A few years ago we stayed at a Rodeway Inn in Ocean City, Maryland. It was a nice enough hotel and it was affordable, which was what we were looking for. It wasn’t until later that I learned they were part of Choice Hotels International, the same company that owns Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, Cambria Suites, EconoLodge, and a few other brands I am less familiar with. I think of them as a budget hotel, which is to say they are clean and affordable hotels without much glitz or glamour.

Choice Privileges is the hotel rewards program of Choice Hotels International. Like other hotel rewards programs, it’s free to join and membership includes a few perks right from the start including express reservations, extended check-out (as late as 2:00), free high speed internet, and a complimentary newspaper.
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Martha’s family shares a family cabin near Fallen Leaf Lake and the Stanford Alumni camp (they’re but a stone’s throw away) and we’ll be spending a week out there in mid-July. The last time we were there was during the summer of 2006 and we had a fantastic time hiking including up Mount Tallac, which sits at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level (9739 to be exact). In fact, that’s where I proposed to Martha!

This year, we’ll be returning for another week of relaxation (!!!) that will, of course, include plenty of hiking and maybe some canoeing and other fun adventures. We’ll again climb up the “difficult” Mount Tallac, take plenty of photos with Martha’s new camera, and document the whole trip for all you wonderful readers!

We’ll get the cabin from Saturday to Saturday and we’ll finish off the week-long trip with a day in Reno, NV. Rooms are so cheap that we actually save money on the flights, even after adding in the cost of rooms, by waiting. We’ll probably give it all back and more at the tables but that’s how they like it.

We’re looking forward to it!

(Photo: angela7dreams)

Did you know that Carnival Corporation will give you onboard credit if you own Carnival stock? If you own 100 shares of CCL, you’re entitled to onboard credit based on how many days you’ll be sailing.

• 14 days or more – $250
• 7 – 13 days – $100
• 6 days or less – $50

If you’re sailing on their UK, Continental Europe, or Australian branded cruise lines, the benefit is similar but at slightly different values. In the UK, you get £125, £50, and £25. In Continental Europe, it’s €200, €75, and €40. Finally in Australia, you get AUD250, AUD100, and AUD50.

Shares are, of this writing, trading at $37.28 a share.

The exact terms and conditions of the benefits for 2010 are available here. It says that the benefit is applicable for sailings through July 31st, 2010 and that you have to reserve by February 28th, 2010 so it might be a offer only available in the beginning of the year.

It seems that more and more often, one of the biggest risks in flying these days is having flight staff go on strike or an airline go bankrupt. This weekend, Spirit Airlines canceled Saturday and Sunday flights because of a pilot strike. 16,000 passengers across 150 flights were refunded their fares, given a $100 credit towards future flights, and were sent along their un-merry ways.

Unfortunately, the Passenger’s Bill of Rights doesn’t protect passengers in this scenario. The bill of rights mostly protects you from being stuck on a plane for a million hours and a few other issues, but it doesn’t protect you against strikes.

What will protect you, at least a little bit, is being aware of labor negotiations of the airline you’re flying with. While imminent strike is something to look for, just seeing labor issues isn’t enough since Spirit Airlines and its pilots have been in negotiations for more than three years.

Yikes.

There’s a story floating around the web about Donna and Alex Voutsinas. As it turns out, thirty years ago Donna took her picture with one of Captain Hook’s crew, Smee, and her future husband, Alex, was being pushed in a stroller behind them. That’s right… Donna and Alex were to be wed many years later but appeared in the same photo. Alex was able to recognize his father’s black hair with a white streak, get his own photos, and match his outfit.

She’s the little girl in the pink, Alex is in the stroller over Smee’s shoulder. He was from Montreal, she was from Long Island in New York. The would later meet while working at the same hotel in Boca Raton, FL.

How cool is that!?

The post is part of the Fifth DisMarks.com Disney Blog Carnival; click on the link for more great Disney articles.

If you’re a resident of the Washington, D.C. area, including Maryland and Virginia, you can get free one-day gallery pass admission to the 2010 AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club.

At the bottom of their sales page there is a Thank You Offer:

To express our gratitude to the local Washington, D.C. community, we are offering all Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. residents free admission to the 2010 AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club! Simply present a valid Maryland, Virginia or D.C. driver’s license at the gate to receive your Daily Gallery Pass for FREE!

A daily gallery pass is worth $20 for Tuesday or Wednesday, $40 for Thursday or Friday, and $45 for Saturday or Sunday. The event is from June 29th through July 4th. Tuesday and Wednesday are practice days and the tournament starts on Thursday.

It says you can just show up at the gate with your license but you can also reserve your ticket here, which will be mailed out 2 weeks prior to the event.

I was researching some one-way flights from Baltimore Washington International to San Diego this morning when I discovered a strange little error in Bing. I first did a search for an Economy class seat to get a baseline of how much I would expect to pay. Then, on a whim, I thought it would be fun to see how much a business or first class ticket would cost. I mostly fly Southwest, which only has an economy cabin, so I’m used to going long distances without needing to upgrade. But sometimes, if the price is right, it makes sense to upgrade on these longer flights.

I changed the search to “First class” and was amazed that JetBlue had a first class ticket for only $195. Then I thought to myself… I don’t think JetBlue had a first class cabin. They only have economy seats and nice ones at that, with extra leg room and a DirecTV. JetBlue also has free Wi-Fi, which makes them a pretty good choice if you want a lot of first class perks while flying economy. [Read more →]

For Memorial Day weekend, Martha and I went up to Connecticut to attend our cousin’s wedding at Saint Clements Castle, located in lovely Portland, Connecticut. I’m always a fan of castles but don’t go to Saint Clements expecting to see huge walls, a moat, and gargoyles… it’s not that type of castle. It is, however, a very lovely venue for a wedding, which appears to be one of their big calling cards. The castle overlooks the Connecticut River, has fantastic grounds, and the castle itself is a lot of fun to walk around.

Here another look at the castle:

As you can tell, it was a daytime wedding with a 11:30 start time followed by a delicious buffet. It was the first daytime wedding I’ve ever attended and I thought it was great. In fact, I think I prefer daytime weddings to nighttime ones and I’m not really sure why so many people choose to get married at night. I bet you’d miss half the beauty of the grounds and the castle if you had the wedding at night. Plus, with a daytime wedding, you’re done before dinner time and you can get a full night’s rest (if you choose to).

Let’s get back to the Castle… [Read more →]

I don’t stay at enough Hilton hotels to reach any of the tiers in their Hilton HHonors program, but as a matter of principle I tend to join any reward program if I can. You never know when it might come in handy.

I had always known that most hotels will give you a complimentary weekday newspaper just for staying there, you just snag it from the front desk, but as a HHonors member you can get it delivered outside your door for free. It’s a nice little perk for not that much effort. [Read more →]

Last weekend we were out of town for a wedding in Connecticut at Saint Clements Castle (a post on that is on its way) so this past week has seemed especially short. Fortunately, it was enough time to find a few gems from the travel blogs I follow.

Hopefully you enjoy these (or are at least entertained and educated) as well!

• Most airport food is your standard mix of McDonalds, TGI Fridays, Panda Express, or some version of those types of places. Jaunted lists their top five airports for food but the list is peppered with chain places like Chick-fil-A and Five Guys.
• Do you know what the state fish of Hawaii is? humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Congratulations, now say it!
• It’s always important to incorporate a little bit of exercise in your travels, even if you end up hiking a ton!
• I love to volunteer and volunteering abroad is something I’ve contemplated in the past. If you thought about it too, check out this quick post by Lisa at Volunteering Vagabond on why volunteering is a great way to discover a new country. She’s currently in Thailand volunteering through the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project.

Have a great weekend!