Seattle – Family Travel Blog

Those coffee moments as a parent

Things are a bit slow here in the BlogOPlex as I bounce from the Association for Women in Communications (AWC) conference right now in Seattle (hashtag #awc100 if you want to follow on Twitter) and the upcoming Oklahoma Governor’s Conference on Tourism (#OTIA) in Tulsa, where I’m giving a luncheon keynote and workshop on Monday, October 19.

I did have time to run down to Seattle’s Pike Place Market with good friend, fellow travel blogger and ukulele maestro Pam Mandel. For all the parents out there who run their lives in an overly-caffienated manner, I offer you this photo of my pretty mid-afternoon latte from Le Panier down near the Market.

Parenting coffee moment — once when my daughter was maybe two, she asked for an iced mocha at Starbucks and we got her a small decaf version.

You should have SEEN the “Bad Mommy!” looks we got from passersby, and I was thinking, “Do we look so stupid that we’d give an already jacked-up, hyper toddler any more stimulation?!”

Hunting for travel deals? Don’t forget these Web sites

We’re so used to using search engines like Google or the new Bing Travel to look for travel deals (and metasearch engines like Kayak or Travelocity to book trips) that it’s easy to forget one “old school” way to do it….

The visitor’s Web sites that belong to the destination where you’re going.

For example, this fall I’m going to be attending the Association for Women in Communications (AWC) conference in Seattle WA, and speaking at the Oklahoma Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Tulsa OK.

Here’s where I’ll be looking around….

*** The Visit Seattle Web site has links to various deals and a lodging booking engine running down the right side of its Visitor Center Page, plus you can follow @SeattleMaven on Twitter for up-to-date local info.

*** The Visit Tulsa Web site has local accomodation deals all on one page, and a free discount coupon book for local attractions that I can order ahead of time — it would be nice if it was also available online, though, like the one from Hutchinson, Kansas or these deals from Fort Worth, Texas. Don’t forget @VisitTulsa on Twitter, either.

Be persistent; some tourism Web sites inexplicably bury the links/info for discounts. Look hard for family packages that combine lodging and tickets to an attraction – SeaWorld San Antonio has these all the time.