It's summer and let's face it we all love to go out and have fun take a day trip or a weekend trip or even that long needed vacation. Many of us stress out when it comes to planning the trip and what to bring the weather, looking great and so much more. Many time with stressing out will leave us vulnerable and after our, what is supposed to be relaxing trip, we end up sick and miserable. Here are some great tips to prevent that this year. If you are traveling and hoping on an airplane sometimes the abuse you luggage takes on will leave you clothes will a lot of lint. If you forgot a lint brush and are going out to a nice dinner, don't panic. Use the Sticker the airport put on your luggage. Its supper sticky and removes list just as well as a lint brush.

One great way to prevent that after vacation sickness is to take an Airborne when you now you will be in a large crowd like a bus or airplane. This works great for amusement parks too. Also bring some hand sanitizer (and put the bottle is a small Ziploc baggy to prevent messy spills) and sanitize after using restroom before you and any time you feel you need to.
When packing you clothes consider what you will be taking. Don't take anything that wrinkles easily unless you want to spent 1/4th of you trip ironing. Many professional travels recommend pants with Lycra in them. This makes sure you pants won't wrinkle and helps them keep their shape. They are also great to wear a couple of days in a row and they won't look worn. This will help you pack light. ** Ann Taylor and express have a huge selection of clothes with Lycra in them

If you are traveling internationally it is highly recommended that you leave all your good jewelry at home. This included your wedding and engagement bands. If you wish to still wear a ring go to Wal-Mart and any cheap jewelry place and buy some fake bands for you and you hubby to wear. Many international destinations (like Latin America) don't understand the concept of engagement rings and by wearing one you may attract the attention from the wrong kind of person.

When you are visiting museums and historical sites sneak into the gift shop first and look at the post cards. This will show you what is in the area and then you can decided where to you want to focus you efforts instead of wasting time and energy on this you don't want to see.

Looking for a place to vacation that is all sun, fun and sand? Try Virginia Beach! This hip vacation spot is often looked over in vacation planning but with so much to see or do it’s a great place to visit!

Let’s start with hotels I mean after all you have to stay somewhere! Here are 2 of my favorite hotels but of course there are 100’s of hotels weather you want to stay on the beach or in downtown there is a hotel for you!

One of my favorites is the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanfront North hotel all 160 rooms have an oceanfront view with balcony. The rooms also have 2 phone lines, data-ports, refrigerator, coffee maker, work desk, cable TV and Nintendo. Free high speed internet access. Guest laundry facilities, free valet parking. Their pool features lights and waterfalls and slides and they are close to many of the attraction but they have less traffic passing then many of the hotels. Compare rates to find the best Courtyard Virginia Beach Oceanfront North deals at Trip Advisor.

The new 20-story Oceanfront Hilton hotel intends to raise the standard of excellence for hotels in Virginia Beach. It has 250 rooms that feature either standard view that face inland or ocean view that look over the water.  The Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront has a rooftop zero-edge pool and an indoor pool. A dedicated service desk will arrange beach amenities. Visit here to compare prices and find the best deals for the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel.

Now let’s talk about the beaches!

There is the main tourist beach along Atlantic Avenue that draws in the crowds. But if you want to have a little more peace and quiet here are a few alternatives.

Fort Story - 89th Street. Public beach open on weekends. Lots of sand and good surf, free parking and restrooms available.

North End - 42nd Street to 88th Street. Residential area with lesser crowds. Very limited parking, and don't park illegally or you will be towed.

Croatan - Croatan Road, off General Booth Blvd, south of Rudee Inlet. Public parking area and a designated surfing area.

Little Island Park - Sandbridge Beach, far south of the tourist beach. Amenities include public parking, basketball courts, concessions, fishing pier, picnic shelters, playground equipment, restrooms, surfing/swimming, tennis courts and volleyball courts.

False Cape State Park - In the extreme southeast corner of Virginia Beach. It has 6 miles of undeveloped beaches, 12 campsites, and 9 miles of hiking/biking trails. You can't get there by car; you have to hike, bike or boat in.

Now don’t forget about the many ships and small amusements along Atlantic Ave. The parking is $0.75 an hour and a max. Of $7 a day. But there are many shops and restaurants to walk through. Many small attractions and let’s not forget the beach and the boardwalk along the beach behind the hotels.

Virginia Beach has many attractions as well.

There is the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. This is the state’s largest aquarium and has over 800,000 gallons of aquariums and explore. Not to mention 100’s of hands on attractions for the kids!

There is also the Ocean Breeze Water park, and Motorworld amusement park. The water park features 16 slides and intertube course and a million gallon wave pool. The Motorworld features go karts and a 36-hole miniature golf course!

Take one of the Virginia Beach cruises. There's a boat to fit anyone's style -- dinner cruises, pirate boats, speed boats. Dolphin-watching and whale-watching cruises too.

Don’t forget to visit the First Landing State Park. This park is gorgeous and features over 19 miles of hiking trails threw out the park!

With so much to see and do there is something for everyone so give Virginia Beach a try on your next Vacation!

 

 

 

 

First, we will start with The WinterFest at the Henderson Events Plaza, this is a great place to take your kids. The official tree lighting ceremony is the biggest event, this is a free event so don't forget to stop by!

Next, make a stop at the Holiday Lights Tour. The City of Henderson Parks and Recreation Department is hosting tours of the community's holiday lights in December. Registration is required, and can be made at any city recreation center or online at cityofhenderson.com/parks. Buses depart promptly at 6:30 p.m. from Whitney Ranch Recreation Center, 1575 Galleria Drive. Passengers are asked to arrive at the recreation center by 6:15 p.m., and hot chocolate will be served. Many of the stops on the tour include homes and businesses participating in the Henderson Commemorative Beautification Commission's annual holiday decorating contest. This tour makes it easy for passengers to enjoy all the city lights have to offer. For additional information, call 267-5850.

Also, make a stop at the best holiday light display in town at 1054 Desert Olive Ct Henderson, Nevada 89015. This family goes all out on their house to give visitor a special experience. They have over 34,000 lights synchronized to music, via six computer controllers and transmitting on FM 94.9 as you drive by! Their website offers a sneak peak at what is to come, ‘With the 2007 Christmas Season quickly approaching, work has been underway to prepare our display for the 2007 season. This holiday season, we will be adding more colors to our display. Last year, the 2006 display primarily used multi and blue colored mini-lights. For 2007, we are going to remove the multi lights and add red and green along with more blues. Adding three separate colors allows us to make several different color patterns and provides more flexibility with color changes and effects.'

There will also be a huge GRS Holiday display at the Nevada Power Company's main lobby located at 6226 West Saraha Ave. This event is open to the public and free for everyone. It is completely indoors so drop by and brose around this huge indoor lighted display.

As you can tell there are plenty of holiday lights to see and you don't have to do it all in one night you have the whole month of December to look around! Enjoy you light display viewing!

What is Hampton Roads? Hampton Roads is a group of cities that all run together. You cannot tell (other than the city limit signs) where one ends and the other begins. These cities are Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, and Hampton.
While visiting there are many places to see and as a resident there are many things to occupy your weekends so let me start with the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. This gorgeous Botanical Garden is located next to the Norfolk International Airport. They are open daily 9-7 in spring and summer; 9-5 the rest of the year. This garden is 155 acres surrounded on three sides by Lake Whitehurst and they play up the water effect in this stunning garden. The admission is Members are free, Adults are $7.00, seniors and military are $6.00 children 3-18 are $5.00 and 2 and under are free with parents.

Next, stop by the Nauticus, this is the Hampton Roads Naval Museum. Here the USS Wisconsin is permanently stationed and opened as a museum. The complex also holds the Norfolk Cruise Terminal. This Museum has over 225 years of naval history to explore and an amazing gift shop for some amazing gifts!

There is also the Chrysler Museum of Art. This museum had over 30,000 objects that span over 5,000 years of world history.

This next one is mainly for the tourists as most families in Hampton Roads are Military Families and one point. You can tour Naval Station Norfolk. This is the largest US Naval Base. This bus tour drives past historic homes as well as, aircraft carriers, subs and many other ships stationed at NOB. They do daily tours but times change all the time so call and make your appt before you get here!

Make a stop at the Virginia Zoo! This zoo has over 400 animals on over 53 acres. It has all your favorites and a few unexpected animals too. The zoo also includes gardens and plenty of gift areas and kid friend play grounds to keep everyone entertained!

You have to stop at the MacArthur Mall. With over 140 stores and 17 places to eat it is the biggest in the area and features a great movie theater too. Great to find gifts to bring back for family and friends.

For a beautiful out door stroll stop by Historic Ghent. This area of Norfolk has a lot of history and some amazing homes to look at. There are also many cafes and shops and the area are just beautiful!

And last but not least take a trip over to Norfolk Waterside Festival Marketplace. This market place has dinning and shops along with several bars and clubs from Hooters and Have a Nice Day Café, to Bar Norfolk and the Southern Star. They also have many performances here and they are right on the water with amazing views of the Portsmouth skyline and the Naval Shipyards.
In Norfolk Virginia there is certainly something for everyone, whether you dig into the history of the country to the bar and club scene Norfolk has it all for you!

One main attraction is the Dixie Stampede. Now, the show theme changes every now and then, but when I was there the theme was an old showdown between the north and the south. You walk in to this arena like area, and you are seated in bleacher like seating except there is a table like stand in front of you. As the show starts in the arena servers bring you food that is included in your ticket price. You drink soda from old mugs and the food is amazing, plus there is even dessert! The show involves the whole crowd and has so much action you can't take your eyes off. They have horses and many other animals and they pick people from the crown to partake too!

Next, there is a very nice upscale restaurant called Charley's Steakhouse. It was named one of the top 10 steakhouses in the US. They always have some form of entertainment there from singing to magic tricks for the kids. They also have some of the biggest lobster tails I have ever seen and the portions are amazing for the price! The wait staff is so courteous and the chef even came out and made his rounds too! The manager even came out to make sure all the food was ok. Plus they have a full wine list of every wine I could ever remember hearing of, plus a full bar! The tables are spaced out enough that you aren't crammed to the table next to you and you can have a conversation without someone else listening in! One of the best restaurants I have seen in a while.

When entering the restaurant, you enter threw the revolving door and into the very small waiting area. This area is enough for about 10 people after that you are very cramped. Also, there is only enough room for two people to sit down. We were told the waiting time would be 20 minutes. We decided to wait due to the fact that we were starving and every restaurant we went to would have the same waiting period. While waiting you have a great view of the mountains right outside the restaurant, all the people on the street, the stores, and interesting events taking place in the packed streets.

Once it was our turn to be seated we had been there almost 30 minutes, and the hostess then took the group of six (we were a group of 5) that had gotten there less then 5 minutes ago to the table and then tried to take another group of 6 to the table. We then spoke up and the hostess said she had called our name (no one in our party heard her and we were but 3 feet from her) and she said the other group jumped and followed and wouldn’t tell her their name. She then sat us in the next table which had a better view. This was no means the hostesses fault, but she took the blame and tried to make us happy before she moved on to the next group.

The view from the table looked out the front of the restaurant and was a spectacular view of the mountains, the strip of stores, and tourists. The setting of the restaurant was a little cramped, but other wise very well thought out. We were greeted promptly by our waitress and she always had a smile on her face and she was very friendly.

Food came out very hot, and in good time. The food was in huge portions. The salad I ordered was their lunch size and the size of most dinner portions in other restaurants. The side item portions were larger then the normal of most restaurants too.

The atmosphere was so lively and fun you felt like part of their family. Everybody was helpful and friendly, and their smiles we so contagious you couldn’t help but smile yourself.

This restaurant is one of the best in a tourist location I have been to in a long time, and would definitely recommend it to family and friends whether you are on vacation or not.

First thing when you get to the park you want to plan what shows you want to see, what times they are and where they are. That way you have an idea of where you need to be when and what you can do. They usually have at least 5 show at one time. Many dance shows and a few animal shows. Jack Hanna will visit every once in a while to put on a show. Also they have their famous ice skating show. The actual show and story change every once in a while but the actors are fantastic!

There are plenty of place to view the animals too! They have a walking path where you can ‘walk threw Africa ' and see all sorts of animals. There is also a train ride around the park where you get to go right threw the animals habitats. Many times you will see nests and babies. You will also have a few up closes encounters with the animals too. Also they have a sky ride that will take you from the front of the park to the back and it goes right over the animals you get a bird eye view of the habitats.

There is also a ride called Rino's Ralley. You get to go on a safari jeep and one rider is selected as the guide. Now this is an actual Jeep driven by a bush garden person you really drive threw the animals habitats and the guide follows the tour signs. But be careful if you get off the track!!

There are also many mini habitats threw out the park along the pathways to see animals.

Next are the world famous Busch Garden roller coasters! Sheikra, a very good name for this coaster, is the newest one to the bunch. SheiKra carries riders up 200 feet at 45 degrees , then hurtles them 70 mph back toward the ground at a 90- degree angle. It is the first coaster of its kind in the Americas and only the third in the world. SheiKra is the first dive coaster to incorporate an Immelmann loop, a water feature, and a second 90-degree 138-foot drop through an underground tunnel. SheiKra also includes a 360-degree climbing carousel. 3,188 feet of steel track offers a total ride time of just over three minutes.

Then there is Gwazi, a wooden coaster; Kumba, with a full 3 second of pure weightlessness; Montu, one of the tallest roller coasters in the USA ; Python, this coaster is full of twists; and the Scorpion, 360 degree twists!

Then there are the three water rides, Congo River Rapids, a river rapids and waterfall ride; Stanley Falls , a flume ride; and Tanganyika Tidal Wave, a jungle journey with a shackling end.

There are many kids areas along the way the biggest being Land of Dragons, The Land of the Dragons includes our three-story-tall tree house , an enchanted forest, one -of-a-kind slides, a gentle waterfall, wonderful rides and friendly dragons. The Land of the Dragons' stage features the Friends Forever Show.

Busch Garden Tampa has something for everybody! Big or Small, Young and old.