possibility?
9. Quality. Ever notice how things aren’t their real size online? And that you can’t actually see your product in action? When I was a kid I bought a banana plant online. The picture showed this gigantic banana tree filled with leaves and fruit. When I got it, it was a little shriveled up twig in a pile of frozen dirt.
10. It’s fun. You can test the video game you’re thinking about buying. You get to taste a piece of Godiva chocolate before settling on a gift box. Need I say more?

Remember, outdoors is best for relieving shopping claustrophobia. Here are a few more outdoor malls we like. These are all located on the West Coast. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays from the travel crew at TripCart!

Further Reading:

Holiday Shopping – online vs. the mall?

TripCart — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:32:27 +0000

And the battle begins! Every year you probably debate charging the crowds at your local mall or staying in pjs on the couch and doing your Christmas shopping online. Since we at TripCart always advocate the more active option, we’ve compiled a few reasons why you should get off your butts and head to the shops this holiday season:

It’s good exercise! An hour and a half of shopping can burn 325 calories. Try on lots of clothes and that number goes up. Con: Pig out on mall food and that number will likely sink.
Variety, variety, variety! You want to buy your mom some new lotion – don’t you want to smell all your options before you buy?
What you see is what you get: You’re buying a sweater for your niece – but can you really tell how soft it feels by looking at a picture? Also, does size 6x mean anything to you?
Sales. You may THINK you want to get your boyfriend a new wallet, but when you see that Wilson’s Leather is having a sale, and you can get an awesome jacket for just a wee bit more money, you may change your mind and end up with a better gift and a great deal.
S&H. Who wants to pay for shipping & handling fees? Not us!

Tip: To avoid crowds and get some fresh air along the way, find an outdoor mall in your area and take advantage of its early and extended hours during the holiday season. Here’s a short list of nice outdoor malls we’ve found:

Happy Holiday shopping! Have fun and good luck!

Further Reading:

Largest malls in America

TripCart — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:57:04 +0000

We at tripcart firmly believe in the importance of the shopping experience, which is why we devote so much time to telling you about all the malls in the U.S. Apparently we’re not the only ones who take a vested interest in the subject—I googled “best malls in America” and got over six millions hits. It seems like everyone’s got their opinion on the best place to shop. So I’ve decided to narrow it down to something a bit more objective: the largest malls in America.

Here is a study done by the Shopping Mall and Shopping Center Studies department who knew??) at Eastern Connecticut State University. These large malls are all 2.2 million square feet or larger (of gross leasable area), are in order from largest to smallest, and include the anchor stores. This list was last updated in October 2008, so it’s up-to-date and practical as well! And with Thanksgiving behind us and the holiday season just up ahead, it certainly can’t hurt to start getting acquainted with the world of shopping madness out there. Enjoy! (P.S. The Mall of America is NOT the largest mall in America – though it does have the most stores.)

Eastwood Mall Complex – Youngstown, Ohio
King of Prussia Mall – King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Mall of America – Bloomington, Minnesota
South Coast Plaza – Costa Mesa, California
Millcreek Mall – Erie, Pennsylvania
Grand Canyon Parkway – Las Vegas, Nevada
Roosevelt Field Mall – Long Island, New York
Aventura Mall – Miami, Florida
Sawgrass Mills – Sunrise, Florida
Woodfield Mall – Schaumburg, Illinois
Tysons Corner Center – McLean, Virginia
Palisades Center – West Nyack, New York

Further Reading:

Under the boardwalk… up and running by the beach this Fall

TripCart — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:52:28 +0000

Here’s a topic I never gave much thought to: boardwalks. And yet, just the other day I went out to Rehoboth Beach and went for a nice jog up and down what was a very nice boardwalk—in fact, as I learned later, it was voted as the best boardwalk in American by Reader’s Digest in 2006! I guess I never really considered it a genre of travel. And yet, if you think about it, sometimes a beach’s boardwalk is the highlight of a beach trip. When it’s too cold to go in the water, when it’s too dark to head out to the beach, when you’re not in the mood to get sand in your shoes, if you’ve got a bike—those are all ideal times to hit up the action on the boardwalk. And especially now, in this not-too-hot and not-too-cold weather, boardwalks become an ideal place for a morning jog or a mid-afternoon stroll. Bring a sweater and a camera, and you’ll be all set for some prime ocean scene photography. Here’s a list of the top 10 boardwalks in America. Quick! Get out there! Before it gets too cold!

(Thank you ShermansTravel!)

Further Reading:

Museums in San Francisco

TripCart — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:29:26 +0000

San Francisco is one of my most favorite cities in the world, culturally, historically, and geographically. And while the outdoor options in San Francisco are many and, in my opinion, the best options, because of frequent rain, it’s good to know where you can quickly duck inside for a few hours of dry before going back out and braving the weather. Here is a list of fantastic museums in the San Francisco Bay Area that provide exactly that (not that you can’t go in on a sunny day too…):

Stay dry!

Further Reading:

October Festivals

TripCart — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:07:17 +0000

October is just around the corner and with the cooler weather and the changing scenery comes fall-time festivals, contests, and parties. So grab a sweater and head out to the great outdoors for some serious celebration! Obviously there are many, many more, but this is a sampling of ones we found interesting. Enjoy!

Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest, September 13 – October 25, 2008, Big Bear Lake, California
Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, October 1-7, 2008, Washington, D.C.
California Avocado Festival, October 3-5, 2008, Carpinteria, California
Mount Vernon’s Wine Festival, October 3-5, 2008, Mount Vernon, Virginia
National Gospel & Harvest Celebration, October 3 – November 1, 2008, Dollywood – Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
National Yo-Yo Contest, October 4, 2008, Chico, California
World Senior Games, October 6-18, St. George, Utah
Texas-Style Musicfest, October 12, 2008, Gruene Historic District, New Braunfels, Texas
Maryland Renaissance Festival, August 23 – October 19, 2008, Crownsville, Maryland
Apple Harvest Festival, October 18, 2008, York, South Carolina
Fall Festival of Houses & Gardens, October 24-26, 2008, Beaufort, South Carolina
Hogeye Festival, October 25, 2008, Elgin, Texas
Punkin Festival: “Carving for a Cause”, October 25, 2008, Avery County, North Carolina

See you there!

Further Reading:

Dread going back to school? Try going back to an old Schoolhouse turned B&B!

TripCart — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:28:05 +0000

This is a new concept that I just came across on USA Today – the schoolhouse transformed to a Bed & Breakfast. Cute, right? Apparently, they’ve sprung up all over the country and provide quaint and comfortable accommodations for couples and families. So for now, forget Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic, and start thinking Relaxation, Romance, and Retreat!

Noftsger Hill Inn B&B – Globe, Arizona
Car Manor – Cripple Creek, Colorado
Davie School Inn – Anna, Illinois
Chambery Inn – Lee, Massachusetts
School House B&B – Rocheport, Missouri
Washington School Inn – Park City, Utah
Old Schoolhouse B&B – Fort Davis, Texas
Barclay Cottage – Virginia Beach, Virginia
Lebanon Schoolhouse B&B – Cortez, Colorado
The Old Schoolhouse B&B – Waukau, Wisconsin

Back to school doesn’t need to be so bad after all!

Further Reading:

New York City Fall Foliage on a Tank of Gas

TripCart — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:07:47 +0000

For this weekend, its a bit early to any New York Fall Foliage. Even Peak Fall Foliage in the Adirondacks doesn’t happen till later in the month. You would enjoy the Fall Colors in Colorado or even New Mexico Fall Colors if you could get out there in time. Our advice – wait a few weeks for some good Fall Color in New York City, then plan to head out to Colorado when ski season kicks in.

Now, back to Fall Color in New York City – there is plenty of it – and in each borough’s parks. Get Medieval at the Cloisters. But you may want to get out of the city to the Catskills or Hudson Valley Fall Foliage Trips – under 2 hours from Manhattan. Or go west to the Poconos and ride antique trains and admire the bright reds and oranges of Pennsylvania fall foliage.

Visiting relatives on the Island? Check out the Fall Colors on Long Island while touring one of the historic mansions. Leave the Tank of Gas at home – take the LIRR and a bike.

And if you have a hybrid and want to include some of America’s best wineries in your long weekend – don’t miss Fall Foliage in the Finger Lakes. If you pick the right weekend, you will probably get a harvest festival or two to boot.

Further Reading:

Boston Fall Foliage on a Tank of Gas

TripCart — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:34:02 +0000

TripCart analytic software has shown us that the trends in this years fall foliage season is to go on weekend trips, close to home. In this post we chose Boston, as “home”.

For this weekend, its a bit early to catch the fall colors just about anywhere in New England. You would enjoy the Colorado Fall Foliage or even New Mexico Fall Foliage at the high elevations of the rockies.

Now, back to Boston Fall Foliage. By early October, the historic town and scenic roads around Concord put on a good display of Massachusetts fall foliage.

A tank of gas will certainly get you far up the Maine Coast (and back). Fall Foliage Cruises in Maine offer a unique view of New England Fall Foliage – from the water. Local ferries provide a “cruise” for a very reasonable price. Mt. Battie, near Camden, Maine has great panoramic views of the Maine Fall Foliage.

Its going to be hard to reach the northern areas of New Hampshire and Vermont on a tank of gas, so we suggest the following:

For New Hampshire Fall Foliage – 100 miles gets you to Lake Winnipesaukee, where foliage lovers view the countryside from a hot air balloon.

For Vermont Fall Foliage – Bromley, Stratton and Mt. Snow all run their lifts at full capacity bringing in the early October leaf peepers. At 350 miles round trip – it can be done on one tank. Just leave the Hummer at home.

Further Reading: