Coast 2 Coast Mom

21c Museum Hotel an Unexpected Gem in Louisville, KY

Our stop in Louisville, KY introduced us to the 21c Museum Hotel - a fabulous find along our coast-to-coast road trip. It's part hotel and part contemporary art museum, which gives it just the right touch of modern quirkiness and classy yet comfortable Southern decor for a unique boutique hotel experience. I've sung the praises of the 21c Hotel ever since our visit, and now recommend our friends visiting Louisville stay there.

The hotel's located a block from the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum, and is on West Main Street within walking distance of several restaurants along Kentucky's Museum Row, allowing ample opportunity to take in some of the amazing historical architecture and local street art.

From the moment we arrived, the 21c Hotel's stately red penguins greeted us before we even entered the building. The hotel boasts a collection of 40 Red Penguin sculptures scattered around the hotel, each numbered as part of a 200-piece public art project commissioned for the 2005 Venice Biennale. We made it a bit of a game to see how many we could find as we walked around parts of the gallery and hotel.

Once inside the lobby, you know that you've arrived at a special hotel. Here's a stylistic view that I shared on Instagram when we visited:

Even the lobby bathrooms are a part of the interesting ambiance, often in the running for best bathroom contests. The waiting area by the elevators offers delightful interactivity with a video screen of falling letters and shadows of people waiting. The creative art doesn't stay hidden within the hotel, but is shared on the street outside, as you can see with the installation on the corner of the hotel, The Raft.

The rooms are unique yet comfortable. We loved the original exposed brick wall and the bathroom amenities . . . complete with rubber ducky.

My Southern side got a kick out of the mint julep supplies in the room . . .

Because of the at-times mature nature of contemporary art, the environment may not be ideal for all families visiting with younger children. We regularly visit art museums and felt comfortable with our son seeing the gallery of art. If you're concerned about your kids seeing nude statues or modern art, call first to inquire about the current art exhibits before visiting. You can avoid the gallery during your stay and enjoy the lobby bathrooms, interactive elevator display, red penguins and more that were completely in the realm of a "G" for general audiences rating.

The front desk staffers were friendly and full of suggestions for us, and the doormen were great as well. The nice thing was that we found a parking spot just outside the hotel and enjoyed free parking!

Of course, after we booked our room, a little research showed that we shouldn't have been so surprised by our experience as the hotel has been lauded by Travel & Leisure Magazine and others as one of the best hotels to visit. How fortunate were we to have stumbled upon it? The exciting news is that they're expanding and opening soon in Cincinnati, Ohio (later in 2012) and Bentonville, Arkansas (2013) and Austin, Texas. :-D

 

Coast-to-Coast Road Trip - Driving From Pittsburgh to Louisville

The next leg of our coast-to-coast road trip took us from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania through Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky on I-70 and I-71. Because we left later than anticipated, we didn't get the chance to try to meet up with a college roommate of mine, but we were thankful for the good weather and great traffic!

Here's some of the sights along our drive leaving downtown Pittsburgh . . .

The train overpass just outside of Pittsburgh . . .

The Kiddo playing Jack and The Beanstalk by MindShapes along the ride. . . we've enjoyed playing the app ever since we first explored it on the road trip. Great for the 4-7 year old crowd!

A look back at downtown Columbus through the Ford Flex sunroof . . .and even in this iPhone photo, objects are closer than they appear. ;-)

Passing through Cincinnati . . .

Procter & Gamble headquarters . . .

We thought it was cool how we got to see so many downtown landmarks just driving through. It was a scorcher that day - with temps in the low 100s, so we decided not to stop and just get to Louisville. Here's what we saw or the Cincinnati Reds' Great American Ball Park . . .

A look downtown as we started to head over the Ohio River toward Kentucky . . .

Entering Kentucky!

A look back at downtown Cincinnati from Kentucky . . .

Approaching Louisville! It was so hot that it was hazy.

 

Much like Pittsburgh, we could see water nearly everywhere we looked around Louisville. No wonder it's referred to as the River City.

We rolled into town just in time to check out the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum before it closed for the day, check into our hotel, go for a walk and grab dinner. Look for more about our unique hotel and our visit to the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum. . .

Ford lent us a Ford Flex to drive for our coast-to-coast road trip.

 

How Do You Regulate Your Family Tech Use on a Family Vacation?

Because I write about technology and see a lot of tech devices before they're available on the market, I'm often asked which device/laptop/game console/phone, etc someone should buy, whether they should wait for the next upgrade, and which apps they should install for their kids. The next most popular question is how we set rules for using electronic devices in our family . . . which always makes me happy to discover that others are being mindful of screentime, but I also feel a little uncomfortable answering because what works for us may not work for them.

Basically, we use the moderation is key approach at home as we guide him through using the technology. Just because we happen to have a lot of electronics in the home, doesn't mean the Kiddo gets to spend a disproportionate amount of time online. While on the road for family travel, though, we actually have situational rules for using electronics on vacation.

The reason we take a vacation or go on a trip is for the experience, the opportunity to connect and make family memories, and lastly, to relax, rejuvenate and just get away! I grew up in a small rural Midwestern town and often marvel at the places I've visted and the things I've seen that are so completely unlike my environment growing up. So it's important to us that we expose the Kiddo to these things and underscore an appreciation and respect for them as well - by being present, engaging the senses and taking mental snapshots (or having him take real snapshots or video!).

Along our coast-to-coast roadtrip last summer, we shared some of the documentation duties with him, and he was thrilled. He loved using the FlipCam to record portions of our trip with his own narration. As you can tell above, he loved watching the video back too. ;-)

Did he watch movies in the car along the roadtrip and play games on the iPad, Nintendo DS and LeapPad? You bet! Although not while we were curving through the Rocky Mountains, or cruising by Joshua Tree National Park. Definitely not while we were on the lookout for each state's welcome sign! Certainly not while we visited the hotel pool, walked around the cities, or waited for our table at an authentic restaurant. We were sure to clear the devices away as we crossed the Mississippi River and watched people rafting along the Colorado River.

Of course, the real reason we wouldn't want to completely curtail using tech devices on our trips is that @c2cDad and I would be hurt the most. We plan our trips on the fly using our phones and laptops to look up recommendations, ratings, directions and such. We're usually so busy working up until the last second before we leave for vacation that much our trip is left unplanned awaiting our full attention. We also document our trips with our cameras, cell phones, social media check-ins and video cameras. We're capturing and sharing our adventures with family and friends who may never have the opportunity to do what we're doing.

However, once we've gotten the shot we want, the recording devices go away until the next share-worthy moment crops up. Then it's back to singing along to the radio, playing the alphabet game, looking for more state license plates to flip over on the Melissa & Doug game board, and our own entertainment.

How do you regulate using electronics on vacation as a family with being present and enjoying your travels? You can join a TravelingMom.com Twitter party tonight to chat about just such a topic with other traveling families, and here's how another blogger, Kim Orlando from TravelingMom, incentivized her kids on a recent trip to Aruba:

  

 

And We're Off! Day One of our Coast to Coast Roadtrip

While we kicked off our coast to coast roadtrip later than we'd planned, we certainly started it off with more style and space than we were expecting! (just ask my five year old, he had room to grow). Ford graciously lent us a Ford Flex to drive from coast to coast to attend the annual BlogHer conference. (Little did they know that they enabled the family trip of a lifetime! ;-) )

The kiddo was uber excited about picking up the Ford Flex loaner in Manhattan for the roadtrip (as was I!)

A Late Start for our Coast to Coast Roadtrip

I've spent the last two months reviewing and organizing photos from our coast to coast roadtrip. Looking back at them now, I'm amazed at how much we saw and experienced over the course of those brief three weeks on the road. We packed in memories and experiences to last a lifetime and I'm a bit nostalgic already for the adventure and spontaneity of our life exploring the country. It seems so long ago, yet the trip itself flew by in the wink of an eye. I'm ready to go again! Look at me, I'm already percolating ideas for our next trip. ;-)

It wouldn't be right to start anywhere but in the beginning of our roadtrip with Day One. Which requires me to explain a bit. First, we've taken enough roadtrips to know that we have to schedule extra time...for traffic jams, road construction, hitting major cities during rush hour, and just plain longer-than-expected pit stops. So we baked an extra day and a half into our westbound trip right off the bat . . . just in case we wanted to make an additional overnight stop or extend our stay anywhere. Although we had six days to get to San Diego, we didn't want to be stressed or speeding to get there. We wanted a fun, stop whenever and wherever we want roadtrip. (I mean, how often can I get @c2cDad to take time off - let alone two and a half weeks??)

Ford Flex Review by the Kid

One of the things we were most excited about along our coast-to-coast roadtrip was the vehicle Ford loaned us for the trip: a Ford Flex! The Kiddo LOVED having so much space in the back of the car to himself, the glow-in-the-dark cupholders, that he had outlets to charge his own devices , the Microsoft SYNC voice technology, and that he could stand up in the car without touching his head on the ceiling.

Of course, he can tell you all about it best himself. He's such a talker, though, that he gave an eight minute tour of the Ford Flex! So I condensed it here to just over two minutes of the highlights. . .

 

The Coast-to-Coast Adventures of Flat Harrison - Got Milk?

If you've been following our coast to coast roadtrip the last couple of weeks, then you know we picked up an additional passenger on our way home from BlogHer '11 in San Diego. A life-sized celebrity cut-out of Harrison Ford from the Got Milk campaign, we dubbed him "Flat Harrison," (#flatharrison) and drove him back to New York City in the Ford Flex for my friend SelfishMom. We had a blast with an extra guest along for the return trip!

The top three questions we were asked along the way:

3. WHY do you have a Harrison Ford cut-out?

2. What is your friend going to do with him once you get him to NYC?

1. May I get a photo with him?? (Seriously - at least one person now has a pic with Flat Harrison as her new Facebook profile photo!)

Here's a montage of #FlatHarrison's travels as we made our way from the west coast to the east coast. . .

Using the LG Thrill 4G Phone to Capture Our Roadtrip

Just before we left for our coast to coast roadtrip, AT&T sent me the LG Thrill 4G (formerly called the Optimus 3D) to try out. It's the first glasses-free 3D phone that I've used . . . which means that you can capture and playback 3D photos or videos and play 3D games without having to wear 3D glasses.

By looks alone, the LG Thrill phone reminds me of the HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7, as both are thin and sleek and have luxurious 4.3 inch screens. However, the LG Thrill is really geared toward people who want to produce, consume and play with 3D media, so it has the added power of a dual-core processor for speed, two 5 megapixel cameras (one 2D, one 3D), and runs on the Android 2.2 (Froyo) platform. It also can become a mobile hotspot for up to five devices - which came in oh-so handy on our three-week trip!

Residence Inn North Shore Pittsburgh

Last week I stayed at the Residence Inn Times Square for a "working moms" night out to talk about family travel. I had a great experience and was so impressed by the quality of the room, and the friendliness of the staff that I wanted to try the experience with my family. So, for our first stop on our coast to coast roadtrip, we chose to stay at the Residence Inn North Shore in Pittsburgh, PA.

Built just last year, the hotel still looks brand new with shiny new stainless steel appliances. For Pittsburgh Pirates fans, the Residence Inn is located across the street from PNC Park, and would be a perfect hotel if you're coming in for a game.

 

Residence Inn Times Square NYC - Home Away From Home

Just last week I was invited to attend a Residence Inn Resident Mom blogger event at the Residence Inn Times Square in NYC. Owned and operated by Marriott International, it's located in Midtown near Times Square, but tucked away from the usual congestion and craziness at 6th and 39th. The Residence Inn has had such success implementing all of the amenities that make staying away from home for business more comfortable during the week, that they've found themselves attracting family travelers on weekends! They invited some local NYC media and travel bloggers in to experience it for ourselves.

 
I've stayed at a lot of hotels this past year for work and pleasure, but until last week, I hadn't stayed at a Residence Inn, so this was my first experience. My standards are pretty high, having stayed in beautiful luxury hotels, including several Fairmonts, Four Seasons, Intercontinentals, Loews and Ritz Carltons. I almost always feel like royalty during my stays there: the gorgeous grand construction and beautifully manicured grounds, the staff magically knowing my name and any special events or requests before I even broach them.