Hello friends! Boy I have not been on here much! I have just moved across the country and I am doing my best to settle myself and 5 kids into a new place. I have also been trying to figure out what to do with my blog. I wondered if it was time to retire it altogether or maybe just revamp. I have decided to go with the revamp. I am still a mom of five looking for a great deal, I still want to share great deals, product reviews and other great content. However, my blog has had some changes.

While in Omaha, I focused a lot on local grocery deals, store sales and local free or cheap activities. I tried to do the same when I lived in Scottsdale, AZ last year but found it was difficult. In that area, grocery deal match ups and couponing were not of interest. I think some of it was backlash due to the perception of couponing people now have thanks to shows like Extreme Couponing. Some of it was the fact that most people living in that area do not need to coupon. Whatever the reason, it was a fail-my blog numbers dropped dramatically.

The place I live now is a small town. It does not have the same kinds of options for pricematching and groceries that big cities have. I am still learning how to shop and save money here. Luckily for me there is a FANTASTIC blog locally that is helping me learn. If you are a local or are planning to visit Grays Harbor at any point, make sure to check out Annaliese over at Grays Harbor Deals. Her blog is awesome! And I know her personally-she is awesome too!

Most of my readers live in Utah and Nebraska. I have a good group in Arizona, and I found I have a growing number all over the country-actually all over the world. I learned in looking at my blog stats, that the posts with the most hits are usually my travel posts. Awesome! Reviews and travel posts are the ones I like to do the most!!!

So, here comes the new plan (which is a work in progress, so bear with me): we are bringing back the weekly series! We are continuing to review and give away products, and we are focusing on deals that are not quite so local (that's not to say I won't post local stuff-I will sometimes). 

My former Weekly Series looked like this:

• Sunday: Sunday Savings: Newspaper round up
• Monday: Mommy School Mondays 
• Tuesday: Tuesdays Travels
• Wednesday: Beckee's Best of Omaha Grocery
• Thursday: Thrifty Thursdays (Random thrifty tips on a variety of topics)
• Friday: Weekend Warriors: Daycations
• Saturday: Service Spotlight Saturdays
• 
  

I told you last week that my husband is a resident and is currently applying for a fellowship. I have decided that a great way for me to learn about each place we are considering for our home in 2 years is to use each location as a Tuesdays Travels location week to week (some are already done). So, here is the list of places:

• Salt Lake City, Utah (done)
• Scottsdale, AZ (basically Phoenix)
• Omaha, NE
• Denver, CO (done)
• Seattle, WA
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Antonio, TX
• St Louis, MO
• Pennsylvania, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Iowa City, IA
• and the newly added Rochester, MN

However, I realized that with the exceptions of Salt Lake, Denver, and Omaha, I know next to NOTHING about these places, so I am asking, nee begging for anything you can tell me about the places on this list.  What are the major attractions of these places? Where do I walt to visit while I am there? What are the best family places there?  What is your favorite thing about the city listed?  Really ANYthing you can tell me would be appreciated!!

Tuesdays Travels today will focus on a place I used to live as a teenager: Denver, Colorado. My dad attended Law School at DU for 3 years, so I lived in Denver (ok actually Aurora) Colorado from 6-8 grades. So, much of my Denver knowledge is from a young teendaged point of view. I do not want to tell you to just go hang out at Cherry Hills Mall, so I did some research on this one!!

As always, I will use the following categories for this Denver post as part of my Tuesdays Travels series:

• General Information
• Getting there
• Accommodations
• Transportation
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping

General Information

Denver is the capitol city of Colorado and is located right by the beautiful Rocky Mountains! Nicknamed the Mile High City due to it's elevation, it is a beautiful city with a variety of food and fun options! It is where I lived when I fell in love with the theatre, so it has a special place in my heart!

Getting There

Denver is fairly centrally located in the west, so driving to Denver is certainly an option to consider. If you live in Omaha, it is a pretty quick drive for a vacation-only about 7-8 hours.

You may also look into flying. You should be able to get good deals into Denver as it has the largest airport in the country and has 6 airlines that go to/through Denver. It is a hub for United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. I recommend reading my Tuesdays Travels: Overview post for info on how I search for best flight prices and options.

Accommodations

When I have visited Denver in the past, I have always had friends or family to sty with. I don't anymore, so when I go back to Denver, I will simply do what I always do and start by looking up hotel deals on the following websites: Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets. You could also try to make an offer at Priceline, but I only try one offer there, then if I do not get it, I go somewhere else that works with me better than they do.

Transportation

I will tell you that the airport is pretty far outside the city, but luckily there are many options for travel between the airport and the city. You can of course rent a car, but there are other options as well. Many hotels have shuttles between the airport and their hotel. There is also public transportation available, and you can probably walk to some of the places you want to go depending on the location of your hotel. The city of Denver has a great website on which there is an excellent page about transportation options in town. Please see that page here.

Food

The main 2 food experiences (away from my house) I remember from living in Denver were both fairly expensive, but were both not just meals, but full experiences: Casa Bonita and Mataam Fez.

Mataam Fez is a Moroccan restaurant complete with sitting on the floor and belly dancers. It is a lot of fun, but as I mentioned it is fairly expensive and it is not is a great neighborhood. In fact it is in a terrible neighborhood, but well worth the experience-just be careful going from your car inside to the restaurant!

Casa Bonita is a must do for any families visiting Denver. It is every child's dream dinner. They are the self proclaimed "World's Most Exciting Restaurant". The multi-story, Mexican-themed restaurant includes a 30-foot-tall waterfall, cliff divers, fire jugglers, strolling mariachi bands, a pirate cave, magicians, puppet shows, skee-ball machines, etc, etc. Be warned though-you are not going here for the food! It is terrible-well all is terrible except the all you can eat sopapilla desserts. But, you have to purchase an entree to enter, so buy something cheap and be warned it will not be good food. Then plan on watching the cliff divers, enjoying all the entertainment, and eating a lot of the sopapillas-they are heavenly! It is the only truly edible thing in the joint in my opinion.

I actually have read multiple reviews today that recommended eating at Taco Bell on your way over to Casa Bonita, then looking at your required entree purchase more as an admission fee. If you are looking for a uniquely Denver "dining" experience though, do NOT miss Casa Bonita!! (I have to refer you to the funniest and possibly most accurate review I have ever read about this place, but with a warning that there is some poor language involved in the review. See it here.)

In my 3 years of living in Denver, those were by far the most memorable dicing experiences I had, so I recommend trying one or both of these great experience places!

As far as being frugal in Denver, I would try to get a hotel with a kitchen area and stop by your local Walmart or King Soopers and get some food to eat in your hotel!

Also, when you are planning to go to Denver, start checking out City Deal Tracker's Denver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. They list Groupon as well as 2 other Groupon-like daily deals. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)

One more site to check out is MyDenverDeals.com.

Attractions and Activities

Here are a few lists of things to do from me (there is way more to do that I am listing!):

Choose from these "Must see/do" for first timers

• Denver Zoo
• Downtown Aquarium
• Professional Sporting events (Basketball: Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, Football: Broncos at Mile High Stadium, Baseball: Rockies at Coors Field, Hockey: Avalanche at Pepsi Center, Soccer: Rapids at Invesco Field at Mile High.)
• 16th St Mall
• One of the many parks or reservoirs (Like Cherry Creek reservoir-where I spend a lot of time in my youth!)
• Red Rocks Park & Ampitheatre (Beautiful!!)
• Coors tours
• US Mint tour (reservations required)
• Denver Art Museum (On the first Saturday of every month, admission is free for Colorado residents.)
• Skiing or hiking

How to get discounts on some on the attractions that cost:

• Also, when you are planning to go to Denver, start checking out City Deal Tracker's Denver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. They list Groupon as well as 2 other Groupon-like daily deals. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)
• Look for discounts online
• Look in the travel books
• Ask at the hotel for discounted deals-they often have discounts available if you ask.
• Ask locals when you get there!
• Check out MyDenverDeals.com.

Free Attractions (My FAVORITE!!)

• 16th St Mall Trolley
• Many parks.
• There are 850 miles of off-street bike paths you can explore!
• Tour the Colorado State Capitol
• US Mint tour (reservations required)
• Coors tours in Golden
• Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison
• Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
• Red Rocks Park

There are literally thousands to choose from. Since I have no clue what you will be interested in, can I recommend that you check out a travel guide (you can often find these at local libraries), go through it and pick the things you really want to do.

And Remember, you cannot so it all! Pick your favorites, then start looking for discounts.

Shopping

Check out some of the following fun and interesting shopping destinations:

• The teenager in my wants to send you to Cherry Creek Mall and tell you to scout out the boys...  :)
• Tattered Cover Bookstore is SOOO Denver and a must see for book lovers!
• 16th St Mall

Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned in my Denver travel/living and research and my opinions on traveling to Denver. I am not the definitive Denver expert by any means. Please feel free to add your own tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Many of you know that my husband is a resident and is currently applying for a fellowship. I have decided that a great way for me to learn about each place we are considering for our home in 2 years is to use each location as a Tuesdays Travels location week to week (some are already done). So, here is the list of places:

• Salt Lake City, Utah (done)
• Scottsdale, AZ (basically Phoenix)
• Omaha, NE
• Denver, CO (done)
• Seattle, WA
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Antonio, TX
• St Louis, MO
• Pennsylvania, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Iowa City, IA

I am working on doing the San Antonio, TX one for today, but it is taking FOREVER, so it will likely go up this evening! Sorry, but I will go as fast as I can!

I am really excited because today's Tuesdays Travels will focus on a place I might actually get to go next week, Kansas City! I have been to Kansas City twice when Wes was in medical school. Once we went specifically to go to Worlds of Fun and a KC Royals game only to discover that Worlds of Fun was already closed for the season when we got there (bad research on my part back then-I am much more focused on the details now). We did go to the Royals game and it was GREAT! The other time we went was with some great friends and we did a whole bunch of fun little activities. But since I am trying to see if we can spend my son's birthday there next week, I did some extra research on this one!! Also, I want to note that a lot of the info in this one comes from the official 2010 visitors guide that I requested and from the Visit KC website.

As always, I will use the following categories for this Kansas City post as part of my Tuesdays Travels series:

• General Information
• Getting there
• Accommodations
• Transportation
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping

General Information

According to Kansas City wiki page:

Kansas City refers to two cities and a metropolitan area situated at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. Kansas City, Missouri, the largest city in Missouri, anchors the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, which has a population of over two million. Kansas City, Kansas sits across the river from downtown Kansas City, Missouri and is the third largest city in Kansas.

So, when I list the activities, I will denote whether it is on the Kansas side (KS) or the Missouri side (MO).

Getting There

Kansas City is fairly centrally located in the US, so driving to Kansas City is certainly an option to consider. If you live in Omaha, it is a really quick drive for a vacation-only about 3 hours!!

You may also look into flying. I recommend reading my Tuesdays Travels: Overview post for info on how I search for best flight prices and options.

Accommodations

I have been looking up hotel deals on the following websites: Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets. You could also try to make an offer at Priceline, but I only try one offer there, then if I do not get it, I go somewhere else that works with me better than they do. It looks like there are great hotel options in Kansas City!

Right now you can get 1 star hotels as low as $32, 2 star hotels as low as $42, 2 1/2 star as low as $62. Keep in mind, these are the LISTED prices, which means you can likely name your own price for much less! You could end up getting some great hotel deals in Kansas City!!

Transportation

In my experience in Kansas City, I would want to have a car to drive. I always drive there as it is a mere 3 hour drive, so I have the car with me anyway, but I would look into a car rental if you are flying in.  They do have a metro system though that you can look up here.
Food

Well now, we all know you cannot go to Kansas City without trying the famous BBQ!  There are a ton of BBQ places around and we have typically just picked one that looked good as we drove by, and we have NEVER been disappointed! However, you probably want some picks from people that have tried them all, so please check out this article on about.com with their top picks.

My Favorite Food Network Show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri did a Kansas City BBQ show and it featured the following places: Johnny's BBQ, RJ's Bob-Be-Que Shack both in Mission, Woodyard Bar-B-Que in Kansas City, Kan., and Smokin' Guns in the Northland. I trust Guy's recommendations...

For a family fun meal, I also highly recommend checking out the Crayola Cafe.  We went there with friends and ALL our kids LOVED it!
As far as being frugal in Kansas City, I would try to get a hotel with a kitchen area and stop by your local Walmart and get some food to eat in your hotel!

Also, when you are planning to go to Kansas City, start checking out Groupon's Kansas City site daily to see what deals you can snag there. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.) FYI-TODAY's Groupon (July 20) is a GREAT Hotel deal-check it out here.


Attractions and Activities

Here are a few lists of things to do from me (there is way more to do that I am listing!):

Choose from these "Must see/do" for first timers

• World's of Fun/Ocean's of Fun
• Schlitterbahn
• Professional Sports: Football: Chiefs, Baseball: Royals and T-Bones, Soccer: Wizards and Brass, Hockey: Missouri Mavericks, and apparently Tennis: Explorers.
• Kansas City Zoo
• Union Station Science City
• Arabia Steamboat Museum

How to get discounts on some on the attractions that cost:

• Oceans of Fun/Worlds of Fun discounts: 1-The Smart Source insert on Sunday July 11 here in Omaha had a $5 off Worlds of Fun, $2 off Oceans of Fun, $4 off Ride & Slide coupon. 2-It appears AAA has a discount for members (I am not a member so I cannot see what it is) 3-Both active and retired military personnel can save on admission. Save $3.50 w/valid ID at Oceans of Fun. Greater savings may be available when you purchase your tickets at a local ITR office 4-There is a coupon here for a Royals & Worlds of fun combo discount. 5-If you purchase tickets online at the Worlds of Fun website you get a $5 discount per ticket so it ends up as $35.99 instead of $40.99 (But even better is the deal on the website right now through July 31 where you can buy 2 or more tickets for $29.99).
• Schlitterbahn has an online deal for a limited time where you can get 4 tickets for ages 3 and up for $99 on their website here.
• When you are planning to go to Kansas City, start checking out Groupon's Kansas City site daily to see what deals you can snag there. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)
• Look for discounts online
• Look in the travel books
• Ask at the hotel for discounted deals-they often have discounts available if you ask.
• Ask locals when you get there!

Free Attractions (My FAVORITE!!)

• During the summer, Moon Marble Company Store makes marbles right in front of you (KS)
• Hallmark Kaleidoscope
• Historic Liberty Jail (MO)
• McCoy Park (Water fun for the kids) (MO)
• Penguin Park (MO)
• There are SOOO many that I will just refer you to see lists of free activities here and here, and here.

There are literally thousands to choose from. Since I have no clue what you will be interested in, can I recommend that you check out a travel guide (you can often find these at local libraries), go through it and pick the things you really want to do.

And Remember, you cannot so it all! Pick your favorites, then start looking for discounts.

Shopping

Check out some of the following fun and interesting shopping destinations:

• Legends Outlets Kansas City (KS)
• Cabela's in Kansas City is fun to visit and has a Mule Deer museum area.
• Country Club Plaza
• Crown Center

Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned in my Kansas City travel and research and my opinions on traveling to Kansas City. I am not the definitive Kansas City expert by any means. Please feel free to add your own tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Reposts stink...total cop out-I know...but here is the thing, I am on an ancient desktop that takes me triple the time to work on this blog so I do not have the time to research out the Tuesdays Travels or Weekend Warriors info right now. Please forgive me!

The GREAT news is I was notified by Toshiba late last night that my laptop is fixed and shipping back, so once we get that back and up and running I will be able to get back on the ball and give you some new info.

So, here is the big question of the day-what destinations would you like to see in Tuesdays Travels? Or in the Weekend Warriors Daycations? Please comment here, on Facebook, or email me at beckeesdeals@gmail.com  and let me know what you want to see-I really need your help and  inspiration here!


Thanks for reading and thanks ahead of time for your suggestions!!

Tuesdays Travels today will focus on a place I used to live as a teenager: Denver, Colorado. My dad attended Law School at DU for 3 years, so I lived in Denver (ok actually Aurora) Colorado from 6-8 grades. So, much of my Denver knowledge is from a young teendaged point of view. I do not want to tell you to just go hang out at Cherry Hills Mall, so I did some research on this one!!

As always, I will use the following categories for this Denver post as part of my Tuesdays Travels series:

• General Information
• Getting there
• Accommodations
• Transportation
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping

General Information

Denver is the capitol city of Colorado and is located right by the beautiful Rocky Mountains! Nicknamed the Mile High City due to it's elevation, it is a beautiful city with a variety of food and fun options! It is where I lived when I fell in love with the theatre, so it has a special place in my heart!

Getting There

Denver is fairly centrally located in the west, so driving to Denver is certainly an option to consider. If you live in Omaha, it is a pretty quick drive for a vacation-only about 7-8 hours.

You may also look into flying. You should be able to get good deals into Denver as it has the largest airport in the country and has 6 airlines that go to/through Denver. It is a hub for United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. I recommend reading my Tuesdays Travels: Overview post for info on how I search for best flight prices and options.

Accommodations

When I have visited Denver in the past, I have always had friends or family to sty with. I don't anymore, so when I go back to Denver, I will simply do what I always do and start by looking up hotel deals on the following websites: Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets. You could also try to make an offer at Priceline, but I only try one offer there, then if I do not get it, I go somewhere else that works with me better than they do.

Transportation

I will tell you that the airport is pretty far outside the city, but luckily there are many options for travel between the airport and the city. You can of course rent a car, but there are other options as well. Many hotels have shuttles between the airport and their hotel. There is also public transportation available, and you can probably walk to some of the places you want to go depending on the location of your hotel. The city of Denver has a great website on which there is an excellent page about transportation options in town. Please see that page here.

Food

The main 2 food experiences (away from my house) I remember from living in Denver were both fairly expensive, but were both not just meals, but full experiences: Casa Bonita and Mataam Fez.

Mataam Fez is a Moroccan restaurant complete with sitting on the floor and belly dancers. It is a lot of fun, but as I mentioned it is fairly expensive and it is not is a great neighborhood. In fact it is in a terrible neighborhood, but well worth the experience-just be careful going from your car inside to the restaurant!

Casa Bonita is a must do for any families visiting Denver. It is every child's dream dinner. They are the self proclaimed "World's Most Exciting Restaurant". The multi-story, Mexican-themed restaurant includes a 30-foot-tall waterfall, cliff divers, fire jugglers, strolling mariachi bands, a pirate cave, magicians, puppet shows, skee-ball machines, etc, etc. Be warned though-you are not going here for the food! It is terrible-well all is terrible except the all you can eat sopapilla desserts. But, you have to purchase an entree to enter, so buy something cheap and be warned it will not be good food. Then plan on watching the cliff divers, enjoying all the entertainment, and eating a lot of the sopapillas-they are heavenly! It is the only truly edible thing in the joint in my opinion.

I actually have read multiple reviews today that recommended eating at Taco Bell on your way over to Casa Bonita, then looking at your required entree purchase more as an admission fee. If you are looking for a uniquely Denver "dining" experience though, do NOT miss Casa Bonita!! (I have to refer you to the funniest and possibly most accurate review I have ever read about this place, but with a warning that there is some poor language involved in the review. See it here.)

In my 3 years of living in Denver, those were by far the most memorable dicing experiences I had, so I recommend trying one or both of these great experience places!

As far as being frugal in Denver, I would try to get a hotel with a kitchen area and stop by your local Walmart or King Soopers and get some food to eat in your hotel!

Also, when you are planning to go to Denver, start checking out City Deal Tracker's Denver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. They list Groupon as well as 2 other Groupon-like daily deals. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)

One more site to check out is MyDenverDeals.com.

Attractions and Activities

Here are a few lists of things to do from me (there is way more to do that I am listing!):

Choose from these "Must see/do" for first timers

• Denver Zoo
• Downtown Aquarium
• Professional Sporting events (Basketball: Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, Football: Broncos at Mile High Stadium, Baseball: Rockies at Coors Field, Hockey: Avalanche at Pepsi Center, Soccer: Rapids at Invesco Field at Mile High.)
• 16th St Mall
• One of the many parks or reservoirs (Like Cherry Creek reservoir-where I spend a lot of time in my youth!)
• Red Rocks Park & Ampitheatre (Beautiful!!)
• Coors tours
• US Mint tour (reservations required)
• Denver Art Museum (On the first Saturday of every month, admission is free for Colorado residents.)
• Skiing or hiking

How to get discounts on some on the attractions that cost:

• Also, when you are planning to go to Denver, start checking out City Deal Tracker's Denver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. They list Groupon as well as 2 other Groupon-like daily deals. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)
• Look for discounts online
• Look in the travel books
• Ask at the hotel for discounted deals-they often have discounts available if you ask.
• Ask locals when you get there!
• Check out MyDenverDeals.com.

Free Attractions (My FAVORITE!!)

• 16th St Mall Trolley
• Many parks.
• There are 850 miles of off-street bike paths you can explore!
• Tour the Colorado State Capitol
• US Mint tour (reservations required)
• Coors tours in Golden
• Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison
• Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
• Red Rocks Park

There are literally thousands to choose from. Since I have no clue what you will be interested in, can I recommend that you check out a travel guide (you can often find these at local libraries), go through it and pick the things you really want to do.

And Remember, you cannot so it all! Pick your favorites, then start looking for discounts.

Shopping

Check out some of the following fun and interesting shopping destinations:

• The teenager in my wants to send you to Cherry Creek Mall and tell you to scout out the boys...  :)
• Tattered Cover Bookstore is SOOO Denver and a must see for book lovers!
• 16th St Mall

Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned in my Denver travel/living and research and my opinions on traveling to Denver. I am not the definitive Denver expert by any means. Please feel free to add your own tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Happy Birthday Southwest, and thanks for celebrating your birthday with low airfare for us!! If you go to their site June 22-24 and book travel between September 8th and November 17th, airfare is al low as $39 one way!! That means all you family members that have been dying to visit us can do it on the cheap (and on my birthday if you want)!!

Please read this fantastic post on Moms by Heart about how to get the very best airfare deals with this promotion!!

Having gone to visit Salt Lake City last week, I wanted to follow up my Tuesdays Travels: Salt Lake City post with a few tips and tricks I learned while I was there.

Lagoon discounts:

• Using a Coke can for admission to Lagoon gives you $5 off per person, but you must enter before noon and you have to have a coke can with the offer on it with you.
• The Deseret Book discount is good, but you have to buy a book to get a discount. And the book you buy determines how many discount tickets you get. So, if you were already planning to buy one of the select books on this promotion, then it is a good deal, otherwise don't bother-just get the Coke cans.
• We found that the best discount we could get when we were there was offered through local Credit Unions. If you know any locals, ask them to check at their credit union for the best available discount tickets. You generally have to pay cash for these tickets but they are great discounts.
• The other option may seem hokey, but it is true as well. In the LDS church the congregations are called wards and a group of wards together make up a Stake.  The local Utah Stakes have "Stake Lagoon days". If ou have LDS (Mormon) friends in Utah, you might check and see if their Stake Lagon Day happens to fall when you are visiting because that is actually THE VERY cheapest deal that I found (but none for our family were going on while we were there).
• I am hearing that there may also be discount tickets available at Costco, but I hae no confirmation on this.

Seven Peaks, and Raging Waters Discounts

• I learned when I got home that Costco stores have discount tickets to these locations. A few of you have asked me if I know how much the discounts are, but I don't. Do any of you know?
• Apparently some of the local supermarkets and credit unions also carry discount tickets.

Tuesdays Travels today will focus on a place I used to live as a teenager: Denver, Colorado. My dad attended Law School at DU for 3 years, so I lived in Denver (ok actually Aurora) Colorado from 6-8 grades. So, much of my Denver knowledge is from a young teendaged point of view. I do not want to tell you to just go hang out at Cherry Hills Mall, so I did some research on this one!!

As always, I will use the following categories for this Denver post as part of my Tuesdays Travels series:

• General Information
• Getting there
• Accommodations
• Transportation
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping

General Information

Denver is the capitol city of Colorado and is located right by the beautiful Rocky Mountains! Nicknamed the Mile High City due to it's elevation, it is a beautiful city with a variety of food and fun options! It is where I lived when I fell in love with the theatre, so it has a special place in my heart!

Getting There

Denver is fairly centrally located in the west, so driving to Denver is certainly an option to consider. If you live in Omaha, it is a pretty quick drive for a vacation-only about 7-8 hours.

You may also look into flying. You should be able to get good deals into Denver as it has the largest airport in the country and has 6 airlines that go to/through Denver. It is a hub for United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. I recommend reading my Tuesdays Travels: Overview post for info on how I search for best flight prices and options.

Accommodations

When I have visited Denver in the past, I have always had friends or family to sty with. I don't anymore, so when I go back to Denver, I will simply do what I always do and start by looking up hotel deals on the following websites: Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets. You could also try to make an offer at Priceline, but I only try one offer there, then if I do not get it, I go somewhere else that works with me better than they do.

Transportation

I will tell you that the airport is pretty far outside the city, but luckily there are many options for travel between the airport and the city. You can of course rent a car, but there are other options as well. Many hotels have shuttles between the airport and their hotel. There is also public transportation available, and you can probably walk to some of the places you want to go depending on the location of your hotel. The city of Denver has a great website on which there is an excellent page about transportation options in town. Please see that page here.

Food

The main 2 food experiences (away from my house) I remember from living in Denver were both fairly expensive, but were both not just meals, but full experiences: Casa Bonita and Mataam Fez.

Mataam Fez is a Moroccan restaurant complete with sitting on the floor and belly dancers. It is a lot of fun, but as I mentioned it is fairly expensive and it is not is a great neighborhood. In fact it is in a terrible neighborhood, but well worth the experience-just be careful going from your car inside to the restaurant!

Casa Bonita is a must do for any families visiting Denver. It is every child's dream dinner. They are the self proclaimed "World's Most Exciting Restaurant". The multi-story, Mexican-themed restaurant includes a 30-foot-tall waterfall, cliff divers, fire jugglers, strolling mariachi bands, a pirate cave, magicians, puppet shows, skee-ball machines, etc, etc. Be warned though-you are not going here for the food! It is terrible-well all is terrible except the all you can eat sopapilla desserts. But, you have to purchase an entree to enter, so buy something cheap and be warned it will not be good food. Then plan on watching the cliff divers, enjoying all the entertainment, and eating a lot of the sopapillas-they are heavenly! It is the only truly edible thing in the joint in my opinion.

I actually have read multiple reviews today that recommended eating at Taco Bell on your way over to Casa Bonita, then looking at your required entree purchase more as an admission fee. If you are looking for a uniquely Denver "dining" experience though, do NOT miss Casa Bonita!! (I have to refer you to the funniest and possibly most accurate review I have ever read about this place, but with a warning that there is some poor language involved in the review. See it here.)

In my 3 years of living in Denver, those were by far the most memorable dicing experiences I had, so I recommend trying one or both of these great experience places!

As far as being frugal in Denver, I would try to get a hotel with a kitchen area and stop by your local Walmart or King Soopers and get some food to eat in your hotel!

Also, when you are planning to go to Denver, start checking out City Deal Tracker's Denver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. They list Groupon as well as 2 other Groupon-like daily deals. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)

One more site to check out is MyDenverDeals.com.

Attractions and Activities

Here are a few lists of things to do from me (there is way more to do that I am listing!):

Choose from these "Must see/do" for first timers

• Denver Zoo
• Downtown Aquarium
• Professional Sporting events (Basketball: Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, Football: Broncos at Mile High Stadium, Baseball: Rockies at Coors Field, Hockey: Avalanche at Pepsi Center, Soccer: Rapids at Invesco Field at Mile High.)
• 16th St Mall
• One of the many parks or reservoirs (Like Cherry Creek reservoir-where I spend a lot of time in my youth!)
• Red Rocks Park & Ampitheatre (Beautiful!!)
• Coors tours
• US Mint tour (reservations required)
• Denver Art Museum (On the first Saturday of every month, admission is free for Colorado residents.)
• Skiing or hiking

How to get discounts on some on the attractions that cost:

• Also, when you are planning to go to Denver, start checking out City Deal Tracker's Denver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. They list Groupon as well as 2 other Groupon-like daily deals. (As a total side note, if you do join and buy a Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)
• Look for discounts online
• Look in the travel books
• Ask at the hotel for discounted deals-they often have discounts available if you ask.
• Ask locals when you get there!
• Check out MyDenverDeals.com.

Free Attractions (My FAVORITE!!)

• 16th St Mall Trolley
• Many parks.
• There are 850 miles of off-street bike paths you can explore!
• Tour the Colorado State Capitol
• US Mint tour (reservations required)
• Coors tours in Golden
• Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison
• Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
• Red Rocks Park

There are literally thousands to choose from. Since I have no clue what you will be interested in, can I recommend that you check out a travel guide (you can often find these at local libraries), go through it and pick the things you really want to do.

And Remember, you cannot so it all! Pick your favorites, then start looking for discounts.

Shopping

Check out some of the following fun and interesting shopping destinations:

• The teenager in my wants to send you to Cherry Creek Mall and tell you to scout out the boys...  :)
• Tattered Cover Bookstore is SOOO Denver and a must see for book lovers!
• 16th St Mall

Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned in my Denver travel/living and research and my opinions on traveling to Denver. I am not the definitive Denver expert by any means. Please feel free to add your own tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Tuesdays Travels goes International today as I tell you about Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Vancouver has become well known over the past few months as it was the location of the Winter Olympics in February.  It is a beautiful place that I will never forget going to (and I went before the Olympics).  How do you like the picture above?! I took it from our hotel room! It is of Canada Place and the cruise shop dock!

For a year, our family lived in Spokane, Washington, and we found out too late in our time there that to go up into Canada it is now required for all people to have a Passport (it did not used to be so).  So, since we were lacking a few passports, we never made it up to Canada when we lived in the Pacific Northwest.

Well, when we moved back to Omaha, Wes submitted a proposal for a poster to a medical conference that was accepted and as it urned out, the conference was to be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada on our anniversary last year. By the time we realized it was on our anniversary, Wes was already committed to going, so rather than be apart on our anniversary, we chose to drop the kids off with grandparents in Utah and take our first vacation without kids in 7 year.  That was last May and it was great!

Now, when we went to Vancouver, basically everything except my flight and our activities was paid for by Wes's work, so I was not trying to be very frugal, and honestly Vancouver was pretty expensive.  But, I am sure I could have done it less expensively, and following are some of the things I would do to make it a fun and more frugal adventure!

Please note that I found Vancouver to be VERY family-friendly and thought over and over about how much my kids would love it-so I recommend it as a great family travel destination!!

***One MAJOR tip I want to throw out right away-do not charge things on your credit or debit cards when traveling internationally (even just in Canada).  Bring traveler's checks or something but do not use your cards. We had to use the cards to get reimbursed on our trip, and EACH charge was charged an international fee-it was a complete nightmare. I called and asked them about that before we went and was told there was no international fee, but as we found out later,  there was another fee it had that we did not know about and that is the "international fee" we got charged.  So, make SURE to check on all your cards policies before you go if you choose to use them, or be safe and get Travelers Checks.

As always, I use the following categories for this Vancouver post as part of my Tuesdays Travels series:

• General Information
• Getting there 
• Accommodations 
• Transportation 
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping

General Information

Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada, Vancouver and ranks third largest in the country. It is a stunning Coastal city, with Whistler, famous for Skiing nearby, and Vancouver Island just off the coast.  It is located just North of Seattle, and in fact, on our Whale Watching excursion, we actually went into US waters and nearly all the way to Seattle to see the Whales.

Getting There

If you are living in the Pacific Northwest, driving to Vancouver is certainly an option to consider. You may also look into flying, and I recommend reading my Tuesdays Travels: Overview post for info on how I search for best flight prices and options.

What I want to discuss here is Passports! You need to get one! But how long does that take?! I will tell you this-International Travel is not something you can do on the spur on the moment (unless you have a passport already).  The other question is how much does this cost?! The answer is too much! Just know you cannot be really frugal on this part on your trip. But there are things you can do to make it less expensive-like plan ahead and know it will take time to get done (you can save money by not having to expedite it).

When we found out that we were going to Vancouver, we found out that Wes's Passport was missing-as in GONE! So, we had to get a new one. This, as you can imagine was a huge hassle to report a missing/stolen one, get a new one, and all in a short amount of time! We had to pay all kinds of extra money to expedite each step of the way and ended up getting the Passport JUST in time (the day before we left!).

So, plan ahead and make sure to familiarize yourself with the requirements to get a Passport. They very depending on your age, whether it is a first passport, etc.  You will need a passport picture, you will have to fill out forms, you may have to go in person to the office to get it. It all depends. Since I cannot possibly cover all possibilities in this post, let me refer you to the Travel.state.gov passport website to read about what you will need to do to get your passport!

Accommodations

We did not have an option on the hotel we stayed at in Vancouver. It was the fanciest, most expensive option (well one of the 2 anyway) available. It was one of the 2 hotel options for the conference. I will not mention what hotel chain it was (if you email me and want to know, I will tell you in an email), but I will tell you-one of the worst experience of my life as far as accommodations go. EVERYTHING cost extra-wifi, gym use, pool access, EVERYTHING! And when we had a problem arise (ie my dad's laptop that I borrowed was broken in the room while we were gone for the day) they not only refused to help us at all, but they called me a liar. Seriously.

I do have to say that is did have a gorgeous view from our hotel room.  And the other hotel option for the conference was a great hotel and everyone that stayed there had good experiences (versus the people that stayed where we did).  However, I would not recommend either of these hotels if I was looking for a frugal place to stay.

When I go back to Vancouver (which I will with the whole family some day), I will simply do what I always do and start by looking up hotel deals on the following websites: Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets. You could also try to make an offer at Priceline, but I only try one offer there, then if I do not get it, I go somewhere else that works with me better than they do.

Also, I recommend reading This fantastic article about Vancouver budget Hotels with a back story.

Transportation

When we went to Vancouver, we walked almost everywhere. The attractions that are further out generally have some sort of bus you can take to them, or you could take a cab or rent a car for a day.  I found that a car was really unnecessary for us though and was glad we chose not to get one (especially since parking it would have cost an arm and a leg).

So, I recommend NOT renting a car. There are a lot of transportation options in and around Vancouver: Buses, SeaBus, Skytrain, Transit system, cabs, ferries, biking, walking.  After you figure out where you are staying, and after you have planned which activities and attractions you want to do, then look at the public transportation options, and contact your hotel to see how to most easily get from place to place.  No reason to limit yourself with all the options available there. We mostly walked, but also rode bikes, buses, and cabs.

There are some areas of town NOT safe to walk through!  I learned this from experience. Here is what happened: Wes and I wanted to go to Chinatown. On the map we could see it was not too far from our hotel and we felt we could walk there. It was only a couple blocks from Gastown where the steam clock was. The guidebooks said not to go there on foot cause it was a bad neighborhood between Gastown and Chinatown. It was literally only 2 blocks and Wes and I thought "eh, how bad could it be." Especially since this was the middle of the day. Well, I will tell you-it can be pretty bad...In the 2 blocks to Chinatown we met drug dealers and prostitutes of both sexes...Wes had many offers...it was bad, but we made it.

After seeing Chinatown, we were walking back, and I didn't want to walk on that same street that was so bad, so I suggested a different route back-worse idea. There was one block I thought we would not get out of alive. People were scoping us out, following us. It was as busy as Times Square on New Years, but all the people on the street were drug dealers and prostitutes and one other very lost British couple. It was NUTS!!! The bellman and the guidebook warned us, but I didn't believe...I am now a believer.

So, please trust the guide books and trust your hotel if they tell you not to walk in certain places! It is worth the money of the cab to stay safe-I literally feel like we were lucky to make it through there without any incident.

Food

One thing I want to mention about Vancouver's food options is that they really vary in price, but are a bit more expensive. Remember when you look at the prices of any thing there it is in Canadian dollars. Remember that as you eat and as you shop or pay for anything.  If you plan to use cash, make sure you exchange your money before you shop or eat!

There is a great website I found here that has discount coupons to Vancouver restaurants. That is a good place to look. Also, as you are walking around the city, do not be afraid to ask locals what their favorite, less expensive places to eat are.  There are many, many food options and you can find just about any type of food in any price range.

Also, when you are planning to go to Vancouver, start checking out Groupon's Vancouver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. (If you do join Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)

Attractions and Activities

There are literally thousands to choose from. Since I have no clue what you will be interested in, can I recommend that you check out a travel guide (you can often find these at local libraries), go through it and pick the things you really want to do. One of my favorite travel books for Vancouver is the Vancouver and Victoria (Eyewitness Top Ten Travel Guides) and the Frommer's Vancouver and Victoria 2010 (Frommer's Complete).  

Remember, you cannot so it all! Pick your favorites, then start looking for discounts. Here are a few lists from me (there is way more to do that I am listing!):

Choose from these "Must see/do" for first timers

• Stanley Park
• Canada Place
• Olympic Venues (of course these were just being built when I was there)
• One of the Museums (UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver Art World,  The Royal British Columbia Museum, or Science World)
• Capilano Suspension Bridge
• Whistler
• Gastown/Steam Clock
• Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park

How to get discounts on some on the attractions that cost:

• Before you go, start checking Groupon's Vancouver site daily to see what deals you can snag there. (If you do join Groupon, I would really appreciate if you do so under my referral link here.)
• Look for discounts online
• Look in the travel books
• Ask at the hotel for discounted deals-they often have discounts available if you ask.
• Ask locals when you get there!

Free Attractions (My FAVORITE!!)

• Stanley Park Many of the activities in the park are free, and I am thoroughly convinced that I could happily spend an entire week of vacation exploring Stanley Park and doing free things there and still have more to discover! It is incredible!
• Gastown Steam Clock
• Correction sent by reader Craig: The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is not free. The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park,  (with no tours, no authentic Chinese material, no interior spaces, and built my the Park Board instead of artisans visiting from Suzhou, China) is free
• Canada Place
• Play disc golf at Queen Elizabeth Park (my husband will be so sad to see this exists and we missed it!)
• Tourism Vancouver has a list of 25 Free things to do in Vancouver here and a shorter list of Free or Almost Free things they recommend doing here.

Shopping

Check out some of the following fun and interesting shopping destinations:

• Gastown
• China Town
• Robson Street
• Granville Island
• Pacific Centre

Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned in my Vancouver travel and research and my opinions on traveling to Vancouver. I am not the definitive Vancouver expert by any means. Please feel free to add your own tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Can I just show you a few pictures from my Vancouver trip to entice you further?!

Since I am on vacation in Salt Lake City, I thought it would be OK to repost last week's Tuesday Travels post about Salt Lake! If you missed it before this will give you a chance to see a lot of awesome things about my hometown!!
Ah...home...


In case you did not know, I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah (well most of the time, I did live in other places, but mostly I grew up on SLC). I went through school there from Kindergarten through 4th grade, then from 9th grade through College Graduation. I graduated from the University of Utah in 2001, student taught at East High school (where High School Musical was filmed) during the 2001-2002 school year, and a taught at Skyline high school for a year before we moved away from SLC.

It was a GREAT place to grow up and live! I love, LOVE it there, and not just because it is home!

Since I have not lived in SLC since 2003, I have had a lot of time to visit there, and I can tell you, it is a GREAT place to visit and vacation. Beautiful mountains that provide the perfect setting for winter sports and summer activities. I will try to tell you about as much as I can in SLC, but know that with my extensive SLC experience and the info sent to me by my sister, if I included it all this post would never end!

So, as with all Tuesday Travels, I will try to talk about SLC using the following categories:

• General Information
• Getting there
• Accommodations
• Transportation
• Food
• Attractions and activities
• Shopping

General Information

Salt Lake City is the Capitol of Utah. The Salt Lake City metropolitan area spans Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties, but Salt Lake City is part of a larger urban area known as the Wasatch Front. There is essentially continuous houses from Provo, Utah to Ogden Utah (and further).

The city was founded in 1847 as Great Salt Lake City by a group of Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young. Today, Salt Lake City is still home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Salt Lake City is probably most recently famous for hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics (I got a whole month off school and work for that-I went to Greece, but that is another story for another post).

Getting There

I have both flown and driven into SLC. Most often driving, and boy could I tell you stories! Getting to SLC is ALWAYS the worst for me. We have never, EVER driven through Wyoming without getting stopped on I-80 somewhere for hours or days. It really makes the drive suck, so if it is at all affordable to fly, I would recommend it! Someday I will tell some of my terrible Wyoming travel tales (Like when we were stuck on an exit with NO services with 4 kids that needed to pee and they would not let up go back or forward on the freeway, and we just sat there in seemingly perfect weather for 5 hours, or when as a kid our car spun off the road on to a ledge and we had to carefully balance to get out-and I had no shoes in the middle of the snow! Just to mention a couple of the hundreds...)

I am sure you are wondering why we drive there over and over when I hate it so much, and it all comes down to money! If we were to fly, we would have to buy 5 airplane tickets and since none of our family members have a car big enough to drive around our family of 6, we would then have to rent a van when we got there. So, for us, it is worth the extra time (and stress of Wyoming) to drive and save a lot of money.

If you live close enough that driving is a reasonable option, consider it, otherwise start looking early for the best possible flights and keep an eye out for the best deals. SLC is a hub airport for Delta and has the following major airlines as well: Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Jet Blue Airways.

Accommodations

I am going to sound useless here, but I have only stayed in a hotel in SLC twice in my life-my wedding night and my first anniversary, and we were not looking for deals for either of those occasions. We always stay with family when we go. When you are looking for a hotel, I recommend the following:

1-Decide where you will be spending most of your time and look there. Are you going to be skiing the whole time? Will you be mostly downtown? Are you planning to be between SLC and Provo, or between SLC and Ogden? Will you be going to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival? Figure out what you want to do and where you will spend your time, then look near there. As a note, having grown up in SLC, there are some areas where I would not stay. If you want specifics of where that might be, email me and I will tell you.

2-Budget what you think you can afford for hotel, and start checking out the travel sites that will compare hotels for you and look for the best deal.

Transportation

Salt Lake Valley is a commuter area-there ARE buses, but most people drive. The major attractions are spread all over, and I would recommend renting a car for a vaca in SLC. You are going to want to be mobile and be able to go all over the place.

There is a few exceptions to this of course. If, for example, you are going to the Salt Lake area for a ski trip at say Snowbird

Or if you plan to go to Park City for say, the Sundance Film Festival, you can stay in a downtown hotel and just walk or take the Sundance shuttles everywhere. (If you are going to Sundance-book that hotel early though-like months or a year..., and expect Park City to me more expensive than SLC).

Food

Seriously, how can I possibly tell you all my favorite places and best deals?! I cannot! Let me say, if you are trying to be super frugal, Walmart is the cheapest grocery store in SLC. I also like Dans foods (but I worked there for years) and Harmon's and Smith's is my in-laws favorite.

Now that being said, I have some super favorite places to eat that I never miss when I go home (because I like them-not because they are a deal-they are not, but I watch for coupons and deals all the time for these places so I can go there when I visit). Here are some of Beckee's favorite places to eat in SLC:

• Granatos: My family is Greek and we started shopping at Granatos for their ingredients, but in the process of shopping there, we discovered their yummy deli! SO good-I HIGHLY recommend the Tomato and Feta sandwich or the Meatball sub! YUMMY-I am salivating with just the thought!!
• Yanni's Greek Express: Another Greek place-get the Yanni's special and it will feed 2-4 people-seriously! And it is awesome!
• Crown Burger: This is a place that will ruin any diet-but you will love every second of it! Try the massive calorie-full crown burger and thank me later. Their Gyros are also good.
• Cafe Rio: SOO yummy. Mexican/Baja style-by far the best of the baja burrito/taco places around-I love the pork burrito with black beans served enchilada style. Great food.
• So Cupcakes: If you are looking for an awesome sweet treat-look no further!
• Nielsen's Frozen Custard: right across the street from So Cupcakes, and will also fill your sweet tooth craving.
• Benihaha: Not an only SLC place, but my FAVORITE place ti eat in the world and we don't have on in Omaha (they often have great specials and if you sign up for their emails, they will send you birthday/anniversary deals as well as their regular specials)
• The Mayan: If you want a fun experience, this is the place for you!!
• CK Cummings Chocolates on 33rd South: I have never found chocolates I like as much as the ones here anywhere-not even Europe. The truffles are great, and the chocolate covered fruits are HEAVEN-especially the chocolate covered cherries & raspberries (I hesitated to tell you this because I want some to still be there when I visit)
• Training Table: Eat the Cheese Fries! That is all...
• B & D Burger: This takes me back to the college days-located right near the U of U and I love it!
• The Pie: Again-right by the U, and it is a must do for any U of U student! Greatest pizza ever-you will not regret eating this (though your diet will hate me for telling you about it).
• The Market Street Grill: This is pretty pricey, but is a Utah staple-very VERY good seafood and great bread and salads-a great splurge!
• Siegfried's: This is one that comes as a suggestion from my mom. She said it is a great local sandwich place that is a must try!
• Great Harvest Bread: LOVE this place-Honey Wheat bread is my favorite but all is good!
• House of Bread: Another one from my mom that I have not tried yet. She said it is great baked goods like Great Harvest , but everything is done non dairy, which is great for my lactose intolerant baby!
• Rodizio Grill: pricey but so, SO good-Brazilian BBQ. I love it!

Frugal-ish places (Recommendations from my mom, sister and me)

• The Other Place: Great food, fair prices.
• The Jade Cafe: Seems like kind of a dive, but GREAT food for very low prices. My grandparents love this place.
• In & Out Burger: It is fairly new to Utah, and people love it. My mom said it is pretty inexpensive as well.
• New Dragon Diner: A favorite Chinese place to eat with my in-laws. Inexpensive and really, really good-I love the Garlic chicken there! A must try!
• Chinese Gourmet: Mongolian BBQ & All you can eat Chinese food. Really great food for a good deal.
• Sharon's Cafe: My mom says this is great food for little prices.
• Meyer's Chicken: Very Utah place-they make the best "funeral potatoes" ever! Not too pricey either.

I guess that my point is that there are a lot of yummy options for food! I have just hit the tip of the iceberg with this list.

Attractions and Activities

There are literally thousands to choose from. Since I have no clue what you will be interested in, can I recommend that you take a travel guide, go through it and pick the things you really want to do. Or check out some of the things listed below! Pick your favorites, then start looking for discounts online, in the travel books, or from CityDeals.com. Ask at the hotel for discounted deals-they often have discounts available if you ask.

Here are a few lists from me:

Choose from these "Must see/do" for first timers (I am NOT including FREE things in this list):

• Clark Planetarium
• Hogle Zoo
• This is the Place State Park
• Thanksgiving Point
• Red Butte Garden
• Utah Olympic Park in Park City, includes Alpine slide & zip line
• Tracy Aviary
• Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden
• The Homestead Crater in Midway, Utah (close to Park City). It is the only warm water scuba diving destination in the continental US
• Discovery Gateway Children's Museum
• The Living Planet Aquarium
• Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington: This is a small but very fun amusement park that your kids will love!
• Boondocks
• Dinosaur park up by Ogden
• Cherry Hill Water Park
• Cowabunga Bay
• Trafalga
• The Gallivan Center
• Heber Valley Railroad
• Antelope Island State Park
• Hill Aerospace Museum
• Union Pacific Rail State Park between Park City and Echo
• Sporting event (Basketball: Jazz, Soccer: Real-the champions this year, Hockey: Grizzlies, Arena Football: Utah Blaze, Minor League Baseball: Salt Lake Bees, Orem Owlz and the Ogden Raptors.) There are also a number of Colleges and college sports.
• Theaters: Pioneer Theatre Company (professional), Capitol Theatre (Broadway tours), Utah Symphony & Opera, Ballet West, Hale Center Theater-community theatre, Desert Star Playhouse-Spoofs, Rodgers Memorial Theater-community theatre(if there are still old show posters up in the lobby and halls you might see me in a number of posters), Laughing Stock-Comedy improv-lots of fun, U of U theatres (Studio 115 Workshop & Babcock-I was a theatre major here), Westminster Theatre, BYU Theatre, Murray park amphitheatre-summer only, Sandy amphitheatre
• Movies: Movies 10 "Dollar movies": $1 Tuesdays, $1.50 other weekdays, $2 weekend
• Ski Resorts: Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, Solitude, Park City Mountain Resort, and more!

How to get discounts on some on the attractions that cost:

• Deseret book has discounted Lagoon Tickets, as do many credit unions. You can also find some Lagoon deals on Coke product cans. My mom also noted that if you plan to go to Lagoon more than a couple times, the season pass is a great deal.
• The first Wednesday of each month, some of the local museums offer free admission
• There are a number of ways to get discounted ski passes, but I will write a separate blog about that nearer to ski season
• The Salt Lake City Connect Pass-here's info about it from their website: The Visit Salt Lake Connect Pass allows you to be your own personal tour guide of 13 of Salt Lake's best attractions. Available as a 1-, 2-, 3-, or 365-day consecutive pass.
  The Connect Pass is activated the first time you use it and remains active for the number of consecutive days purchased.
  The Connect Pass can be used any day during the calendar year it was purchased but it will expire after that time.
  You may visit as many attractions as you like while the Connect Pass is active, but you are limited to only one (1) visitation at each participating attraction. Save up to $100 on combined admission prices.
  The 13 attractions are Clark Planetarium, Discovery Gateway, Lion House Pantry Restaurant, the Living Planet Aquarium, Red Butte Garden, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Thanksgiving Point, This is the Place Heritage Park, Tracy Aviary, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah Museum of Natural History, Utah Olympic Park, and Hogle Zoo. Read all about it here.

Free Attractions (My FAVORITE!!)

• Visiting our families (OK I know this is useless to you, but I could not help but throw it in there as it is my favorite thing to do in SLC...forgive my personal moment!)
• Temple Square: Located in the center of Downtown this beautiful 10 acre is Utah's most popular tourist destination. It contains nearly 20 attractions related to Mormon pioneer history and genealogy, including the Salt Lake Temple, the Tabernacle, and the Family History Library
• The Great Salt Lake
• The museums at BYU.
• Parks: Sugarhouse, Murray park
• Canyons/Hiking
• Gateway fountain
• Rosecrest Splash Pad at 14070 S Rose Crest Rd (5600 W)
• Gardner Village admission free-but they charge for "extras"
• Wheeler Farm admission free-but they charge for "extras".
• LDS Church's Welfare Square-the tours there are awesome, especially the dairy-good samples of cheese and milk/chocolate milk at the end too.

Other Utah Destinations to consider (outside the Wasatch Front/Southern Utah)

• Utah has 5 National Parks:
  •Arches National Park
  •Bryce Canyon National Park
  •Canyonlands National Park
  •Capitol Reef National Park
  •Zion National Park
  •Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
  ***See info on all those parks here.
• Utah has a number of State Parks as well. Check them out here.
• Tuacahn theatre in St George
• The Tony Award winning Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City

Shopping

Some malls/shopping centers:

• The District
• Jordan Landing
• Fashion Place
• The Gateway
• City Creek opening Spring 2012

Some Utah specific Book Stores

• Sam Wellers books
• Deseret book
• Seagull books

Conclusion

These are just the things I have learned from living in SLC. They are also ideas a from my mom, sister, aunt Sue and others. Thank you to all that contributed their ideas to this! I hope you all find something fun to do in Salt Lake!

Please feel free to add your own SLC tips and tricks to this and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.