Vacation Plan B June 14, 2010
Posted by Matt in family, vacation.Tags: Atlanta, family vacation
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So, last week we officially cancelled our plans to visit the Gulf Coast for our vacation and instead made plans for four nights in Atlanta. I’m sure it will still be an enjoyable time and the kids will love it, but it is a bit disappointing nevertheless.
We will purchase four relatively inexpensive CityPASSes for our family, which will grant us entry into many of the major attractions in the city, including Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, Zoo Atlanta, CNN Studios, our choice of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History or the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and our choice of the High Museum of Art or the Atlanta History Center. Though those things will certainly keep us busy, I am still open to suggestions from those of you more familiar with the city. What do you suggest we take time to do or see?
The Plans are A-Changin’ June 7, 2010
Posted by Matt in family, vacation.Tags: Atlanta, BP, family vacation, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Shores, oil spill, vacation alternatives
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Over the years we’ve taken very few family vacations. This is due to multiple factors – lack of funds, lack of vacation days, the difficulties of traveling with young children – but, despite those plausible explanations, it has still been disappointing that we have not been able to do more. Since our children have reached an age in which they would enjoy a trip, we’ve taken two of them – three years ago we spent a long weekend in St. Louis and two years ago we visited and stayed with some good friends in Mobile, Alabama. This year, though, we reached a point where we could finally splurge a bit and do something a bit bigger, so about two months ago I hit the internet to find a spot for our trip. After some searching, we decided on a beachfront condo in Gulf Shores and set the date for our trip in mid-June.
Then, the day before the final date for receiving a refund for the trip, the oil disaster began. At the time we reckoned that things were under control as BP and the government said and that the mess would quickly be cleared, so our vacation hopes were still high. As the days and weeks stretched on, and both the scope of the disaster and the incompetence of BP became much more glaring, our concern grew.
Of course I care deeply about the health and well-being of the environment and I want things to be cleared up for its sake, but selfishly I’m a bit perturbed that this has disturbed our first real family vacation.
The real estate company that owns our condo has pledged to return all money paid if the beaches are closed within 48 hours of your scheduled arrival, but I can’t help being concerned. I don’t trust businesses to do the right thing, particularly when they are being faced with major financial losses. Secondly, only having a 48 hour window will make it very difficult for us to change plans within the week of vacation time we have already requested off from work.
I’ve begun looking at alternative vacation ideas in the likely event that we will be forced to change plans. At this point I think our top choice is spending a few nights in Atlanta, where we can visit the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, and a host of other spots using the relatively inexpensive CityPASS.
Of course everything hinges on whether or not they decide to close the beaches in Gulf Shores. If they don’t, I fear our first family trip will be tainted with the smell of oil…
