*I’ve posted the following paragraph and video before–while we were actually on vacation–but if you haven’t seen it, take a look (a little long at 9 minutes, but worth the time).   If you’ve already seen the video, skip down to the (more traditional, sane) review of our experience in Savannah.

This was supposed to be a simple road trip to Savannah; a mere 4 hours away from Atlanta.  Our goal was to leave about 8:00 a.m, but since I was wiped out from Christmas, I didn’t even finish packing until about 10:00 a.m.  We started loading the car about 11:00 a.m. and that was when our road trip comedy of errors began–our rental car was too small for our luggage.  What do we do?  Watch and see:

After that crazy trip, we did manage to have a good time in Savannah.  I had been there before on a solo vacation and I was eager to show my family some of my favorite things and experience new things as well.

Since Savannah has such lovely architecture, we didn’t want to stay in a traditional hotel, but in a neighborhood.  The last time I went to Savannah I stayed in a lovely B & B right on a square, but many of them don’t allow children.   The Mansion on Forsyth Park seemed like a good compromise.   I had heard good things about it and since I found a good rate on travelzoo.com, we decided to give it a try.

The room décor for some could be over the top, but for us, it was fun.   (more…)

© 2009 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

The day after Christmas my family took a vacation to Amelia Island, after a couple of days first spent in Savannah (read our adventures in Savannah in another blog post).  This was our first time on Amelia Island and really our first family vacation in Florida that didn’t include The Mouse.  The weather was really nice, most days there was a high of 68 degrees; jeans, a tee shirt and a hoodie were our everyday attire.

The Ritz-Carlton, Ameila Island

We stayed at The Ritz-Carlton (we are brand loyal fans of The Ritz), which is right on the beach and very casual.  Our room was very comfortable; the closet and drawers were big enough to hold ALL of our luggage and clothes (if you saw the video from the Savannah blog post, you would know that’s a big deal).   I found the beds comfortable and there always enough towels.  The bathroom was large and accommodated all of our toiletries.   We started off with a coastal view room of the dunes and the ocean around the corner, but we were upgraded to an ocean view room and it was very nice (we could see the sunrise).  Every room has a balcony with a table & 2 chairs.  There is a mini-bar in the room (that we didn’t use).   I’m not sure if there was a dvd player because we barely turned on the TV.  There was space near the terrace door for Girly to play on the floor.

The the rest of the hotel was just beautiful and decorated to evoke an elegant, yet relaxing atmosphere.  Because it was Christmas, all the common areas were  beautifully decorated for Christmas with greenery, lights and a Christmas tree; there was even a HUGE gingerbread ship in the lobby.  Unfortunately the decorations were taken down without warning overnight on Dec 30^th and we didn’t get to take any photos. The hotel had 2 pools, 2 hot tubs (indoor and outdoor) and a kids’ pool with a rain umbrella.  There was also a playground near the pool.    Outside of the lounge on the patio was a big firepit surrounded by sofas.  Beyond the patio was a lawn perfect for playing and used for various programs.  Surrounding the green space were lawn chairs and fire pits.  We really enjoyed sitting by our own fire pit each evening talking and gazing at the stars.

There are 2 restaurants on site and food could be ordered in the lounges and at a poolside grill as well (the poolside grill was closed for the winter).  We ate at the lobby lounge a couple of times; there is a limited menu of burgers, cheese plates, salads and chicken wings.  We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at Café 4750 and it was very good, if expensive.  The breakfast buffet was the best!   The lunch and dinner menus were similar, so  it was good that we were able to eat outside the hotel for variety (and less expense).  We did not eat at Salt, the 4 diamond restaurant, although we heard it was very good.  There was also an adult sports bar with a pool table.  We didn’t go in there because of our kids, but we did poke our head in; it was very nice and had a more contemporary vibe than the hotel lobby bar.

This Ritz-Carlton is very family-oriented.   (more…)

© 2009 – 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

This was supposed to be a simple road trip to Savannah; a mere 4 hours away from Atlanta.  Our goal was to leave about 8:00 a.m, but since I was wiped out from Christmas, I didn’t even finish packing until about 10:00 a.m.  We started loading the car about 11:00 a.m. and that was when our road trip comedy of errors began–our rental car was too small for our luggage.  What do we do?  Watch and see:

The vacation adventures continue in Amelia Island on American Beach when my husband has to use the bathroom; oh boy!

I hope that you had a good laugh.  Family–you gotta love ‘em!

*I finally wrote blog posts about our trip (the normal parts) to Savannah and Ameila Island.

© 2008 – 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Volunteering in my daughter’s classroom a few months after Christmas, I overheard this conversation:

Girl 1: What did you do over Christmas break?

Girl 2: I went to The Ritz-Carlton in Puerto Rico

Girl 1: Oooh, I love The Ritz-Carlton!

My Girly: Me too; it is the best place to stay!

Several other kids in the class chimed in that they too had been to several different Ritz-Carltons around the world and they all agreed that it was the best place to stay.

We are creating monsters.  No Holiday Inn for these kids!  As we often tell our son (who has champagne tastes on a $10/week allowance), plan a lucrative career now to support yourself because this gravy train stops soon.

But really, you can’t blame the kids; Ritz-Carltons are nice.  Recently we went to The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee.  It’s here in Georgia, about an 1 1/2 drive from the city of Atlanta. This was our second visit there and once again we had a wonderful time.  True, we had to get over the fact that the resort has plantation in it’s name (which is why I think my husband “accidently” calls it Reynolds Town instead of Reynolds Plantation) and an incident during this last visit did remind us that we were indeed in Greensboro Georgia, but still it is a wonderful place.

Our first visit was taken in December 2007 a couple of days before Christmas.  We just wanted to relax and reconnect as a family before the hustle and bustle of Christmas fully descended upon us.

This is a review of our first experience at The Ritz-Carlton Lodge:

The Atmosphere: The hotel looks like a lodge; it is new, but it was built to look old. The lobby is huge and was decorated for Christmas with a gigantic (real!) gingerbread house and several Christmas trees. There are also Christmas trees throughout the whole hotel. We loved the atmosphere in the lobby lounge and spent most of our time there on the sofa right in front of the huge (real wood-burning) fireplace. There is also a terrace outside the lobby lounge with rocking chairs that overlooks the grounds and lake. Outside at night thousands of white lights twinkle from the hotel and on all the trees. We went for a walk in the night just to see all the lights. The bellhop told us that the Ritz deliberately has “smells” piped in all over the hotel and it did smell wonderful everywhere.

The Room: We stayed in a standard room and while it was not very large (460 square feet), it was very well appointed. The beds were incredibly comfortable with feather toppers, fluffy pillows and down comforters. We had two double beds, an arm chair by the terrace window, a desk and chair, an armoire with the TV, dvd player and drawers for clothes and a huge closet. In addition there was a unique coffee and tea maker and a honor bar (that we didn’t use). The bathroom was beautiful and spacious with a separate toilet, marble shower and a huge tub. There were 2 adult robes hanging and when my son tried to wear one, I noticed a note saying that housekeeping will deliver child-sized robes upon request. Right away they brought a robe sized for my daughter and another one sized for my son to our room. A request for more towels was met immediately as well. Sliding glass doors opened up onto a small patio with two chairs. (more…)

© 2008 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

*I don’t get paid for my opinions in any way; this is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.

I can’t believe that my family won’t be able to take advantage of this SPECTACULAR offer from Club Med! Unfortunately we have already made our vacation plans, but this price is absolutely unbelievable, so do your family a favor and book this vacation. Club Med is one of my favorite family vacation spots because it is all-inclusive and there is so much for the kids to do (and so the parents get to have their own kind of fun). Because our kids are such different ages, it is hard to find vacation resorts with activities of interest to both of them. We have taken a cruise before and with my apologies to the cruising fans, we all hated it. Club Meds are perfect for us. The price is all-inclusive, the food is good and plentiful, the staff is fun and the destinations are sunny. The atmosphere is very casual, kind of funky and very international.

On our first Club Med vacation, my son and I went to Sandpiper, Florida when he was 4 years old. My husband couldn’t take time from work and I wanted a vacation that was easy to do with a four year old and a quick flight from New Jersey. By the second day in Florida we had a routine: we would eat breakfast together, I would drop him off at the Mini Club and I then I wouldn’t see him again until 5:00 p.m. My son made fast friends with several boys his age and had a blast doing all the activities planned by the G.O.s He played tennis, participated in Circus School, built sand-castles, tye-dyed a tee shirt, won a prize in a talent show and was in several theater productions. I had great plans for myself during the day: roller-blading, tennis lessons, circus school, maybe even some golf, but all I managed to do was yoga class every morning before I parked myself by the pool for the rest of the day. Sometimes I found my son at his activities and joined in, but mostly I enjoyed my much-needed time alone.

When he was six years old we went to Club Med in Punta Cana with my husband as well and again my son had a blast. My husband had a great time too playing basketball, working out in the gym and lounging by the pool with me (7 months pregnant). Punta Cana had a lovely beach, good food and a great pool. The G.O.s at that Club were just as fun as at Sandpiper.

I have a soft spot for Club Med because I used to be a G.O. long before husband and kids. I worked at both Sonora Bay, Mexico and Copper Mountain, Colorado. I don’t believe that either of these Clubs are in existence anymore and Club Med as a whole has changed a lot. It is more “Americanized” than it was before, and while I do miss the old bohemian Clubs with no televisions, alarm clocks or door locks, the newly renovated Clubs look very nice. One of the exciting additions to the Family Clubs are the teen centers–perfect for my pre-teen son who is too old for the Mini-Club, and wants some independence on vacation, but could still benefit from planned activities with kids his own age. Ixtapa and Cancun in Mexico are on our list of Clubs to visit in the future.

Listen to this song; it is addictive.  I promise that you will want to jump on a plane and get to a beach as fast as possible!

© 2008 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.