Transportation to San Pedro

To get to San Pedro, you must fly to Belize City and either take the water taxi or a puddle jumper air plane. The water taxi was a short hour and 15-minute ride and half the cost, so we opted for that route.

Travel Tip: The water taxi makes one quick stop at Caye Caulker before arriving at Ambergris Caye. Remember to stay on the boat at this stop.

Ambergris Caye Accommodations

We found Trip Advisor to be the most helpful resource for locating a hotel on the island. Depending on what you are looking for, the island has accommodations that can meet every family’s vacation needs. We stayed at Banyan Bay at the south end of the island.

Although it was a little ritzy for my taste, we loved our ocean view, that the hotel had a good restaurant on site with breakfast included, and that it was a one-stop shop, sporting golf cart and bike rentals, a full service spa, and a concierge who could arrange ocean adventures for you.

Travel Tip: If you want wi-fi, air conditioning, and TV in your hotel room, be sure to check ahead and ensure the hotel has those amenities as not all do. Also note that most swimming pools are not heated.

 San Pedro Restaurants

San Pedro is known for its lobster. Lonely Planet books have never failed us in recommending the best restaurants when we travel. Located right on the sea, the Blue Water Grill lived up to the Lonely Planet’s recommendation and the Sea Grill was a perfect selection.

Getting Around the Island

Getting around town is fun. The island is only 5 miles wide and 25 miles long, so you don’t see too many cars.

Most people rent or own bicycles…

…or golf carts.

Travel Tip: I highly recommend renting a golf cart. It is a fun way to see the entire island and get around town. If you are staying for a week, I suggest the weekly rental. Otherwise, most places rent by the hour.

Grocery Stores

Eating out for every meal, especially in the peak travel season, can be pricey. Fortunately, Ambergris Caye sports a nice grocery store with lots of familiar US brands. I’m not sure what I’d use a cake mix for while on vacay, but it was nice knowing we could grab snacks and bug spray at a moment’s notice if we needed to.

Travel Tip: Most places in Belize accept credit cards, US dollars, and Belizean dollars.

Scuba Diving and Other Activities and Attractions

Belize is all about sea activities. With the reef a half a mile off the coast of San Pedro, most visitors explore via scuba diving, SNUBA-ing, snorkeling, or in a glass bottom boat. Companies like Ramon’s Village, organize trips to places like the Blue Hole and Sting Ray Ally for water enthusiasts.

Travel Tip: If you are looking for nice beaches and body surfing, head to Hawaii or other Caribbean beaches, like Magen’s Bay on St. Thomas. While San Pedro is surrounded by beaches, they are grassy with smooth water (no waves), and not ideal for playing in, especially for kids. The real water adventures are near or at the reef and beyond, further out or deeper down.

The Most Important Part of the Trip

Planning and taking a family vacation requires lots of work and can be stressful. My main advice is to plan well in advance and then let the Caribbean breeze get to you and unplug and relax while you’re on the island. Make time for moments with your kids and your spouse. Life at home can wait!

What are your favorite winter destination locations? Where do you most like to go on family vacation to unplug and unwind?

What I was unprepared for was how Branson is the perfect place for a family vacation for kids of all of ages, which I found out on my recent trip there hosted by the Branson Conference and Visitor’s Bureau.

10 Family Friendly Places in Branson, Missouri

If you’re looking for a fun vacay, centrally located, a bit off the beaten path, and without all the crowds you’d find at a popular theme park destination location, check out Branson and the following family friendly places it offers:

1. The Dixie Stampede: A dinner theater, but country style where the entire family will enjoy the Civil War era with a little rodeo, trick riding, and flying pigs all while eating with your hands and stomping every time the host says: “Stampede.”
   X
2. Silver Dollar City: A lush, country-style theme park complete with country stores, jails, blacksmith shops, and more. Pathways are built around trees, providing lots of shade and making it a really relaxing environment. At the same time, the rides, appropriate for kids of all ages (even adults!), are fun and thrilling.
   
   
3. Branson Belle Showboat: I’m not gonna lie. I’m a sucker for steamboats. It stems from my love of Huckleberry Finn. And this one didn’t disappoint. While the food wasn’t the greatest, the show more than made up for it. Seriously! Who has a beautiful voice, plays the piano AND the violin good enough to make your jaw drop, and is an arielist? I know! Weird combination, but it worked! While my 8 and 10YOs were captivated, this may not be for younger kids since it goes until 10:30 p.m.
   X
4. White Water: A water park is a water park is a water park, right? Sure! But, a day at the water park is just what a tired family needs in the middle of a vacation. At white water, we felt a range of emotions: exhilaration in the wave pool, relaxation in the lazy river, adventure at the big slides, and family fun at Ohana Falls, where we got to sit in a mammoth inner tube and enjoy the ride down the slide as a family.
   X
5. Tracks: What boy can turn down go carting and bumper boat rides? Not mine! I took the afternoon off even though Tracks looked like fun and let @troypattee and our two boys enjoy a little father/son time. They were a bit disappointed they didn’t get to try out the four-story go-cart track, but had fun with the activities they did get to do and all came home exhausted, but happy!
   X
6. Noah the Musical: Sight and Sound is a theater and company with a mission to bring Bible stories to life. And bring Noah to life, they did! I was a little skeptical of this performance, thinking it would be really cheesy, but the live animals on stage and in the aisles were an awesome touch that captivated the kids. The music was beautiful, and the effects, making you feel like you inside the ark, were truly amazing. Whether you are Christian or not, this is a fun play to share with your entire family.
   X
7. Danna’s BBQ: Hitting a BBQ joint was a must for Branson. At Danna’s BBQ, we introduce our 10YO to pork-pulled BBQ and apparently, we changed his life forever. Not only did we not make him buy a kid’s meal, but he discovered a love for BBQ. Score!
   X
8. Titanic: This was one of the first things I remember about Branson—the Titanic Museum, shaped just like the Titanic, sitting on a corner right there on the main drag as you drive into Branson. I was tired on our last day and wondered whether I’d have the energy for a museum, but this interactive, self-guided audio tour definitely kept my interest. And not only my interest, but the interest of my entire family, which is saying a lot, considering we have two active boys. They were captivated with the various facts their audio tour guide shared with them and loved dipping their hands in the 28-degree water and touching ice, representative of the iceberg.
   X
9. Shepherd of the Hills: Our last activity was a horseback riding and zip riding adventure combined with a BBQ luncheon. Not a horseback riding fan myself, I went zip riding while Troy and the boys went on an hour-long horseback ride. We joined back up for lunch at which point we discovered that our very tentative 10YO wanted to try the zip rider. So, off he and Troy went and although he freaked out about an hour after the ride, he claims it was his very favorite part of the trip. As a parent, don’t you love seeing your kids overcome their fears?
   X
10. Lodging and Flight: Two important tips for getting to Branson and staying there. We flew into Springfield. If you are looking for the closest airport, this is not it. But, the hour drive is worth the trip and for us, worth taking Delta Airlines. In terms of lodging: There are lots of amazing options. We loved staying at Castle Rock Hotel. It wasn’t luxurious, but it had two major things going for it: 1) It has a water park, which is free to guests. The kids LOVED it! And 2) The rooms have two double beds and a set of bunk beds in a semi-private room with its own TV. Our boys loved having their own space. So did we!

The Canyons resort in beautiful Park City, UT offers all of this and more in their summer vacation packages.

Party Topic

This Tuesday night, join the fun folks from The Canyons and other gals who have stayed there, at a #gno Twitter party focused on summer vacations and outdoors adventures. The party goes from 9-11 p.m. ET (8-10 p.m. CT, 7-9 p.m. MT, and 6-8 p.m. PT).

Party Details

• What: Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)
• When: Tuesday, July 20, 9-11 p.m. EST (8-10 CT, 7-9 MT, & 6-8 PT)
• Where: Party with us on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! Check back Tuesday for a link. (Use hashtags #gno and #thecanyons.)
• Topic: Parenting children with special needs
• Who: Brand Panelist: @thecanyons @libbydowd Community Panelists: @CentsibleLife @dadarocks @dineanddish @nakedjen @rachelferrucci @rockandrollmama Moderators: @jylmomIF @Dadventurous @troypattee and @momitforward
• Party Favors: Stay tuned for details on how to enter for a chance to win fabulous giveaways from The Canyons resort in Park City, UT. (Deadline: Wednesday, July 21 at midnight ET)

RSVP

Use Mr. Linky below (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jylmomIF).

Note: Mom It Forward accepts paid sponsorships for most #gno Twitter parties. During the parties, brand sponsors provide tips, techniques, expert advice, and information on party topics. Mom It Forward is grateful for the giveaway prizes, coupons, and discounts that sponsors also provide to the Mom It Forward community in conjunction with #gno Twitter parties.

X
Photo courtesy of Karen Walrond from Chookooloonks.

Her recent post entitled “Five super low-budget, family destinations for Fall” provides great travel tips without spending a fortune. She provides great links for and recommendations about seasonal celebrations, friends and family vacations, enjoying nature, hosting visitors, and visiting Hawaii.

While talking about hosting visitors, she writes:

A spin on the ‘staycation,’ when you host out of town guests, you can play both tour guide and traveler. Be sure to visit new places or try new things with your guest. When our friend drops in later this year, I plan to visit the renovated (and expensive) California Academy of Sciences and take him on a “cheese” tour of the area.

Thanks backtobuggy for sharing her wonderful travel-related GNO Topic Talk with us. Check out this post and others at her Back to Buggy blog. (Note: The pictures above are from her site. Go there to learn more.)

For other terrific travel posts, visit these three GNO gal’s blogs:

Wandermom (AKA Michelle from Wanderlust and Lipstick, AKA our fabulous guest tweeter and giveaway queen) who talks about skiing with kids.

Cindy Schultz from Our Journey who talks about fun travel to the Magic Kingdom.

And Kaye from The Butler Family Diaries who shares an embarrassing travel moment and a fun slide show.

We will be featuring more fun posts tomorrow, so please check back!