Month: September 2012

Squire’s Castle: A Millionaire’s Property That Never Was

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When I used to work in the area, I stumbled across the remnants of Squire’s Castle located in Willoughby, Ohio. To this day, stopping at the castle is a great family favorite activity when in the vicinity.

081012 Squire's Castle 1

Constructed on 525 acres, Feargus B. Squire (founder of the Standard Oil Company) started construction of the project in the 1890’s. The building shown was constructed as the gatekeepers residence prior to the construction of the main home. The original design called for two (2) buildings in the style of English or German halls.

081012 Squire's Castle 2

Unfortunately, for an unknown reason the project was abandoned and never completed. Eventually the property was sold off to the Metroparks, where it remains today.

Guests can visit the castle free of charge, including walking through the abandoned structure, as well as hiking along trails or strolling through the large grassed area in front of the structure.

Walking through the building, one can only wonder what potential could have been not only for the gatekeepers residence, but also the main house.

The Cleveland Metroparks has a wonderful brochure that they put together highlighting some of the history of the property. Included is a nice insert map showing the layout of how the building was originally used.

MetroParks Squire's Castle Pamphlet

The complete pamphlet can be downloaded on the Park website.

Today the building is nothing more than a shell of its former self unfortunately. The property remains a mystery to Cleveland’s steel and oil past, but today lives on as a family-friendly park for everyone to enjoy.

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Family Travel to Build Emotional Intelligence

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Framed Mweeman

“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert

Over the summer I was studying and going back to school. It is against every fiber of my being to learn during these beautiful sunny days, as I am such a summer lover. Doesn’t it seem crazy to be cooped up inside when I could be swimming with my boys? But, alas I had to continue some of my education in order to meet some of my work aspirations, and so I found myself taking a class about emotional intelligence. As a reader of this travel blog, you may be wondering why I am choosing to write about this topic to you readers. I could not help myself. I found myself thinking so much about travel, while learning in class, that I knew the information could be the basis for a terrific article. Specifically, my thoughts wondered how travel can foster so much growth for all ages in both Emotional and Cognitive Intelligence.

I think the biggest standout I took away from the entire class is how the lessons supported all of our beliefs on how we teach our boys. If you have been a long time reader of this blog, you know that my husband and I take our children everywhere and absolutely love nothing more than traveling as a family. We hear a lot of advice that we should not spend the money or that taking such young children on vacation is pointless because they will never remember the trip.

This is counter intuitive advice according to the way the brain learns. The human brain makes the strongest connections (connections that tend to last the longest) when a person experiences something firsthand. So for example, when we take our children to a farm and they get to milk a cow and hear it moo and see that cow has a baby calf, in turn they are making vital brain connections that are longer lasting than the ones that were made when we showed them a picture of a cow and practiced saying moo. Sure, they may never remember where or when they saw a cow in a few months, but they will have more connection to animals when they learn about them in school and certainly more basis for vocabulary concerning animals because of this real and hands on experience.

On our most recent trip to Hawaii we knew taking the kids would be a massive amount of work…and luggage. We heard how crazy and brave we were to take them from everyone. Deep down we knew we were a little crazy too, but we wanted to mainly see if we COULD actually do it. By doing a long family vacation together we learned so much more about ourselves as parents. The boys learned a lot too.

My youngest son, Lan-Shark (1) learned new words, that he loved to dance and hula, and that he could really dig the sand (both literally and figuratively). My oldest son, Bug (3) learned to hold his breath and swim underwater, he learned up close and personal what sea turtles look like in their natural environment, and that he could safely try new things with his parents guidance without being too afraid (things like sliding down slides and seeing a dinosaur exhibit).

I realized upon returning home at the end of almost three weeks, that for my husband, this was the longest stretch of time he had ever been with the boys without having to work (a priceless souvenir). When we left Hawaii, all four of us left with so many new things learned and so many connections made that would have never been possible in our busy lives at home. It was worth every bit of planning…and luggage, that it took to take two kids under three all the way across the country and the ocean.

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American Express Starwood Preferred Guest 30,000 Starpoint Card Offer

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Update 9/5/12: The 30,000 point offer is no longer available. The current offer is for 25,000 points.

Once each summer, for the past three years, there exists an offer so good, and so rare, that it causes quite a stir among travelers. One credit card and reward program is amazingly at the top of every major traveler awards year after year including the Freddie Awards and the Frequent Travelers University. That card is the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.

From August 7 through September 4, 2012, American Express will offer the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) credit card with an increased bonus of 30,000 points (typically 25,000 points). The points will be awarded as 10,000 bonus Starpoints after first purchase and 20,000 bonus Starpoints after spending $5,000 in 6 months. The question remains, why should one care about an offer for a measly 30,000 points when other credit cards will award you 50,000 to 100,000 miles/points?

Keep in mind, if Starwood were to dole out large piles of points, inevitably, you would need to redeem a lot more points towards a reward night. Lets look at some of the many benefits of the SPG card and program.

1) Free Night Redemption– Depending on the category of hotel, reward nights start at as little as 2,000 points per weekend night (Category 1) up to 35,000 points for a Category 7 hotel. The SPG Redeem/Transfer page also lists a great feature of a fifth reward night free. Simply redeem five nights and your fifth night is free at category 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 hotels.

2) Diversity of Brands– Among the SPG brands are Four Points, Sheraton, Aloft, W Hotels, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Element, Westin, and St. Regis.

3) Cash and Point Redemption– One of the best values of the Starwood AMEX and the SPG program is the cash and point option. Starwood gives guest the ability to combine a reduced amount of points per night with cash, which can have a tremendous value.

For example, lets say I wanted to stay at the St. Regis Princeville Resort in Kauai, where rooms can go for $400/night. I could redeem 20,000 points/night, but an even better option would be to redeem for the cash and points option of 8,000 points + %150 per night. So for the price of a low-end hotel in Hawaii, someone could stay in a high- end property at a reasonable rate.

4) Airline Transfer Option– Long believed one of the favorite benefits of the Starwood Preferred Guest card is the availability to transfer Starpoints into other programs at favorable rates. The SPG airline partner list includes over 30 of the major airlines. Most of the airlines transfer at a 1:1 ratio. What is even better is that if you transfer a minimum of 20,000 Starpoints, you will receive a bonus 5,000 points. In other words, 20,000 SPG Starpoints equals 25,000 airline miles. This is an excellent option to have with the SPG card, as well as select partners which one will not receive with the Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards programs.

5) Starpoints Earn Potential– Get 1 Starpoint for every eligible dollar spent. However, as a SPG cardholder, you will earn 4 Starpoints per dollar spent at SPG properties. Elite status bumps up the bonus to 5 points per dollar spent.

6) Jump Towards Elite Status– As a card holder, you will receive credit for 2 stays towards your Starwood Preferred Guest elite status and credit for 5 nights toward your Starwood Preferred Guest Elite status. This means you will only need to stay 23 stays or 45 nights to get Platinum status.

7) Referral Bonus– Have friends that are jealous of your travel lifestyle and your shiny new Starwood Preferred Guest card? Well good thing, because you can refer your friends and earn 5,000 for your own account balance. Time to start talking to all those friends on Facebook.

8) Low Annual Fee– The Starwood Preferred Guest card comes with no annual fee the first year, $65 each subsequent year. However, most people will agree the SPG card is one card worth carrying for the long-term due to the above options.

If you own a business, (even if you sell stuff on Craigslist or eBay, you own a business) you can also apply for the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN, which is also offering an increased 30,000 point offer through September 4, 2012.

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As a reminder, do not forget the SPG program is also a partner in Audience Rewards. Broadway trivia questions are issued roughly every 10-14 days, allowing you to earn free Starpoints on a consistent basis throughout the year. A couple minutes of your time can mean hundreds of points each year. To keep track of the latest questions and answers, be sure to follow our Audience Rewards page, as well as join us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates when they are released.

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9/5/12- Offer updated to 25,000 points.
9/3/12- Bumped
8/7/12- Originally published.