Year: 2012

The Hidden Underworld of Earth Day at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

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Did your family celebrate Earth Day this year? Earth Day is more popular and significant than ever. Over 175 countries around the world celebrate Earth Day on April 22. The beautiful thing is that Earth Day applies to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, religions, and nationalities. We all can make a difference on our environment and surroundings regardless of whether you believe in global warming or not.

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That is why this year we decided to celebrate with our family at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The boys would love seeing the animals and riding the train, and we would enjoy the different environmental vendors. Unfortunately, the weather was not terrific with colder temperatures and overcast skies. Somehow the 70-80 degree weather of the past month decided to take a break over the weekend. Brrr.

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Upon arrival to the Zoo, I was shocked to see how packed the parking lot was at opening. We were used to parking near the front by getting to the zoo right at opening; instead we were parked near the middle of the lot. What I did not anticipate was that the majority of the vehicles were possibly from vendors.

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We have visited Earth Day at the Zoo several times, and this year was by far the largest amount of vendors than we had ever seen. Typically the vendors could fill one pavilion, maybe two. This year every building was full of suppliers of some sort. Farmers markets, organic gardens, free trade supplies, water and electricity suppliers, green builders and landscapers. It was a tremendous display of suppliers in support of Earth Day, proving the demand of green technologies, locally grown produce, and free chotskies.

What become very apparent after waiting in line after line was that people were not necessarily at the zoo to see the animals. Instead, everyone weathered the storm, and stood in line to get lots of free things. Whether it was information, pamphlets, food samples, coloring books, toothbrushes, mini-flashlights, or tree saplings, there was a line for that. Nothing says being environmentally conscious like taking home a reusable shopping bag full of more paper products than I use in an entire work day and tons of knick-knacks.

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The lack of animal pictures and zoo details in this thread was the result of my camera cards being full, with no room for more. That is right, two memory cards full. It was my way of giving back to the Earth by not using batteries. Great planning there Mr. InACents, great planning.

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Chase Sapphire Secret Discounts via Sunset Magazine

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Sunset Loves

This week I would like to highlight a series of discounts and promotions available with the Chase Sapphire cards that I have not seen to widely publicized. Everyone already knows the advantages of the Chase Sapphire card, most notably the large sign-up bonuses that can be used for free travel. What I did not realize is that Chase has started to offer discounts just for using the card.

In cooperation with Sunset Magazine, the Chase Sapphire card comes with an exclusive set of discounts that most people may not be aware of as I certainly had not read anything about them. If you notice the Sunset Loves… logo at area restaurants and shops, they have a discount or promotion just by using your Chase Sapphire card with purchase. I am really impressed with the set of discounts the card offers just for using it for purchase.

Offers include discounts, free items such as cookbooks, appetizers or desserts, cheese and wine. The list of promotions is quite extensive, and I am sure updated periodically as new offers come and go. Unfortunately, the lists have not been updated in a while and some offers have expired dates, so I am only showing the offers that appear to still be valid. Always check the latest list and/or call ahead to make sure they still accept the Chase Sapphire card discount.

Arizona

Schnepf Farms– 15% discount on any farm store/bakery purchase or festival admission. Expiration unknown.

California

San Francisco

Mission District: Bar Bambino- 30% off any bottle of wine when dining in the restaurant (minimum food purchase of $25 per person required). Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Pacific Heights: Swank Cocktail & Coffee Club at The Laurel Inn- 20% off total bill. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Union Square: The Crescent Hotel– 1 free cocktail at Burritt Room & Lounge (not valid on discounted rate). Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

North Beach: Hotel Bohème– 10% discount on room. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Embarcadero: Hotel Griffon– Room includes one complimentary ticket to Golden Gate Bay Cruise and additional tickets are 50% off (max 3 tickets). Book tickets here. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Union Square: Hotel Rex- Up to 15% off our standard daily rate, blackout dates may apply. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Marin County: Holiday Inn Express Mill Valley San Francisco Area – 15% discount from Best Available Rate. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Marin County: The Lodge at Tiburon– 10% off best available public rate. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Union Square: Orchard Garden Hotel– 10% off best available rate; $10 food and beverage credit at Roots Restaurant with $25 purchase. Use promo code: Sunset. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Marin County: Nicasio Valley Cheese Company– 10% off of any Nicasio Valley Cheeses purchased at our Creamery store using the Chase Sapphire credit card. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Northern California

Lodi: Jeremy Wine Co.– Free wine tasting for Sapphire members and a guest. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Sonoma and Napa

St. Helena: Bridesmaid Wines- Free shipping on case orders anywhere we ship in the USA. Enter promo code “Chase” when placing your order. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Russian River: West Sonoma Inn– A bottle of sparkling wine. Offer valid through May 15, 2012.

Sebastopol: Redwood Hill Farm- 15% off any cheese order at www.redwoodhill.com by using promo code CHS412 at checkout. Offer valid through June 15, 2012.

Nevada

Evolution Expeditions Kayaking- Book a group of four on a single card, receive $40-$100 off. Expiration unknown.

Oregon

Boedecker Cellars– 15% discount on wine when you visit the winery or on the website – enter promo code SUNSET. Expiration unknown.

Pedal Bike Tours– 10% off any tour, rental or merchandise. Expiration unknown.

Paxton Gate– 10% off purchases using the Chase Sapphire Card. Expiration unknown.

KooKoolan Farms and Kookoolan World Meadery- One dozen eggs from free-range, pasture-fed hens, free with any purchase (subject to availability), redeemable either at the farm or at the hillside Farmer’s Market, Sundays 10 am to 2 pm in Southwest Portland. Expiration unknown.

Sesame and Lillies– Free Starfish soap with $35 purchase. Expiration unknown.

Washington

Allium Restaurant– Say “Sunset Loves Us” and receive one free dessert with the purchase of 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. Expiration unknown.

Urban Enoteca- Receive one FREE ‘bite’ plate with purchase of a bottle of wine in the restaurant at Urban Enoteca. Expiration unknown.

What will ultimately be interesting is to see what happens with the Sunset/Chase Sapphire program over the next month or so. Most of the existing offers are expired, with the remaining ending very shortly. So I am hopefully that Sunset and Chase consider renewing their partnership to offer this incredible list of discounts to customers. The Sunset discount list can be a valuable benefit to Chase Sapphire card holders, and I look forward to watching the future of the program.

1971 Original Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Map

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Imagine it is 1972 and your family is headed to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for the first time. With a couple hundred bucks in hand, you are taking your family to what hopefully will be an incredible experience your family will never forget, all while being uncertain of exactly what you may find. The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World opened October 1, 1971, and even in its early days, there was a magic in the air that brought families back year after year. That is the path I am reenacting as my grandparents, my mom, and my aunts attended the Magic Kingdom in the summer of 1972.

According to Disney Archives, in 1971, there was not a traditional guide map that guests received at the front of the park like they do today. Instead there was a newspaper called the Walt Disney World News. Inside that document was a map to the park, as well as other various news items from around the park. Sometime in 1972, the first Magic Kingdom guides became available for guests.

During the early days of the Magic Kingdom, large souvenir maps of the Magic Kingdom were available for purchase from the gift shops to take home for approximately $0.50. The original maps were beautiful reproductions of the hand-drawn original. These maps were also very different than the maps that hung in the Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts during the early 70’s and 80’s. The original maps are not printed with copyright information, as Disney did not started doing that until 1979. Guests were able to purchase this map between 1971 and 1974.

During the 40th Anniversary of the Magic Kingdom, reproductions of the above map were available for purchase and included in the daily guides.

1971 WDW Magic Kingdom Map

Above is a scan of the original full-size map. The image was not scanned in sections and stitched together, but rather one single scan. I was only able to scan the full-size in black and white, so I had to use my sister’s full-size scanner to get it in color.

This happens to be on the most delightful surprises that I discovered in my grandparents archives of travel documents. Finding an original 1971 wall map of the Magic Kingdom is pretty rare, and I was happy that my grandparents hung onto it for all of these years. The problem with the map being so rare is that information is rather sparse on its history.

Some of the interesting differences we noticed between this map and the current maps are the following:

– The Skyway, which is no longer in service.
– Pirates of the Caribbean was not added until 1975.
– The 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride, which now will be part of the Fantasyland expansion area.
– Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which in now only available at Disneyland.

Did you notice any other differences?

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