TRAVELING LITTLE MORSELS

Category: trip reports

Kyoto: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens

Background In July 2023, our family visited Kyoto and Osaka! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 3 days in Seoul.  We visited Asia previously (Tokyo 2017) but this was the first time Ellie came and the first time we visited the Kyoto/Osaka area. This post covers our fun day in the Arashiyama area including a boat cruise, monkey park, and bamboo gardens! Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple Day 3: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Gion Hozugawa River Boat: This was a highlight of our trip! A common recommended route for people visiting the Arashiyama area is to take a train west to Kameoka station and then a riverboat back. We went straight to the Kameoka station from our hotel to start our day. This area itself was really cute with a huge soccer stadium and some small shops nearby. The boat ride was about $50 for adults. From my reading of reviews, I thought this would be a relaxing picturesque ride. It was so much more! Parts were peaceful, but parts were rapids-ey with bamboo poles pushing us within inches of rocks. As I was writing this blog post, I also saw that there have been capsize accidents in the past. A good reminder to do research ahead of time. We would do this tour again. There were cool animals to see and really fun sights. Towards the end of the ride, a small motorboat pulled up with snacks! So fun! Lunch: Per the recommendations of several blogs, we stopped at Arashiyama Yoshimura, a really yummy tempura and soba spot. We were able to get a window seat and relax. The food was delicious! A little pricier than other spots we went to throughout the week but it was great. Although the boys said give them ramen over soba anyday. Iwatayma Monkey Park: This park has Japanese Macaques living all over the park. There is a steep 20 minute climb to the top of the hill and a small entrance fee. At the top there are monkeys swimming, monkeys playing, monkeys being mean to other monkeys. So many monkeys! There was a small area where humans could get in a room/cage and feed the monkeys. It was very silly 🙂 The area also has nice views of the city including all the way towards Kyoto city. Bamboo Gardens: By this point, we were kinda tired but we wanted to see the famous bamboo grove. It was really cool to see the tall stalks moving in the wind. It was really hot during our visit and we didn’t do this full hike as the kids were exhausted. Hotel time: With most of our itineraries, we try to plan lots for the morning, take a break after lunch (used to be nap time but it’s a little more flexible now) and then head out for dinner and maybe one more activity. While we were in Kyoto, we set the kids up in their own room and hooked up the switch to the TV.    Dinner: Conveyor Sushi: Near the Kawaramachi area, we planned on doing some shopping and eating dinner. We were pretty exhausted and did some wandering around the Pontocho alleys and decided on conveyor belt sushi at Morimori. Around this part of town there are also fun spots like Kiddyland toy store, Takashimaya department store and other cool spots. We also stopped at a grocery store to grab some drinks so we would stop stopping at every vending machine More Asia 2023 Posts Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple

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Kyoto: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru

Background In July 2023, our family visited Japan!  We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 5 days in Seoul.  This post covers the Higashiyama Temple area. This was split between our first half-day and our last half-day. Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Hello Kitty Train! We kicked off the Japan portion of our trip with a ride on a Hello Kitty Train! The Haruka runs from Kansai airport to Kyoto station and has cute decoration, seats, and even bathrooms lo. Tickets are about $24 per adult and half-price for kids Lunch: Eel! Near our hotel, we found a small chain called Nakau that sold curry, eel, salmon, and fried chicken. Super cheap too! After getting settled into our hotel after our day of travel, we decided to go see some temples. We didn’t have big plans for the day but just wanted to visit a few sights on our first day. Because we didn’t head out till around 4pm, many of the sites were closed by the time we got there. If you’re copying our plans, this should be done earlier in the afternoon rather than later like we did. Southern Higashiyama Temples: Chion-in Temple was the first temple we visited. Chion-in is very grand with a huge entrance gate (the biggest in Japan!). There are beautiful pagodas and gardens. The cost is less than $5 for adults (paid in cash). We walked by the entrance gates and continued our walk to Maruyama Park Maruyama Park: This cute park is beautiful and has lakes and bridges and mountains in the background. We grabbed some vending machine drinks and walked through the park to the Yasaka Shrine area. The kids rang the bell and we saw the large and beautiful shrine. Gion Walk: We skipped some of the temples as we continued south through Ninen-Zaka & Sannen-Zaka Streets. This area is super cute with beautiful houses and a 100-year old starbucks. Warning that there are lots of stairs in this area! 🙂 But check out these views of the Yasaka Pagoda! This pagoda was built in 592! We continued the walk towards Kiyomizu-Dera temple. Although we were too late to view the temple, it was still awesome to see. If we had planned our day better, we would have tried to grab some convenience snacks for lunch and headed out immediately so we could see the sights when they were open Izakaya dinner: For dinner, we had some awesome yakitori (and edamame!) at a restaurant near our hotel. There were no English speakers but we survived with google translate and papago and it was delicious! Day 5: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple​ Random Kyoto neighborhoods: I made this a category of its own because it was a fun little side adventure. We decided to save some of the other farther sites such as Nara and Fushimi Inari for a future visit but still wanted to visit a few more good free temples on our last full day. I saw a blog post for some off the beaten path spots and we wandered over to Takenaka Shrine and Shinsho Temple. These are not on anyone’s top lists but were still gorgeous. And we found a neighborhood playground. Always a joy. Philosopher’s path and Nanzenji Temple: We walked along the philosophers path from North to South. This path is a beautiful walkway next to a small canal. I’ve read its especially gorgeous during cherry blossom season. The walkway got its name from a philosopher who used to wander the street to walk to University. The walk itself is only about 15 minutes.  We ended the walk at Nanzenji Temple. This temple was absolutely gorgeous with gardens and mountains in the background. It even had an aqueduct. So cool! In the afternoon, we took the Hello Kitty train and headed to a hotel near the airport for an early morning flight.  Some spots in the Kansai area we’ll save for our next trip:  Railway Museum Samurai exhibit Golden Temple Fushimi Inari red shrines Side trips to Himeji, Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima More Asia 2023 Posts Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple

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Our Family Trip to Seoul, South Korea!: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info

Trip motivation In July 2023, our family visited Seoul, South Korea! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. In the last few years, k-drama watching for Jenn has made it jump higher on the list. We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 5 days in Japan.  We visited Asia previously (Tokyo 2017) but this was the first time the family visited Korea. Traveling internationally with kids can be daunting but with a little preparation and research and tips from other travelers, we had a successful trip! This post covers our flights, hotel, itinerary, planning process, and international logistics such as using the subway, getting a phone card, and finding budget restaurants. Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple Planning our Itinerary I love planning trips, especially through well-traveled places where there’s a ton of information to read through and make plans for. Many online blogs were really helpful! One tip for traveling with kids is take a 3-day best of guide and cut out half of it to make it actually realistic. When taking trips with kids, a key to enjoying the trip is really spending time on the planning process. That’s not to say that every minute is planned but we don’t want to waste time looking up times or directions and not having a plan. We also made sure to add some sights that we as a family were interested in and asked for advice from friends who had made a similar trip. We spent 4 nights in Seoul and had 3 full days of exploring. Several months before, I sketched out our plan in excel and on google maps with a balance of activities, rest time, food, rest, and fun. We made sure to research how far areas were and tried to schedule several anchor points with a few optional activities so we didn’t overstuff our schedule. Overview Day 0: Arrival evening, settle into hotel Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Day 4: Fly out to our next destination, Japan!   Other reconmmend spots we’ll save for next time Gwangjang market Additional palaces Han River Boat cruise Cafe hopping in Bukchon, Insadong, and Ikseodong neighborhoods DMZ tour Art, Science, and Children museums Day trip to Nami Island Amusement parks Everland, Lotte World Other parts of Korea: Busan, Jeju Flying to Seoul Prior to this portion of our trip, we spent some time in Hawaii visiting family. We were able book cash flights to Seoul Non-stop on Hawaiian Airlines. Our flights were 10 hours and the one-way flights were $650 each. We use miles for a lot of trips and we did use miles for our Japan to Nashville portion. Its not all or nothing. We were able to save money in other ways on this trip and decided to pay cash for this portion. We used the Chase Sapphire Reserve  to get more points for our next trip!  See more detailed tips on using points and miles here.   Long flight tips: Sleeping on planes West to East: Plan to sleep! For the overnight red-eye flight, we emphasized that after dinner service, everyone was going to try and get some sleep. I gave each kid a dose of melatonin and they passed out pretty immediately. We packed these cheap pillows from Amazon (They came with eye masks!).  On arrival, get outside and try to limit naps so you can readjust.  For more on our favorite activities and tips for flying, see our post here.  Headphones Melatonin Airplane pillows Activities for long flights East to West On the long flight, the kids were happy playing with the personal screen and alternating between coloring, reading, tv, games, and snacks. Ellie has been loving the Magic Treehouse books and when they were little, they used to love activities in the Magic Ink and small play pack coloring books (Amazon links).  We have one Nintendo Switch that the kids love.  For more on our favorite activities and tips for flying, see our post here.  Grand Hyatt Seoul- Itaewon We had a wonderful stay at the Grand Hyatt Seoul.  We booked a basic room using cash ($250/night) and used a suite upgrade award (from status) to get a suite with a separate living space for the kids. We used our Hyatt credit card to get points for future Hyatt stays. You can also use points from this stay. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card and Chase points which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about points here. Chase Sapphire Preferred Apply Here Chase Sapphire Reserve Apply Here Chase Hyatt Apply Here We love having suites on hotel stays. Some space to spread out is lovely. We even set up the kids TV with the nintendo switch! For more on sleeping on vacations, see this post here.  In addition to having the suite upgrade, our Hyatt globalist status gave us some cool perks. The hotel was gorgeous with a beautiful pool. There was a kids area (not drop-off) and spa that we didn’t take advantage of on this trip. Everyone was so kind and we were received a welcome gift of wine, and pastries along with a hand-written note. The hotel was grand (haha

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Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market

Background In July 2023, our family visited Seoul, South Korea! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. In the last few years, k-drama watching for Jenn has made it jump higher on the list. We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 5 days in Japan.  This post covers our 3rd full day in Seoul and visits to Gangnam, COEX aquarium, and Myeongdong Night Market. Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Starfield Library Gangnam: About a 30 minute cab ride from our hotel area is the Gangnam area. Gangnam means south of the river. This area is very fancy and trendy. It has become more famous since the Psy song, Gangnam style. We spent the morning at the Coex mall. Here we took some pictures and oohed and ahhed at the starfield library. Kind of a bookstore, kind of just an instagram spot, it was a sight included in many of the must-do lists.  Nearby, we also visited a large statue of the gangnam hands where the song played on loop. The kids were actually familiar with the song from past weddings lol! COEX Aquarium COEX aquarium: As part of the mall, there is also a huge movie theater and an aquarium in the mall. There are several throughout Seoul. This one was really fun! It had a stamp book to encourage walking through the exhibits and some cool features such as a room with framed art with the fish inside, a turtle section, a mermaid show, and some octonauts theming. The kids appreciated being indoors after a few days of more adult-focused touring. For lunch, we went to the nearby Hyundai Mall food court area where we got a variety of yummy foods like musubi, cutlet, egg, fried chicken, tteokbokki and mochi. Myeongdong night market: In the evening, we went back to the Myeongdong area where we had a delicious KBBQ grilled dinner and wandered some small market stands selling grilled lobster, fruit, squid, chicken, ice cream, and so much more! More Asia 2023 Posts Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple

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Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae cafes

Background In July 2023, our family visited Seoul, South Korea! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. In the last few years, k-drama watching for Jenn has made it jump higher on the list. We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 5 days in Japan.  This post covers our second full day in Seoul and visits Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanghwamun Square, and Hongdae Cafes. Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae cafes Hanbok Rental Hanbok Rental: This was one of the highlights of our trip! We rented outfits for 2 hours and walked to the palace across the street. We used a company called chambok. Outfits were 10-20 each for the 2 hours and it also came with some small hair decorations. The ahjummas were so sweet and helped us pick our outfits and get dressed. Ellie was a princess and Carter loved dressing up as a magistrate. From here we walked half a block to the palace Gyeongbokgung Palace Gyeongbokgung Palace: The palaces have free entry if you’re wearing a hanbok outfit. About a quarter of the visitors were wearing hanboks. It was so fun people-watching and sightseeing while dressed up. The palace was gorgeous, although busy. There are a few short guard changing ceremonies at different times throughout the day. It was hot hot hot and we didn’t time a tour or get a lot of context but it was fun to walk through the buildings and take pictures. We only stayed about an hour Gwanghwamun Square Gwanghwamun Square: Right across the street from the palace, there’s a small square with large statues. Gwanghwamun Square is mainly known for its two landmark statues? The King Sejong the Great of Joseon and Admiral Yi Sun-shin. Its a popular spot for K-drama films including memories of the alhambra where the statues come to life in a VR game. Very fun! From here, we caught a taxi to Hongdae (This was a 30 minute drive) Hongdae Cafes Hongdae Cafes: This neighborhood was so fun! On the main streets, there were tons of cute shops and activities. We stopped for a fantastic lunch of grilled meat that was really cheap. Per the recommendation of a friend, we stopped at 2 cafes. The first was a meerkat cafe where you could pay a fee and pet animals such as racoons, kangaroos, and meerkats! FYI, you had to be 7 to play in the meerkat room and Ellie was too young. We still had fun watching and seeing the other animals.  We also went to a harry potter themed cafe! It was a little pricey as drinks purchases were required for each person. There were several floors of sights to visit and some cute visuals but only a small interactive robe section and the kids weren’t familiar with Harry potter. The hongdae atmosphere was really fun with lots of people hanging out including some dancers in the streets. There is also a cooking show called NANTA that was recommended on many of the blogs I read. Itaewon dinner: Near the hotel, we had some pork cutlet and pastries at a shop near our hotel. If we had more energy, it would have been great to go out to one of the night markets to explore but we were pretty tired. More Asia 2023 Posts Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple

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Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower

Background In July 2023, our family visited Seoul, South Korea! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. In the last few years, k-drama watching for Jenn has made it jump higher on the list. We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 5 days in Japan.  This post covers our first full day in Seoul and visits to Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Namsan Seoul Tower, and more. Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple Myeongdong We started our morning by taking a cab to the Myeongdong area. This area had lots of cute shops and sites to see. Near the Myeongdong cathedral, there was a small market selling veggies and cute art. Around this area, there are tons of cosmetics shops as well. We stopped by some convenience stores for snacks and also had some delicious bingsu (shave ice) at one of the cafes. Namsangol Hanok Village Namsangol Hanok: Namsangol Hanok Village is a replica of a traditional Korean village that was built in the 1970s. There is a small pond and lots of houses to look at. When we visited, there were some “yard games” to play with. During other times in the year, they also have other cultural programs such as arts and crafts and tea ceremonies. N. Seoul Tower Cable Car: This is a fun and scenic way to get to the tower, and the views from the cable car are great, although a little squished. Note you can’t take strollers but you can leave them at the bottom for a round-trip ride. At the top, there’s still a few steps so be prepared. Seoul Tower: The views were spectacular in all the directions. It was crazy seeing how many people call Seoul home. There were some love locks on various bridges which was fun to look at although we didn’t purchase any. You can pay to go up the tower itself but the views are great from the base. I love look-outs and this was an awesome spot. Lunch: Near the bottom of the cable car, we found a great restaurant that served cheese-filled pork cutlet. So good! Hotel and Dinner Hotel time: With kids, down-time is so important. For a few hours, we played by the pool, enjoyed some Nintendo switch time and the adults went down for drinks at the hotel bar Dinner: We walked to a nearby fried chicken restaurant a few minutes from the hotel. So good! More Asia 2023 Posts Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links: Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens, Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple

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Family Beach Weekend: Our Free Stay at Hyatt Place Panama City Beach 2023

Trip Motivation In May 2023, Our family wanted to enjoy a relaxing beach vacay in Panama City Beach for 2 nights (Memorial Day weekend). We had a wonderful time enjoying the beach and pool at this new-ish hotel and would definitely come back again! Driving: Nashville to Panama City Beach: 8 hrs The closest beaches to Nashville are on the Gulf of Mexico, specifically the coasts of Florida and Alabama. You can make it here in 7 hours! Just close enough for a weekend trip and perfect for a 3-day weekend. Check out and this post for tips for road trips with kids. There are numerous options along the coast for every type of beach vacation. We have family in Pensacola and have made family trips over 10 times with kids as young as 1 month old. A few years ago, we took a minivan full of friends to a wedding in Grayton Beach on 30A. Nearby, we also visited Orange Beachin AL. From Nashville, you’ll take I-65 down through TN and AL towards Montgomery and then, depending on which area of the gulf you’re heading towards, you’ll cut down on smaller highways to get to the beach. See this post here for a few of our favorite stops on this well-traveled path that make the long drive with kids more fun. Hyatt Place Panama City Beach We spent 2 nights at the Hyatt Place Panama City Beach. The hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport and right across the street from the beach. We paid $0 out of pocket thanks to our credit card perks!  Hyatt Place is a lower brand but the hotel is great for families as it has space with a pull-out couch and free breakfast.  When sleeping with kids, extra space to spread is always a great perk.   Chase Sapphire Preferred Apply Here Chase Sapphire Reserve Apply Here Chase Hyatt Apply Here You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card and Chase points, which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about points here. Between the beach and hotel activities, we filled our days full. Read on to learn more about what to do in this cute city. Beach Time The water temp was still a little chilly but that doesn’t stop our kiddos!  They loved the sand, and adventuring out for sand dollars and shells. We spent several hours playing and relaxing on the beach. It was very convenient to the hotel where there were showers and bathrooms nearby. Pool Time Our hotel had a fantastic heated pool. This is one of the reasons we planned this trip! Although it was advertised as a lazy river, it was really a fantastic pool with a small area with currents. lol. There was a zero entry area and a lot of space to spread out. We packed goggles and dive sticks and had a blast. My favorite kind of vacations involve pina coladas and sitter-vising. Virgin with cherries for the littles. Other Activities We took a break from the beach on one of the days and went to Wongo Adventure to play a round of mini-golf. This was in walking distance from the hotel! There were also go-karts, carnival games, small rides, and lots of fun things! Eat, Eat, Eat! Hotel breakfast: Our kiddos are becoming spoiled from hotel breakfast! This hotel had a free breakfast buffet for all guests and it was a step above typical hotel food. Loved the waffles and breakfast burittos! Lunches and Dinners: We weren’t too impressed by the hotel offerings for lunch and dinner. We enjoyed the poolside drinks but the food could use some work. Along the main street, there are tons of choices for yummy seafood and other delicious options. Our favorite spot was Shuckums right next to the hotel. Crab legs and fried shrimp! Yum! We also drove to a nearby strip mall and had some fantastic burgers at Craft Bar.  Other Panama City Recommendations Gulf World Marine Park Shipwreck Waterpark Shell Island Boat Tour Pier Park Final Thoughts This was a quick trip but so much fun!

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Washington DC Itinerary with Kids- Our Favorite Museums and Activities

Trip Motivation In March 2023, we flew to DC for a week of museums, US history, cherry blossoms and so much walking. The kids were 5 and 8 and this was a perfect age to see all the amazing sights. This post has details on our itinerary and recommendations for museums. If you’re planning a visit to DC with kids, read on! For more on our flight and hotel logistics, head to this post here. Guide to Setting an Itinerary 3 day itinerary to DC? 4 day visit to DC with kids? Week-long itinerary? We were in DC for 4 full days and 2 half-days. We had collected a long list of recommendations from website searches, facebook groups, and past visits. I put them into an excel list and started categorizing items as must-do/like to do along with ticket requirements. I then tried to map out the must do items together by location so we weren’t criss-crossing the city. We hit a lot of sights but also maintained a good amount of down-time and wandering-time. Something to keep in mind that walkable might mean 15 minutes, but multiple walks can be really tiring so close-by areas need to be grouped as much as possible. Even with our organizing, we took over 20,000 steps each day! Ok Let’s get to it! Day 1: Museum of Natural History Day 2: Museum of American History and Air and Space Museum Day 3: National Building Museum and Memorial Walk Day 4: National Zoo and Pool Time Day 5: US Capitol, American Indian Museum & National Portrait Gallery Day 6: National Postal Museum Day 1: Museum of Natural History We arrived in DC in the afternoon and checked into our hotel. (See more here) The hotel was located near the White house and the west side of the national mall sights. For lunch, we went to Elephant and Castle for some yummy shepherd’s pie and pizza pie to celebrate pi day. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has a lot to offer kids of all ages.  We spent around 2 hours here. Here are a few highlights: Gem and mineral collection: Over 10,000 gems, including some of the most famous diamonds in the world, such as the Hope Diamond. Ellie loved the colorful gems. Hall of Mammals: Lots of cool action poses from various mammals big and small. The Africa area even had some ambiance music going. We spent a lot of time learning facts in this section. Dinosaur Fossil Hall: 200 dinosaur fossils, including a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Zoo: This exhibit is a beautiful and peaceful place to relax and enjoy the company of butterflies. There are over 1,500 butterflies from all over the world. Free on Tuesdays! After the museum, we relaxed at the hotel, including dinner and TV time. We also decided it would be really fun to watch the Night at the Museum sequel that took place in DC!  Day 2 Morning: American History Museum The Smithsonian Museum of American History was my personal favorite of the museums we visited. It is a great place for kids to learn about the history of the United States. There are many interactive exhibits that will keep kids engaged and learning. It is so varied and has so many cool things to see. 3 floors and over 50 exhibits. We spent around 3 hours here. Some of our favorite spots include Entertainment Nation: Sports, Celebrity, Movie artifacts and more are all featured in a really cool new exhibit. You can see R2D2, Ruby’s slippers, famous costumes, and so much more. So cool! Spark Lab: This was a mini science museum with hands-on stations to build a pinball machine, learn about weaving, code some music and do some cool stem activities. There was also a small toddler play area next door but our kids were a little too old. Perfect for the under 5 crew (We don’t have any of those anymore!) The Star-Spangled Banner: Here you can see the flag that inspired the song and learn about the history of the United States and the symbolism of the flag. First Ladies of the United States: Ellie and I are a sucker for pretty dresses. Jill Biden’s inaugural dress (and mask!) are featured along with Obama, Clinton, and over 100 gowns. There are also really cool displays of China dishes and other artifacts. American Democracy. We walked through this area quickly and wished we  could have spent more time here. It was really interesting to read about the history of the founding of the nation and how voting and comprise has helped shape our current country.  Day 2 Afternoon: Air and Space Museum After lunch (Bi Bim Bap at Rice Bar!), we spent the afternoon at the Air and Space Museum. This was a little bit of a walk but we required reservations for this museum and this was the day with the best times. The National Air and Space Museum is undergoing some remodeling and is going to be even bigger and better later in 2023. Even with half the exhibits closed, we still spent 2 hours visiting. This museum requires reservations! This is the busiest museum in the whole country with half a million visitors a year. There’s info on the first flight, history of commercial flights, space, and even some star wars ships! Some highlights include The Wright Flyer: The first airplane to fly successfully is on display in an exhibit by the entrance and the story of the first flight was presented in a really cool way. Carter loved this area and reading about the trial and errors of the first attempts. Planets Gallery: Ellie’s class is really into space and I always love putting it into perspective just our different and far other worlds are.  Destination Moon: This exhibit brings you into history and shows what scientists were thinking at the time of the planning and flying. Looking back, its so crazy that we put people

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jennifer sedona

Traveling Little Morsels

Sharing memories and tips for enjoying travels with littles. Always looking forward to our next adventure! 

❤ Jenn Morse ❤
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