One of the mid-Atlantic’s unsung treasures is the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Located approximately two hours from downtown Washington, DC, the Eastern Shore lies along the Chesapeake Bay and provides an ideal opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The first time my family visited the Eastern Shore was in the summer of 2010, when we rented a home to celebrate my son’s first birthday. We rented a home via Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals, located down in Tilghman Island, a small island in the Chesapeake. To get to Tilghman Island, you have to cross a drawbridge and once you are in Tilghman, there’s very little by way of things to do.
Our rental home for the week, the Choptalk Cottage, was located along the waterfront and provided an ideal setting for celebrating my son’s first birthday, complete with a Smith Island Cake, the state dessert of Maryland.
amazing layers hidden inside the Smith Island Cake
A few years later, we decided to return to the Eastern Shore, but instead, visited in mid-October as our annual family fall getaway. It turns out, the Eastern Shore of Maryland is even more wonderful in the fall!
For our return visit to the Eastern Shore, we again rented a home, Heron Point, through Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals. Both rentals were as described and when we had issues with the internet service during one of our stays, the company was happy to send someone out to help us reboot the modem and get connected even though it was a Saturday afternoon. We did not, however, rent the same house we rented the first time, choosing instead to rent a home closer to Easton, Maryland, the county seat and where our dining options would be less limited.
Situated on three acres along the water, the view from our rental home was outstanding. Not only was there ample space for our family to enjoy dinners together, but we also loved sitting outside and just observing the world around us.
one of the many dinners we enjoyed
view of the dock from our rental home
My young son particularly loved the opportunity to be outside in the fall and we visited Council Farms, one of the best pumpkin patches we have ever been to – one where the pumpkins were still on the vine!
running through the corn mazechecking out the manual apple press
What little boy doesn’t love a tractor ride?
In addition to Council Farms, we also visited St. Michael’s, a small coastal town that offers plenty of opportunities to shop and dine. The Eastern Shore Brewing Company is located at one end of the main drag, so of course we stopped in to sample some brews.
A few things to note about the Eastern Shore:
Traffic can vary significantly depending on your departure/arrival times and, on occasion, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which you must cross to get to the Eastern Shore from DC, can close when there are high winds. In an attempt to avoid heavy traffic and delays, we usually leave very early in the morning to head out to “the Shore” and plan on spending a few hours visiting St. Michael’s or just puttering around somewhere instead of attempting to time our arrival with when the rental home becomes available (usually 3pm).
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a very long bridge and can be intimidating to drive across if you are, say, from California and nervous about earthquakes. If you are uncomfortable driving across the bridge, there is a drive-over service that you can call one hour before your arrival. Although I have not personally used the service, I have friends who can recommend it.
If you happen to be visiting the Shore in the summer, make sure you feast on some Maryland Blue Crabs. Although there are places where you can get Maryland Blue Crabs in DC, nothing beats getting a bushel of crabs and eating them outside along the Chesapeake Bay!
If you aren’t one for vacation rentals, the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay may be a good option for you. It’s not only kid and pet friendly, but it has a number of options for the kiddos, including family portraits, evening s’mores, and more.
There are a number of restaurant choices in both St. Michael’s and Easton, but St. Michael’s in particular can get very busy during peak tourist season so expect a wait! Luckily, because it’s a heavily visited area, everyone is familiar with children and accommodating.
In June 2017, my husband and I took a much needed kid-free anniversary trip to Africa. Part of our trip involved three days, two nights in Zimbabwe, which I’ll discuss here. For general trip planning and itinerary, go here. You can also read about our experiences safariing at Umlani Bushcamp in South Africa and Muchenje Safari Lodge in Botswana.
How did we get to Zimbabwe?
En route from South Africa to Botswana, we had a three day, two night stop over in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The flight was a short two hour trip from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe, but do be aware that you will need to allow extra time for the international departure AND for clearing customs on the way in. Zimbabwean visas are not available in advance from the Embassy in DC and the line for visas was long and cash only ($30 for a single entry, $60 for multiple entry). As the State Department’s travel guidance states, it is also critical the you bring sufficient cash for the duration of your stay in Zimbabwe. Although the major lodges / restaurants / hotels / travel outfitters will accept credit card, it is nearly impossible to withdraw cash from the ATM and it is also extremely difficult to obtain change (more on this later), so small bills are critical.
Where did we stay?
Although many recommended that we stay at the Victoria Falls Hotel, one of the oldest colonial style hotels overlooking the Falls, we elected to stay off the beaten path at the Batonka Guest Lodge, which had just opened about a year prior to our arrival. Although there ended up being a slight mix up with our travel reservation (I was very glad to have a printed copy of our confirmation with me!), the hotel quickly accommodated us and made sure that we had drinks to hold us over while we wanted for the rooms to sort themselves out.
The Batonka Guest Lodge is an ideal place for staying with kids. There is a large, grassy area for the kids to play, a clean, inviting pool, and both indoor and outdoor dining so parents can dine outside while watching their kids play in the grass.
enjoying my afternoon at the Batonka Guest Lodge
As a small hotel, it is also able to more personally cater to the individual and the general manager was already around and ready to provide suggestions or assistance, including offering to pack a breakfast to take with us on the morning of our early departure. The hotel also offers a small lunch menu (sandwiches, salad, cheese board) and a prix fixe dinner menu that was $35/person – three courses, including dessert.
What did we do?
There’s a plethora of activities in Victoria Falls. The major outfitter for activities is Wild Horizons, but after looking at the activities offered by both Wild Horizons and Shearwater Adventures, we decided to book with Shearwater Adventures because we were interested in the Batoka Gorge Hike and Ndebele Village Tour. I was able to book both the hike/tour and a walking tour of the Falls over the internet prior to our departure and because we booked multiple adventures, was given a 10% discount off the total.
Batoka Gorge Hike and Ndebele Village Tour
On the morning of our scheduled hike, our guide, Charles, picked us up at the hotel. Charles explained that it was an approximately one hour drive to the starting point of our hike and that we would be dropped off, with our driving picking us up at a designated location to take us to our lunch destination. The drive was in an open air vehicle, similar to the ones we rode on during our safaris, and it was extremely cold and windy. Luckily, we were given heavy ponchos to use to shield ourselves from the wind.
I personally enjoyed leaving the main tourist part of Victoria Falls and going off into the countryside. We saw farmers, leading their cows and goats, family townships, and came across many children walking to and from school.
Approximately one hour into the drive, we were dropped off at the start of our walk. The walk began with an hour long walk through what would be a large field to the untrained eye, but Charles explained how we were actually on a walking path and passing through small tracts of land that were given to individuals by the local chiefs. Although I had done lots of prior research about activities and the logistics of travel, I had neglected to read up about the Ndebele people, but Charles was more than happy to explain the relationship between the Ndebele people and the Zimbabwean government. Along the way, Charles pointed out vegetation and other signs of wild life.
our guide, Charles!
About an hour into the walk, we finally came across the Batoka river and Charles explained how the river is by the local people. For instance, he explained how the women would come down to the river to do the laundry, how the water pump was often a Friday night “date” location, and how groups of neighboring families can work together to support a garden.
the Batoka River where the washing takes placeThe water pump, which we got to use!CSA, Zimbabwe style
As we walked, the Batoka River started dropping down to where it meets the Zambezi River, so we continued along the gorge that formed. The walk itself was peaceful and it was a nice change of pace to actually be able to be outside for a few hours and moving, instead of just sitting in a vehicle.
where the Batoka River meets the Zambezi
At the conclusion of our walk, we were picked up by our driver and taken to the home where we would be having lunch. In fairness, I was surprised as the description on the website suggested we would be visiting a “village.” I had no idea we would actually be visiting a single Ndebele homestead. Nevertheless, Charles was quick to put us at ease. He introduced us to the woman of the house and her children (the head of the house was not present), and we were given a tour of the homestead.
the outdoor kitchendishes dryingwe ate our lunch on these benchesWe met the livestock, of course!wood storage and general gardening areathe formal sitting area where Charles explained to us how dowries are negotiatedchicken, potatoes, stew
While we were touring the homestead, our driver was busy cooking a traditional meal for us using the outdoor kitchen. After we finished lunch, we thanked our guests and were driven back to our hotel.
I really enjoyed the Batoka Hike and Ndebele Village Tour. This was the highlight, for me, of our stay in Zimbabwe. It was an opportunity to see the non-commercial/tourist side of Zimbabwe and we learned a lot about how the local people live. Charles told us everything about how schools are funded, how families arrange marriages, how the Ndebele culture does not use money but instead trades in livestock… Although the website says that the minimum age to participate is 15, I would think this tour appropriate for children as old at 8. I would recommend reaching out to Shearwater prior to booking and perhaps, if they are unable to book you for the full tour, it would be possible to just arrange for the homestead visit. I know my son would benefit tremendously from seeing how other people and cultures live and this would be a fantastic opportunity to show him something that we would have difficulty experiencing otherwise.
The entrance to Victoria Falls or Mosi-Oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders)
It’s safe to say that the only reason we visited Victoria Falls was to see the Falls itself. It’s not the tallest or the widest, but it is the largest (by volume) and does not disappoint. We were picked up from our hotel by another Shearwater guide and although it was not a private tour that we booked, we were the only two people on the tour that afternoon so we lucked out.
Our guide was knowledgeable and well versed in the history of the falls and provided us with some general background information about the discovery of the falls by David Livingstone and the measures that have been taken by the local government to secure the area around the falls.
As we entered the Park where it was located, we stopped to view the Baobab tree:
The tree was impressive in its girth and we were invited to get out of the car and take photos. Our guide warned us, prior to stopping the car, however, not to be alarmed by the men who would jump out of the bushes and surround us with wares that they were hoping to sell. He was right – the minute our car doors opened, men appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, asking us to purchase wooden animal figurines, carved bowls, etc. Our guide explained that these informal vendors are not permitted in the Park, so they hide until unsuspecting customers appear.
After the Baobab tree, we continued to wind our way over to the Park’s entrance where we paid our entrance fee of $30 per person to enter (credit cards accepted). Upon entry, we stopped for the bathroom and took in the educational signs, before starting down the Path towards the Falls.
A map of the 16 stops along the walking path.
The Park is organized so that you walk along the Falls, with a total of 16 different planned stops as possible areas of interest. The first stop was, not surprisingly, a statute of Dr. Livingstone.
Before you even see the Falls, you hear them and feel them. The sheer amount of water flowing into the Falls, especially while we were there, was overpowering at times, requiring us to wear rain ponchos and tuck our cameras away.
My husband and our guide at the edge of the Falls.
The walking tour of the Falls was a fun way to spend the afternoon and although you do not need a guide, I was happy to have one. Our guide not only came equipped with ponchos, but was also able to warn us about certain things, such as a slippery/moss covered rocks that we decided not to walk on, sticking to the path instead.
The rocks were wet and slippery and covered with a mossy substance. Without a security fence, we opted to stay on the path.
Overall, the tour of the Falls took about an hour. Although the Falls were incredibly wet when we visited, thus obscuring our view, the sheer force of the Falls was something to behold. I would not, however, recommend the Falls to those with toddlers or other young children unless you are prepared to hold onto them very firmly or stick to the paths in a stroller. Not only were there no fences along the drops, but there were thorny fences that marked the paths.
the natural fencing along the walk waysmossy, wet rocks
The Lookout Cafe
The Lookout Cafe is owned by Wild Horizons (the major tour operator in Vic Falls) and offers an ideal location for viewing the Falls while you relax with a cold beer or snacks. Although we were visiting between lunch and dinner, the cafe was well staffed and there was a good group of other tourists, mingling and enjoying the view.
The view of the Zambezi River from the main dining area of The Lookout Cafe.
Would I visit with kids?
With young children, I can say, without hesitation, that my answer is “no.” I would not visit Victoria Falls with young children for a number of reasons – one, there’s not a whole lot to do in Victoria Falls that is kid friendly and most of the adventures we looked into have minimum age requirements, including the Batoka Gorge hike! If you have children eight and under, you likely won’t be looking at white water rafting down the Zambezi, hang gliding, bungee jumping, or any number of high adrenalin activities that Victoria Falls is famous for.
I also would not recommend Victoria Falls as a place to visit with young children because the panhandlers are extremely aggressive. Although I have traveled the United States and many parts of the world, I have never felt more uncomfortable than in Zimbabwe where a man asked me for change and after I politely declined, he requested that I give him my socks… During one stop to purchase souvenirs for our children, we were also uncomfortable to learn that the vendors had no change among them – so we were put in the awkward position of having bargained the price down to $27 only to learn that we had $30 and they did not have three $1 bills. After this experience, I attempted to break the $20 bills I had by using them at The Lookout Cafe and at our hotel, but none were able to give us much, if any, change in the form of small bills.
Friends who visited Zimbabwe after us learned the hard way that you must bring cash with you into Zimbabwe as there simply isn’t enough cash to go around. ATMs were not an option and Zimbabweans wait in line daily to see a banking associate and are limited to withdrawing $20 a day after paying a withdrawal fee. Suffice it to say, when your five star accommodation can’t make change for you, it’s hard to be comfortable knowing the level of poverty you’re surrounded by.
All that being said, Victoria Falls strikes me as the perfect location to visit for a high school or college graduation trip. A short glance at the Wild Horizons or Shearwater Adventures website will reveal tons of activities for thrill seeking adventurers. And, if you do find yourself in Victoria Falls with young children, I highly recommend engaging the services of one of the tour companies. Not only did we learn a lot during our Ndebele Village tour, but the professionalism among both guides was second-to-none and I also noticed that the locals were less likely to accost us when out and about with a guide.
Eating in Japan ended up being the biggest hurdle to overcome, which was completely unexpected given how much we love Japanese food and how good the quality of food in Japan is! It was difficult largely due to two factors: 1) difficulty in actually locating the intended restaurant (or, in some cases, determining whether a restaurant was even located on the premises) and 2) many restaurants, particularly in Tokyo, were openly hostile to the notion of dining with young children.
The Japanese address system is extremely complicated and, as this website states, “anyone who can read Japanese may be able to identify any address within a 2 or 3 minute walk. The most detailed bilingual ones are not as good. Of course even a bilingual map as detailed as the Japanese ones would still be very hard for foreigners to use, because the signs are in Japanese only.”
As luck would have it, we do not read Japanese and had only a bilingual map that didn’t correspond with any of the signs which were all in Japanese. Frequently, we would arrive at what we *thought* was the address for a particular restaurant only to encounter a building with 5 or 6 signs in front – all in Japanese and no obvious signs that there was a restaurant on the premises. We were further limited by the fact that we had a 4 year old who wasn’t as keen on walking an extra mile to find *the* restaurant we had underlined in our tour book and that on occasion, when we did finally find the restaurant we wanted to dine at, we were informed at the door that children were not welcome (usually, this was done by the host pointing at our son, and shaking his head at us).
There were two restaurants that really stood out in terms of experience:
Eel! Who doesn’t love eel? This is a large, popular restaurant both for locals and tourists with a few locations in Japan. They never batted an eye at having a child, and I love me some eel, so this was a perfect lunch spot during our day in Ueno.
Our day in Ginza, we popped into this popular yaki tori restaurant and enjoyed sampling all the different offerings.
One of the experiences my husband and I definitely wanted to have was to dine at an authentic izakaya, which wikipedia describes as “an informal Japanese gastropub.” Having been turned away by a number of restaurants due to having a young child with us, we reached out to our concierge at the hotel and explained the situation to us. A few hours later, we checked in with the concierge, and he informed us that he had located an izakaya that was willing to accommodate us and that we had a reservation for that evening! Although the name of the izakaya escapes me, we had a fabulous time that night. Upon arrival, it was inquired as to how much we were willing to spend on dinner (we basically said, whatever it costs and until we’re full), and then were presented with small plate, after small plate, after small plate.
I highly recommend the experience and suggest that you seek out the assistance of your concierge if you are unable to find an izakaya on your own! Also, because izakayas are so small and people tend to spend a few hours snacking on small plates, reservations are absolutely imperative.
hanging out at the izakaya
Finally, no trip to Japan would be complete without:
(1) Vending machine ramen!
I was enamored with the idea of vending machine ramen but quickly learned that it’s not as exciting as it sounds nor is it very good/high quality. Basically, there’s a machine with the various options, you place your order and pay at the machine, grab a table, and someone brings you your ramen. I was expecting the ramen to pop out of the machine somehow, but alas, it was not meant to be! I wouldn’t waste another meal on vending machine ramen, but it was a fun experience, and I’m glad to have done it.
(2) local McDonald’s offerings!
Being that we were in Japan during prime cherry blossom season, it was no surprise that there were themed offerings at McDonald’s!
Of course, we were left with no choice but to try both. The drink was some kind of sickeningly sweet soda, and the “burger” wasn’t terrible, although also sweeter than your usual American burger. We were all amused by the pink bun!
From Kyoto, we took the bullet train to Tokyo. My son, of course slept the whole time and has no recollection of the experience – such is traveling with a 4 year old! The cost of the trip was 17,600 Yen per person, or approximately $160 USD. My husband, who spent a summer in Switzerland in college, said the Japanese train system was much like Switzerland – clean as a whistle and punctual. The train ride was smooth, fast, and an hassle free way to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo for the last leg of our journey – 4 nights in Tokyo.
Our 4 nights in Tokyo were spent at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku. We booked our room using points and requested a slightly larger room than the standard offering. Imagine our surprise when we entered our room and found the nicest hotel room we have stayed in to date! We also received a lovely welcome treat from the hotel and were delighted to learn that our room came with access to the Regency Club, so we had free breakfast and drinks and hors d’oevres before dinner. As if that wasn’t enough, on clear mornings, we could see Mount Fuji from the club room!
our remarkably spacious bathroomthe desk/office areaI loved the partition that separated the sitting area from the bedroomthe welcome amenity we found awaiting us upon arrival; they refilled the fruit dailythe pre-dinner spread in the Club one night during our stay
The hotel also has other amenities we did not get a chance to take advantage of, namely, the pool and the spa. From these photos, however, I sure wish we had snuck in a trip to the pool. The following three photos are from the hotel’s website:
The absolutely stunning lobby. Not visible in this photo, but there were small storefronts on the outer edges of the lobby, so you could purchase macarons on your way up to your room in the afternoon (and we did this on more than one occasion)!
What we did:
Our hotel was conveniently located in Shinjuku. Although many of the travel sites we read said it was a business area, it ended up being centrally located to quite a bit of shopping and entertainment.
Located just a few blocks away from the hotel was Kabukicho, the entertainment and red light district. Unfortunately for us, it was the first place we wandered to upon arrival in Tokyo and did not leave a great impression on us. We had a difficult time finding restaurants to dine in and were turned away from a number of restaurants when they spotted our son. We also tried to go to the massive arcade they had, but were told no kids after 6pm. In hindsight, I suppose we should have done better research and perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that they did not let us in because who knows what we would have found behind the doors, but it was a jarring experience and unpleasant introduction to Tokyo.
Nevertheless, we ended up returning to Kabukicho a few times during our time in Tokyo and it was there that my son discovered video games!
Our hotel was located right in the Shinjuku Skyscraper District, and so we got to see first-hand the sheer number of people who flood into Tokyo every day to work. Our first morning there, I ventured out in search of a laundromat so that our clothes could finally get a good wash. While I was out, my husband and my son went to a park, so that my son could stretch his legs and get some energy out, and they also went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and took the elevator up to the observatory (admission free). The weather was not great, so reports on the view were less than stellar.
It took me a while to figure out the machines, but I enjoyed the solitude
Speaking of playgrounds, we absolutely loved the playgrounds in Tokyo. While there weren’t a lot of children in Tokyo, we did find at least two playgrounds with fantastic climbing equipment. My son, a natural born climber, loved hiking up the equipment and it was a great opportunity for him to release some energy. Tokyo actually is very similar to San Francisco in that you see very little children in the city. One afternoon, while at the playground, we did see a crowd of school children who had obviously just gotten out of school; but we never saw kids in any of the shopping districts or areas that we were visiting – not even the parks where the cherry blossoms were. We definitely got the sense that the children typically lived outside the city center or played a more “back seat” type role in their parents lives than they do in the US, so that is definitely something to consider when planning a trip to Japan.
Cherry blossom season begins in January in southern Japan in Okinawa and moves north, peaking in March/April in Kyoto and Tokyo. When we planned our trip, we hoped to hit the cherry blossom trees in peak bloom, but living in DC, we knew there was no guarantee, so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.
Happily for us, we hit the season in full throttle and basically chased the blooms from Kyoto to Tokyo. By the time we reached Tokyo, the cherry trees were in full bloom, and we were fortunate that our hotel was located within walking distance to the Shinjiku Green Park (admission 200 Yen, or ~$2). We absolutely loved walking around the gardens and visited at least twice during our stay.
We did quite a bit of people watching and window shopping in Tokyo, and Ginza did not disappoint. For a good portion of the afternoon, the main street is closed to traffic, so pedestrians can walk freely and the roads can accommodate the heavy foot traffic. One of our stops was the Hakuhinkan Toy Park in Ginza – a massive multi story toy shop. While there, we discovered and indoor motorized race track, which my son got a kick out of. The store was also fully stocked in Frozen dresses, and I was sad that I didn’t have the foresight to purchase a suitcase full of dresses to bring home! Based on the level of Frozen-insanity going on in the US at the time, I could have financed a good portion of our trip that way!
After dragging our son through quite a number of department stores, we decided to spend a morning at the Ueno Zoo so he could stretch his legs and enjoy being a kid! The zoo was a perfectly fine way to spend a few hours, but it was nothing to write home about.
A short walking distance from the zoo is Ueno Park, which we were delighted to discover was in full swing due to the annual cherry blossom festival. There are a number of museums and temples in the area, but we were happy to experience the park, which was hopping in activity. The pathways were lined with people and there was a street food festival going on as well. We spent a few hours just walking around and sampling the different food offerings, while also taking in some of the sights. Curiously, we were one of the very few tourists there – we saw some tourists, but others were there in large groups with pets, blankets, friends… It was clear that the Japanese enjoy spending time outdoors enjoying nature!
My son had a blast the day we went to Ueno for the Zoo and Park. Getting a break from the constant walking, train riding, and window shopping was good for him, and it gave him an opportunity to just be a kid. He even took part in some of the food sampling and the Park also had carnival like rides for little kids. All in all, it was probably the most kid-friendly and kid-centric activity we did while in Tokyo!
a typical display of food offerings in a restaurant window
One of the more random things we stumbled across in Tokyo was Kappabashi, Tokyo’s fake food mecca. Nearly every restaurant in Japan displays fake food, or sampuru, to provide a quick visual of what the restaurant has to offer. Until we stumbled across Kappabashi, we frequently wondered where the fake food came from and how one goes about acquiring the fake food displays for a restaurant.
Our questions were quickly answered in Kappabashi, where we encountered blocks and blocks of shops containing every single imaginable kitchen/dining item you could imagine.
fake burgers so good you can *almost* eat themwe had to take a picture with the stock pot so large, you could cook a four year old in it!
If you happen to find yourself in the area, definitely wander through and take a look. We ended up coming home with some items which we still use today!
We spent three days and two nights in Kyoto and looking back at the pictures now, it truly is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. Although the weather did not cooperate while we were there (it rained pretty much the entire time), we still hit many of the major sights and were extremely thankful that so many of the ancient temples and sites are still standing. Indeed, Kyoto was on the initial list of atomic bomb targets, but was scrapped from the list thanks to Henry Stimson, then US Secretary of War.
Where we stayed:
Westin Miyako Kyoto – For accommodations, we had a Japanese style room at the Westin Miyako Hotel, which is located about 1/2 mile from the major Kyoto business district. Since the Westin is on a hill, on the rare occasion when it wasn’t raining, we would walk downhill to the main business district, but take a taxi ride back up the hill.
With only six Japanese style rooms on the property, we were thrilled that we were able to book one on points. The six rooms were set apart from the main property, near the gardens, and after checking in, we went in search of our room:
the living room when we arrivedthe Japanese style bath with cedar tub and separate showerA close up of the cedar tub, which my son enjoyed bathing in!
Turn down service as the Westin Kyoto is a lot more involved than just fluffing some pillows and making the bed. While we were out exploring, housekeeping came and made up our beds for the night. They tucked the small table and chairs away and replaced them with heavy futon and bedding. Having grown up sleeping on a true tatami mattress, I felt right at home. My son seemed to enjoy the novelty of it and slept very soundly both nights we were there.
In addition to the Japanese style room, we also loved the breakfast buffet at the hotel. We ventured over to the main dining room our first morning there and quickly decided that it would be the perfect place to start our day. At the time, breakfast was ~$30USD per adult for the buffet, but we were happy to sample the different cuisine from the comfort of our hotel room.
rice with assorted seasonings, seaweed soup, various fish/futomaki/pickles, tea
Although my husband and I were thrilled to sample the traditional Japanese foods for breakfast, they also had a number of regular breakfast items. It was no trouble at all getting my son fed and, in fact, we saw numerous groups of families there with children ranging from infants to teen.
The other nice thing about the Westin is that they have their own private trails behind the hotel. We took advantage of the trails the morning of our departure, to stretch our legs.
Give a four year old a walking stick and some trails and he’s gold!
As I mentioned earlier, the Westin is on the top of a hill, so at some point on the trails, you come across clearing where you can look down and see the commercial Kyoto district. The hotel had this handy guide to point things out.
his own private torii gate adventure
What we did:
We didn’t let the rain deter us as we knew there was tons to see in Kyoto. After filling up on breakfast, we took a taxi ride from the hotel to our starting destination. Luckily, the taxis outside the Westin were familiar with the tourist spots, so we had no problems communicating where we wanted to be taken.
Our first stop was the Arashiyama District, where we intended to catch at least two major sights: the bamboo grove and the Tenryuji Temple.
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove – My husband said we were going to a bamboo forest and I wasn’t quite sure why. That is, until I saw the magnitude of the forest!
These photos do not accurately portray just how surreal walking in a bamboo forest is. Luckily, the “trail” is paved so even though it was wet, we had no issues walking the path. It would easily be something a stroller could accommodate. There were still a fair amount of tourists, though, even in the abysmal weather, so I imagine this is a place that can become overwhelmingly crowded very quickly.
Tenryuji Temple – Our walk in the bamboo forest conveniently let us out at the Tenryuji Temple. The temple is a UNESCO world heritage site and there were plenty of tourists, even in the bad weather.
The cherry trees were just starting to bloom in Kyoto.I love Japanese architecture, especially doors!My four year old was a real champ, despite the pouring rain. It helped that we let him carry his own umbrella.
side view of the temple (not a great shot as it was overcast and rainy)
Much of the area surrounding the temple is pebble/gravel, so it could be difficult to maneuver a stroller. If necessary, I would prefer using a baby carrier to a stroller for that reason alone.
Fushimi Inari Shrine – No trip to Kyoto is complete with a trip to the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine. We visited on our third day in Kyoto and the weather was decidedly nicer than the previous day.
The first thing we encountered when we arrived on the main temple grounds was this water/bamboo/cup fountain. It wasn’t a hand washing station and it wasn’t a drinking fountain (but I saw quite a few people sip from the cup and then back wash it back into the basin).
The instructive placard wasn’t much help in deciphering whether the spitting was appropriate or not. For the record, we did not spit.
There were numerous stations around the temple where you could write a message and hang your message/wish/prayer.
One of many shrine buildings, where we saw monks come and worship during our visit.
The Fushimi Imari Shrine is probably most visited, however, for the famous torii gates. Behind the temples, there are two trails of parallel torii gates.
the gates are donated by individuals and companies and names are inscribed accordinglyThis is what the start of the trails look like. Pick one (left or right) and start walking!
As you get further up in the trails, the crowds get sparse and the density of the gates also diminishes. The path also starts off paved, but eventually you find yourself winding your way through actual trails.
I would not recommend attempting to maneuver a stroller on these paths, and children who do not stay close should be watched closely, especially in the early part where there are dense crowds. After turning back, we went down to the commercial area near the shrine, where there were numerous tourist shops and street food vendors.
What we ate:
Our first night in Kyoto was a colossal fail. We walked down to the business district from the hotel and had a difficult time discerning restaurants from residences. We ended up dining at what could only be described as a Japanese truck stop before giving up and heading back to the hotel. The next day, my husband ventured out for a run through the business district while my son and I attempted to dry out our shoes. He located two restaurants, confirmed that they would both be open for dinner and later that night, we headed over to one of them.
As you can see, the menus we were presented with weren’t exactly helpful. Luckily, I can read the numbers on the bottom of the menu, telling us how much the meals cost. We blindly ordered our food and just trusted that it would be fine – and it was. I don’t recall the name of the restaurant, but I can tell you were enjoyed it tremendously. The hosts were also fantastic – serving my young son his own bowl of noodles and tamago (the baked egg dish you see on the bottom right of the photo with the noodles).
In addition to dining at the one restaurant in downtown Kyoto, we also dined at a restaurant in the Arashiyama district, after touring the bamboo forest and temple. We blindly chose a restaurant in the tourist area after a colossal fail on our part – based on a glowing recommendation in a tour book, we had walked over three miles in the rain and wind to find a restaurant nestled somewhere in the woods. We found the restaurant – but learned upon arrival that it was reservations only.
The awful gloomy weather we dragged our young son through in search of the “reservations only” restaurant that we did not have reservations for. Oops.
Luckily, the food at our randomly chosen restaurant was delicious and they even had instructions for eating the special tofu skin soup. I was thrilled, by that point, to get out of the rain and eat something warm, but the food was delicious. We typically stay away from restaurants in tourist locations when traveling, but Japan might be the exception.
The Kyoto train station is massive and has dozens of eateries. On the day of our departure, we wanted to ensure plenty of time as we were taking a scheduled bullet train and didn’t want to miss it, but of course, that left us with extra time at the train station and right around lunch. Luckily, we didn’t have much difficulty figuring out what we wanted to eat – eel bowls! These were delicious! I’ll also say that we did not have a lot of trouble figuring out what to order or what the different restaurants served, as plastic food samples are a big thing and each storefront had 3D samples of what they were offering.
plastic food offering a visual of what’s on the menuhalf eel / half egg-eel omeletI am a purist and stuck with the eel.
How we got around:
We arrived in Kyoto via train and from the main train station, we took the Westin Kyoto shuttle to the hotel and back. Finding the shuttle stop at the train station proved a bit difficult. I believe when we booked our rooms, the Westin website only said there was “shuttle service,” so upon arrival, we simply wandered to where most of the shuttles appeared to be picking up the guests. The Westin pick up location, however, was at a separate entrance than the one we had been waiting at — which we discovered only after waiting for 45+ minutes. The website has since been amended to state: The resort shuttle can be found at the Hachijo Exit and the shuttle runs every 20 minutes.
We also traveled around Kyoto via taxi and had no trouble communicating with the taxi driver. I suppose they get enough tourists to know the words for the main destinations and we simply handed him money based on what was on the meter.
We did continue to experience difficulty in purchasing train tickets, however. We never got proficient at purchasing train tickets during our time in Japan.
We quickly learned to always use the customer service window where someone who spoke some English could help us. This included purchasing our Tokaido Shinkansen (the bullet train) tickets, which took us on to our last destination — Tokyo!
I’ll be the first to admit that our time in Osaka started out rough. After finally clearing customs and making our way into a taxi, we were met with blank stares by the taxi driver who didn’t seem to understand “Westin” or “Westin hotel.” It wasn’t until I pulled out our hotel confirmation that he seemed to understand where we wanted to go. Although it seems silly in the age of smartphones and wifi-everywhere, I still print out hard copies of our entire travel itinerary when we travel and keep them in a binder for this very reason – to pull out when there’s a glitch or other issue with a reservation. Although 99% of the time I never need the hard copy, on the occasions where I have needed, it has been very handy. I’ve even had reservation representatives thank me for having hard copies with confirmations numbers that they can take with them when trying to sort out an issue.
We had no set agenda in Osaka, nor did we have much of a plan. We knew that it was the second largest city in Japan and that it was more of the business/financial district than a tourist destination like Kyoto or Japan, so after unpacking and freshening up, we wandered outside on foot to explore. Admittedly, we elected not to get into a taxi because we had no set plan and also because we feared more language woes.
Luckily, we stumbled across two things that really made our 24 hour stay in Osaka:
We spotted the large orange/red ferris wheel in the distance and, although I have a pathological fear of heights that precludes me from ferris wheels (including enclosed ones!), my husband and son enjoyed the ride.
After the Ferris Wheel, we walked around the surrounding area, the Tempozan Harbor Village, where there were lots of shops and small businesses. We stopped for ice cream and then just continued to walk around the area. One interesting thing that we came across was the Umeda Sky building with walkable bridge. Although we did not elect to take the walk across the sky bridge, it is definitely something older children would enjoy.
We did not go up the Umeda Sky building and walk across the bridge, but we did enjoy the replica building in the lobby!Plenty of fun things for kids, including massive ice cream sundaes, which of course we stopped for!
After a few hours of wandering around on foot, both my son and I were tired and wanted to go back to the hotel to rest. Although my husband wanted to go out for dinner, my son and I elected to just go back to the hotel for the night. I don’t recall what we did for dinner that night, but I do remember that the thought of venturing out again and trying to find a place to eat was just too overwhelming.
The next morning, I woke up early due jet lag and poked around online looking for things to do. We weren’t scheduled to depart for Kyoto by train until later that day, so we were looking for something interesting. I found that there was a Central fish market in Osaka that was a smaller scale version of the famous Tsukiji market in Tokyo.
As it was already 4:45 am, I knew that we needed to get a move on things if we wanted to see the good stuff! I quickly got my husband on board, woke our son up, and we went to the front desk to request a cab. Upon entering the cab, we encountered the same issues we had experienced the day before – the taxi driver did not know where we wanted to go. With the help of hotel reception (who thankfully spoke English!), we were soon on our way.
Pulling up to the fish market was somewhat terrifying as it was still dark and there was no obvious sign of where we were. It looked like the cab driver was dropping us off in a commercial area with no apparent signs of life.
I had no idea where we were going, but headed towards the one big building off in the distance. Upon entering the building, we quickly realized we had entered the right place. We found ourselves in a huge room filled with all kinds of sealife in various stages – from living to flash frozen and ready for shipping!
fisherman working on fileting their morning tuna catchchunks of flash frozen tuna, ready for sale/transportlive king crab that we were invited to pet!sorting out the morning’s catcheach of those white bins contains ice and some kind of seafoodfilleting a giant fish on the floor
We were the only tourists there and stuck out like sore thumbs. The fishermen were incredibly friendly and, although not a one spoke English, they were happy to see us and encouraged us to take photos. At one stall, the fisherman even invited my son to pet the living King Crab that was trying to climb its way out of the ice box!
If you find yourself in Osaka, this is a must see experience! Not only was it much more manageable than the Tsukiji fish market sounds, it was much more personal experience. The only difficulty will be trying to find out where you’re heading and, as this blog post from June 2016 suggests, the signage hasn’t improved since we were there in March of 2014!
After finishing up at the fish market, we were starving as we had been up for a few hours and hadn’t eaten a thing. One of the websites that had recommended the Central Fish Market suggested a small place called Endo Sushi. Although sushi sounded awful for breakfast (and still does), we were in Japan and I figured, hey, if they were selling it, it must be good!
It was somewhat difficult to locate Endo Sushi (the website says after “entering the area of the Osaka Central Fish Market, please go towards the left side of the building”), but after wandering around the block a few times, we finally came across it. We were quickly seated and presented with a menu.
It was still dark when we finally found Endo Sushi!
Although the proprietor did not speak English and we got some curious looks, we had no trouble ordering one each of #1 and #2 – never under estimate the power of pointing your index finger!
Our food came quickly and was outstanding; I also loved the novelty of the bowl of soy sauce, with the brush that we used to gently brush soy sauce onto our nigiri.
help yourself soy sauce and fresh ginger
Now, you may be wondering what kind of 4 year old eats sushi for breakfast? My answer? I don’t know. Endo Sushi is located in a strip mall, and I ducked into a small corner store just a few stores down that happened to have a variety of sweet and savory rolls (the bread kind, not the sushi kind). I picked up a few rolls and brought them into Endo Sushi, where my son happily sat and munched while we enjoyed our sushi. Nobody seemed to mind that he was there, and they even offered him some miso soup, which he was happy to devour along with his roll.
By the time we finished eating, it was time to head back to the hotel, gather our things, and go to the train station. It was a relatively easy walk to the train station, where we purchased our tickets to Kyoto. Figuring out what tickets we needed was a bit difficult given that the signs were all in Japanese. The only things we could decipher were the names of the stops (Kyoto) and the prices in yen, but we had no idea whether there were different rates for children versus adults. Luckily, each Japanese train station has two things that proved immensely helpful as we were traveling through the country: 1) a staffed window with a knowledgeable and friendly transit employee, ready to help, and 2) extraordinarily friendly Japanese passengers who were willing to stop and help us purchase our tickets when we were confused. We took advantage of their friendliness and willingness to help whenever we could and that really made getting around Japan less stressful than it would have been without their assistance.
Although our first 24 hours in Japan started out rough and was overwhelming, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Osaka. It is a perfect starting point for a trip across the Island, and I highly recommend the Osaka Central Fish Market as the perfect first day in Japan adventure – since the Fish Market opens so early and you’ll likely be jet lagged, it’s a great thing to do when you’re awake, but most of the rest of the world is still sleeping. Moreover, the fishermen seemed to genuinely enjoy that we had our son with us and went out of their way to show up things – like the friendly king crab!
In the fall of 2013, my husband and I decided to take our then four year old on a big trip before he started kindergarten in the fall of 2014. We decided on Japan as our destination based on 3 simple factors: we both love traveling to Asia (and our son had never been); we were planning on traveling in the spring of 2014, so it was possible we would be in Japan during prime cherry blossoms season; our miles and points made it possible to have an amazing vacation at very little expense to us.
Preparing for a Round-The-World trip
Flights
Early on, my husband hatched the idea of taking a Round-The-World (R-T-W) trip. A R-T-W ticket allows travelers to travel around the world at a relatively low price. Airlines actually offer this product with set itineraries that you can customize based on your interests. My husband wanted to create our own RTW ticket, however, so he looked at a number of options based on available flights and our miles and priced out the following itinerary:
Outgoing: Dulles –> Munich –> Seoul –> Osaka
Returning: Tokyo –> Newark –> National Airport
We were incredibly fortunate to have sufficient miles to travel in business class (360,000 total) and for only $242.10 out of pocket! Without miles, the airline tickets would have cost $19,299.60 in economy or $45,298.60 in business class. In other words, there is no way we could have afforded this trip without some serious examining of the award structure and creative use of airline miles. Luckily, we are aggressive planners when it comes to maximizing our credit card miles and points balances, so we had sufficient Chase Ultimate Rewards points to transfer the necessary miles to our United account at a 1:1 ratio.
The nature of our itinerary required us to book through the reservations hotline, because we wanted to fit in a 24-hour stop over in Munich and also wanted an open jaw (where we fly into one destination and return from another), flying into Osaka, but departing Japan via Tokyo. In 2016, United changed the rules regarding award flights and no longer allows stopovers in different award zones. If we were booking our flight today, we would not be able to have an overnight in Europe, but presumably, would be able to schedule one in Seoul.
Accommodations:
Having secured our flights, we next had to decide how many days we wanted to spend in various locations. We knew that we had only one night in Munich, but there were approximately eight days we needed to divide up in Japan. We decided to spend one night in Osaka, which we read is more of a business district than a true tourist destination, two nights in Kyoto, and the balance of our nights in Tokyo.
As a Starwood Preferred Guest gold member, I always check Starwood hotels first, as we earn extra points on our spend, which we use to offset the cost of future stays. For our one night in Munich, I decided to book near the airport so that we would have plenty of time to have breakfast and then head over to the airport. I called the main Starwood reservations hotline and was informed that for 8,500 Starpoints or 149.68 EURO ($175.44 USD), I could have a king bed, high floor room at the Sheraton Munich Airport. Although the hotel no longer appears to be operating as a Sheraton, this review of the Sheraton Munich Hotel is an accurate and thorough description of the property at the time of our stay in March 2014.
For our one night in Osaka, I called the Osaka Westin, where I booked a double room for 16,200 Yen. Unfortunately, I failed to specify (or they did not ask?) that there would be two adults staying in the room and when checking in, we were informed there would be a slight charge for the additional adult (no extra charge for the under-5 year old). At that point, I was so tired from traveling and ready to drop my bags that I did not bother to investigate this charge any further and just paid the ~$30 USD so that we could complete the check in process and get settled into our room.
From Osaka, we were planning on spending two nights in Kyoto, so I called the Westin Miyako Kyoto and was told that a standard room was 12,000 SPG points per night, but we could upgrade to a Japanese style room for an additional 4,000 SPG points per night. I happily booked the upgraded room at 16,000 SPG points per night – this option was not available via the spg.com website, so if the option you are interested in online is not there, definitely call. As of the writing on this post, one night in a Japanese style room costs 22,572 Yen ($205.55 USD).
Finally, I looked into options in Tokyo, where we would be spending four nights, but was unable to locate any options for more than single accommodations. My husband ended up transferring Chase ultimate rewards points into his Hyatt account and booking us a suite at the Hyatt Regency in Tokyo to finish up our trip.
Getting Around:
We had every intention of relying on the amazing train and subway system in Japan to get around, and we had no plans for getting around in Munich, originally, other than taking a cab into the main shopping/dining area from our hotel. Just three days prior to departure, I started looking further into getting around in Munich and realized that it was ~61 USD each way to take a cab from the hotel to downtown area. A quick peek at the Avis website later, I secured a car rental for $75 USD for the 24 hours we were planning on spending in Munich, plus an additional $11 for a booster seat for my son. I was initially very concerned, reading the reviews online, that the car company would try to charge us for every dent or scratch, including prior existing ones. For protection, I booked the rental car on our Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which offers primary collision coverage and also took 1,001 photos of the car upon arrival. Luckily, the check out and check in process was seamless, and we had no problems (including the rental booster), so I was thrilled that we had the flexibility of having our own vehicle, while saving some money in the process.
Language & Currency:
I had never been to Munich before, but my husband reassured me we would not have any trouble communicating during our 24 hour layover. This proved correct – everyone from the rental car company, the hotel concierge, the restaurant host/esses ALL spoke English.
We clearly failed to prepare for the language barrier in Japan, however, as we experienced numerous “Lost in Translation” moments during our time in Japan. We encountered extreme difficulty in getting around Japan – from our cab driver at the Osaka airport who did not understand what we meant by “Westin Hotel” to having to rely on kind strangers to help us purchase tickets at the rail – we definitely did not adequately prepare. I would not recommend traveling blind with children, like we did, as having a child with you when you have no idea what you’re doing or where you are going in a foreign country is troubling, to say the least. If you do not have friends/family to help you get around in Japan, I strongly encourage you to engage a local tour guide. Tours by Locals is highly recommended by friends who have used this in other parts of Asia, but I have no first-hand experience.
Regarding currency, I never worry about obtaining local currency in advance of a foreign trip (although that may change after our Zimbabwe experience!) and had no problems getting cash out of the ATM at the airport or anywhere else around town. Our Chase Sapphire Preferred card also offers no foreign transaction fee, as does our Starwood Preferred Guest American Card. I charge everything that I can on those cards when we travel, reserving my cash for only places where credit card is not accepted or cash just makes sense.
The absolutely stunning lobby. Not visible in this photo, but there were small storefronts on the outer edges of the lobby, so you could purchase macarons on your way up to your room in the afternoon (and we did this on more than one occasion)!
As you get further up in the trails, the crowds get sparse and the density of the gates also diminishes. The path also starts off paved, but eventually you find yourself winding your way through actual trails.
Now, you may be wondering what kind of 4 year old eats sushi for breakfast? My answer? I don’t know. Endo Sushi is located in a strip mall, and I ducked into a small corner store just a few stores down that happened to have a variety of sweet and savory rolls (the bread kind, not the sushi kind). I picked up a few rolls and brought them into Endo Sushi, where my son happily sat and munched while we enjoyed our sushi. Nobody seemed to mind that he was there, and they even offered him some miso soup, which he was happy to devour along with his roll.
