Welcome to the November 2005 edition of SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL e-zines - a continuing series of monthly newsletters created for the community of single adults who travel alone with kids.

To sign up for our newsletter go to http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096720&s=41949994

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In this issue:

I. GLOBAL BRENDA'S MESSAGE
II. INN AT EAST HILL FARM
(paid advertisement)
III. SINGLE PARENT TOURS
IV. NEW WEB SITE!
V. FAMILY FUN DAY TRIPS
VI. SINGLE PARENT FAMILY FRIENDLY SPECIALS
VII. MEETING OTHER SINGLE PARENTS
VIII. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

I. GLOBALBRENDA'S MESSAGE

Dear Readers,

After an unusually warm and intermittently wet October we are finally into the cold fall weather here on the mid Atlantic coast. What to do with your kids at this time of year? Our Family Fun Day Trips Section offers some ideas that require only a sweatshirt. If any readers have suggestions to offer for their home state, send them in and we will publish them in a future newsletter. We are especially interested in the little-known attractions familiar mostly to the locals.

Don't forget to order a copy of "The Single Parent Travel Handbook" [http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096721&s=41949994 ] as a Christmas present or as a gift for someone who has recently adopted a child. From now until the end of the year, a portion of our profits will go to the American Red Cross to help victims of Katrina and Wilma. Nearly 40% of New Orleans is still without full power. Parts of Florida are still recovering. In my job at Maxim Tours I deal with many travel agencies in the state of Florida. They tell me that crossing the street on a busy boulevard is still an ordeal as not all traffic lights are in working order. Many businesses and homes were without power until just a couple of weeks ago. Seems hard to believe as we sit in our cozy homes and apartments. By ordering an interesting and informative book, you can also make a contribution to a worthwhile cause.

I want to thank those of you who continue to send in suggestions for one week and weekend trips for Single Parent Tours. Keep in mind that Single Parent Tours is NOT a non-profit organization. We do not charge you fees and we do not subsist on donations. It takes money to run a business and money to run a Web site and a free newsletter. By purchasing my book and buying a tour it enables us to maintain and hopefully, enhance, these services. This is why we do not offer day trips or camping trips. Day trips and camping trips do not allow us a profit margin. These excursions are best done through a non-profit organization, such as Parents Without Partners, that makes use of volunteer services. The goal of Single Parent Tours is to offer a quality week or weekend that allows you and your children to meet and mingle with other single parent families at a cost that is reasonable and affordable for you and allows Single Parent Tours to continue in business.

If the Single Parent Tours trips are not affordable for you, then, please, purchase a copy of "The Single Parent Travel Handbook." It will tell you how to plan and budget for an independent trip that IS affordable for you and your family. It was written for people just like you. Here's how to order: http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096722&s=41949994 Your children are only young for a brief period of time. You owe it to yourself and your kids to plan special times together on vacation, even if it is just a simple driving trip to a nearby state.

Happy Trails!
GlobalBrenda

II THE INN AT EAST HILL FARM, Troy, NH
(Paid Advertisement)

Open year round providing guests with a relaxing hands-on farm experience, including cow milking, collecting chicken eggs, churning butter, making cheese, and feeding the animals. There are children's recreation activities, indoor and outdoor pools, and outdoor seasonal activities including hiking, boating, horseback riding, ice skating, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. Call -800-242-6495 or visit http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096723&s=41949994 .

III. SINGLE PARENT TOURS

Stay tuned for our 2006 program to be announced by year's end. We will include a Guatemala trip in July, plus Beaches Jamaica and Beaches Turks and Caicos in August. We also will be posting an April weekend for a resort hotel south of DC. Check out our Web site for current postings: http://www.singleparentravel.net. Current postings include our April 28-30 weekend at Rocking Horse ranch Resort and our summer cruise out of New York City departing June 26.

IV. NEW WEB SITE DESIGN
First, we finally have made enough money to put our email list on EZineDirector instead of Yahoo. Yahoo, while free, had many restrictions making it difficult for us to work with. We also have a new Web site design, which hopefully will make it easier for you to find the articles you need. We also have launched the personals section of the site, which has become quite popular. (See http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096724&s=41949994 We finally raised enough money to launch the new bulletin boards http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096725&s=41949994 this time without advertising.

V. FAMILY FUN DAY TRIPS

Harwich, Massachusetts (Cape Cod) Wonder where those Thanksgiving cranberries come from, that land on your dinner plate? The state of Massachusetts is one of the largest producers of cranberries in the U.S. Cranberries were originally called craneberries by the pilgrims, so named after the bird that ate the bitter fruit. Watching cranberries get harvested is a photographer's delight, and both fun and educational for the kids. Visitors to Harwich can take a 1½-hour tour going through 10 acres of bogs in an eight-passenger golf cart, complete with guide. (Dress warmly, as it is chilly by the bogs). Along the way, you will pass goats, sheep, and other barnyard animals. Afterwards you can buy a bag of the fresh-picked berries. Admission is $12.00. Tours are year round except when it snows. You can call 508-432-0790 or check out http://www.cranberrybogtours.com

La Jolla, California Looking for a place to go for a quick day or weekend getaway that offers minimal crowds and pleasant weather to boot? Consider La Jolla, only a 15-minute drive north of San Diego. Too snooty you say? Too expensive? Not in the off-season. Check out La Jolla Shores, a family friendly neighborhood across the water from downtown. You and your kids can surf, snorkel, kayak or just play on the beach. What can be more fun for kids of all ages than to watch the ever- changing display in the tidal pools? Besides family-friendly restaurants and hotels in the area, you will also find many activities that appeal to adults and kids alike. Check out the Birch Aquarium on Expedition Way, part of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Head downtown and grab a cup of coffee at Pannikin Coffee and Tea on Girard Avenue. While you relax and sip your java, the kids will enjoy the board games. Be sure to check out Fingerhut Gallery on Prospect Street where a collection of a famous resident of La Jolla is on display. His name is Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss! Oh and don't forget to bring your sweatshirts. Evenings get chilly.

Ogdensburg - Northwest New Jersey Ever visit a mine, a real mine? We discovered Sterling Hill Mine and Museum a few months ago on a Web search and enjoyed a very exciting 1½ walking tour underground guided by a former miner. This former zinc mine has been preserved in its original state. The guided tour takes you down to the blasting areas (complete with dummy figures to show you how it was done). You also get to see the elevator chutes that carried the men at high speeds into the bowels of the earth. We learned what you should do when the power goes out. No, I won't tell. Take the tour. The ground level museum displays quite a mineral collection along with the shower area and dressing rooms, exactly like the recent movie, "High Country." The guides are very kid-oriented and will send the children on a scavenger hunt through the museum. You can even bring back a souvenir rock from the mine. The temperatures in the mine remain a constant 50 degrees year round so, yep, that ubiquitous sweatshirt is once again a requirement. For more information go to: http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096726&s=41949994

VI. SINGLE PARENT FAMILY FRIENDLY SPECIALS

Special #1 - Parents Without Partners Cruise Cruise the Carnival Victory a 7-day Western Caribbean Cruise from Miami which sails to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel. The trip is Dec. 4 through the 11th, 2005 For one adult and one child, the cruise starts at $1,034. Please call Helen Lutz at 800-772-5811 or email Bob Leierzapf at zapper8@aol.com for more information. http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096727&s=41949994

Special #2 - Traveling by bus or train for the holidays this year?

Peter Pan Bus lines offers discounts for single parents: One child under the age of 2 will ride free per adult ticket and if not occupying a seat. An additional child under 2 will receive a 40% discount off the adult fare. Maximum of two children under 2 can travel per adult ticket; additional children are charged full adult fare. Any child under 2 occupying a seat will receive a 40% discount off the adult fare. http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096728&s=41949994

Greyhound Bus lines offers discounts for single parents: Children who have reached or passed their second (2nd) birthday but have not reached their twelfth (12th) birthday will be charged forty (40) percent less than the full adult fare increased where necessary to end in a "0" or "5" when accompanied by a passenger paying the full adult fare. The child must travel on the same itinerary (both outbound and return) as the passenger paying the full adult fare to qualify for the 40-percent discount. http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096729&s=41949994

Amtrak offers children's discounts as well The 50% discount for children is available for only up to two children for each adult fare purchased. http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096730&s=41949994

Okay, so that wasn't exactly the type of special we normally provide, but we seem to have not been able to find many recently. So…if you know of any travel suppliers that offer discounts to single parents, please let us know and we'll publish them in our next newsletter.

Check out all our single parent travel specials at http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096731&s=41949994

* Don't have a travel agent? Then find one in "The Single Parent Travel Handbook" which has a listing of over 75 travel agents who specialize in single parent travel. Buy the book from any place books are sold or get an autographed copy from GlobalBrenda, the author, at http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096732&s=41949994

VII. MEETING OTHER SINGLE PARENTS

So you asked us to eliminate the advertisements from the bulletin boards, make them easier to navigate and find other single parents. So, we have! We created only one board so it will be easier to find other single parents and this will avoid double posting, we also now pay for the boards, so we don't have advertising.

So, are you looking for another travel partner, just want to meet friends, have a question about single parent travel? Go to the boards and fill it out! http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1096733&s=41949994

Please note that this bulletin board service is provided free of charge to our readers. The Single Parent Travel Network does not monitor postings or have any knowledge of the exact nature of the individuals doing the posting. BEFORE communicating with anyone on the bulletin board, please take precautions to protect you and your family. Also, please note that if you post your email address on the bulletin board, there is a likelihood that it will be harvested by spammers. Thank you.

VIII. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

Readers please note: There were very few subscriber responses this month. It is possible that some messages got trapped in my spam filter. I answer every email personally, usually within 2 business days. If you do not hear from me, send the message again with a different subject line.

Beth writes (in response to my response to numerous inquiries on the West): Brenda - In terms of trips out West and in California - I would recommend some of the group tour companies like Suntrek, Trek America, and Backroads. These companies often cater to Europeans - so American travelers are not as familiar with them. Suntrek tends to be more "bare bones" with mostly camping but I think they now have some "comfort tours." My son and I went on a Suntrek tour this summer to the Grand Canyon, Zion, etc. We had a really good time (one other family was with us), but travelers should be aware that they need to be fit enough to deal with the rigors on making camp every other night. Trek America has several family tours out West and also in Alaska and Canada. Backroads tends to be the most expensive and also offers several family tours. All of the companies have web sites with extensive information on the tours.

A reader writes: Looking to travel with my 16 yr old and a 7 yr old. Any good spots? You can respond to this question at msflu30@yahoo.com

Tammy in New York writes: Hello Global Brenda, I wrote to you at the end of the summer about my fabulous trip to Breezes and you posted about it in your last newsletter. Now I see you have your two Beaches trips in the planning stage for the summer of 2006 that tend to be very expensive. I was wondering if you would possibly consider doing a trip to Breezes Dominican Republic next summer also? As you may remember, my trip to Breezes last summer costs us less than $100.00 per day for my three-year-old daughter and myself. I would definitely consider going again.

Crystal Hartz writes: Maybe you could try The Wyndham at Rose in Montego Bay, Jamaica for packages... I have been there 3 times w/o my children, but they have great water slides, lazy river and very family oriented... All inclusive and cheaper than Beaches... It would be more affordable for many families including me. I noticed you had a reader requesting more moderate priced locations.... I could not agree more!!

GlobalBrenda responds to readers on this point: The reasons we continue to offer Beaches properties are threefold: Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction and Marketing. Loyalty: When NO ONE else in the Caribbean was willing to set up a single parent family program or even understood what I was talking about, Sandals and Beaches stepped right up to the plate. Customer Satisfaction: The program is run well, we do not get complaints, other than minor items, which can occur with any travel program. Marketing: Sandals and Beaches continue to maintain a high visibility marketing program for single parents, which assists us in our efforts to draw a large number of single parent families each year to our programs.

I do not believe in "fixing what is not broke." Nor do I believe in jumping over to the Johnny Come Latelys until they prove to me that they will be as aggressive as Beaches in marketing the Single Parent Family weeks. Yes, it would be nice if we would offer a program that is a bit cheaper. But I have to weigh that against bringing in 3 or 4 or 5 families as opposed to bringing in 30 or 40 or 50 families for a Single Parent Family Week. Readers tell me they like the big numbers. It offers a greater opportunity to find one or more new friends that live within a commuting distance of their hometown.