7 NIGHT RESORT VACATION CERTIFICATES

The Resort Vacation e-certificate program consists of a one-week (seven night) vacation rental stay at your choice of thousands of Group RCI affiliated properties worldwide. Whether buying for personal use, a family member, a travel or a business customer for incentives the Resort Vacation e- Certificates offer a world* of vacation options all at an affordable price of just $379 USD*. Attendance at a sales presentation is NOT required!

This is one of the new things announced at our travel trade show last week! You gotta check this out! Just go to my WEBSITE and click on the picture in the lower left hand corner. You can read the info and click on "Search Properties" to just kind of give it a test drive. Contact me if you have questions. My family is gonna do it! For $379 you can't beat it!

Looking for a Restaurant on your next Vacation?

Restaurant.com serves as the community matchmaker, introducing great restaurants to great people. From appetizers to dessert, from wine to dinner, Restaurant.com helps restaurant owners promote the new and unique aspects of their restaurants while providing diners with great value in a fun, new and cost effective way. Your favorite restaurant is in your neighborhood – maybe you just don't know it yet. Restaurant.com is here to help.

It’s so easy. Just use our search to find a restaurant. Many of our participating restaurants have different offers, so pick the place that suits you best. We provide handy descriptions and even menus to help you decide. Follow the instructions for purchasing a gift certificate and print it out. In minutes you're all set for a night out for less!

If you've ever met me, you know I love to eat! I thought this would be a great way to find out about new places to eat when you go on vacation and also save save some money doing it. By the way that's Woodys in Tupelo in the picture. If it was good enough for the King it's good enough for me!

Disney to offer free admission on birthdays!

The Walt Disney Company said on Thursday its U.S. parks will offer free tickets to parkgoers on their birthdays in 2009 to capitalize on a consumer trend for marking important life events with vacations.
The Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts also will offer new park experiences geared to the celebration theme, including street parties, video dance parties and barbecues, the company said.
Holders of annual passes can receive other incentives, such as FastPass tickets for rides, which cut down the time spent waiting in lines, or a "birthday fun card" of a value equivalent to a free admission ticket.

Grand Turk Cruise Center to Re-open in Early October

The Grand Turk Cruise Center, which is operated by Carnival Corp., will resume its cruise schedule October 8 after sustaining no damage from Hurricane Ike to its ship pier according to a completed engineering study. The facility's restaurant and retail complex did incur minimal damage.
"We believe we can complete repairs to the cruise center within a 30-day period and bring cruise ships back to Grand Turk," said Giora Israel, Carnival’s vice president of strategic planning and port development. "We will be investing millions of dollars in the coming months to help Grand Turk quickly re-build its cruise-focused tourism. Bringing tourists back to the island as quickly as possible will play a major role in driving the island’s overall recovery."
The Grand Turk Cruise Center was built to withstand the blows of a Category 5 Hurricane. It opened in 2006 at a cost of $60 million.

Hotels in New Orleans in good shape after Gustav

New Orleans hotels escaped the pounding they took from Katrina, due to Gustav's lesser force and to better preparation, those cleaning up after the hurricane say.

Damage is slight compared with 2005, says Kelly Schulz of the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. Many lodgings aim to reopen by early next week, depending on repairs, government re-entry guidelines and the return of evacuated staffers.

Meanwhile, damage to casino hotels in Biloxi, Miss., was minor compared with the beating they took from Katrina, says Mary Perez, Biloxi Sun Herald casino reporter. They were closed Tuesday, awaiting gaming commission permission to reopen, she says.

Let's support our own Gulf Coast and our neighbors in New Orleans by staying in one of their beautiful hotels. You can find great deals here!

Passport Cards are Now Valid for Land and Sea Travel

U.S. travelers can now use a new passport card for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico and some other countries.

More than 450,000 people already have applied for the passport card, said Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant Secretary of State for passport services, which federal officials started issuing last month. The passport card is cheaper than the traditional passport and intended to be useful to those who live close to the border and drive or take ferries between countries. It can't be used for air travel; a passport is required for all airline flights between the United States and other countries.

The new document — which looks like a driver's license — can be used by U.S. citizens returning to the United States from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land and sea border crossings.

The cost of the Passport Card is $45 for travelers 16 and older, and $35 for travelers under 16 years of age.

For passport/passport card info: www.travel.state.gov/passport/

Please note that the Passport Card CAN NOT be used for air travel. If you're on a cruise and you have one too many at Senor Frogs in Cozumel and get left behind you won't be able to fly back to the US without a passport.

Have You Ever Seen the Great Lakes?

If you want to travel to Canada but are at all nervous about flying, or drowning for that matter, you might want to think twice about booking a flight on Air Canada's regional carrier Jazz. The Associated Press reports that Jazz is removing life vests from all of its planes.

The reason? Fuel costs, of course. The airline is looking to lighten the load of its aircraft, thereby making the aircraft more fuel efficient. An airline spokesperson told the Associated Press that Transport Canada regulations allow airlines to use flotation devices (a fancy term for a passengers' seat cushions) instead of life vests, if the planes remain within 50 miles of shore.

The spokesperson also noted that because Jazz is a transcontinental carrier it doesn't fly over the ocean, it only flies over the Great Lakes. Hence, the chances of crashing in water are minimal compared to the probability of crashing on land. Of course, although not as large, there are other lakes, ponds, reservoirs and rivers along the Eastern seaboard from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Boston and New York— the airline's flight route.

A commercial-style life vest weighs nearly one pound, which means at 50 seats per Dash-8 aircraft for Jazz that 50 pounds would be saved by removing the flotation devices.