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!

• Stanford Shopping Center Mall – Palo Alto, California
• NewPark Mall – Neward, California
• Hillsdale Mall – San Mateo, California
• Westfield Mission Valley – San Diego, California
• Fashion Valley Mall – San Diego, California

Happy Holidays from the travel crew at TripCart!

• Family Vacation Ideas for Palm Springs, Death Valley and the California Desert
• Shopping in Palm Springs and the California Desert
• Family Vacation Ideas for San Francisco Bay Area, Carmel, Napa Valley, Central California Coast
• Shopping in San Francisco Bay Area, Carmel, Napa Valley, Central California Coast
• Family Vacation Ideas for Northern California Coast from Bodega Bay to Mendocino to Eureka
• Family Vacation Ideas for San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Southern California
• Shopping in San Diego, Venice, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Southern California
• Shopping Malls – a Traffic report that amazed our Web Analyst
• Shopping Malls – a tremendous boost to TripCart.Com

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:

1. 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.
2. Variety, variety, variety! You want to buy your mom some new lotion – don’t you want to smell all your options before you buy?
3. 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?
4. 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.
5. 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:

• Short Pump Town Center Mall – Richmond, Virginia
• Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall – Sunrise, Florida
• Waterford Lakes Town Center – Orlando, Florida
• Prime Outlets – Ellenton, Florida
• Osage Beach Premium Outlets – Missouri

Happy Holiday shopping! Have fun and good luck!

• Shopping in Orlando, Tampa, Disneyworld, and Central Florida
• Family Vacation Ideas for Orlando and Tampa, Florida
• Shopping in Richmond and Virginia Beach
• Family Vacation Ideas for Richmond and Virginia Beach
• Shopping in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri
  
• Family Vacation Ideas for Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri
• Shopping in Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami Beach and Boca Raton
• Family Vacation Ideas for Key West, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami Beach
• Christmas Google Map Mashup
• Shopping Malls – a Traffic report that amazed our Web Analyst
• Shopping Malls – a tremendous boost to TripCart.Com

As we move down the East Coast, our romantic tour intensifies. Enjoy stargazing and camping out, beach bumming and dining out—all in the name of love (cheesy background music starts…).

Welcome to the mid-Atlantic region of love!

• Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD Romance – Have a romantic picnic in Washintgon, D.C.’s 70-acre White House President’s Park just outside our nation’s capitol, then get a couple’s massage at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental Spa.
• Eastern North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland Romance – Choose a beach area, bring a blanket, and take refuge from the sun under a big beach umbrella with your honey. See the ocean at North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Virginia Beach, or the Assateague Island National Seashore Beach in Maryland. Head back inland a bit and spend some time-for-two at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa near Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia!
• Southern Appalachian Mountains Romance – Get some R&R and a much deserved massage at the Homestead Resort & Spa in Hot Springs, Virginia.

Have fun, you lovebirds!

• Romantic Getaways in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
• Not too late for a second honeymoon (or third, or fourth, or fifth…)
• TripCart’s Posts on Romantic Getaways
• The Best Designed Hotels in the US
• Valentine Vacation Getaways

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

• Other “Shopping” Blog Posts
• Shopping in Woodstock, Cooperstown, New Paltz, Catskills + Hudson Valley
• Shopping in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnesota area
• Shopping in San Diego, Venice, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Southern CA
• Shopping in Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami Beach and Boca Raton
• Shopping in Philadelphia, Lancaster, the Poconos, Eastern Pennsylvania
• Shopping Malls – a tremendous boost to TripCart.Com
• Cheap Dollar - Buy in USA

As promised, the list continues! This time we find secret hideaways in the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania regions.

• Catskills and Hudson Valley Romance – Relax, couples-style, at the Mohonk Mountain House Resort & Spa in New Paltz. Then go for a romantic hike through Kaaterskill Falls.
• New York City Romance – Have a classic New York City tourist day with a trip to Central Park, a ride up to the top of the Empire State Building, and a Broadway show in Times Square. Top it all of with a couple’s massage and a soak in the tub at the Mandarin Oriental Spa!
• Jersey Shore Romance – Take a romantic walk on Sandy Hook Beach, get lucky in Atlantic City Casinos, and then chill on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and the Atlantic City Beach before returning to the Borgata Hotel Casino’s Spa Toccare for a luxurious treatment for two.
• Long Island Romance – Imbibe on wine and love at the North Fork Wineries. Head out to Westhampton and find an empty spot to relax in the Westhampton Beach Village.
• Eastern Pennsylvania Romance – Get down and dirty with a romantic, chocolaty experience at Hotel Hershey’s Chocolate Spa in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
• Southwestern Pennsylvania Romance – Roadtrip through fall foliage majesty and stop for the night at Lakeview Golf Resort & Spa in Morgantown, West Virginia. Then head to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania for an architectural and natural (and romantic) wonder!

• TripCart’s Posts on Romantic Getaways
• The Best Designed Hotels in the US
• Valentine Vacation Getaways

In continuation of our goal to promote the vote in our Political Orientation Month, we thought we’d highlight some of our nation’s memorial sites that celebrate the lives of past presidents. The question on hand now…in a hundred years from now, will there be a presidential memorial for Obama or McCain?

In the meantime, visit these sites to boost your political IQ and gain an appreciation for the men and women (though, really these sites are just of the men…) who have helped shape American political history.

• The Washington Monument – Washington, D.C.
• George Washington Memorial Parkway – Arlington, Virginia (D.C. Area)
• Thomas Jefferson Memorial – Washington, D.C.
• Abraham Lincoln Memorial – Washington, D.C.
• General Grant National Memorial – New York
• Ulysses S. Grant Cottage State Historic Site – New York
• James A. Garfield Monument
• McKinley National Memorial
• Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site – New York
• Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site – Buffalo, New York
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt) – Keystone, South Dakota
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial – Washington, D.C.
• John F. Kennedy Library and Museum – Boston, Massachusetts
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac – McLean, Virginia
• Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site – Washington, D.C.
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library – Simi Valley, California

• Posts related to Museums
• Posts related to Sightseeing
• Posts related to Boston
• Posts related to New York
• Posts related to California

Yes, that’s right. It’s that time of year again, and this year’s featured spooky spot is Salem, Massachusetts. What better way to celebrate the darkest day of the year than to walk in the footsteps of witchery and torture! Obviously, by now we know that the real atrocities were done by the witch hunters and not the “witches”, that the true horrors were the persecutors, not the persecutees.

Take some time to learn the REAL stories of these “witches” at the Witch History Museum in Salem. The witch hysteria peaked in 1692-1693. Over 150 people (mostly women) were arrested and accused of practicing witchcraft. About 20 people were finally convicted and executed. The only way out was to point a finger at someone else to take your place.

You can visit the Salem Village of 1692 when you enter the Witch Dungeon Museum. Chilling stories are told of the wrongful imprisonment and persecution of innocent people who were believed to be evil. You’ll learn who the real evildoers were….

Another compelling way to explore this chilling story is at the Salem Wax Museum. Experience Salem witch history through the medium of wax—see Colonel John Hawthorne, the merciless Witch Trials judge, and Tituba, one of the most famous “witches”. You’ll also see non-witch figures like Nathaniel Hawthorne (from the area) and the pirates of New England.

Happy Halloween, and remember that real witches may not be who you think they are…

• Halloween Horror Nights
• Scary Scholarship
• My Pumpkin Is Bigger Than Yours
• Search for Scary
• Tourist Information for Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Fun facts about Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Guided Tours in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Family Vacation Ideas for Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Adventure Travel in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Casino Gambling in Boston, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Cool and Fun Things to Do in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Historical Sites in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Mystic, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• History of Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Mystic, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Museums in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Mystic, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Off the Beaten Path in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Romantic Vacation Getaways in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Spas in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts
• Special Events in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Connecticut, Massachusetts

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!

• Atlantic City Boardwalk – New Jersey
• Coney Island Boardwalk – Brooklyn, New York
• Kemah Boardwalk – Texas
• Mission Beach – San Diego, California
• Ocean City Beach Boardwalk – Maryland
• Ocean City – New Jersey
• Rehoboth Beach – Delaware
• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – California
• Venice Boardwalk – California
• Virginia Beach – Virginia

(Thank you ShermansTravel!)

• Best of the Best Amusement Parks and Rides
• TripCart’s Posts on Beaches

You don’t have to be a newlywed to go on a romantic vacation and it doesn’t need to be the summertime in order for you to get away. And last but not least, you don’t need to go all the way to Hawaii to find that special romantic spot. There are romantic getaways as close as one town over—no need to book expensive flights (though let’s take a moment to cheer for the drop in oil and gas prices!) when you can just jump in your car or take a Greyhound bus to a spa or a romantic hiking spot right nearby!

Let’s start with the Northeast Coast for today, but stay tuned for more ideas in your region!

• Maine Coast Romance – Find comfort in your lover’s arms and in small town charm in Ogunquit, Maine. Hang out at Ogunquit Beach and treat yourselves to blissful treatments at the Cliff House Resort and Spa!
• New Hampshire and Vermont Romance – Retreat to the Woodstock Inn Resort and Spa in Woodstock, Vermont and enjoy a ski getaway at the Stowe Mountain Ski Resort Area in Burlington!
• Coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island Romance – Chill on Martha’s Vineyard, soak up some sun on Moshup Beach, and then head back to Boston where you can read poetry in the Public Garden after a sensual massage at the Four Seasons Hotel & Spa in Boston. Finish your trip off by heading south a bit to the Norwich Inn and Spa for a spa double whammy!

• Valentine Vacation Getaways
• Other posts on Romantic Getaways

It’s an exciting time in our nation with the upcoming presidential elections. I’ve heard this election called the most crucial ever—but don’t they say that every year? But with the crashing economy, Wall Street, the war in Iraq, gas and oil prices, Iran, terrorism, and increased healthcare problems, it really does become clear that CHANGE is in order. So wherever you think that change should come from, go out on Election Day and make your voice heard!

In preparation, we’d like to designate this time as U.S. Political Orientation Month. Now’s the time (if you haven’t already, of course) to get out there and start learning about the people and parties who formed this country and who keep it alive and running. Here are a few places in the U.S. that can help you orient yourself in U.S political affairs.

• National Museum of American History – Washington, D.C.
• Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site – Washington, D.C.
• United States Capitol Building – Washington, D.C.
• The White House President’s Park – Washington, D.C.
• International Spy Museum – Washington, D.C.
• John F. Kennedy Library and Museum – Boston, Massachusetts
• New York City Hall – New York City
• New York Historical Society – New York City
• Financial District – New York City
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library – Simi Valley, California
• Virginia Historical Society/Museum of Virginia History – Richmond, Virginia
• Museum and White House of the Confederacy – Richmond, Virginia

States are closing their doors for registration ANY DAY NOW…so register, educate yourselves, and VOTE!

• Historical Sites in Washington D.C, Annapolis, Gettysburg, Alexandria, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland
• Historical Sites in Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, Mystic, Connecticut, Coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island
• Historical Sites in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, North Carolina’s Outer Banks
• Historical Sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and New York City
• Historical Sites in San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Southern California
• Barack Obama vs. Sarah Palin