Leave a comment to this blog post completing this phrase:
“If I could use the FlyeBaby traveling on any airline in the world, it would be […airline] because […your reason].”
Get up to 2 extra chances to win!
1. Facebook fans – Visit the Travels with Baby Facebook fan page and post your same comment to the wall. Leave an additional comment here telling me you’ve done so.
2. Twitter – Tweet all about it and include a link to this giveaway. Leave another comment below this post with a link to your tweet.
The randomly chosen winner will be announced Wednesday, March 17th, 2010. Yes, that’s Saint Patrick’s Day! Prize must be claimed in 3 days or the Luck of the Irish will fall to someone else.
Need it sooner? Need something else?
For a limited time Tots on the Go will give Travels with Baby readers 15% off purchases including the FlyeBaby or any other products from their online store! Just use code TWB at checkout.
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
www.travelswithbaby.com twitter facebook
Phoenix, we have a winner…
Congratulations to Judith of Arizona, who commented that she would take her little traveler to New York to meet family in the ultra-comfy Britax Chaperone… it’s yours! Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.
If you’re still contemplating car seats, you can read all about the Chaperone in the detailed Travels with Baby review at:
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/gear/review_britax_chaperone.htm
Thanks so much to Britax USA for sponsoring this great giveaway!
Believe it or not… I’ve got another great giveaway I’ll be announcing very… very… soon. Keep watching!
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/ twitter facebook
This post is part of my “Cheap and Free San Francisco” series.Just between the dazzling Romantic Revival homes of San Francisco’s Marina District and the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge lies what I consider to be one of the wonders of the modern world: The San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts. It is also one of my favorite admission-free places I recommend to anyone visiting San Francisco.
The sheer scale of its columns and landmark rotunda feel completely other-worldly given the compact architecture that characterizes most of the city around it, but that the Palace of Fine Arts still stands at all is a wonder—and an interesting story in itself. Originally built as part of San Francisco’s 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition, the Palace of Fine Arts was, like all of the spectacular structures created for the event, not built to last.
Burning Man is one thing (which coincidentally got its start within a mile of this site), but when you take a look at these stereoscope images of the fountains and structures created to stand only 1 to 2 years, it nearly breaks the heart. Granted, San Francisco has its charms, but who among us wouldn’t love to linger in this West Coast Paris that was?
Ironically, the Palace’s architect had originally planned this stunning entrance to the Impressionist art exhibit to mimic an ancient ruin, complete with semi-obscuring vines and shrubs that were never added. And because residents fought hard to keep the structure after the event (during which time the building housed tennis courts, army jeeps…), the Palace eventually fell into inevitable disrepair. By the early 1960s, it was literally falling apart, in ruin.
As you might expect, a movement was already underway to help save the Palace of Fine Arts. Though it cost ten times more than the original construction, the Palace of Fine Arts was demolished—and rebuilt in concrete. Strolling the grounds today, and watching my children chasing each other through the colonnade before stalking swans in its lagoon, the Palace grounds feel as ancient and grand as some spectacles I’ve visited in Europe.
Suffice to say, this is one heck of a place to picnic. It’s also a favorite with San Franciscan joggers, dog walkers, and wedding photographers. Though the main building at the back is home to the Exploratorium science museum (admission required), the Palace of Fine Arts grounds themselves are open and free to the public.
Getting there:
By public transportation, you can arrive with Muni buses #28, #30, and #43. From Montgomery BART downtown (at 3rd St. / Stockton) or Fisherman’s Wharf, you can take the #30 Stockton bus to the Palace of Fine Arts. You can plan your trip online at the Transit 511 site.
By car, you can follow the directions here. The Palace of Fine Arts is part of the San Francisco Scenic 49-mile Drive, so you can get some help from the signs along the way. Arrive early if you hope to get good street parking, or use the Exploratorium’s free parking lot if you’ll also be visiting the science museum.
This post is part of the Photo Friday fun over at DeliciousBaby.com, where Debbie explains what bowling shoes have to do with Golden Gate Park.
And don’t forget – there’s still time to enter to win the Britax car seat giveaway! Ends 2/23/10.
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/ twitter facebook
If you’re planning to visit the #1 Most Liveable City in the world with your kids—in Olympic Snow or Summer Sun, you won’t want to miss these great tips on where to go, what to do, where to eat, how to get around using public transportation (with strollers, no less) and more from a local “mom in the know.”
As co-founder of Canada’s Wee Travel baby gear rentals, Shana’s well-versed in the technical travel details that visitors with young children need and want to know. And for all visitors—with kids and without—she’s got great general recommendations, too. In addition to tips on where to find the best indoor and best outdoor fish ‘n chips, here are just a handful of her other tips:
• Grouse Mountain is a definite must see. The view is spectacular, the ride up is fun and they may even see the grizzly bears that are in an enclosed area but are free to roam.
• If moms like to shop, there are great stores on Main and Commercial Streets as well as 4th Ave.
• If they like coffee then the best coffee place around is Cafe Artigiano. There are numerous locations around the City.
• If ice cream is a family favourite then a trip to Vancouver is incomplete without a stop at La Casa Gelato. Try one of their 138 homemade flavours!
Click here to see all of Shana’s Vancouver family travel tips, or read tips from other Moms Around the World. I’m including her photos here (the first of which was taken by Blackberry–nice, eh?) in the Photo Friday fun over at Deliciousbaby.com.
Also, the Britax Chaperone infant car seat giveaway is on now! Be sure to enter for your chance (or perhaps your expectant friend’s!) to win this great prize valued at $229 and sponsored by Britax. Click here for details.
Other news: Big congrats & hugs, FDR! And while I’m catching up… let me share my congratulations with my friends at what was just ranked the #2 Best Beach Resort for 2010 by Parents Magazine: Franklyn D. Resort and Spa! I’m thrilled for all of you at the resort–and for all of you who get to go there in the near future (including our lucky winners).
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/ twitter facebook
The Chaperone features great safety and ease of use features, plus it offers extra plush padding and an oversized canopy to help keep your wee traveler comfy for the long haul. And with an upper height limit of 32” or a weight of 30 lbs., it’s sure to go the distance in length of use for your family as well.
You can read all about the Britax Chaperone and its travel-friendly features and considerations in my detailed review of the Britax Chaperone at TravelswithBaby.com.
To enter to win the Chaperone for yourself or for a friend (talk about a great shower gift!), just leave a comment to this blog post telling us:
You can answer for your friend if that’s the case.
The fine print:
Your comment must be posted no later than 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. U.S. only. Must be a Travels with Baby blog subscriber with a verifiable email address you will use to contact and claim your prize (new subscribers use the box above). “Anonymous” posters pls. include the subscriber email ID that appears before your @ sign, e.g. happybirthday@whatever.com would be “happybirthday”. Only one entry per person, excluding the following extra entry methods.
Prize must be claimed in 3 days.
More chances to win? You’ve got it!
You can get up to two additional entries, but only one extra entry per method, please.
1. Twitter – Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter, including a link to this blog post and my twitter handle @travelswithbaby, then leave an additional comment below with your twitter handle.
2. Facebook – Visit the Travels with Baby page on Facebook and become a fan if you haven’t already, then write your favorite feature of the new Chaperone on the Travels with Baby wall. After that, leave an additional comment below telling me you’ve done that, too.
A big thank you to our sponsor, Britax!
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
www.travelswithbaby.com twitter facebook
Bronze Award Winner in Travel Blogs from the North American Travel Journalists Association
