Haystack Rock

Looking for a great deal to the Oregon Coast? Living Social has one right now.  You can get 2 nights, a big bottle of beer and breakfast one day in Pacific City for just $199.

We have never stayed in Pacific City, but we have visited and enjoyed some good eats and great sights.

Pacific City has the ever popular Haystack Rock. Also they have the highest sand dune around making for one great workout trying to get to the top. Best part is coming down.  You see, there are these "cliffs" on the sand dunes and you can run and jump down them. You can't get hurt because it is all sand. It's so much fun.

We have eaten at Pelican Pub once, but many years ago. What I love about them is they pair their food to their beers. Love that.

This is such a great deal at just $199 for 2 nights. Get it now before it's sold out.

View from the Space Needle

I love this city. It's such a great place to vacation. They have so much to offer including lots and lots of great places to eat. And let me be honest, we pretty much ate our way through Seattle.

Most places we went to were crowded and I am a shy girl and hate to pull out my camera to take pictures, but I will let you know what we ate and what we thought anyways.

We had already done the Seattle Underground a few years back. We have also did the the Space Needle at that time too.

GETTING THERE FROM PORTLAND ::

We took the train. For $60 round trip it's pretty sweet. You spend the 3.5 hours reading, talking and not thinking about traffic. It's great.

The whole reason for our visit was to take our daughter and her friend on a college visit. Because of that they got a discount on their train fare.

GETTING AROUND SEATTLE ::

Once you get off the train you have to walk…wait for it…..1 block. From that point on you are in the free fare zone. Chances are you have a motel in that area, so no need to grab a taxi. We don't ride the bus system ever anywhere, but it's pretty easy to figure out.

We walked. Our motel was only about a mile away from the train station. And honestly after sitting on the train, I was ready to stretch my legs and look around.

As we walked we stumbled upon many happy hours. I used my Happy Hour app for Seattle, called Cocktail Compass. By the way Portland has one too, not sure about other cities though.

EATING IN SEATTLE ::

Where to start??

We stopped at Lola, which is a Tom Douglas restaurant. This place was packed. Now mind you, we are carrying back packs. But we make our way to the bar and grabbed some great eats.

Salmon cakes, red pepper humus and chicken and pork kebabs, plus 2 beers. The portions were small, but so great. We decided not to order more, but instead hit another happy hour later.

We made our way to hour hotel. (more on that in a minute) dropped off our things and hit the city again. I had scoped out more eats earlier in the week.

We went to Amber. Great place, great ambiance. Again we bellied up to the bar. We ordered the Kobe beef sliders (these are why we came), 2 pizzas, that turned out to be rather large. An order of ribs, because they told us we needed too and a bowl of their house made Clam Chowder. We also ordered 2 cocktails, that were happy hours specials and 2 beers.

Amber was amazing. We had way to much food. Partially because it was our second Happy Hour, although it was over an hour between and almost 1 mile of walking. We had earned it, right?

The bill for the 2 places were exactly the same. If you want quality, special and unique fare, make your way to Lola, just expect to pay more, but it's worth every penny.

If you want great eats, I mean great happy hour eats that's not typical fried bar food, and you want it at a great price, head to Amber.

Both will make you happy.

STAYING IN SEATTLE ::

Both times we stayed in Seattle we used Hotwire. Last time we ended up at the W Hotel.  This was the epitome of a 4 star hotel. Beautiful, sleek and amazing. It felt like luxury. The price for this 2 years ago was just $119. I just looked up a 4 star and found one for $125 a night for Pike Place area. Not sure what hotel it is, but you get the idea. I thought earlier I had found the Westin for $100 a night.

We found a boutique hotel for just $106 a night and it was a 4 star too, Edgewater Hotel, I told you about it here, and I was so excited.

Well, the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle was so incredibly disappointing. Disappointing is an understatement. I think they earn their 4 star because they are on the water. The rooms lack 4 star quality. Check out the pictures of Edgewater Hotel here. Trust me it was worse than it looks.

Now we did end up with a city side, which is much smaller and not as nice as the water side, but let me remind you we were only viewing the city out of our last hotel a few years back. The room did not make up for the lack of view. We never thought twice about our view last time, we were so pleased with our room.

The beds were hard and there was nothing luxurious about the decor. As a matter of fact the decor was down right awful. The beds in this 4 star hotel were log beds with like ugly bedding. The rooms were tiny. Again we stayed in a 4 star in CA once with tiny rooms, but the rooms were amazing.

When asked at the front desk what we thought, we told them there is no way this should be a 4 star. I think at $106 a night it was an ok deal. But at $180-$200, which is the original cost of the room, I would have been pissed to say the least.

There are tons of bad reviews of this hotel on YELP. This is my favorite because she perfectly described what I thought of the place.

I have not written a review in years but  my experience here was so bad that I had to write something. I feel like they totally lead you on, on their website. My mom had a discount from Expedia so I used it. Even with that I still payed over a hundred dollars for a room that was less then even okay. We were promised a flat screen tv which we didn't have, free internet which wasn't free, they didn't even have a continental breakfast which they had expressed was also included. The room was tiny we walked in and were literally on the bed. The whole feel of the room was dirty I think if I had not drank as much as I did that night I would not have laid on the bed. You know that it is bad when you both look at each other and say the only people who would find this luxury are people that live in a trailer park. The only nice feature was the bathroom. The decor is beyond horrible. Luckily I had the best person with me so we made the most of the night despite the hotel. Overall I give this a major thumbs down.

There is so much to see and do in Seattle. I barely touched on it. We did wander through the Pikes Place Market. We also wondered through Pioneer Place. I wanted to go to Queen Anne, but we never made it over. Another trip I guess.

Looking for an international vacation destination? Many will choose well known locations like Paris or Rome. Have you even considered Tenerife, which is located in the Canary Islands? The Canary Islands are located just off the coast off the west coast of Africa. Tenerife is part of the Spanish territory and it is the largest of the all the Canary Islands, and they are just a 4 hour flight from the UK.

The best part is there are cheap holidays in Tenerife.  Prices include accommodations and airfare from London, Manchester and All Scotland Airports.

Tenerife is a great get away location for romantic couples and families. For those that like to visit clubs in the evenings, this place is for you too. It is known for the year round sunshine, great beaches and beautiful green countryside. The country offers tons of activities and amenities.

You will have your choice of hotels to stay in from 3 star to 5 star. All the hotels will have pools and in house restaurants. You can also choose to have a small but comfortable studio or something bigger that even contains a kitchenette. What ever best suits your needs. Come as a couple or bring the whole family. Tenerife will have what you need to accommodate you holiday.

By day you can relax on the beaches and by the pools. At the night the place comes to life with a great selection of bars and clubs.

There will never be a dull moment on this vacation, unless of course, that is just what you are looking for.

We are spending a day in Seattle. The whole trip is based around us taking our daughter and a friend on a college visit. Since we lived in Portland we thought we would ride the train.

Did you know that Amtrak offers discounts for college visits?  Yep, it's true. We got a Buy One get One 50% off. With the cost of gas going up, this will save us money, plus we can all take advantage of the 3+ hour drive from Portland to Seattle. I have never taken the train, so I am excited about this adventure.

I am always on the lookout for blogs that showcase cities that we plan to visit.

Seattle-Fun seems to have tons of information and good ideas.

I used Hotwire to book our hotel. I had found a 4 star for $99 in the general area we wanted. I think I narrowed down which hotel it was. I didn't book it at the time, even though it was a great deal. Instead I put a watch on it to see if it would come down.

A few days later I was looking again. I found a 4 star for $106 and saw that it was a boutique hotel (this information is clearly marked).  I began searching to see which one it was and my husband blurts out, "just book it!" Apparently he really likes boutique hotels. I haven't traveled enough to know.

Without further research I book it and ended up on the Puget Sound in the Edgewater Hotel.  Booking prices start at $248, although with more research and our time of year I did get it down to $175, which is still a huge savings.

Not only that, I booked through Ebates and earned 2% cash back. It's not a lot, but things like that add up over time.

Another Hotwire tip :: book just one night. It will show you what hotel you got and at that point you can choose to book additional nights.

I have been watching Groupon and Living Social hoping to score some cheap eats. I haven't scored any for Seattle, but I have scored 3 recently for Portland.

Any tips for cheap entertainment or good cheap eats in the downtown area?

Read on to find out about our Hotel and where we ate.

If any of you are flying in or out of the Portland International Airport before August 25, 2011 you might be interested in today's Portland, Oregon Groupon.

For just $119 you can get a One night stay at Embassy Suites, including made to order breakfast, evening reception and seven days worth of parking. This deal will last through tomorrow, so if you are interested grab it now. Sometimes hotels have limits and once the limit is reached they stop the sale even if there is time remaining.

Remember anytime you travel watch Groupon for local stays, fare and entertainment. You just might save yourself a few bucks.

It seems like scoring that great upgrade used to be a little easier than it is nowadays, but don't fear, it can be done with a few simple tricks.

There are many travelers that say it's just the luck of the draw, but others say there really are ways to work that upgrade.  Next time you travel try a few of these ideas and see for yourself.

1. Stay just 1 Night :: If you stay for the just the 1 night chances of getting that upgrade are better.  They might be more willing to give it away for 1 night as opposed to 2 nights.
2. Come in Late :: If you come in later most of the regualar rooms should be full and they might have to upgrade you.
3. Go During a Convention :: Most conventions book out all the same rooms.  Show up to that hotel and if all those rooms are booked chances are you can get an upgrade.
4. Be Nice :: If you come in tired and exhausted and remain very polite, sometimes the front desk will see this and offer you something better.
5. Be Memorable :: If you travel a lot be nice and make yourself memorable.  Make them like and want to offer you upgrades and discounts on parking or whatever it may be.
6. Mention Why You Are There :: If you are traveling for a birthday or anniversary let them know.  When we went to Hood River for our anniversary they upgraded us and threw in a free wine tasting.
7. Ask :: Don't be shy ask for that upgrade, you never know.

The person that holds the most power for upgrades, is the one working the front desk.

For those of you familiar with Groupon you will be excited to see that there is a Travel group buying site that just went live, called Trip Alertz.

Group buying sites are offering coupons or discounts because they get a large number of people to participate.  In order to make this work, invite your friends.

Groupon does daily deals while Trip Alertz will have deals that will last for 2 weeks.  For instance You can get a 50% discount on Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles, FL.  You will have up to 12 days left to make this purchase.   Also today Trip Alertz has a San Francisco deal at the Wyndham and Hotel El Cid in Cancun for 35% off.  But the prices will continue to go down…

Here is how it works:

• On the side you will see upcoming deals.  You vote on those, the ones that get the most votes become the next travel deal.
• The new deals will go live every TUESDAY and last for 2 weeks.
• The most you will pay is the already low Member Price.
• Once a certain number of people book the same deal, everyone will get the EPIC DEAL.

All you need to do is head over to Trip Alertz and sign up and you will start receiving travels deals as well, get your friends to sign up as well.  Even if you friends sign up you won't need to travel together.

Make sure you are also signed up with Groupon.  I like to also receive deals from destinations that I plan on vacationing too.

I like to travel, but I like to do it on a budget.  This seems to work of me.

I love when Groupon has travel deals.  You can stay at some great places affordably.   Today and through the weekend Groupon is offering a great deal on the Oregon Coast, Depot Bay to be exact. Purchase it now, and you will have until May 15, 2011 to use it.

For just $265 you will get

• 2 nights
• Bottle of wine
• Bouquet of flowers
• Breakfast at Harbor Lights Inn

Aside from holidays listed you can use this anytime, including weekends.

Each of the rooms offer a view of the bay and boats.  They have Wi-Fi access, a snack of dark chocolate and cream sherry and more.

Valid with Admiral Quarters or Captain's Quarters which feature a king or queen sized bed, a wood burning fireplace, and a patio or private balcony.

The hot breakfast is made to order every morning.

You have 2 days to snag this deal through Groupon.  Don't live in Oregon, but plan on visiting, this is a great deal to see the coast.

With the holidays coming up things like this are great gifts to purchase for someone as well.  We purchase hotels for my parents often and they love it.

As I was checking other cities I noticed another travel deal.

Colorado Springs :: a 1 night stay in Santa Fe for just $99, breakfast included.

Are you new to Groupon?  If so, sign up today and select your city.  This deal is found in Portland, OR.  Don't see the deal, just check the side for an additional deal offered.

Great Wolf Lodge is having a 48 hour sale.  Family suites will be as low as $159.99 a night.  This sale officially starts tomorrow, Wednesday Sept 29 and goes through Friday, October 1 at 10am (PDT).  Because I am part of the ePack (meaning I am on the email list) I am able to start booking today.

So head over to Great Wolf Lodge and check out this great deal.

In order to get these rates you will need to enter the promo code 48HOUR.

But I did want to share the trip my husband and son took to In-n-Out.  That's right they drive 6 hours, grab a burger, see some sights, grab a burger and come home.

This is the 2nd year they have done it.  This year they stopped in the Redwoods.  They spent a few hours there just checking things out.  If you haven't seen the redwoods, you need to make a trip out.  It's pretty spectacular.

You can see in order to make it through they had to pull in the mirrors.  This was a fun stop, but they had better things to do.  You guessed it.  They had to make their way to the the happiest place on earth…In-n-Out.

The bottom picture is something that is ordered off the "special menu".  I think this is called animal fries.

They spent the night at the Gaia Hotel and they loved it.  You can read how I got it at such a great deal.  I have to preface this with my husband is a hotel snob and won't stay at a Motel 6, so getting a nice hotel at an affordable price is always a good thing.

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