221: Chickasaw Country and Oklahoma City Road Trip Travel
Vacation Mavens
Tamara has finally made it to her 50th state...Oklahoma!! She took an Oklahoma road trip to visit both Oklahoma City and Chickasaw Country in south-central Oklahoma, in partnership with Chickasaw Country and the Chickasaw Nation. Oklahoma City has a lot to offer as a stand-alone destination including the First Americans Museum and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Tamara stayed at the aLoft hotel in Bricktown, which is the entertainment district with plenty of restaurants, bars, shops, and the minor league baseball stadium and water taxis. If you are interested in learning more...
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220: African Safaris
Vacation Mavens
Tamara is hosting an all-women small group trip to Portugal this fall and she would love for you to join her! . Did you know that Kim has been on safaris in four African countries? Today she shares some great tips that will help you decide where you might want to go, understand the differences between various safari experiences, and provide some advice for planning an African safari trip. You can read more about a few of Kim's safari experiences here:
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219: German Christmas Markets Trip
Vacation Mavens
Tamara is hosting an all-women small group trip to Portugal this fall and she would love for you to join her! . In this episode, Tamara talks about her two-week German Christmas Markets road trip! If you have this magical holiday trip on your radar, make sure to give this episode a close listen and check out the following articles:
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Barge and River Cruising Through France
Vacation Mavens
Before we say goodbye to summer and pull on our flannels and break out the pumpkin spice, Tamara and Kim are back with a recap of Tamara's European summer travels including a month spent exploring France by river and barge cruise! Tamara first spent two weeks in the United Kingdom, on a road trip through both Scotland and Wales with two other travel writers. She then took the Eurostar down to France and spent one week cruising through the Canal Nivernais on the Hotel Barge Elisabeth. Next, she went to Bordeaux and her husband joined her for a weeklong river cruise with AmaWaterways. Tamara...
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217: Scottsdale and Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka)
Vacation Mavens
Well it has been a minute since we had a chance to catch up and record a podcast but in this episode Tamara shares her insights and experience from her recent family trip to Japan. Kim and Tamara also share their love for Scottsdale, Arizona and some of the things they did on a girls' trip together. Read more at: Tamara also talked about her time in Paso Robles, California. You can read her to get inspired to visit this wine region. Kim attended conferences in Walt Disney World (read her tips for using DVC points to ), Disney Land, and San Antonio. She also took a family cruise to...
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216: Ireland and Northern Ireland
Vacation Mavens
Kim took a last minute spring break trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland with her younger daughter and this week on the podcast, she tells us all about it! She flew into Dublin and then stay at a country estate hotel in Northern Ireland before visiting Belfast, the Causeway Coast, Derry/Londonderry, and Galway before looping back to Dublin. See Kim's articles on: Ireland Trip Highlights: in Northern Ireland Belfast - Titanic Belfast and city architecture - Carrick-a-Rede bridge, Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle in Derry - walk the walls around the city Galway - Kim...
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215 Oceanside Disneyland California
Vacation Mavens
Spring break is almost here and on this episode Kim and Tamara share their experience on a girls' trip in Oceanside, California and then their mother-daughter trip to Disneyland with their girls. If you want some inspiration for a SoCal getaway, be sure to listen in!
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214 Northern Italy + Big Announcement
Vacation Mavens
Happy New Year! We are back and apologize for taking so long to release a new episode. Moving forward, we will strive to have one episode a month to share our travels and tips, as we continue to each put more time into our respective websites. But first, Tamara has a big announcement and that is that she is hosting a women-only small group trip to Iceland in September 2023! You can get all the information on and she really hopes that some listeners will be able to join! Note that there is a discount of 15,000 ISK if you register by January 15, 2023. Next Tamara tells us all about her...
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213: Glacier Country, Montana
Vacation Mavens
This episode is sponsored by Glacier Country Tourism. All opinions are our own. This week, Tamara shares what it is like to visit Glacier Country, Montana on a girls' trip and Kim shares her thoughts on this scenic part of Northwestern Montana. From Missoula to Whitefish, Kalispell to Glacier National Park -- if Montana is on your bucket list, give this episode a listen! Read more: Things to do in Glacier Country, Montana Glacier Country is a tourism region of Northwestern Montana that covers eight counties To get to Glacier Country you can fly into Missoula or Glacier Airport in Kalispell,...
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212: Summer Travel Catch Up
Vacation Mavens
We are back from our summer travel and packed a whole lot into a one episode recap! We apologize in advance for some audio difficulties on this one, especially after taking so long to get it live. Thanks for hanging in there with us! On this episode we cover Tamara's summer trips to: Nantucket (read her ) New Brunswick, Canada (, , and ) Prince Edward Island, Canada () Sailing on the And Kim shares about her adventures: Mediterranean cruise on Costa Cruise Lines () Gorilla trekking in Uganda Alaskan cruise on Holland America Graduation trip to Disney World and Universal Orlando ()
info_outlineThe Florida Keys is a perfect road trip destination for families, or friends. This week Kim and Tamara talk all about their recent trip to the Florida Keys and Key West, with stops in Key Largo and Key West.
ON THE PODCAST
00:30 - Talking with Kim and Tamara about their time in the Florida Keys
02:31 - Getting to and around the Keys
10:45 - Key Largo - Baker’s Cay Resort
17:35 - Playa Largo Resort
23:00 - Islamorada
30:45 - Driving to Key West
38:20 - Stock Island
42:44 - Places to eat
50:58 - Food Tour and Boat Tour
58:15 - Sunset Celebration
1:02:00 - Island Adventure Tour
1:09:30 - Coming up next
TIPS FOR VISITING THE FLORIDA KEYS
- Keep in mind when you are planning your trip to the Keys that you are going to be driving down through different Keys, you will run into quite a bit of traffic since you will mostly be driving through one lane roads and small beach towns with lights and little shops.
- The Baker’s Cay Resortin Key Largo is a great resort for families or friends. They have great views and while the beach and pool are not close to each other to enable you to easily go back and forth, they are both very nice. This resort offers a complimentary glass of champagne at sunset every night, nicely decorated public spaces, and offers water sport adventures that you can easily access on their dock.
- Playa Largo Resortbeach seems to be a bit narrower and part of this you can only access they water by a set of stairs. They also offer a special treat of marshmallows you can roast on bonfires at sunset. The resort pool is nicer than Baker's Cay and right on the beach.
- If you are at all interested in feeding fish, a great area to visit is Robbies on Islamorada. They have a restaurant is called Hunger Tarpon and you can pay a fee to go out on the docks and buy a bucket of fish to feed the tarpon. Just go early because the parking lot gets very full. Robbies also offers a bunch of different water sports.
- Driving from Key Largo to Key West will probably take you about five hours with a few stops, including lunch.
- The Perry Hotel on Stock Island is a bit outside of downtown Key West, but offers free parking and a shuttle downtown. You can also rent scooters and you will find that you will be able to find decent parking with them.
- Parking in Key West is challenging. For a car, you will find that there are a lot of residential only parking spot that you could get ticketed if you there. The lot parking can also get a bit expensive as well.
- Key West Food Toursprovided a fabulous tour around the area. The tour guide Rose was fantastic!
- Mallory Square offers a sunset celebration that starts about an hour before sunset and they have performers to watch as well as bars you can go and have a drink that are all right around the square. You should keep in mind that people will stake out spots to see the sunset early on, so you may want to get there early and do the same otherwise you will be behind a crowd and you will need to hold your camera up over others to get good shots.
- The Fury Island Adventure Touroffers a fantastic experience where you can snorkel, walk around a sandbar, kayaking, and even paddle board. This tour offers a great variation of activities all in one great boat trip.
MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST
Planning a Trip to the Florida Keys with Kids - Episode 122
Calusa Restaurant at Baker’s Cay
First Flight Island Restaurant and Brewery
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