Category Archives: Travel

Pen Pals at Plimouth Plantation

Pen Pals at Plimouth Plantation
Photo-A-Day #4095

We had a fantastic day in Plymouth, MA today. My friend Chris Lewis from Dad of Divas and Dad Spotlight was coming to MA on a vacation with his family. His daughter, Paige and my daughter, Eva are pen pals. They have exchanged a few letters so far and they were going to meet for the first time. Chris got us tickets to Plimouth Plantation, The Mayflower II and we also visited Plymouth Rock. It was a great day.

We started off at Plimouth Plantation. This is some place that I have not been since 3rd or 5th grade, I forget exactly when but I’ve been there and it was interesting. It is still a very interesting place, especially for curious kids. The people on the plantation certainly know their stuff. We had some interesting conversation with many of them during the day. We learned how to make and cure a canoe, what foods are made for the people in the plantation and how to make the clay walls of the buildings. It was very fun. The kids loved it.

Eva and Paige were fast friends and there were many tears at their parting. Andrew became smitten with Juliana and she was great with him. She carried him on her shoulders and piggyback and they played games together. It was so cute. Eva rode with the Lewis family and Juliana rode with us. At the gift shop of the Plantation Eva and Paige got personalized pens which is quite fitting since they are pen pals. I’m pretty sure that both of them were probably writing their next letters in their heads on the way home.

After the Plantation we went over to the Mayflower II. We explored the ship for a while and then looked at Plymotuh Rock.

I think the most fun was our meal at Cabby Shack because the kids just had so much fun together. Eva and Paige kept running off to giggle and whisper. Juliana was so patient with Andrew, playing games with him and getting him laughing. Allison and I had great conversations with Chris and Jean. Allison and I also had an amazing Captain’s Platter.

After our meal the kids convinced us to go to Cupcake Charlies. Eva was in her glory since she loves making cupcakes. Each of the kids got cupcakes and the parents ate the leftovers. They were delicious!

Until our next visit together… Maybe next time it will be in their neck of the woods.

The Kia Sedona, a Staycation Superstar

The Kids Loved the Kia SedonaBack in April we had a Kia Sedona Minivan for a week while we were on a mini Staycation. DriveShop provided us with the vehicle and we had a great time using it. Opinions of the loan are our own. This is our story.

I am a Kia driver. I lease a Kia Forte. While I am no fan of the dealership where I got the car (that was a whole kerfuffle) I do like my car and I was anxious to try out one of the minivans to see how it would work for our family. It is funny. I was actually on a trip with Josh from DriveShop and he put the idea in my head to try out the Kia Sedona. We had April vacation staring us in the face and I figured, what can we do during our vacation that isn’t too far but can be a lot of fun.We packed so much in the Kia Sedona

We decided upon going to Cape Cod. My parent’s home was going to be empty and we’d have the place to ourselves so we started making plans. When you have a big minivan with lots of room you make big plans. I loaded in more fun than we’d ever get to do in the few days that we’d be on the Cape. The back half of the Kia Sedona had fold flat seats and I was able to load in the kid’s MobiCruiser, something we never got to use. We didn’t get to use it because we had so much more to do.

Kia by the Sea

A trip to Cape Cod is a great way to use a minivan loan. The kids had plenty of room in their seats and even had wireless headphones so they could watch DVDs on the ride. They did a great job behaving on the trip and felt like they were in complete luxury while they road. Well, that is because they were. Not only did they have those wireless headphones and a DVD player, but their seats were almost like recliners with footrests and everything. Eva was incredibly excited about that feature. You can see that in this video

One of the things that we did on our staycation was to go to Wellfleet with my Aunt and Uncle. We had plenty of room to take them with us in the Kia Sedona. With the third row of seats it was easy to reconfigure the Sedona to fit everyone comfortably. People with large families can really benefit from a vehicle like this.

More Seaside Kia Time

for me, the coolest thing was having cameras all around the vehicle so that when I was backing up I could see everything around me. It looks like an overhead shot of the vehicle, which I marveled at thinking that satellite technology has gotten insanely detailed. then I loved closer. While everything around the vehicle was very detailed, the vehicle itself was a generic Kia Sedona that did not have the sunroofs that ours had. It was an icon and the cameras around it made it look like an overhead satellite image. It was very cool. I’d occasionally switch into reverse to put the Sedona in the perfect parking spot. I had so much fun with that feature.

Kia Sedona at SunsetThe Sedona was excellent for our needs during our staycation. We made use of the dual remote sliding side doors and the remote trunk release so often. I hated turning the Kia Sedona back in at the end of the loan. It had so many useful features and tons of space. It also drove very well. It had plenty of power no matter how many people were in the vehicle and it rode very smoothly. We enjoyed the entertainment system and the ability for Allison and I to enjoy whatever music we wanted while the kids did their own thing with the DVD player. I’d love to drive one again, maybe across country or at least for a few state road trip.