Looking for a family-friendly getaway during Spring Break? We have picked out some of our favorite places to visit.  All of our picks are driveable and no more than a few hours from the Philadelphia suburbs.

A few weeks ago my family and I attended a convention in Washington DC.  I was trying to keep the cost down since I was paying for both of my children to attend the convention, I spent a lot of time researching a money saving way and I wanted to share what I discovered with my readers.  

Many families from our area take trips into Washington to see the sites.  Many of the hotels in D.C. have high parking costs $30-$50 a night.  If you drive into to Washington there is free parking in the mall area but it's hard to find unless you're there very early in the morning.  If you find a parking garage you can pay $25 or more a day to park your car.

After some research, I found out that if I stayed in the town of Bethesda and took the red line metro into D.C. We would be in walking distance to the convention.  I never knew how easy and convenient it was.



Where to Stay
We found the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, which is right by the entrance of the Metro.  Which turned out to be perfect because it was raining on Saturday.  The Hyatt was just renovated and was gorgeous and perfect for our family.  I loved the modern finishes in the room.  The kids loved the mirror showed the time.  The staff at the Hyatt were so helpful with helping us find restaurants, offering umbrellas to use when it was pouring rain and giving us tips on riding the metro.



Bethesda
The town of Bethesda is a great town for families everything was a no more than a 10-minute walk from our hotel.  Plenty of restaurants to choose from and many different price points.  For instance, they had budget friendly choices like &pizza, Noddles & Company to a romantic date night Morton's Steak House.  If you want a special treat after dinner or lunch Georgetown Cupcake is there and also a frozen yogurt store. We loved window shopping after dinner at all of the boutiques.



Riding the Metro
Since we arrived after dinner on Friday night we decided to check out the metro before we needed to board it on Saturday morning.  I do have to warn you there is a very steep and long escalator that you need to take to get to the Metro.  You can purchase passes right at the station you load the SmarTrip card with money and you can use the card over and over just reload it with more money. I found the Metro station clean and the metro cars were clean.  Coming from Bethesda and going into DC you pass many stops, for instance, the zoo, Smithsonian, Dupont Circle, and so much more that are perfect for sightseeing in the area. The D.C. Metro website has tools for you to plan your trip using the Metro.


Overall, we found staying in Bethesda and taking the Metro a fun experience and would do it again.  My husband and I couldn't get over how easy it was and how much money we saved on parking and the stress of driving in the DC area.

If you ever visited  Kalahari Resorts before, you will want to plan a return trip. If you haven't been there before, it's time to start planning your trip.

This past week I got a sneak peak of all the new things coming to Kalahari Resorts.  The resort will truly have something for everyone in you family, no matter what age they are.

This March, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in the Pocono Mountains will become the home to America’s Largest Indoor Waterpark – dethroning the current title holder, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in Sandusky, Ohio.

Looking for a quick getaway before the kids head back to school? We have picked out some of our favorite places to visit.  All of our picks are driveable and no more than a few hours from the Philadelphia suburbs.
Grand Cascades Lodge is a beautiful and well-appointed AAA 4-Diamond hotel located in Hamburg, New Jersey.  The main attraction for families at the hotel is the Biosphere, which is an indoor pool complex with an aquarium, vortex pools, and caves, and lush tropical foliage; year-round outdoor heated pool; 140-foot waterslide.  There are plenty of outdoor activities to keep the family busy.  

Beat the heat this summer and head to the water park. Most of the water park offer day passes, but a few require overnight stays. Please check ahead to see their specific requirements.
CoCo Key Water Resort
915 Route 73
Mount Laurel, New Jersey 08054 

If you have been following me on Instagram or Twitter you know that my family and I were invited to spend a few days at Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg, New Jersey. Crystal Springs in about 2 1/2 hours from the Philadelphia Area, located in the Mountains in New Jersey and 1 hour away from NYC.

Resort

For more information:  http://www.marriott.com

Location:  Residence Inn National Harbor Washington, DC-192 Waterfront St National Harbor Maryland 20745

Disclosure: Thanks to the National Harbor Visitors Bureau and The Residence Inn National Harbor for arranging for our complimentary stay at the Residence Inn to facilitate this review. As always all thoughts and opinions are our own.

While we were staying in Virginia Beach we stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites Oceanfront hotel.  This hotel is located 2015 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach. All of the rooms have an ocean front view.  If you are staying at the Comfort Inn and Suites during off peak months or during the summer this hotel and location has something for everyone in your family. Because this is an oceanfront hotel you are steps away from the beach and boardwalk.

Arrival

I have to say Virginia Beach has the most pleasant hospitality staff around.  No matter where we went everyone was so nice and courteous.  This started the second we arrived at Comfort Inn and Suites Oceanfront hotel.  We were greeted by friendly staff, they gave us great suggestions on where to get a bite to eat after our long car ride.  Our check in was very quick and no hassles.


The Room




We had a room on the 6th floor, very easy to get to from the parking garage and the lobby elevators.  I loved the the room because it had two separate bedrooms.  This is perfect for families because everyone doesn't have to go to bed at 8:00 when the kids go to bed.  I also like the small refrigerator, sink and microwave that are in the room.  Perfect to make a small snack when coming back from a day at the beach.

The bathroom was roomy and had a plenty of counter space for everyone's essentials.  My kids loved the dual shower heads in the shower.


The view from our room was absolutely gorgeous. I loved watching the sunrise each morning, it was so peaceful.  The room also had a small balcony so you can have a front row seat to watch the beach and ocean.

Complimentary Hot Breakfast

A great way to save money on a family vacation is to find a hotel that offers a complimentary breakfast for their guest.  My family and I loved that the breakfast had many choices.  Waffles, eggs, cereal fresh fruit, muffins, danish and much more.  This was a great way for us to start our day off.  The dinning area faces the ocean and boardwalk so you have a gorgeous view while eating your breakfast.

Indoor Pool



The hotel has an indoor heated pool for guests to use.  This also faces the ocean so you can still see the beach on rainy days.


Other Hotel Features
Free Wi-Fi
Exercise Room
Business Center
Indoor Parking

Location:   2015 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, VA, US, 23451


Note: Thanks to the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau for arranging for our stay at the Comfort Suites and for helping with our travel expenses. As always all thoughts and opinions are our own.

During the President's Day break from school my family and I stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore.  The Hyatt is in a wonderful location for anyone visiting the Inner Harbor area in Baltimore.  The hotel faces the harbor so you are close to all the action and have a spectacular view.  You are also in walking distance to the Baltimore Ravens football stadium and the Baltimore Orioles baseball stadium.


The Staff

Many hotel chains these days say that they have the best and friendliest staff. The Hyatt Regency Baltimore delivers on that promise. Every staff member we passed all through the hotel no matter what their job was said hello and asked us how they could assist us. They truly seemed eager, almost happy for us to make a request so they could help us with something/anything. It made us feel at home and appreciated as a customer.


Check In

The check in process was quick and easy and the staff was helpful with offering suggestions on what we should see during our visit.  I noticed that if customers are waiting for check in, staff member would come up and offer to help them in any way they could.  




Rooms

The rooms at the Hyatt are spacious enough for a family of 4.  I loved that the windows are floor to ceiling  and you could have amazing views of the harbor.  Each room has a mini refrigerator which is perfect for drinks or small snacks when your family is relaxing in the room.  The beds were very comfortable.  I also liked that they had a noise machine in each room to block out your typical hotel sounds.  I think this is great for families because children sometimes have a hard time falling asleep in hotels.






Restaurant Bistro 300


Not everyone is a fan of eating at hotel restaurants, but you definitely need to check out Bistro 300.  They just recently opened up in this totally renovated space.  We ate breakfast and dinner and both times our meals were delicious.



Dinner

Hyatt has a philosophy of making sure that the food they serve is as fresh and flavorful as it can be.  My kids loved the choices on the new children's menu.  Plenty of healthy choices like whole wheat spaghetti and turkey meatballs, salad k-bob, sunbutter, jelly and banana sandwich.



My kids choose the steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus.  They gobbled up their meals, without me encouraging them to take a few more bites.  My 10 year old who is extremely a picky eater actually ate the asparagus and she usually doesn't eat it at home.  She also commented that the mashed potatoes were much better than moms.  My 7 year old who is a big fan of mashed potatoes said that she could tell that they were homemade and not from a box.  My husband and I ordered the cream of crab soup that had large chunks of crab in it and the Harbor salad (similar to a greek salad) both were a great way to start off our meal.  For our meals we got the Sweet Corn Cioppino and the Dry Aged New York Strip.




Since the kids did such a great job eating their dinner we decided to do desert. The kids loved the home made twinkies, (they never heard of twinkies before).  My favorite was the black forest trifle with pop rocks, the pop rocks had all of us cracking up at our table because they were so much fun the eat.  We had never tried Moorenko's ice cream before and we enjoyed all the different flavors like bread pudding ice cream, chile pepper ice cream, and cinnamon ice cream.


We left our meal very stuffed from all the delicious food we tried.  The staff at the restaurant was also extremely nice at explaining the menu to us and suggesting food choices.


Breakfast

We went back to Bistro 300 for breakfast in the morning we were checking out.  They offer a breakfast buffet with fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, fresh muffins and much more.  They also have a menu with plenty of selections for a yummy breakfast.  The kids can do the buffet or they can order from the kids menu and get cinnamon pancakes, breakfast smoothie, fruit and yogurt, top your own taco and cereal.


Overview

The Hyatt Regency in Baltimore is a great location for a family getaway this summer or during a school break.  In the summer they do have a roof top pool with sun deck.  The hotel also offers a walkway to the Inner Harbor area, which makes it much safer to get there.  The staff goes out of their way to make your stay enjoyable and relaxing.



For more information:  http://baltimore.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels-baltimore/