Recently in Vacation Ideas Category

Recently, a few girlfriends and I spent an extended weekend in Pismo Beach, a charming ocean town on the central coast of California. At first glance, a visitor could mistake Pismo Beach for any seaside location. Several restaurant signs and menus boast their superlative "World Famous Clam Chowder," and saltwater taffy, surf, and sand art are within mere blocks of each other. However typical this may all seem, we found that this particular beach town stood out above the rest because of their food, their events, and their proximity to premium wine country.

We just returned from a much needed spring break. The winter months in Chicago had worn us down - it evened snowed the day we left (in late April!) - and we were all in dire need of sunshine. A quick flight to Miami followed by an even quicker flight to the big island of the Bahamas was all it took to get us out of our winter rut. Our resort of choice, the Wyndham Viva Fortuna Beach was just right: the beautiful ocean view, the spotless, white sand beach, and the crystal clear, warm Bahamian waters were all we needed to enjoy some uninterrupted family together time.

 

As soon as I read that I was a winner of the Wyndham Women on Their Way Local Nation travel writing contest, I began planning.  Typically planning a vacation means AAA road maps, exploring campgrounds online, and taking an inventory of my gear.  Just knowing that my head would be resting on a comfy clean pillow, and not on a leaky air mattress, got me excited to plan my travels!

I searched through Wyndham's extensive list of resorts and hotels and dreamed of luxurious vacations in exotic places.  I decided to tone things down with the rising cost of airfare and chose an exotic place with a reasonable airfare budget.  I chose the Ramada Herradura in San Jose, Costa Rica due to the great online reviews, their eco-tourism and anti sex-trafficking policies and the reasonable airfare price from D.C.

I can't do the splits anymore, can you? My dancing days are long gone.  I can get about half of the way down (okay, a quarter) before I start feeling that familiar pull that lets me know I better back off...quick, fast and in a hurry...before I get stuck or something. It hurts my inner thighs just thinking about it. Ouch.