One of the highlights of our Upper Peninsula family road trip was our cruise with Pictured Rocks Cruises, which is the only approved vendor at the National Park Service's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We booked the 2.5-hour cruise that ventures all the way to Spray Falls one afternoon. Other options for cruises were the classic cruise and the sunset cruise. We paid four tickets were $92. ... Read more
Photos to Inspire a Trip to San Diego Zoo
Our family had the opportunity to visit the San Diego Zoo last month during a quick escape from the Polar Vortex. It was our first family outing just the four of us in quite some time. We spent an entire Sunday under sunny San Diego skies admiring the animals and the impressive grounds. We lucked out when a local resident handed us a 50 percent admission coupon as we walked to the entrance to buy ... Read more
Toronto and Niagara Falls Trip Tidbits
I already recapped the highlights of our Canada summer road trip, but I left out three more tidbits I wanted to share about our trip. We found that we needed much more time to really experience Toronto and Niagara Falls, but we are glad we visited when we could! We were starving when we arrived in Toronto, but we had not made any reservations for lunch. Many restaurants around the harborfront ... Read more
SkyWheel at Clifton Hill Niagara Falls
After our morning cruise to Niagara Falls, we had a whole day to spend in the area. We wanted to check out the conservatory, but V spotted the SkyWheel from our hotel room and wouldn't stop talking about it, so we wanted her to experience it. Plus, we wanted to see the view of the falls from the top. We paid $15 to park at Clifton Hill, but we could have paid less across the street. (We ... Read more
Niagara Falls: Day and Night Cruises
Hands down the most fun we had on our Canada trip was on the Hornblower cruises to Niagara Falls. Our 3-year-old hasn't stopped talking about it and I know she will not soon forget the memories we made. I purchased the day and night cruise package, which includes a 40-minute fireworks cruise that started at 9:30 p.m. and a 20-minute Voyage to the Falls day cruise. When I bought the tickets ... Read more
A Visit to CN Tower in Toronto
** We received complimentary admission to CN Tower. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate product links. I make a small commission on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! One of the items on my list for our brief Toronto trip was visiting the CN Tower. For someone who is terrified of heights I sure am obsessed ... Read more
Our Camping and Road Trip Essentials and To-Do List
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoadTripOil #CollectiveBias The end of summer is quickly approaching and we still have one seasonal bucket list item to cross off: camping! Our last camping trip was about this time last year at Nordhouse Dunes in Michigan, and it was one of my favorites we have ever done. It was also the ... Read more
Father’s Day at Arlington Park
When I asked Graham what he wanted to do on his first Father's Day, he said he wanted to go to the racetrack. I already knew he would say that. We each have a history with horse-racing. My grandparents would take me to the racetrack as a child, and I have fond memories of spending time with them. My grandpa died when I was 14, so those memories are some of the few I can remember ... Read more
Celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary & a Giveaway!
I recently read an article listing Canada, which is honoring its 150th anniversary, as one of the best places to travel in 2017, which sparked my interest in finally setting dates for our trip. Because we can't take a major vacation until winter, we're instead looking at places to explore that aren't too far of a drive from Chicago and have lots of activities to do as a family, especially ... Read more
A Few Hours in Savannah, Georgia
I recently had a chance to either have lunch in Atlanta or Savannah during a road trip, and I jumped at the chance to see the latter, even if only for a little while. I knew we didn't have much time, so I wanted to explore whatever we could. We headed toward what seemed to be a cluster of restaurants listed on Yelp. That took us to East Bay Street. We parked next to Emmet Park for $4 and then ... Read more