This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Goodbye summer, Hello fall! I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to believe that It’s already fall! However, I must admit that fall is my favorite season of the year, so I am welcoming it with open arms. While most people love to travel and go on family vacations during the summer months, I actually prefer waiting until the fall season for many reasons.   When many people think of fall, they also think about fall festivals. I LOVE FALL FESTIVALS! So, they are always on my list when looking for the perfect fall getaways. However, did you know Daytona Beach is known as the festival capital of Florida? The area hosts more than 50 festivals throughout the year, and fall festivals make this one of the best times of the year to visit.

Did you know Daytona Beach is known as the festival capital of Florida? #lovedaytonabeachClick To Tweet

So, this year Daytona Beach is one of our top destinations for our yearly couples only weekend. I would really love to check out the Daytona Blues Festival which I feel would be great for couples that enjoy blues music like we do. I also love that there is so many free things to do in Daytona Beach. I really want to check out the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation Home & Gravesite. The Bethune-Cookman University is one of the richest resources of African-American historical and cultural exhibits in Florida. Then of course we could enjoy all the outdoor fun that Daytona Beach has to offer like the beautiful beaches and parks. So, as you can see Daytona Beach makes a perfect getaway for couples!

However, It’s also a great destination for families! Daytona Beach has great kid friendly options if you are planning your Fall Family vacation. There is something for everyone! And trust me as a mom I understand that when planning a family trip you have to make sure everyone is happy and entertained the whole time. I feel that Daytona Beach has everything that would make your fall vacation everything that you are looking for to create those special memories!

Whether you are looking for a place to bring the whole family, or the perfect spot for a romantic getaway, Daytona Beach has lots of great options for your perfect vacation.

Start planning your trip today!

The beach awaits, to learn more about what Daytona Beach has to offer or to request your own travel guide click here.

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Thanks to my friends at Coca-Cola 
for sponsoring this conversation with an “On the Road” prize pack full of summer road trip essentials for one lucky reader.

 

I think anyone can vouch for the fact that no matter how great of a life you may have, we all need a break sometimes! A break where we can just get away from anything life may throw at us and where we can simply sit back and relax without any distractions or problems. You may want to get away with a loved one, a sibling, friends, or even maybe your whole family needs to get away for the weekend! I love to spontaneously go visit new surroundings and just have a new view for the weekend. I think it personally helps me to stay sane and I try to do it as often as I can, now whether that’s just an hour away or 5 hours away, sometimes you just need to get away from home! Here are a few places that are perfect for weekend getaways and they can cater to any amount of people you have going! Hope some of these are close enough to where you live and you can find one to fit your needs!

Put-In-Bay, Ohio: Put-in-Bay is a small Island located in Ohio surrounded by the beautiful waters of Lake Erie. This place is great for a couples getaway or even a family getaway! It is filled with a ton great restaurants, you can go out on jet ski’s and boats, and there is even an Amusement Park! These are just a few of the many things to do at this lovely place and you are bound to have a blast here!

Wildwood, New Jersey: Wildwood is a great place to go if you’re looking to have a lot of fun! There are 3 Water Parks that are on The Beach, can we just stop there and say that would be a weekend filled with fun right there? Well nope, there’s more! You can ride roller coasters, play games, enjoy some mini golf, and even just hang out on the beach! Definitely a great place to spend the weekend!

Gatlinburg, Tennessee: Gatlinburg is perfect for anyone! You can take any random person there and they are bound to find something there that they’re going to love! It is filled with fun including an Amusement Park, museums, a ton of great food, you can take hikes in the mountains, and see some great outdoors among so much else! This is a great place to take a trip with anyone!

The Grand Canyon: Need I say more? I think everyone should have the experience of seeing the Grand Canyon! It is literally such an amazing view and you can take a really amazing hike throughout the Grand Canyon! Perfect for those who love the outdoors! It doesn’t get better than this!

Chicago, Illinois: Chicago is always such a fun time! There is a ton of stuff to do! Just to name a few: The Bean, Shopping on The Magnificent Mile, Lincoln Park Zoo, Beaches, as well as visiting The Willis Tower are some of my favorite things to do and that’s not even the half of what you can do in Chicago! There is plenty to have a jam packed, fun filled weekend!

Orlando, Florida: Orlando is obviously a really great family vacation spot! In Orlando there is Disney World, Universal Studios, as well as Animal Kingdom! All really great places to visit with a family! Although this may be a bit on the pricier side of weekend getaways, if you live close…it shouldn’t be too bad!

Atlanta, Georgia: I personally never thought about Atlanta being a good vacation spot since I already live here! But since it is actually home to the largest Aquarium in the World, which is so cool! It has more animals than any other aquarium and I am a big fan of aquariums myself! Atlanta is a great vacation spot to take the kids because there is so much history and so much to learn here. Among the aquarium, there is the Atlanta Zoo (which is one the oldest zoos in America), The World of Coca-Cola museum,The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site and so much more! Great vacation spot for any age!

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Dell’s is known as “The Waterpark Capital of the World” and that is because it is home to America’s largest Water park Resort. It is called the “Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort” and it harbors four indoor and four outdoor waterparks all on the property of this one resort! That just sounds like an amazing amount of fun and I don’t know if you could even cover 8 water parks in one weekend, but trust me..you should definitely try to fit it all in!

I hope that if you were looking for a weekend getaway and couldn’t think of a good place to, maybe some of these are close to where you live and you can pack up and head out sometime soon! Take a break from life, everyone can use a break sometimes!

 

Enter to win:

I have partnered with Coca-Cola to give away one lucky reader an “On the Road” prize pack full of summer road trip essentials!

The prize pack will include:

Coca-Cola cooler tote

Mini cans

Hand sanitizer (unbranded sanitizer but Coke branded)

Headphones with Coca-Cola case

Coca-Cola phone charger

$20 Visa gift card for gas

Portion-controlled snacks like trail mix

To enter please leave a comment below telling me where your favorite road trip or getaway spot is. I will pick the lucky winner August 2^nd!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This prize is provided by The Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company is not a sponsor, administrator or connected in any other way. 

 

For contact and glasses wearers, going to the beach or other bodies of water during the summer can be a hassle. There are many precautions that need to be followed to keep your eyes protected, your glasses and contact lenses intact, and for you to be able to see while in public. Here are some tips that will help you be safe while enjoying the beautiful scenes at the beach.

Contact Lens Care

For contact lens wearers, there are some rules to be remembered.

1. No matter the water type, don’t open your eyes under water. If you must do so, don’t do it unless you are wearing eyes goggles or other protective wear. Opening your eyes underwater while wearing contacts can dry out your lenses and cause you to lose them. It can also cause build up on your lenses that will make them hard to clean and cause your vision to be blurry.
2. If you are in fresh water, you can clean your lenses within a few hours. For salt water or lakes, you will need to dispose of the lenses you wear because these bodies of water can contain living organisms that can infect your eyes and live on your contact lenses even after you’ve cleaned them.
3. If you don’t enter the water, make sure you flush your contacts often and bring along eye drops made for refreshing eyes to keep them from drying out in the sun. You can also bring along sunglasses to help keep your eyes protected from bright sun.
4. Bring along extra lenses and your glasses in case you lose your lenses and to have backup wear when you need to toss out your other lenses.

For glasses wearers

If you never got into wearing contact lenses, you can still go to the beach with your glasses. Remember that if you enter the water, you will have to remove them, otherwise, though, you can wear them on the beach or at any other water event.

1. Be sure to bring eye drops for if your eyes become irritated while wearing the glasses in the sun.
2. Buy sunglasses that fit around your regular glasses or buy lenses that darken in the sun to help protect your peepers form the bright rays.
3. Keep your glasses on by attaching a cord (specifically made for glasses) to the legs of the glasses to keep them on your face. You can even buy something known as “nerd wax” to put on the bride of your nose to keep glasses from slipping when you start sweating in the sunshine.
4. Bring along items to clean your glasses in the event they get dirty or smudged with sweat.
5. Make sure you have a safe place to put the glasses when you do need to remove them.

This post brought to you by IHG Rewards Club. The content and opinions expressed below are that of https://www.mommyshangout.com/.

Summer vacations are upon us, and if you haven’t made plans for your vacation, yet, don’t worry! You still have some time. We actually just booked a last minute getaway for next weekend! We are taking my Mother in law to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg! We actually visited last year, but after she had seen all our photos and heard all the fun we had now she wants to go! The kids loved our time there last year and very excited on going back! Plus who don’t love a good road trip!

The truth is you can also save lots of money if you plan just right, because hotels and other vacation locations are offering discounts to entice people to spend some money with them this summer.

Below are some helpful tips on how to save money during the summer and still have a great vacation.

Plan something within your state or close by:

You can drive to the location instead of booking airfare, and if it isn’t too far of a drive, you can save on gas money. This also gives you flexibility on when to travel because you aren’t stuck with airfare cancellation costs if you need to change your plans.

Use reservation sites:

 Many reservation sites are offering discounts if you use them or go with a certain line of hotels for your stay. For example, IHG® is a global company with 9 hotel brands, over 4,800 hotels and nearly 674,000 rooms in nearly 100 countries around the world. They pride themselves in being a leader of hospitality and their new rewards promotion is just another display of their practiced guest welcoming and generosity! They are currently offering points for booking with them through shareforever.ihg.com

If you choose their hotels, you can earn 500 points for your next IHG hotel stay from May 1, 2015 – September 2, 2015, as well as earn another 500 points for that same hotel stay to share with another member. You can also save those points for yourself, if you’d like. In addition, you can earn any where from 68,500 to 115,500 “Share Forever” bonus points, and then another maximum of 58,500 bonus points to share with someone or keep for yourself. That’s a lot of points for future vacations just by using one line of hotels, so be sure to Register Now!

 

Plan an itinerary:

If you know where you will eat, what sites you will visit, and how long you will stay at each place, you can not only save money by not spontaneously spending it, but you will also save time and get more from your vacation. When you plan this itinerary, you can also plan if you will walk, drive, or use public transportation to get places, which means you can make a schedule in advance and buy any passes you might need, saving ore money on last minute tickets and fares.

 

Plan your spending:

When you plan your itinerary, plan how much you will spend at each attraction and place to eat. Put the money in envelopes and don’t go over that cash budget unless absolutely necessary.

 

Enter to Win!

IHG Share Forever Summer Rewards Program

Stay Connected:

Be sure to follow the IHG Rewards Club and join the conversation with #ShareForever on Twitter and Instagram today!

School will be out for summer break soon and it’s time to plan a family vacation for you and your kids. Planning an annual summer vacation for your family is a great way to bond with your children and create some life long family memories. Here are some tips for making your family vacation this summer worry free.

Schedule your time off work ASAP

Summer time is a popular time for employees to request time off. Depending on your role at work, others requested time off can affect whether or not your request will be approved. Put in your request as far in advance as your employer will allow and avoid any possible scheduling conflicts with your coworkers.

Hire senior home care for your parents

If you are a member of the sandwich generation and not only caring for your kids, but caring for your parents as well, you will need to hire a caregiver to take over your duties. Find an agency like HomeHero who has caregivers you can trust and will work with your family’s budget to make hiring senior home care affordable.

Don’t forget your furry friends

Your beloved family pets may not be able to join you on your trip. If you do not have a friend or family member that can care for your pets while you are away DogVacay is a great option. DogVacay offers home pet sitters near you. Browse their pet sitter profiles and find the perfect pet sitter. Your pet will get to be in a loving and cage-free environment while you‘re away.

Book you flights

Summer travel can become costly with airlines raising their fare rates during the popular summer months. Always book your flights on a Tuesday! An awesome airline industry secret to take advantage of is their Tuesday sales. Tuesday’s airlines will steeply discount their fare rates every Tuesday.

Following the tips on our list will take away all the worries and responsibilities of back home and allow you to enjoy your family vacation this summer.