Florida: Mambos in Cocoa Beach

Starving after a day at the beach, we wandered down A1A looking for a fun place to eat on the beach. We found Mambos, located at the International Palms Resort in Cocoa Beach.

We were drawn in by the promise of live reggae music, which was actually a combination of a DJ spinning upbeat tunes and a group called Karmatic enjoying a fun reggae jam session. What a fun vibe!

I had the crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries, which was delicious, moist, and fresh. Check out the rest of the menu here. The drink was something Caribbean in a bucket - can't really go wrong there!

There were a couple of cons, too - there are seats down in the sand, which would be awesome during cooler hours, but you can't really see the ocean, even though it is a few feet away. Bummer!

I was disappointed in the children's menu, because even though the adult menu featured fare like conch fritters, crab cakes, and mahi mahi, there wasn't so much as a fish and chips option on the kids menu. The three children in our group had hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.

The service was quite slow, too, but we just chalked that up to island time and enjoyed the music.

Find Mambos on Yelp here.

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Florida: Tables Beach

We headed out this morning to hit Cocoa Beach, but when we arrived, we found the area to be more crowded than we were hoping for. So we moved down the road to Patrick Air Force Base Tables Beach.

This lesser known gem is just south of Cocoa Beach on A1A, directly across from Patrick Air Force Base. Here's a great little trick - you'll pay anywhere from $5 to $20 to park at Cocoa Beach, but Tables Beach has around 40 parking spaces, all free to the public.

Enjoy the surf and sand, or kick back and watch the surfers - this is a favorite spot for longboarders. We also saw a turtle nest!

Garbage cans are few and far between (so be prepared to pack anything you bring in back out), as are bathrooms, but this is a beautiful spot with lots of space to roam. We'll definitely be back!

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Colorado: Western Slope Vietnam Memorial Park

Not every pit stop needs to be a big, well-planned event. Bria and I pulled into Fruita, Colorado at 3:30 in the afternoon, tired of driving and in need of a break. Signs on the highway told me this town was the home of several options to explore, so we popped into a Wendy’s, grabbed some lunch, and did a quick internet search.

There were a few child-focused activities in the area, but most seemed to be closing at 4. Out the window, we spotted a display featuring a full-size helicopter and some statues and flags.

"Can we go see the helicopter?" Bria asked.

So we set off across the parking lot, and found the Western Slope Vietnam Memorial Park. The small park features a UH-1H Huey helicopter, a symbol of the Vietnam era. Speakers tell a brief story of the people impacted by the war when you step onto the platform, a feature that connected Bria to the display and helped her to understand the the display.

We spent half an hour reading names on the wall, acting out scenes with the statues, and checking out the helicopter and flags. It was an interesting history lesson and a great break from the road.

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Iowa: The Bridges of Madison County

A short drive from Des Moines, Madison County is in south-central Iowa.

Our first stop was at the Visitor’s Center, where a sweet local woman stocked us with some directions, some historical information, and a map. It sits across from a huge, beautiful county courthouse, the kind that dots the landscape throughout this lush state.

Once we had placed the obligatory pins in the center's visitor map, we checked out a small collection of gifts and goodies, including some photos of the bridges taken by a local photographer dating backing to the 70s. The 1995 movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep which made the area famous played on a screen near the bathrooms, and the shelves contained a dutiful number of copies of the Robert James Waller book.

If you want to plan your route ahead of time, or happen to visit while the Visitor’s Center is closed, a map of the bridges is available on the Madison County website here.

There were originally around 100 covered wooden bridges in Iowa – 19 in Madison County – but only six remain. The sun was low on the horizon, so we chose to visit four of them.

While the romance of the Trip + Leisure version of these beautiful landmarks was lost on our five-year-old, it was still a beautiful place to visit and a great history lesson (with a bit of nature thrown in).

We started with the Cutler-Donahue Bridge has been relocated to the Winterset city park, which is a pretty little park with lots of green spaces to spread out in, and a few neat little features, like a maze and stone tower. Cutler-Donahue is 79 feet long, and was built in 1871 by Eli Cox, making it the oldest of the bridges we visited. (Imes Bridge, which is east of St. Charles, was built in 1870.)

A short trek to the west (about 4 miles – just over half of it was gravel road), we visited the Holliwell Covered Bridge, the longest of the Madison County bridges at 122 feet. Bria loved this one because it is not sealed as tightly as some of the others, so she could see the river through the small gaps between the planks. She spent a good chunk of time “helping” the trees to grow by dropping their seeds into the river!

Next we visited Cedar Bridge, which is 3 miles north of Winterset. The original Cedar Bridge was built in 1883, but it was destroyed by arson in 2002. It has since been rebuilt, and we visited the replica north of Winterset. The bridge is 75 feet long, and was built to the same plans as the original bridge, using authentic materials and techniques. We actually didn’t realize it was a replica until we got to the next bridge and were reading the map!

Finally we stopped at Hogback Bridge on our way back to Cedar Rapids. It is located about 5 miles north of town, on a quiet side road.

One thing that was interesting about Hogback Bridge was its proximity to the newer bridge that traffic now follows. We sat and watched the river swallows swoop from their tiny mud nests on the sides and bottom of the new bridge to the river below. This was an excellent spot for bird watching.

The rich history of these bridges includes marks left behind by the many visitors over the years - we loved the way layer upon layer of traveler could be seen in the weathered boards of the bridge walls. The deeper you look, the more you see.

Our visit on a May afternoon meant we had the places basically to ourselves, but if you are interested in being a part of a bigger event, the community of Winterset celebrates the bridges with a festival the second full weekend of October.

Want to learn more? Check out the World Guide to Covered Bridges
and the Encyclopedia Britanica article on the engineering of these bridges.

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Utah: Mormon Handcart Visitor's Center

We were driving along Highway 220 in Wyoming. It was hot. Bria was bored. We needed a break. I spotted a small sign that said Mormon Handcart Visitor's Center, and decided to pop in for a few minutes to stretch our legs. 

That few minutes to stretch our legs quickly stretched into one of Bria's favorite memories from the trip!

We parked and walked down the hill to the Visitor's Center, where we were greeted by a tour guide. A missionary from the church, she was incredibly knowledgeable about the location and its history, and shared with us the story of Mormon pioneers who passed through this area in the mid-1800s. One story in particular makes this sacred ground, as a fateful trip of two handcart companies - the Willie and Martin companies - had tragic results here.

With the experienced assistance of our guide, we toured the Visitor's Center, then watched a movie on the handcart experience before heading out to pull a handcart for ourselves. Bria and I picked up the crossbar and started walking, with a little help from the guide pushing the back. I can't even fathom pushing that thing across half the country.

They have a little gravel loop set up for people to pull the carts around (none of this mountainous uncharted terrain for us), just long enough for the cart to get empty and visitors to start to get the idea of what this might have been like.

Eager to join the members of their church in Utah, more than 3,000 Mormon pioneers traveling from England, Wales, Scoland, and Scandinavia made the journey, most of them with very little money. While it could cost around $600-$800 to outfit a covered wagon, a family could get a handcart for around $20, making it an accessible option.

Each cart had two wheels, was about 4 1/2 feet wide, and weighed 60 pounds. The family's belongings were packed into a box three feet by four feet, and generally carried up to 250 pounds, though they were capable of loads up to 500 pounds. Originally the carts were made entirely of wood, but a stronger design was substituted in later years, and metal elements were included.

The Visitor's Center is on the site of the former Sun Ranch, one of the first ranches in Wyoming. The Mormon Church purchased the land in the 90s, and established the center in the ranch's headquarters.

Additional historical buildings remain, and we enjoyed touring the little bunkhouse and wash house, where Bria learned about the old saying "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." Being the baby of six, she knew her baths would have been an experience in pioneer days!

A family could spend the entire day here - there is so much to do that we couldn't get to on a brief pit stop. We stopped into Fort Seminoe on the way out, but didn't spend a lot of time looking around.

There are also additional homestead buildings, and trails that bring you to Martin's Cove, Devil's Gate, and lots more. Our guide shared the story of how Devil's Gate (the place in the bluff where the river goes through) got its name (from an old Native American legend), and Bria has been telling it for weeks, complete with sound effects and big hand motions!

This was a really fun and educational stop, and we highly recommend it if you are in the area.

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Tennessee: Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?

After a fun day on the road, we decided to stop for the night near Chattanooga, and hit Priceline for a room for the night. What a fun surprise to book a room at the Chattanooga Choo Choo!

Opened in 1909 as Terminal Station of the Southern Railroad, this building served as a travel hub for thousands of travelers. What a great way to be greeted as you step into a hotel – almost like stepping back in time! Bria was delighted by the ornate station (which has now been turned into the main lobby), and the excitement only grew from there.

We found the property to be amazing, and very kid-friendly. Bria loved the rose gardens, which held several ponds serving as habitats for flora and fauna of a wide variety. In the early evening hours there were lots of frogs to chase around, and in the morning she sat and watched the fish swimming and the butterflies flitting through the air.

Of course there were also trains! Just like when the railroad operated here until 1970, the yard is filled with tracks and trains.

The view from our room made Bria happy as a clam, and she talked for days about having dinner in a real railroad car (the pizza car, called the Silver Diner). We stayed in a standard hotel room, but there are Victorian Train cars available for overnight guests, as well. What a fun treat!

This is not a new hotel by any stretch, so if that is what you are looking for you may want to stay down the road. It had its grand opening in 1973 at the end of a $4 million renovation. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, making it one of the city’s first historic preservation projects.

A 21st century renovation project is now in progress, with some big plans to match the big venue. For the time being, things are a little dated, but we didn’t care, it meant there was lots of character. Plus everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming, the room was clean, and we had a blast. We plan to return after the renovations to spend more time checking out the area!

And because I didn’t even realize the Chattanooga Choo Choo was a hotel, here is some info on the song, made popular by the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the 40s.

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Illinois: The City of Metropolis

Imagine you are driving down the interstate, and you see a sign: “World’s largest Superman statue.”

Hmmm. Intrigued, but the kid in the back seat looks comfortable, so it really isn’t time for a stop yet.

Then you see the next sign: “Metropolis, next exit.”

I mean, how could you not stop?

This is the sequence of events that brought Bria and I to Metropolis, Illinois.

We pulled off the highway and followed the signs along quiet streets, three miles to the county courthouse, where a 15-foot statue of the super hero rises above the town.

 The statue looks out over the Super Museum, where more than 20,000 items represent 75 years plus of Man of Steel history. Bria wandered through, stopping to examine decades old relics and ask questions, posing in phone booths for photos, and excitedly proclaiming when she saw Super Girl. If you are a Super Man fan at all, it is well worth the stop and the $5 admission per adult.

A few blocks away, a statue of Lois Lane stands on a square. Bria loved reading about the actress who played her (Noel Neill) in the Adventures of Superman, and her contributions to the community of Metropolis.

Want to learn more? Roadside America has a not-so-flattering article on Superman's hometown, but it has some interesting history about the town's original plans for a theme park and 200-foot statue.

The Southernmost Illinois Tourism Bureau has some info on attractions in the area, too.

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