There are only so many ways to travel back in time or to another place. Sure our family travels a lot and gets to experience different places and cultures. However, getting to really dive into another worldly experience gets tougher.

One could visit the various comic convention style events taking place each weekend around the country, but then you would just be dressing up and hanging out with like minded individuals in a hotel convention hall. The experience lacks the all encompassing environment.

You could also take a trip to any Disney theme park and experience the incredible storytelling and environment, but that comes at a substantial price.

However, a hidden gem in the heart of Ohio is the Renaissance Festival. Visiting the Ohio Renaissance Festival is more than just dressing up and going to your local fairgrounds for a weekend get-together. The entire property was specifically built for the annual event that takes place on the weekends between the beginning of September until the end of October.

You enter the grounds through the facade of a medieval castle, and if you are lucky enough to be there at park opening, you will be greeted with a show.

Once inside the walls of the castle, you travel back into time with not only actors dressed in traditional medieval clothing, but also the guests take the time to play the role of elves, fairies, knights, and townspeople. The Ohio Renaissance Festival is people watching at its finest.

You will also experience shops selling everything from weapons (real and kid friendly versions), food, jewelry, to musical instruments. There are medieval style kid rides and games throughout the property. Our favorite part is the variety of shows that take place at various stages throughout the property.

During the 2015 Ohio Renaissance Festival, we enjoyed the Mud Show on a particularly cold day. This year we opted to enjoy the Wash Show.

Two women set out on a journey to find a suitable mate for her sister and not only is the show funny, but you might will get wet if YOU do not put on a good show.

We love the Ohio Renaissance Festival, but do keep in mind everyone there working is an independent contractor. Therefore, the actors in the shows reach out for tips. Everyone walking around selling stuff from pretzels to fairy experiences are looking to get paid just like you might experience back in the medieval days.

While the Ohio Renaissance Festival is a great time, and you can experience it without all the extras, the cost can add up very quickly since everything there is an additional cost. Bring cash as some vendors may not accept credit cards.

We hope you get a chance to experience the Ohio Renaissance Festival, as it is well worth the time to walk the grounds and really indulge in what it might have been like to live during the medieval days. Also plan out which weekend you would like to visit, as there are various themes taking place throughout the duration of the event.

Website – Ohio Renaissance Festival
When: September 3-October 23, 2016

Tickets are $21.95 (adult) and $9.95 (child); however, tickets are discounted when purchasing online. Plus, save $4 per ticket through the US Family Guides website.

You can also purchase reduced tickets on Groupon starting at $14.75 each on select days.

Link: Ohio Renaissance Festival Tickets (affiliate link)

We were provided tickets to visit the Ohio Renaissance Festival, but all opinions are those of the author.

The LEGO BrickUniverse Convention is coming to the Greater Columbus Convention Center August 20-21, 2016! The LEGO BrickUniverse Convention will offer children of all ages an opportunity to build, create and enjoy an immersive LEGO experience through engaging play areas, family-oriented building activities and more.

Featured activities include:

• Challenge Zone: the whole family is on the hook to show off their creative building skills in this emceed challenge
• Building Zones: enjoy a creative build, play, and display area
• LEGO DUPLO: the youngest builders can explore building their imaginations and so many ways to play with DUPLO bricks
• Monochromatic Builds: limiting the materials to one color and one size creates amazing results
• LEGO Architecture: Build intricate and detailed LEGO models using thousands of white LEGO Architecture bricks
• LEGO Retail: purchase LEGO merchandise and goodies
• Fan Zone: with creations from some of the world’s best LEGO Fan Builders
• BIONICLE Warrior Building: construct a LEGO BIONICLE Warrior
• LEGO Artist Rocco Buttliere: Over 40 different world skyscrapers and landmarks built-to-scale in LEGO
• BRICK Theater: learn from LEGO experts, artists, master builders, and author in teaching session throughout the day
• Minifigure Art: Get yourself “legoized”

A LEGO display at the LEGO BrickUniverse fan convention on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at Plano Centre in Plano, Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)

When:
August 20: 10pm-4pm (LIMITED AVALIBILITY)

August 21: 10pm-4pm

Where:
Greater Columbus Convention Center (Hall E)
400 N High St.
Columbus, OH 43215

To purchase tickets and additional event details, visit www.brickuniverse.org/columbus

LEGO BrickUniverse Convention Giveaway

The convention has graciously offered for us to give away a family four pack of tickets. The winner will have the choice of either the Saturday or Sunday event.

To enter, simply leave a comment below with which day you would like to attend.

Back in August 2014, our family got in on an amazing mistake fare between our home airport of Cleveland and Grand Cayman for under $200 per person. While we had to work quick to secure the flights, it made out summer 2015 travel plans an easy and quick decision.

As the months got closer, we secured some amazing deals on hotels, as well as rental vehicle, which we will get more into later.

Flights

Perhaps the most unnerving aspect of travel for any parent is the process of flying. Between waking kids up earlier than normal, and dealing with an onslaught of people at all points of the airport adventure, flying can surely be a major trial for parents.

It is amazing how when your kid starts to throw a little cry, people immediately say things like “I hope I’m not sitting next to that kid” or when you try and walk your child around to get them to stop crying, and get told to “shut up.”

Traveling with kids is always an adventure, and it is quite amazing the amount of people that feel compelled to not have any compassion for parents that are working it and trying to alleviate any situations that arise.

Travel is not always pretty, and certainly not with kids in small, cramped spaces. However, our 6, 4, and 2 year old did an amazing job on both flights coming down with minimal instances. As a parent, we certainly could not have asked for a better travel day.

Upon our arrival to the island, it is always amazing to see a one runway airport where guests depart via rollaway stairs into a small little airport. Though truth be told, this is our families first international travel experience, and first time experiencing small airports outside of the U.S.

Rental Car

We had secured a reservation for a mini SUV with Budget rental car months in advance of the trip. The original reservation was in the $450 range for 9 days of rental. After inputting the data into AutoSlash, our reservation had been rebooked several times, bringing the cost down to $266.

However, after realizing we forgot our travel booster seats at home, adding two boosters and a car seat quickly shot the booking up to over $500, plus guests are required to get a $25 permit license to drive.

The sticker shock only starts there, as you quickly realize that driving in Grand Cayman is nothing like in the U.S., since you drive on the opposite side of the road. Seeing as we had never done so before, it was quite the surreal experience and takes some getting used to for sure.

Hotels

We really tossed around a lot of ideas where to stay when in Grand Cayman. First, we had some US Bank points we had been sitting on for several years, and needed to use them. So we booked two nights at one of the better rated hotels on the island, the Comfort Suites, which we will be staying at later in the trip.

For the rest of the trip, we decided to book the Holiday Inn, as we were able to secure a great rate of around $100 per night. We also had hopes, which really worked out well, that our Platinum status would get us an upgrade.

Upon arrival, we were given the option of an upgraded suite, with not that good of a view. However, when we got into the room, we were REALLY impressed, as the room had a large kitchen, dining room, seating area with sleeper sofa, king bedroom, double sink large bathroom, and a balcony overlooking the ocean.

Really, the Holiday Inn Grand Cayman is probably one of the nicer hotels we have stayed in, and a true bargain at only around $100 per night by Grand Cayman standards.

Following checking into the hotel, we elected to drive down to the Georgetown area and visit Margaritaville. We had heard they had a pool and slide, so we went well prepared with bathing suits and towels.

What an experience! We had the whole place practically to ourselves, the food was fantastic, though service was rather terrible, and we all spent several hours using the pool and slide.

After a short stop at the grocery store to stock our fridge, we were back at the hotel discussing what an amazing time we had already on Grand Cayman.