Plus Your Points and Maximize Your Road Trip Fun

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Enterprise Rent-A-Car for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We rent a lot of cars when we travel. Sometimes it’s just a necessity at your destination, like to get to all the theme parks in Orlando or to get around to parts of a city that doesn’t have the best transit. Rental cars can make your vacation a lot more convenient and saves you time. In the past, we have even rented a car to take road trips. Your family car can take a rest and you can get something roomier that is more comfortable to ride in for long periods of time.

Though I generally choose the best deal I can find, my preferred rental car company is Enterprise. Their customer service can’t be beat and they have a great array of cars to choose from. Now, you can make the most of your rentals by signing up for Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s Enterprise Plus loyalty program and taking advantage of the Plus Your Points promotion going on now through March 31st. This annual promotion doubles the points you earn on qualifying rentals. The more points you earn, the faster you can redeem them for free rentals – with no blackout dates!

Winter is a perfect time to take a road trip. To get more bang for your buck, popular summer destinations are less crowded in the winter and hotels offer lower rates, because they have more free rooms available. My choice would be taking a trip to Disneyland. Lines are shorter and you can do more each day than any day during the summertime. I like being able to take my time and not rush. Dining is less of a hassle, too. So many options, but no crowds of people making me wait forever for a table. With my rental car, I can also drive to other theme parks – like Universal Studios – or even the beach! It might be too cold to get in the water, but it doesn't mean I can't take a stroll along the Venice Canals or visit the Queen Mary.

Though driving can be a bit far, we’ve often made the drive to save money on airfare and stopped many places along the way to maximize our fun and not feel like we’re spending 4 days (2 there and 2 back) just sitting in the car. Some of my favorite stops along the way:

• The Oregon Vortex. It’s totally hokey, but fun and amazing. How can I be the same height as my husband who is normally 9 inches taller than me? How does water uphill? How can I walk on a wall? It’s crazy – crazy fun! (located in Gold Hill, OR)
• Pea Soup Andersen’s. Buellton, CA may not be on your radar, but if you’ve ever stopped to eat around there, you know that Pea Soup Andersen’s is THE restaurant to dine in. Besides delicious soup, they have other great food and a huge gift shop.
• Gilroy, CA. If taking the scenic route to Southern California down Highway 101, Gilroy should certainly be on your itinerary, unless you aren’t a fan of garlic. They hold a garlic festival every summer, but even if you visit during other months, the smell is very powerful even before you reach the town.

By renting a car through Enterprise, I can leave my car at home and put the mileage on a rental. If anything happens to the car on the road, Enterprise will take care of it. I can also earn points a variety of ways, so I can rent a car for free in the future and travel more budget-friendly.

Once you register for the Plus Your Points promotion, you can earn points by renting a qualifying vehicle, adding a GPS to your rental, sharing the program on Twitter, referring friends who then rent during the promotional period and more. Your points never expire as long as you rent from Enterprise at least once in each two-year period, which is so much better than many other rewards programs!

Remember, you can earn double points + bonus points now through March 31st, so register now at Enterprise Plus Your Points promotion website and start accruing. Enterprise can help make your winter road trip better than ever and also keep you on or under budget, plus make a future vacation even more affordable. You can’t beat that, right?

Follow us on Facebook

Sitting Down to a Medieval Banquet

If you've ever been to Medieval Times or Exacalibur's Tournament of Kings in Las Vegas, you probably decided it was more money than it was worth and you did it once and that was enough. The food isn't all that great and you have to (get to) eat with your hands. Though the show is fun, it can be pretty hokey. I'll admit, I love such cheesy activities whether I'm at home or on vacation – though I'm more willing to pay for it on vacation – but agree that they can be expensive unless you can get a really good deal online. 

Last time in Vegas, we received free tickets to Tournament of Kings. Had we not, we probably would not have paid the price and it had put us off these dinner and a show things, though I was still willing to spend money to go to something similar in London. The problem? Tickets were upwards of $80 per person. With the price of everything on this trip costing more than anywhere else, I had given up hope on getting to do it this trip as well. Fortunately, I had signed up for all the daily deal sites that offer deals in London and happened to see one for the Medieval Banquet that was 51% off! I couldn't turn that down, especially since dinner out would cost almost as much...and I would have to entertain myself!

Even though I was excited to experience what it might be like to be a member of the King's court, I had little hope that the food would be any good. We figured it would be some kitschy fun and an interesting way to spend an evening. Let me tell you, it was so much better than we ever expected. It took us a while to find the actual "dungeon", but after asking for directions from a nearby business, we found it and descended into a Medieval "castle". It was definitely not anything I thought you'd find in the middle of London next to the docks. 

You have the opportunity to rent costumes to make your evening even more fun. We decided to skip that and were shown to our table where we sat between a nice couple from Kent (he did dress up) two girls from America who were living and working in the city. We had fantastic conversation (does this ever happen???) and then the food started to come. Cauldrons of piping hot soup and large loaves of bread were set on the table, along with pitchers of water and "grog". While we dug into this first course, they explained the rules of the banquet. You should address your waitress as wench and do so in a loud, booming voice if you need anything and she isn't standing near the table, how to participate in a toast and when you like something, you should pound on the table vigorously, hoping your silverware – yes! there are forks and knives here – doesn't fly onto the floor.

You get to drink your soup from a bowl. Amazingly, it is a really good veggie broth. Next, comes the salad. Nobody really knew what to expect, and I wish I got photos, because it consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, pickled carrots and cucumbers and slices of liverwurst. Interesting! I'm sure most of you are cringing at your screen, but I loooooooove liverwurst. Eric does not, so I traded him for my tomatoes. I liked the authenticity of the salad, because in the middle ages, you would not get served a Caesar or chop salad. It was rustic and really delicious. This is when the entertainment started. 

Unlike at Medieval Times, there are no jousting knights or horses. The banquet room has low-ceiling alcoves where each group of tables were situated and you wouldn't eat a meal while watching something that takes place outside. No, you would get jugglers and singers and the like, so that is what they had. A very bendy girl did some contortioning, hula hooping tricks and ribbon-twirling while the King and Queen sang, old timey instruments were played a guy juggled and a lady dressed as a unicorn danced. The entertainers would rotate, so everyone had a chance to easily see everything. 

The main course came after much fanfare and they had thoroughly embarrassed some "volunteers" by making them engage in a little dance with the performers. What came was some of the juiciest chicken I've gotten anywhere and platters of roasted root veggies that were amazing. Since coming back, I've been making my own version for many dinners. This is when the sword fighting began. Some excitement for the main course! Dessert did not disappoint either. A lovely apple pie with soft crust and cream came. Though we were all pretty full by then, we managed to enjoy every last bite. 

The courses came in long enough intervals that you had time to digest and hang out, but not feel like you were waiting forever for the next one to show up. After the food, there was a small dance party, turning the banquet room into a little disco with modern music. We danced a little and then spent some time talking to the folks at our table and getting to know some lovely older ladies at the next table. The four of them were celebrating their friend's birthday. Three of them had been friends for 65 years! I really hated to leave, since the night was so much fun, but alas, all good things must come to an end and tomorrow was another day of seeing the city, so we wandered back to the Underground station and back to our flat to get ready for it.

I'm really happy we took the chance on what we thought would be totally hokey, because it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. Have you been to the Medieval Banquet or want to go? Subscribe to London deals on KGB Deals. They even have special meals if you're a vegetarian, so don't let that stop you from considering it. For more info, check out their website.

New Year, New Travels

Happy New Year! Can you believe 2013 is behind us already? It seems like the year just flew by and I didn't have nearly enough time to get everything accomplished that I hoped for. That's okay though, because a new year means new chances to achieve goals and make new ones. I had a lot of resolutions last year, so I should be happy with the amount of them that I was able to cross off. The last few months have seen me move to working at home "full-time", which means I'll be writing more. Not so much on the blog, but freelancing and other projects I have going. This change is going to help me work on my first two goals this year.

Second book edition

Yes, I said this was going to happen last year, but between my freelance projects, the blog, work and having a personal life, this fell to the wayside. Once I settle into my home-working rhythm, I plan to put a schedule into action that will include heavily working on a new edition of Shereen Travels Cheap, which will have a whole new look and title!

A travel cookbook

I hoped to have this out by Christmas, but I had the same issue with this that I did with my second edition. I did make many of the recipes and took photos, but that's as far as I've gotten. My hope is to put together a selection of foods you can make before you travel to snack on when you fly and road trip and then a whole bunch of easy ones that you can prepare with minimal ingredients you can find at the local farmers' market. Cooking on vacation may not seem fun, but it can save you money and give you time to just chill out in your room and rest up before you head out again.

Go somewhere I've never been before

This was on my list last year, and I ended up going to Vancouver BC quite by accident and only for 8 hours, but I'm still counting it. This year I'll be going back to my childhood stomping grounds of Williamsburg, Virginia, but I'll also be headed to Washington, DC - though I've driven through town, technically, I have not "been" there - and Virginia Beach. I'm not sure what else my year has in store for travels, but I'm sure that won't be it. Where are you traveling in 2014?

I was a little afraid of this pate en croute, but it was really good

Do something that scares me

This was also something on my list last year...though I tend to keep it on my list all the time. It's important to get out of your comfort zone when you travel. In 2013, I slacked on my resolve to learn more French. I guess I did learn more than before, which was pretty much nothing, but not nearly as much as I hoped. We jumped full in again on our trip to France and were afraid no one would understand us, but that didn't happen at all. Turns out, Eric learned more than I did and he was better at communicating, though when I actually got a joke from a waiter, I felt pretty smart. I'm not sure what I will do this year, but hopefully it will be exciting and won't be because I was a lazy planner. Did you do anything scary this past year?

Not have to get a part-time job

I'm hoping the need for working to make money will be incentive enough for me to fully pay my bills by writing alone. If not, I will have to find a part-time job outside the house. Of course, luck is an equal partner in my hard work ethic, so cross your fingers for me and help me out by clicking on those affiliate links I use in posts and on my travel links page. And if you like my posts, I totally appreciate comments and shares.

Hopefully, our 2014 (and yours!) has more moments like this

I'm  not going to stress myself out over tons of travel and blogging goals, so I think these five are a good place to start. Are there things you would like to see from me in 2014? I'd love to hear them, so I can bring you more of what you love.