Did gas prices put a dent in your weekend travels? I figured we have the time let’s take a short trip and have fun as a family.
Before I get into what we did, here’s how to save a little money on your trip:
- Traveling by Car- Use the more fuel efficient one for longer trips. Our Dodge Grand Caravan gets about 18 miles to the gallon and the Honda Civic gets around 34 to 35 miles to the gallon. The trunk space on the Civic is huge.
- Hotel costs- You should get a AAA (Automobile Association of America) membership, or your local equivalent. Many hotels have special rates for AAA members that save you 10-15%. You can also get special rates as military, government (state and federal) and check the hotel websites for other online only specials
- Museum and Zoo fees- Ask for a military or student discount if it applies to you. If you plan to go to the same place alot, some places have annual memberships which will also save you money.
Here’s what we did:
Friday night I looked at flying to Orlando for a short Disney trip. Just flights would be $317 per person each, let’s see what else. Busch Gardens Williamsburg looks good, but it is about five hours away, too long in the car for this short of a trip.
How about about a two day trip to Columbia, SC? It’s only one and a half hours away, sounds good. We slept in a little on Saturday and headed down to Columbia. We ate lunch and spent the afternoon at the Edventure Museum. (http://www.edventure.org)
Some of the exhibits at the Edventure Museum include:
- A three story boy named Eddie, you can crawl inside him and see his spine, stomach with food inside, his brain, etc.
- World of work- Be a farmer and milk a cow or pick peaches, put on a fireman’s jacket and ride in their truck, build at a construction site and more.
- BodyWorks- Brush Eddie’s teeth, find out what food is good for you, play a large game of Operation, and see how your joints work.
There’s more, look at their website to see what else they have. On Sunday we went to the Riverbanks Zoo. (http://www.riverbanks.org/) It was a good Zoo for kids and had lots of animals. We were there about four hours and then headed for home. It was a good short trip and we have Monday to just relax around the house and at the community pool.
Take time with Family,
Sam Carrara
The post about weekend celebration with family is very wonderful.I always celebrate weekend with my family. But I can’t control the expenditure of money.The ideas of finance management is very helpful.
I think every family should do things like this. Spending time with family members at least one day a week makes the family bond stronger. It does not need to be expensive, you just need to look for something all of you enjoy like watching DVD or walking in the park.