2004 Travel

New York, New York
This was Sheri's first trip to New York. Since there are tons of websites about New York I'll keep this brief.

The Marriott Couryard New York Manhattan/Fifth Avenue is an affordable base of operations for Manhattan. There are cheaper hotels in New York but this one is walking distance to Times Square and a MTA subway station.

When in New York, seeing a show is a requirement. In our case, we saw two; "Chicago" and "Little Shop of Horrors". Half price tickets can be purchased on the day of showing at the TKTS ticket booth. Its cash only and lines form early. Worth the wait.

Don't waste money on the Statue of Liberty boat tour. Try the ferry to Staten Island instead. The views are better and the ride is free. Just stay on the boat and ride it back to Manhattan.

Xcaret, Mexico
A tropical destination was something we had not yet experienced. Even though the lazy beachcomber thing is not our style we still decided to make an adventure of it.

The Occidental Grand Xcaret Resort is an all-inclusive destination resort 1 hour south of Cancun near Playa Del Carmen. We highly recommend this hotel over anything in crowded Cancun. The remoteness from any other hotels and the rainforest setting makes this an ideal getaway.

The adjacent Xcaret eco-park offers wildlife exhibits, underground river snorkling, and plenty of sand. One day park admission is included with hotel accomidations.

More Cancun travel tips under 2005 and 2009.

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis was one of those trips to use up American Airlines miles. The business traveling we did for work left us with plenty of free flights and hotel nights.

The Minneapolis Marriott Southwest is a decent hotel just far away enough from any points of interest to keep the prices reasonable. More convienent and more expensive hotels can be found downtown and around the Mall of America. Since we rented a car, distance was not an issue.

The only real reason to visit Minneapolis is to see the Mall of America. This is the biggest mall in the country, and yes it has the exact same stores every other mall has, it also has the world's largest underground aquarium and an indoor theme park. The sheer size of the thing is mindboggling.

Of course being sports fanatics we couldn't help stopping by the Metrodome to see a Twins' baseball game.

Walt Disney World
This was a trip we planned with our friends Michelle and Wayne.

Disney's All Star Sports Resort and the similar value-themed resorts are a best buy for families visiting Disney World. This is not a romantic setting, no matter how much pixie dust you sprinkle on it. Its no frills additude is more than compensated by the price and the complimentary transportation services to all the theme parks and Downtown Disney.

One thing you should not miss is Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba. Its worth missing the nightly firework show.

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