Red Roof Inn Is Making Your Summer Travels Cheaper

I'm a fan of Red Roof Inn. Their hotels are convenient and super comfortable. It helps that they are pretty affordable too, and now they're making your summer even cheaper with low rates and a special summer promotion called Red Hot Stubs. 

You're going to do things when you travel, otherwise, why go anywhere, right? Red Roof Inn knows this and they want to reward you for being an awesome traveler and contributing to the local economy. Now through August 31st, you can get 10% off your stay when you show them a ticket stub from a local event or attraction (ticket can be an e-stub on your phone or a physical ticket, but it must be dated between July 1, 2018 and August 31, 2018 and presented at check-in).

Who doesn't want to save money on one of the biggest expenditures on their trip? As a budget traveler, I very much enjoy any promotion where I can save even a little, but 10% off your hotel is pretty significant...and it means you can do even more! Obviously, the peeps are Red Roof Inn are budget travelers at heart, just like you and me:  

"At Red Roof, we know travelers covet summer vacations and are working on a budget as they take time to enjoy and experience events and attractions with friends and family across the country," says Marina MacDonald, Chief Marketing Officer, Red Roof. "With this in mind, we're making it easy for guests to save more with the launch of our Red Hot Stubs: Ticket to Summer Savings promotion, giving travelers the opportunity to stretch budgets farther by honoring ticket stubs to local events and attractions in exchange for a 10 percent discount."

photo credit: Red Roof Inn

You can choose from participating Red Roofs in select cities:

Pittsburgh

See all the sights in the Iron City by jumping aboard the Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus, explore the Carnegie museums, see amazing birds at the National Aviary, or even take the kids to play and learn with hands-on exhibits at the Children's Museum.

Seattle

The Emerald City is full of things to keep you occupied for a long weekend or longer. Visit the Space Needle to see a 360-degree view of the city, hit up the Museum of Pop Culture when you can check out rotating exhibits of your favorite movies, television shows and bands, or take an afternoon to stroll their fantastic zoo.

Chicago

It's not all about the Bean here, but you can certainly visit it. I'd suggest a view from the top on Chicago's Skydeck, which has a glass floor and tilt-out windows. There's also the Mob & Crime Bus Tour, and a lunch cruise around Lake Michigan. Those are all things I'd have on my list.

Boston

In a city so full of history, there's something to do around every corner. Just a few that you might want to fill your time with are a trip to the New England Aquarium, a ride on the original, world-famous duck boat tour, or even take the Old Town Trolley Tour of Boston. If you like a little more fun with your history, learn about the Boston Tea Party with the Interactive Ships & Museum Interactive Tour where you can throw tea overboard one of two replica ships.

Washington, DC

A trip to D.C. can be quite eventful and affordable, if you know what you're doing, but between the free museums and landmarks, don't forget some of the more unique activities. I'm talking about The International Spy Museum, the Newseum and seeing all the presidents in wax at Madame Tussaud's. 

Philadelphia

I'm currently planning my visit to Philly and I probably have more things on my list than I can possibly get to, buy some of the coolest things I want to get to are Eastern State Penitentiary, the abandoned prison with self-guided tours, the Mütter Museum where I can view all sorts of medical oddities, and Independence Hall, where I can see the Liberty Bell.

Baltimore

It's not called Charm City for no reason. Baltimore is great for families, couples and solos. Explore the weird at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Odditorium, stuff your face with goodness on Fell's Point Food Tour, or go see an Orioles game at Camden Yards.

Detroit

It often gets a bad rap, but Detroit is full of history and delicious food. Not only that, but you can take the kids to SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium or LEGOLAND Discovery Center, see the Rosa Parks bus, JFK's limo and more at Henry Ford Museum, or take in a show at the grand, Asian-inspired Fox Theatre.

Raleigh

The capital of North Carolina has a lot going for it, including plenty of awesome stuff for tourists (and locals hoping for a great staycation). Explore 5,000 years of art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, learn about local floral, fauna, geology and more at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, wander the Queen Anne architecture of the North Carolina Executive Mansion, or even take a ride on the historic Pullen Park Carousel that features 52-hand-carved animals.

These are just a few of the ways to make your summer spectacular. There's still plenty of time left this month to fit in a getaway. You can book your room now by visiting RedRoof.com or calling 800.RED.ROOF.

Where will you be going on your last-minute summer trips?


Disclaimer: This post was brought to you by Red Roof Inn, in exchange for a free stay; however, all opinions are my own and I have enjoyed all my previous stays with RRI.

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!

Yesterday was a big day for Potterheads. It was Harry Potter's birthday. As you know, I spend a lot of time planning parties and traveling for Potter-related activities and helping the Harry Potter Alliance. This marked our 5th annual Potter party at my house and though it was pretty hot this week, we still made it work, with some adjustments.

This year's theme was Triwizard Tournament and we had a Goblet of Fire that guests put their names into to compete in a task that would earn them points for their schools. Instead of the usual Hogwarts houses, we sorted into Hogwarts Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. 

I dressed as a mermaid, to break out of my wizard attire.

My friend Melisa took this pic, which is one of the very few I have, and probably the best bad one :)

Eric dressed as Viktor Krum during the task in the Black Lake. Did I mention it was 95 degrees outside? This was our creative hot-weather outfit.

One of the tasks I set was to look around the grounds for Rita Skeeter, who was trying to get the "inside scoop" on Harry's life. I placed beetles around with random words that could be rearranged to build a headline for the Daily Prophet.

And in addition to my normal goodie bags for everyone in attendance, the winning group (Gryffindor, for the third year in a row) got to take home a Triwizard cup and some other fun prizes.

On Sunday, Eric and I attended a Harry Potter literary tea at a cute little tea shop down the road from us. The place was decked out very well and we had some wonderful conversations with other Potterholics.

The Great Hall was set with menus, little broom pens for trivia (which I rocked) and there were even floating candles. 

The spread was incredible and included cauldron cakes pumpkin pasties, a golden snitch, and other delicious British bites. There was nothing I wouldn't eat again. It was all delicious and complementary.

Each setting came with your choice of tea, which were themed for the Hogwarts houses, plus there was bonus Butterbeer and Butterbeer fudge after, trivia with prizes and a potions class where you got to mix your own tea blend. So fun! We have a second tea set for this next weekend, which I'll definitely update here.

On Harry's actual birthday, I volunteered with the Harry Potter Alliance to help organize costume contests at a old school turned bar. This was in their small gym and the staff outdid themselves making long house tables, which were all completely full by the time I got there a little after the shindig started. I'm guessing there were over 200 people. 

The McMenamin's staff had a special menu for this fundraiser, which included both alcoholic and non-alcoholic Butterbeer, treacle tarts, pumpkin pasties and a dragon egg (Scotch egg).

I dressed in my best Quidditch robe for the occasion. Aside from giving away awesome prizes, the HPA collected school supply donations and money from raffles for those prizes. They raised over $600 in cash and there were so many supplies, they barely fit into the one volunteer's SUV. Potterheads are THE BEST.

I was busy helping to wrangle children for the 11 and under costume contest, but here are some of the best costumes from the adult round. Everyone went all out and were super creative. You'll see on the left the Whomping Willow.

I'll be headed to Universal Hollywood later this month and then to Philly in October, where we hope to catch the renamed and re-structured Harry Potter Festival, now called Wizards and Wands. In between all that, I'll be volunteering for the HPA booth at Rose City ComicCon to bring more Potter goodness to the masses.

Stay tuned for more awesome Harry Potter-related stuff coming this year

Eating For Cheap On Vacation

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I love to eat and it can be one of the best things about traveling. I will plan whole days around places I want to eat, but I also plan ahead to save money on food before I leave, so I can afford to splurge on a few meals and also eat more often than usual, since I am always hungry when out in the fresh air. 

If you’re like me and want to eat all day long, you’re going to need some tips on how to do it inexpensively, so at least you don’t go broke doing it. Here are just a few of the rules I follow to get the best bargains and keep my wallet from emptying out by the end of the first day.

Bring snacks

Trick your stomach by bringing snacks with you in your bag each day. This way, if you’re tempted to nibble on something, you know you have them on you and are less likely to spend money on food you don’t really need.

Eat where the locals eat

Just by avoiding touristy areas, you can save a lot on your meals. When you’re out, ask a few people where they recommend. They aren’t going to tell you they prefer a chain restaurant over their favorite local pub. The food is likely more authentic than those that you can find right near tourist attractions, making it cheaper, because it’s local and not shipped in from a different country.

Make lunch your main meal

If you really want to try one of the “hip” restaurants by a celebrity chef, make reservations for lunch. The food will be just as good, but it’s usually much cheaper at lunch than at dinner.

Hit up the food carts

Food carts can have a huge variety of different local and international foods, but can be half the price of (or less) than dining at a sit-down restaurant. With this kind of savings, you can try fare from several carts with no regrets.

Rent a vacation home or stay in a hotel with a kitchen(ette)

This is my favorite way to stretch my food budget, because there are so many options. Renting can be a great value over hotel stays if you’ll be visiting for a week or more, plus it gives you the chance to check out the local grocery store. I am not a big breakfast person, so instead of eating out for that meal, I shop for new cereals and pastries that I can’t get at home. There’s never a better time to try new foods! 

Stay at a hotel that offers free breakfast

You don’t realize how much dining out can cost until you go on vacation. A reasonable breakfast can cost between $8-15 per person. If you multiply that by the number of people you’re traveling with and the number of days you’ll be staying, that number can be huge. If you find a hotel in your price range that offers free breakfast, you’ve hit a jackpot of savings.

Sign up for Groupon (or other daily deal sites)

Groupon.com is an amazing little site that offers daily deals on a wide assortment of things, not least of which is dining. Each day a new offer goes up at a big discount off the regular price. Dining certificates can be purchased quite often and many times I have gotten a half-off gift certificate to a new local restaurant or one just trying to bring in new customers. It works! Sign up at Groupon for the destination of your next vacation (they cover many international locations as well as the United States) and eat for less!

photo credit

Don’t order off the kids’ menu

If you travel with children, you’ll notice that all kids’ menus seem to have the same small rotation of foods. Obviously, little ones don’t just live on hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets and PB&J sandwiches. Not only do they charge an outrageous amount for these “staples” that cost hardly anything to make, but they offer hardly any nutritional value and your kids are likely to eat only half of it before declaring they’re full. Instead, order a meal that you both will eat and share. This saves you money and might get them to eat a vegetable or two.

Split your meals

Because I want to eat all day, and everything looks awesome, we often split meals, so we aren't super full, but also so we can sample a little bit more during the day. I find that most restaurants serve at least twice as much food as you should eat anyway. You might also want to just order a few different appetizers to share. This works even better if you're a little too hungry for only half a meal and the restaurant offers free bread you can fill up a bit on.

If you travel with children, having them split a main meal, instead of spending practically the same amount each on two (or more) children's menu that is the same thing you could eat at home or down the street at a fast food restaurant.

This is just a small list of things you can do to help stretch your food budget on your future trips, but they can save you quite a bit, as they have me and my family on our travels. Remember, the more money you save on meals, the more money you can spend on doing something else!

How do you save money on dining out when you travel?