See ya there!

Cherie of The Travel Bee is the winner! She said:

My favorite destination list is growing with each country/city I visit. However, there is one Place that I absolutely love. That is Canterbury, England. It is a charming little town, with boatloads of history! Away from the hustle and bustle of London, about two hours away by train. There you will see quaint buildings, winding rivers, a grand cathedral in the middle of the city, and cobblestone streets. You will fall in love with this place, as I did. I hope to go back someday, and England is one of my favorite countries to visit. There are so much history, So many different towns with so much character. London is another place I have to add to my list. With many reasons, I cannot list all of them-for it would be too much! I would love to go back to England, and touch the soil each season. For I am sure, there is much to offer travel addicts!

Care for a Cup of Tea and Scones anyone?

Cherie – send me an email chris (at) littletravelnotebook (dot) com and I’ll get this sent off for you to enjoy!

Comments are now closed. Winner will be announced tomorrow!

Travelers and Travel Writers – pay attention! If you missed the Travel Blog Exchange on July 26, you missed some important stuff. Not only did we get some great ideas for building our blog but we made some fabulous contacts and got some cool swag. Keep reading if you want some cool swag too!

Kristain of Londonelicious is going to hook us up with some cheap eats next time we’re there.

Sandy of Travels with Sandy actually quit her job so she could travel. How cool is that?

Mary Ann of Enchanted-Traveler spends a few weeks each year in France and Kiratiana actually lived in Paris – and she’s blogging about how to do that for yourself.

Chris of Amateur Traveler has been podcasting about his travels for four years and shred some great insights both about travel and about capturing good video.

Amber of Mile High Mamas is cool just because she’s from Denver – we’re big fans of Colorado!

Heather is a flight attendant and shared some pretty hilarious stories from her Galley Gossip column on Gadling.

Linda writes about travels with children at MinneMom and wow, she has some serious detail in those posts. You’ll know where to go, how to get there, where all the good snacks are and everything.

Jeff of Savvy Navigator plans some awesome luxury tours for his gay clients. And we do mean awesome!

Kristin was there to represent the Chicago Office of Tourism who operates the awesome @exploreChicago on Twitter. Anything you need Chicago info just ask @exploreChicago and  they’ll hook you up.

Jessie and Ed were there from Wandering Educators and were great to meet up with.

Kelly of Travellious was there after several days on the road as part of the TBEX Road Trip. Kelly likes to travel rebelliously. We’re not quite there but we get it and we love it!

Donna of My Itchy Travel Feet writes for baby boomers who travel and she tweeted pretty much all of TBEX.

We also met folks from Vail Resorts who want us to come and visit and so many other people we can’t even list them all.

If you want to feel like you were there, here’s one opportunity – we’re giving away one of our Travel Blog Exchange Swag Bags.

Here’s what you’ll get –

• a Hertz laptop friendly backpack,
• an Energizer battery charger and batteries,
• a Boingo luggage tag and free try of Boingo internet,
• a free session of GoGo Inflight Internet,
• a bunch of the new Starbucks Via brew,
• an Ask Arthur Frommer book,
• a Tots-on-the-Go first aid kit,
• a Savvy Navigator luggage tag,
• a stainless steel TravelPod water bottle,
• a free level one language lesson from Rosetta Stone,
• a tugo cupholder for your suitcase,
• a $10 gift certificate and free shipping from Minimus.biz,
• a CD of the Indie Travel Podcast and
• a Hotels.com thumb drive.

In addition we picked up -

• a BootsnAll t-shirt (black, size large, men’s style),
• a BootsnAll sticker and
• a GoGo Inflight Internet luggage handle wrap.

In order to enter, please leave a comment with your name (we don’t want anonymous winners!) telling us your favorite travel destination and why you like it so much. We’re planning some trips and want some good ideas, so give us your best. You can gain an extra entry by tweeting about our contest, featuring a link to this post and our name, @Travel_Notebook.

The contest is open to anyone. You don’t have to be a travel blogger, you don’t have to live in the US. Now, start commenting! Contest ends at 12pm CST on Monday, August 3, 2009.

By miscellaneaarts on flickr

While browsing the internet one day, I stumbled onto the journal page submissions featured on The Travelers Notebook. Immediately, I was jealous. In an ongoing effort to capture a place and share it, I take photos, I make notes, I put flags in guidebooks, highlight phrases in neon yellow but never, ever do I draw. My drawing is awful, 100 times worse than my handwriting. Childish, kindergarten level stuff.

I’ve made travel collages that weren’t too bad. My first was on a family trip to Washington, D.C. when I was 8. My Mom gave me “The Kids Guide to Washington, D.C.” which suggested saving ticket stubs, brochures and other travel ephemera and putting it together into a scrapbook. I wrote page after page of what we did and glued everything, including the airsick bag the Secret Service gave me at the White House, into the book. Every family trip thereafter, I was in charge of the scrapbook.

By bitsandbobbins on flickr

I have a journal from a trip I took to Michigan in 2002. It was my very first, on my own, grown-up vacation. I was camping, by myself in Northern Michigan and revisiting sites I had seen as a child. It somewhat captures the trip, but uses my Mom’s style of journaling – she’s an accountant – of recording prices, odometer readings and where I ate. There are a few glimpses of travel writing in amongst the prices though.

“…The final stop of the day, after driving forever out to the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, was Leelanau State Park. It has primitive camping – no electric, no showers, and outhouses. I am camped right on the beach though, which makes it all worthwhile. For the first time on my lake vacation I can fall asleep to the sound of waves on the beach.”

My only excuse for the boring journal is that I was on vacation from my day job as a newspaper reporter, so perhaps I was not in the mood to write. I remember that trip vividly – the journal entries could’ve been so much more. A journal that we currently keep in the camper is extremely similar though. I record where we are, if it’s a good campground or bad, gas prices and things we visit and if we enjoy them or not. I’m kicking myself. Am I a writer or not?

I can certainly share with you the places we go, how much the campgrounds or hotels cost, if we liked the restaurant and the best things to do in a city. But so can many other people. It will be so much more if I give you the sense of the place – whether it is a campground, an historic site, or a restaurant and what it feels like to be there. Whatever your travel style, there is a good way to record what you do. A way that works for you. My combination that gets me to these blog posts involve pen and paper notes, a “Passport to Your National Parks” book and the “1,000 Places to See Before You Die in the USA and Canada.” I’ll explain how I use these tools but I encourage you to branch out. To just sit down and look at a place and write, type or photograph until you capture what that place makes you feel. That is the best way to preserve your travel memories.

By bookgrl on flickr

*Click on any of the photos to go to the original flickr page for each one. All of my old journals are at my parents house and were unavailable for photographing.

What it’s like to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park

Our journey started in the visitors center.  Like other national parks the center featured a short film (reminded me of elementary school) along with books and other memorabilia reminiscent of the civil war.  The front of the visitor center was stimulating, but nothing that captured my imagination. Then, something magical happened in the interpretive displays.  The wool uniforms, the black powder rifles, the antique vessels and elixirs, the battlefield maps transported us out of the here and now into a sensory experience of life during the siege of Vicksburg.  I suddenly understood the struggle of Vicksburg’s beleaguered residents and the challenges faced by the opposing armies encircling the city.

Beyond the visitors center lay the Memorial Arch serving as the gateway to the battlefields of the Vicksburg National Military Park.  The Arch marks the start of sixteen miles of roads set along side the trenches, fortifications, and historic troop positions of the Confederate and Union armies.  Memorials and markers along the road place the scale of the conflict into view.  Standing between opposing fortifications only feet apart there is a palpable intensity and feeling of fear these brave troops must have endured.  It’s an experience that cannot be matched by reading a book – feeling the intense summer heat, seeing the gun emplacements, and standing atop the redans.

Along the driving tour there are plenty of places to get out of your vehicle and view the battlefield.  Be sure to stop at the Willis-Cowan antebellum home along the drive.  This  home has been carefully restored to the time period of the siege when it was used as a headquarters by Confederate Lieutenant General Pemberton.  The USS Cairo is also a great stopping point.  This Union ironclad gun boat, rests in a sheltered display next to a museum featuring artifacts from boat and its crew.  The park also features the Vicksburg National Cemetery where 17,000 Union soldiers are buried.  The immersive experience through the park you will provide a great appreciation for the importance of this battle in the US Civil War.  A stop here is certainly worth the time!

A few tips to get the best experience when visiting the National Military Park in Vicksburg:

1. Be sure to take the narrated audio driving tour of the park.  You’ll wind around roadways of the park with a virtual tour guide. You can buy the audio driving tour CD in the park gift shop, but check the front desk of your hotel or campground first to see if they have a copy you can borrow (for free).
2. Take a few minutes to visit the park’s website and the visitor’s center before you start the driving tour, so you have more of an appreciation of the battlefield and the history of the siege.
3. During the summer, the Mississippi heat can be intense.  Take the driving tour and walk the battlefields in the morning to avoid the heat.  Be sure to bring along a bottle of ice water – there are no concession stands in the park.
4. The National Park Service is offering Fee-Free Days August 15 and 16. Visiting either of these days will give you free entrance to the park – the normal entrance fee is $8.

-Written by Robert

Usually as we’re driving along I’ll pull out the book and look through the listings for the state we are in and see what sounds interesting or what will be along the way. As I paged through Louisiana I saw Natchitoches and it went something like this -

“There’s this town in the book that sounds cool but I don’t know how to say it and we just drove past a sign that said it is coming up. I think we should stop.” Robert, always up for adventure said ok and exited when I pointed out the correct exit. Neither of us had a clue how to say the name of the town at all.

As we drove along the streets looking for a good stopping place, we saw beautifully landscaped yards, not prim and proper landscaping but lush, almost tropical plants and lots of vines trailing along intricate wrought iron railings. We found a place to park on a side street (we were towing the camper) and set off to explore. We had Daisy on her leash so we tag-teamed going into stores so someone could always stay outside with her. The main street is just cute and has the balconies and wrought iron of New Orleans without the bars and beads of Bourbon Street getting in the way. Natchitoches is Louisiana’s oldest town and that rich history is apparent all over the buildings. And with the main street right along the river it’s just a beautiful place to hang out. It feels relaxing, even when there’s some hustle and bustle about.

Robert just walked around taking pictures of every interesting building that he saw and I enjoyed popping in and out of some cute shops. I enjoyed the Louisiana Purchase store full of Louisiana made goods and Louisiana-themed goods. They also made their own pralines, fudge and ice cream. Include some ice cream mixed with some of the homemade fudge or some of the pralines that is just the best. I didn’t really care that is was barely 10am, I ate some anyway! We walked around just enjoying looking at all the historic buildings for awhile and then headed over for some of the famous Natchitoches meat pies.

I again stumbled at the name – obviously those High School French classes didn’t stick – but the locals all know Lasyone’s – at 622 Second Street – is the place to go so they can get you there even if you butcher the name as I did. Let me tell you. Those meat pies were GOOD. We only made one mistake. Lasyone’s is apparently a dine-in type restaurant so when Robert went in asking for two meat pies to go it took a little bit to get our order. There was a little garden next door between the restaurant and a museum with some benches that were a perfect place to eat. We couldn’t dine in since we had Daisy along but it all worked out. The pies had the tastiest outer dough that was fried to a crisp. And inside the meat was flavorful and well spiced and had a perfect texture. It was ground meat – beef I’m assuming – and all almost completely uniform in size, no awkward chunks or anything. And the filling was juicy but not greasy. It was seriously good. I found a recipe online for these, but I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t tell you if it is as good as the original. We did bring home a spice packet to make some but haven’t had time to try it yet either.

Natchitoches is where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed and you can take Steel Magnolias tours and such, but that isn’t really our thing so we didn’t even look into it. It would be the perfect town to escape to for a nice weekend in a bed and breakfast. A little shopping, walking by the river, maybe seeing some of the nearby plantations, eating some meat pies and maybe even taking a horse-drawn carriage ride. It’s the kind of town where that feels right. It would make a perfect romantic getaway, or a great history trip. I don’t think kids would hate it, but young kids might get a bit bored if they aren’t used to the shopping, walking, looking at buildings thing.

Away from the town in the rural area you can visit several plantations. We didn’t have time to do much more than just a quick look at a few of them, but it is definitely on our list of things to revisit. I’m thinking a B&B, late fall with some plantation tours might be just the thing. And if you go, it’s called Nack-i-tish. At least, I think that’s right.

This time was a little different. There were three objectives – share some of my favorites with Robert, do some exploring, and of course, go to the Travel Blog Exchange conference.

I would say that most of that was accomplished. I’ll leave the  exploring and the favorites for another post, but TBEX… well, that was great. I am so happy that I found out about it in time and that we were able to go. Robert and I  have kicked around the idea of a travel blog, or some other project we could work on together for quite awhile. Pulling our idea together and starting it off in close proximity to this conference has given us a solid base to start off from, some seriously amazing contacts and lots of great ideas.

I am guessing our entire trip home will be spent talking about ideas, brainstorming and working on posts and plans. I definitely plan to spend some time looking at blogs of people we met, emailing everyone and just getting lots of things written up about Chicago.

We had the opportunity to ride on a sailboat  on Lake Michigan which made me feel like I was home all the way down into my bones. Going to TBEX and bringing Little Travel Notebook together, with Robert is that same kind of feeling.

We’re both really looking forward to the journey and we are glad we’ve met so many on the same journey! Welcome, we hope to keep  the conversation going.

In order to do that, I’m going to ask – what did you do  in Chicago that you loved? If you didn’t go to TBEX but you’ve been to Chicago, what’s your favorite memory of the city? Tell us here or tweet us @Travel_Notebook

This is a look up from Grant Park to our Saturday night hotel, The Blackstone – it’s the one with the green roof. The lobby is a riot of ornate and posh. Carved bronze, black marble, carved plaster ceiling, deep velvet chairs, brass railings and crazy striped carpet. Your eyes can barely pick a spot to rest. It’s an impressive property. I wish I could say we loved it. Our reservation for a king room turned into a “parlor room” when we arrived. This means we got a sofabed to sleep on. We were disappointed but too tired to fight it in the moment. We’ll be talking to the management soon and we’ll let you know what they have to say about it too.
But two important take aways from this. First if something is not right about your reservation or it is very different than what you were expecting, speak up. Be firm but polite. Had we spoken up more firmly the hotel would have had to do something for us. Second, if you can afford to stay near Grant Park while you are in Chicago, do it! It is beautiful and jam-packed with activities. It’s worth a little bit of a splurge to be in the center of the action sometimes.
– Posting on the road

While wandering along Michigan Ave in Chicago we came across the Fine Arts Building at 410 S Michigan. I saw a sign for a used book and sheet music store called Selected Works. I’m a book junkie and Robert loves music so we headed in. First of all there is no air conditioning so if it’s a hot day it is a bit stuffy. The store is on the second floor so we pushed the elevator button – there was an actual elevator operator! That was a first for both of us though I tried to give my request as if I do it every day.
The building has been an artist’s haven since 1885 according to the web page – www.fineartsbuilding.tv and it is a space specifically designed for artists.
The bookstore was a rabbit warren like space with shelves going here there and everywhere all the way up to the ceiling. I, of course, saw one near the top so we grabbed a ladder and Robert climbed up. After Robert went off to look at music the resident cat came to visit. He climbed the ladder and looked at the books and looked at me. I even have some video of it to add at some point.
I went to find Robert soon after and the cat followed. He was trying to play with Robert’s shoe and then leaned up and chomped on Robert’s ankle. Robert yelled and the owner came and took the cat to put him in the “time out room”.
You’d think after that incident I would’ve gotten a discount but no.
If you need an out of the ordinary stop in Chicago, check out Selected Works. Just make sure you wear some boots.
– PostIng on the road

Finally some Chicago style pizza at Lou Malnatis. One of my favorite things about Chicago. We met up with my parents who came over on the train for some lunch. Chicago is full of great lunch options. My Mom emailed me a list of ideas and my only request was that we do not go to any chain restaurants. Besides the quick bite on the road occasionally , Robert and I really try to avoid chains when we are traveling. I was really hoping we would end up going for pizza though, since it is hard to find a good deep dish pizza in Texas. Mom chose the Lou’s on State Street which was near the train station for them and near our hotel as well. It was good, as always. As you can see from the photo I was so excited to dig in I forgot to take a photo when it arrived. The best part about Lou’s? You can buy frozen pizzas to take home or, call 1-800-Lou-to-go and they will send you a pizza – anywhere in the country! We will be carrying a few frozen pizzas home for ourselves and other homesick Chicagoans.
– PostIng on the road