Written by Alicia Dowell

Summer is here and kids are out of school. It is no doubt soon, if you haven’t heard already, “What are we going to do this summer?” I dread this question. It is hard for us to take a vacation since Hubby works in the air conditioning business. So instead, we do little “staycations” throughout the summer. One of our favorite places to enjoy, which mixes in a little education (don’t tell the kids), is Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs.

One of the new exhibit which opened over Memorial Day weekend and going until August 10 is Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes and other Riches. This is great because there is so much hands-on for kids. There is even a place where you get to stick your hands in the “muck.”

How cool is this?? I will admit we played for quite a long time in the “muck.” And just in case you don’t feel up to playing, then just take a look around. Building?? Got you covered. They have a permanant exhibit of blocks from this company called Keva Blocks. Best part: they are made in America! IF you don’t want to be cooped up inside you can take a break and walk the nature trail they have there which goes over a bridge. The trail is not that long but it does end up at the snack bar so you can grab a bite. Don’t foget the giftshop. My little explorer found her summer fun, which begins with a hat.

Go check out what our state has to offer with a staycation of your own.

I am a mother to a southern lady who keeps me on my toes. Wife to a my wonderful husband of eight years and counting. You can find me crafting, reading, gardening or exploring Arkansas. Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pintrest

Written by Rhonda Bramell

My husband and I have just returned home from a trip to Las Vegas, which surely is the people-watching capital of the world. Even if you never lay down one single poker chip, you can be thoroughly entertained by the sights, sounds, and lights of the city. If you are from a small town, it’s doubly entertaining! We saw Chewbacca, Iron Man, that creepy kid Chucky, Hello Kitty, Barney and some break dancers out shaking their tip jars, all in one night.

This trip was purely celebratory in nature; we were there to usher in our tenth wedding anniversary. While it wasn’t our first trip to Las Vegas, we were able to do and see a few things that we hadn’t done on prior trips. As a bonus, this was our first kid-free vacation ever! Now, you know I love my children dearly, but this mama sure needed a break from the work/cook/clean/booty wiping monotony of my days. And you know what? For four whole days, we played! We didn’t have a schedule; we ate when and what we wanted, we stayed up all night and slept in most days. I even scored a half-day of alone time by the pool! Heavenly.

For me, a few of the highlights of our trip were seeing the Hoover Dam, finally catching a Cirque du Soleil show (we chose Mystere) and having a fantastic Italian dinner on The Strip. My husband might say he most enjoyed driving us in our rented sedan, down a winding, dirt “trail” made for 4 x 4’s, to a beautiful and secluded part of Lake Mead. As long as you aren’t afraid of dying in the desert, I would also recommend this surprising excursion.

Taking care of a marriage and a family is hard work, I won’t lie. And because of that, I’ve realized how important taking a break is, too. Two weeks ago, we were both burned out, cranky and tired. We have come back to the real world rested, refreshed and ready to tackle our routine again. On our return, we were greeted by the loudest squeals and happiest three faces waiting for us at the airport. It was a sweet reminder of the hours, days and years to come.

I live in Northwest Arkansas with my husband and three kiddos. I work full-time in retail marketing. In my spare time, I write at Bramell, Party of Five, where I’ve been blogging for seven years. Life with twins + 1 is a crazy, busy life but definitely provides me with lots of creative inspiration.

by Stacey Valley

I love to travel. L-O-V-E, love it. So when the opportunity to travel to Kenya this summer on a mission trip was presented, I jumped in with both feet. I went there in 2010 and vowed to return again. To get to Kenya, you have to fly through a major European city – London, Paris or Amsterdam usually – so I convinced my husband that we should fly a week early and finally take the honeymoon that we’ve postponed for almost a year now. He lovingly agreed. (He’s a smart man.) The major tourist sights are a must, but I also try to go beyond the obvious to the more interesting and off-the-beaten path experiences. And if food or drink is involved, then BONUS for me!

Days 1-3: London and Cambridge, England
Luckily, we have a free place to stay in England – my brother-in-law and his wife live in Mildenhall about 30 minutes from Cambridge. Besides spending time with them, here is my wish list of things to do in Cambridge and London:
• Take a guided bus tour of the London sites in an open-top bus
• Eat fish and chips and have a pint of ale in an English pub
• Go punting in Cambridge – it’s the English version of a gondola ride
• Visit King’s College Chapel in Cambridge for the Sunday afternoon service – the choir is supposed to be fantastic
• Watch a Footlights comedy performance

Days 3-5: Bruges, Belgium
We will travel on the Eurostar train from London to Bruges for about $55 each. I am so excited about staying in Bruges! This historic city center has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we’re staying at B&B Guesthouse Abiente, a renovated 17th century house right in the heart of town. My agenda for Bruges is less structured, more beer and chocolate:
• Wander along the Dijver canal which snakes through town
• Visit Markt square and the 13th century belfry
• Go chocolate tasting at The Chocolate Line and BbyB
• Buy a bag of mini-boterwafels (sweet butter waffles)
• Shop for some Flemish fashion at the boutique L’Heroine
• Eat Belgium fries from a street vendor (Side note: I spent a semester of college in Amsterdam, and these fries are a-maze-ing, but eat them often and you won’t fit in your skinny jeans anymore.)
• Drink a beer or two at Brugs Beertje (100’s of choices on the beer menu!)
• Compose a symphony of church bells at Sound Factory in the city’s concert hall museum
• Rent bicycles and ride along the wide canal that circles the city
• Pray at Begijnhof, a quiet courtyard where Benedictine nuns live

Days 5-7: Paris, France
We’ll take the Thayls train from Bruges to Paris for about $60 each. It leaves early (6:25 a.m.), but that gets us into Paris at 9 a.m. so we’ll have two full days to enjoy this magnificent city. We’re going to stay at a B&B called A Room in Paris which is just blocks from our train station and just a mile or so to the Eiffel Tower and other sights. Here is my Paris “to do” list:
• Do some window shopping on the Rue Saint-Honore
• Stroll the Rue des Martyrs, the foodie haven of Paris
• Take a night-time walk from St. Germain to Notre Dame and sample delights from the chocolate shops along the way
• Eat at a sidewalk café in the Place des Vosges, the oldest and most beautiful square in Paris, in the Marais neighborhood
• Splurge on a boat tour on the Seine River
• And of course, we’ll take selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe

Day 7: Fly to Nairobi, Kenya
We’ll meet up with the rest of the mission team in Nairobi on Friday night, then travel most of the day on Saturday by car to Migori where the orphanage is located. We’ll spend about five days there leading a vacation Bible school for the kids and doing whatever else is needed (preaching, construction, etc.). The culmination of our trip is a safari in the Masai Mara where we’ll stay at the tranquil Mara Serena Safari Lodge – heaven on earth.

I’ve started a Pinterest board to add additional ideas as I come across them. If you have any recommendations for additional places we should go or places to eat, please comment below. Asante! (Thank you in Swahili.)

My name is Stacey Valley. I’m a wife, mother, and public health professional with a horrible sweet tooth. My life is quite beautifully ordinary and at the same time more than I could have ever imagined. I blog to express my feelings, share photos and recipes, and occasionally rant about health issues or the craziness of juggling motherhood, marriage, and making a living. My life’s motto is “Live big. Love deep.”

By Keisha Pittman of bigpittstop

I’m quickly becoming “that girl”. No, not “that girl”, the one with the 2 mis-matched animal print pieces of luggage that stay packed in the floor of my bedroom. Thankfully as a single gal, there’s no dude complaining as he trips over them to get in bed, but I might need to think about the fact that these suitcases are killing my personal life!

Some new changes in job position this past summer have me working with staff across the bilateral, northern part of our great state. When I thought about the topic of “have suitcase, will travel”, my mind when immediately to my 2 week adventure in Italy with my sister. Yea, those kinds of suitcases will make a girl weak in the knees to see that sweet boy with the curly hair and dreamy accent who toured us around the Coliseum (there was a point I thought we were about to get kidnapped like in the movie Taken which came out 3 weeks before…but I’m still here writing today so we get to talk about him being dreamy!).

But my 2 mismatched suitcases somewhat take me on a similar adventure every week. Yes, I’m now a member of several different hotel chains (I work for a non-profit, we got a go cheap not consistent) and I know the life details of the staff at my local Enterprise, but I also get to see crazy awesome things:

• High School stadiums that would rival anything in Friday Night Lights and are sponsored by local banks and bear the banners of state championships dating back to the 50’s and 60’s (some of same names are on those banners and the businesses I pass along the way…)
• I stop for lunch at Subway restaurants in strip malls next to nail salons (and, if I have an extra hour I stop by there too!)
• Abandoned gas stations turned into a local BBQ pit

• Fields of oil rigs and wishing wells
• Fields of perfectly placed hay-bales that make you wish you were hearing banjos
• Truly seeing “the edge of town” to the scent of the local rodeo or sell barn

• Coachman’s Inn, Linda’s Dinner and Town and Country Market all occupying the same building that’s been there since 1964
• School district administration buildings that have taken over abandoned car lots
• “community” bank billboards with pictures of local high school students deemed as true “investments”
• Abandoned plantation homes that would make Walter Arnold jump in a time machine
• Little white churches with stained glass windows that make you want to pull in the parking lot and sing a couple lines of Victory in Jesus
• You can see the linear path of destruction from natural disasters and ice storms – where they start and where they end
• Occasionally you get stuck on these 2 lane roads behind a feed sprayer driving approximately 8 miles an hour, 42 under the true speed limit, but this gives your day a gift of time and you have longer to breathe in the scenes around you
• If you’re lucky you’ll find the road to Louisiana where a man rides to and from his destination adorned with period appropriate attire from a saloon in the Wild West or at least the old western days that scarred the streets of old town Fort Smith.

• You understand and experience the true beauty and fear that comes from the fullness of each season – budding trees, soaring birds of prey, red of maples and winter’s frozen treats

Next time you pull out your “overnight” suitcase for just a short trip, let me challenge you to pack your nostalgia goggles and carry them in your front seat. Whether it’s a trip to grandma’s, work across the state or the county line – stop, look, listen, and breathe in the life happening around you. Kids read history books, producers create movies and writers will tell the tale of what’s happening today. Who knows – our suitcase might just bring home a bottle of shampoo from a soon to be historic hotel, our expense report may see the line item of a locally known eatery and we might just brush elbows with a future state leader.

Arkansas is a place I call home…suitcases packed or not.
Thank goodness to social media, even when I’m on the road I can stay connected – Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, http://www.pinterest.com/bigpittstop/.

Keisha Pittman can be found over at bigpittstop, a blog started when she was brushing up on her superpowers kicking cancer’s butt. 5 years later, it’s a chapter book of a 30 something navigating life and learning lessons along the way. She is a self-proclaimed nerd and every once in a while lets us have a little glimpse into her recipes-for disaster, Saturday scenic drives and mindless thoughts of life in Northwest Arkansas.

by Jodi Beznoska 

Four years ago,  I, a single woman, was lamenting to a friend that I wanted to travel but couldn’t because I didn’t have a partner to travel with. My friend scoffed, looked at me like I was nuts, and said “what are you talking about?  Just go! Why do you have to have someone to go with?”

It was a good question, one that I hadn’t asked myself before.

It turns out that that little conversation opened up a whole new world for me.  I realized she was right, and planned my first “solo” trip, which was actually a combination of visiting my folks on the east coast, and some friends on west coast, with an experimental solo jaunt to San Diego for a day or two.   It was wonderful.

After that trip, on a whim, one day I posted on facebook that I was thinking of taking a late summer trip to the mountains, and I jokingly asked if anyone wanted to go with me.  Turns out, someone did.

This someone was Jenn, a stunningly smart and gorgeous woman a few years younger than me whom I admired tremendously.  She seemed so together, so polished, so confident.  We’d never traveled together before.  In truth, we’d only hung out at conferences and board meetings.  I was nervous about how we’d mesh together.  I needn’t have worried.

The trip was amazing. Four (4) days in the mountains of Colorado, full of adventures and conversation.  I discovered that this incredibly put-together woman was like me; seeking, trying to figure out where she fit, a combination of confidence and fragility that I instantly recognized.

When the trip was over, we hugged slightly awkwardly at the airport, and agreed we needed to do this again.   The following summer, we enjoyed the Grand Pacific Northwest adventure, where my brother and I met up in Seattle before I traveled to Portland and Vancouver with Jenn, who was about to move to Paris.

Yes, Paris.

I’m sure you know where this is going.  Why have a travel buddy in one of the coolest cities in the world if you’re not going to visit?

That fall, another friend, Sarah, suggested that we go to Paris to visit Jenn over Christmas.  So we did.  For two weeks.  Let me say that again.  We were in France for two whole weeks.

You can read all about the trip from the list of blog posts below; I was pretty prolific with my blogging while I was there.   It was an incredible experience, made more so by the company I was keeping: 3 smart, tough and searching women, unafraid to travel without a spouse/partner.  Jenn spoke great French, I could order food, Sarah kept trying to speak in Spanish.  Sarah and her gluten allergies suffered mightily as Jenn and I devoured crepes and baguettes.  There was wine, so much wine, and art, what felt like dozens of museums.  Sleeping in different hostels every night, driving too fast through the French countryside, fearing for our lives at the New Year’s Eve fireworks free-for-all in Strasbourg; it was such, such fun.

 

 

I’d originally planned to write this post all about my France trip, but this is Arkansas Women Bloggers, after all.  It seems better to write about how, as a single woman, I was able to break out of my self-imposed funk and find a way to see the world.  And here’s the magical part of all of this.

I was fully prepared to take on my newly acquired travel bug by myself.  Sure, it would be intimidating and probably a little scary at times, but gosh-darn it, I was gonna do it.  And then, because I opened myself up to the universe, it turns out I didn’t have to.  There were people who wanted to adventure with me.   I have had so many inspiring and amazing experiences over the last 3 years, and I owe it all to that smart gal who asked me a really obvious question.

So, if you want to travel, get out and do it!  Here are just a few practical tips that helped me:

1. Save up so you don’t have to be totally freaked about money – do you really need that latte?
2. Go where you know people – if you’re traveling alone, at least you can get a meal and some conversation, even if you don’t travel with them
3. Sometimes, ignore #2.
4. If you’re going to a foreign country: make lots of copies of your passport and leave them with friends, tell your bank you are traveling and use ATMs to get cash and above all learn to say hello and a few phrases in the native language.  It will go a long way if you smile and try.
5. Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) is awesome and very helpful; there is safety in going where lots of folks have gone before.
6. Consider off times to travel – France in the winter isn’t exactly tourist nirvana so I’m sure we got better hostel rates
7. Plan – my friends and I used Google Docs to share ideas and coordinate schedules.
8. Have a blast!

 

Links:

The Grand Colorado Adventure: Part 1

The Grand Colorado Adventure: Parts II and III

Heading west….

The Grand Pacific Northwest Adventure: Part 1 of 3 – Seattle

The Grand Pacific Northwest Adventure: Part 2 of 3: Portland

The Grand Pacific Northwest Adventure: Part 3 – Vancouver doesn’t exist apparently.  I guess I got busy.

Day One in Paris

Paris – day deux

Day 3 in Paris

Day 4 in Paris

Day 5 in Paris

Day 6 in Paris…and Beaune…and Alsace…

Day 7: Colmar-strasbourg and NYE

Day 8: you should really check out days 1-7

Day 9 in France: Castles, castles everywhere

Day 10: Mont St. Michel and more

Day 11 and 12 in France: Bayeux and Normandie

Day 12 & 13: Montmartre, Sacre Coeur and heading home

 

Jodi Beznoska blogs at Everything and a Racehorse about travel, art and whatever else she can think of.  She hails from New England and served as the Vice President of Communications at Walton Arts Center for the last 8 years.  She lives in Fayetteville with her adopted therapy dog, Sadie.