Month: July 2009

Categories
Asia Blog Europe Middle East Philosophy USA

It’s been over 3 years: time for some Greatest Hits

fireworks-taa-daa-courtesy-mikul-at-flickr-ccI just want to say that this blog post’s title is totally awful SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ’cause I’m feeling like a REBEL. 🙂

Those who know me, know how my mental gears grind and how I over-analyze.

I prefer to think it’s my massive intelligence coming to the fore, but mostly I think it’s plain old worry-wart perfectionist tendencies.

Anyway, after crying in my beer this week about blog ranking, I dug around in the Family Travel Logue archives to find some posts to bring back out into the light.

This allows my readers some discovery fun and also helps me to remember that blogging is not all about whether I dominate Google for certain search terms in exchange for some ad dollars.

….because, you know, I could have my way with Google if I really wanted to (she says with a lot of bluster.)

In between the dust and cat hair, here are some of my family travel blog favorites pulled from the Archives attic. Please excuse any broken links – some of the posts have been around awhile and the Web keeps moving:

***  Travel in Second Life.  Because I don’t get enough of it in First Life and I like my Goth avatar.

***  Inexpensive Travel Souvenirs.  Because I was just starting to figure out video and I combined total vlogging inexperience with all of my worldly shopping from all over my house. Yay!

***  Best US family beach vacations. Because it’s summer, you know?

***  Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World.  This was when I figured out that I ought to listen to my readers even though I’m not personally a huge Florida theme park fan.

***  Visit bountiful Brussels and What my daughter learned in Belgium’s Flanders Fields.   We never felt more immersed in Europe than in Belgium (and the Netherlands, so here’s Rotterdam for you.)

***  Winner of the who-knew-I’d-love-it award:  Big Country – the Kansas Flint Hills.

***  Two of my first big hits: Paris with kids – The Louvre, followed by High above Paris: a meal in the Eiffel Tower.

Continue reading “It’s been over 3 years: time for some Greatest Hits”
Categories
Blog Philosophy

Thinking about blog rank and whether I’m phoning it in

Phoning it in (courtesy Thunderchild tm at Flickr CC)Thanks to Wendy Perrin of the PerrinPost, I found this Invesp Consulting list of travel blogs broken out by various measurements: Google PageRank, number of inbound links, number of RSS subscribers,  number of unique visitors per month, etc.

Now, normally I try not to pay too much attention to such lists.  They often compare a one-woman show like mine to wide-ranging, multi-author efforts like World Hum, and there’s no way that I can match a gargantuan site when it comes to some measurement metrics.

On the other hand, seeing the Family Travel Logue floating around in the #40 – #60 range (for most metrics) was rather depressing for me, I’ll admit, considering that I’ve been writing here since February 2006 and have some nice recent kudos in addition to past recognition in the UK’s Guardian, the Telegraph and Real Simple magazine.

I lost some Google search engine placement/authority last summer when we shifted the blog to this URL, but we’re talking almost a year ago now, so that’s like claiming you’re fat because you had a baby, but the baby’s now 9 years old (like, ahem, my son. Hey, the baby excuse can no longer explain wearing “fat jeans” all the time.)

Continue reading “Thinking about blog rank and whether I’m phoning it in”
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Blog Tips

News and kudos for Family Travel Logue

Yay, life! (courtesy TheDreamSky on Flickr CC)First, a big, pink-cheeked, awww-shucks Thank You to Tripbase.

They kindly included this blog in their carefully-selected list of Top 10 Family Travel blogs.

What an unexpected surprise.

The Tripbase folks said,

“We look for bloggers with original destination, travel and activity ideas who can also give good advice on vacation planning and organising. The idea is that the blog is interesting, even humorous, without compromising on utility.”

I am honored to be included in such esteemed company as Delicious Baby, the rollicking Traveling Mamas, Europe-based SoulTravelers3, the Mother of All Trips and many others who I know and admire either online or IRL (in real life!)

There are other Tripbase Travel Blog Award categories too, so take a look….

In other news, I’m also excited to be included in a new project by the travel research site UpTake and Tips from the T-List:  it’s the Travel Insights 100.

Continue reading “News and kudos for Family Travel Logue”
Categories
50 State Series

Family travel in Rhode Island

rhode-island-4th-of-july-parade-in-bristol-courtesy-oceanstater-on-flickr-ccEvery Tuesday until we run out of states, I plan to post about family-friendly vacation ideas, attractions and events in each one of the US states, taking input mostly from Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, I know how to search for travel ideas on a destination or attraction Web site, but a tweet or a Facebook Wall recommendation is a much more engaging and public way to spread the word.

Please don’t email suggestions to me; that’s nice but it is one-to-one communication. Tweet me and/or Facebook me, so that all of our networks can see what’s cool about your state.

We’re going in alphabetical order but started with the end, so our first state for the series was Wyoming, then we investigated Wisconsin , West Virginia , Washington, Virginia, Vermont, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota, South Carolina and now we’re moving on to….Rhode Island!

I couldn’t find their state tourism organization on Twitter or on Facebook.

When I asked for ideas, here’s what came in….

Twitter Travel Tips for Rhode Island

***  From Donna Tuttle via @WriteOnTime on Twitter  —  Proud to be identified as a RI girl. Beaver Tail Beach is amazing. Also, grab a bag of clamcakes in Narragansett and sit on the beach, watch sunset. [Try these RI foods] Coffee syrup, spinach pies, Caserta pizza, grinders, cabinets, jimmies….

***  From Meg Keough via @BackpackToBuggy on Twitter  — WaterFire https://www.waterfire.org in Providence!

***  From Mike Redbord via @redbord on Twitter  — Block Island! Particularly Mansion Beach is a great family beach. If people need lifeguards, State Beach is just down the road.

***  From Shane Donaldson via @Shane_Donaldson on Twitter  —  In downtown Newport, there are the Newport Gulls, a summer college baseball team. Fun atmosphere, low cost. https://www.newportgulls.com

***  From Eric via @NewEnglandInfo on Twitter  —  We have family-friendly RI travel suggestions at https://www.visitingnewengland.com/newengland-rhodeisland.html.

***  From Dominique King via @midwestguest on Twitter — Newport, RI also home to several old houses of worship–one of the more interesting might be Touro Synagogue = oldest synagogue in US. Taking the short synagogue tour at Touro might be interesting for an older child near bar or bat mitzvah. Gansett Cruises – harbor cruises out of Newport (https://www.gansettcruises.com) – the mid-day version includes ice cream & Del’s Frozen Lemonade….we did the sunset version ourselves-great tour and opp for lighthouse photos.

***  From Michelle Riggen-Rans via @mriggen on Twitter  — This is the best family guide to RI around: https://kidoinfo.com/ri Will be happy to provide feedback.

Continue reading “Family travel in Rhode Island”

Categories
50 State Series

Family travel in South Carolina

South Carolina horse greets kids (courtesy hdport at Flickr CC)Every Tuesday until we run out of states, I plan to post about family-friendly vacation ideas, attractions and events in each one of the US states, taking input mostly from Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, I know how to search for travel ideas on a destination or attraction Web site, but a tweet or a Facebook Wall recommendation is a much more engaging and public way to spread the word.

Please don’t email suggestions to me;  that’s nice but it is one-to-one communication. Tweet me and/or Facebook me, so that all of our networks can see what’s cool about your state.

We’re going in alphabetical order but started with the end, so our first state for the series was Wyoming, then we investigated Wisconsin , West Virginia , Washington, Virginia, Vermont, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota and now we’re moving on to….South Carolina!

I couldn’t find their state tourism organization on Twitter, but the state capital city of Columbia is @columbiasc and state parks are @SC_State_Parks.  I didn’t find state tourism on Facebook, either, but western South Carolina regional tourism has a Thoroughbred Country Facebook page and so does South Carolina State Parks.

When I asked for ideas there wasn’t much of a response (summer doldrums?) but here’s what came in….

Twitter Travel Tips for South Carolina

***  From Dominique King via @midwestguest on Twitter  —  My best kid-friendly idea for S. Carolina: The trip to Fort Sumter near Charleston. Learn history, cool fort, neat boat ride out to it.

***  From Francisco Collazo & Julie Schwietert Collazo via @collazoprojects on Twitter  — Penn Center (overlooked & beautiful part of African-American & American history) + gumbo not far away! Here’s a link: https://www.penncenter.com. I’m from SC & went for first time a few years ago. On the (only) road out to Penn Corner, there’s a row of little boutiques in some old houses. Gumbo in parking lot. Good stuff.

Continue reading “Family travel in South Carolina”
Categories
Tips USA

Helen Keller’s story: the “Miracle Worker” at Ivy Green

Helen Keller water pump at Ivy Green, Tuscumbia, Alabama (photo by Sheila Scarborough)There are only a few days left to see it, if you’re near Tuscumbia in northwest Alabama before July 11….

Every summer at Ivy Green, the birthplace of the amazing author, speaker and writer Helen Keller, there is a professional outdoor production of The Miracle Worker, William Gibson’s drama about Keller’s early life and relationship with her teacher, Annie Sullivan.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Ms. Sullivan (almost blind herself) had a “tough row to hoe” in the Keller household as she tried to teach a spoiled, deaf, blind, mute but brilliant Helen that language could be expressed by hand gestures, or sign language.

To see the two-hour play on the grounds of Helen’s own house is a special experience.

Like a knucklehead, I forgot to put up a post in time to also tell you about Tuscumbia’s annual Helen Keller Festival held in late June, but get it on your calendar for next year.

The state’s tourism Web site has more ideas for northern Alabama travel with kids.

Categories
Texas USA

The annual search for bank robber Sam Bass

Sam Bass flyer, Round Rock TX Frontier DaysPart of the annual Round Rock, Texas Frontier Days July 4 celebration is a fun costumed reenactment of the 1878 Sam Bass Shootout.

The infamous bank robber Sam Bass was fatally shot by lawmen in Round Rock, and his name is plastered on things all over town including my son’s former baseball fields.

Actors used to stage the shootout reenactment downtown until the event became too popular, so it’s now held three times a day in pretty Old Settler’s Park during Frontier Days.

There’s a false-front recreation of town, dance hall girls, a voiceover narrative to explain the action, fake blood and loud firing of blanks – my son loved it.

I shot video at last year’s celebration; maybe it’s time to get it edited and online before we see it again this year!