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A whirlwind trip to remember

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By Melanie Zimmermann | Hickory Daily Record

Published: October 8, 2008

In my dream world, I take long, relaxing vacations at far away locations where I can sit in my chair, listen to the ocean and read my book. My family is cavorting on the beach, laughing and playing in the waves. And I am smiling.

Wait a minute, that is a dream. Because our schedules are crazy, crazy, crazy, we have to plan whirlwind trips that are within driving distance. It is very rare that we actually get a free weekend. When we do, we bounce right out of town.

One weekend, we rented a car and drove to Savannah, Ga. We left at 6 a.m. on a Saturday, arrived in Savannah around 1 p.m., drove out to Tybee Island and spent the rest of the day on the beach. The next morning, we visited Bonaventure Cemetery and walked all over downtown Savannah. We headed home around 5 p.m. and got home around 11 p.m.

Here is how we managed to afford this trip:
Accomodations: We stayed at the Days Inn $79 per night. It had a pool and was across the street from the Oglethorpe Mall. Tons of restaurants were within walking distance. It was also a pick up and drop off location for the Savannah Tour Bus if you don't want to drive downtown.

Food: We had a Chili's giftcard for $35 that our son and daughter-in-law gave us for Christmas. We used that for our dinner.

Car Rental: We rented a economy car from Enterprise at the weekend rate of $56. We were lucky that there were no economy cars available and they gave us a 2008 Chrysler Sebring at the same rate. Gas was not that much cheaper than it is now so we did spend maybe $100 round trip.

Sightseeing: We went to Tybee Island the first day and spent the afternoon. Parking was $1.50 per hour so our total was $6.00. There is a pavillion with a bar and food court. After we had all the fun in sun we could take, we walked to the lighthouse on the Northside of the island. There were a couple of weddings and a few shell hunters. The lighthouse was beautiful and there is a civil war museum.

On Day Two, we packed the car and drove into Savannah. We were lucky to find a parking space that was not on a meter. We walked the Riverwalk which took most of the day. There were several tanker ships arriving into port which was cool to see. Those are some big boats. We walked through most of the squares and my husband took us on the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" tour, his way. We ate dinner in a little restaurant that was really inexpensive and we were ready to head home.

Remember, you can take trips with your family and friends if you have a plan. I don't mean a schedule. I mean you need to know where you are going, what is available, attractions, etc. I researched our trip on the internet. I started with the Days Inn. The Web site had a list of restaurants, attractions and other fun stuff that was unique to Savannah plus there are coupons. My husband got out the atlas and mapped out our walking tour of Savannah. You can include the kids in this process as well. My dad mapped our trip down - a straight shot down 321S.

And last but not least, don't be afraid to walk a little or stay in a hotel that is not in the middle of the action. Convenience can cost you a bundle and I would much rather be inconvenienced than to have to worry about finances on my whirlwind family trip.

Sure we were tired, but it definitely is a trip we won't forget. We had no timetable. We knew when we had to be back, but that was the only constraint. Of course, we had to plan and save a little money so we could stay in a hotel and eat hot food. But the time we spent together was priceless.

Do you need a weekend getaway with your family? Check out some of these Web sites:

TheSimpleDollar.com - http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
The Web site offers some fun and inexpensive ways to plan weekend trips with the family.

CheapVacationsandTravel.com - http://www.cheap-vacations-and-travel.com/cheap-fa... - This Web site offers helpful tips on planning cheap family vacations, family destinations and vacation packages.

TravelWebDir.com - http://www.travelwebdir.com/ - This Web site features articles, blogs, videos and photos galleries posted by fellow travelers. Who better to get the best advice than a fellow traveler?

Hotels.com - http://www.hotels.com - This Web site offers hotel cost comparison, flight plans, car rentals and vacation packages.

Have you got some great travel tips? I want to know. E-mail me at mzimmerman@hickoryrecord.com or comment below.