Also on tap for Mother’s Day weekend are the Shrine FunFest Parade and Music in the Parks band and chorus competition on Saturday. Mom might also enjoy The Bluegrass Opry at Smoky Mountain Guitars (through June 30) and the special Titanic Museum exhibit, Behind the Scenes of Jim Cameron’s Titanic (through December 31).

But Mother’s Day weekend is just the tip of the iceberg! Pigeon Forge has a whole summer of exciting events planned for Smoky Mountain vacationers. If you want to join the fun at Dollywood’s Barbeque & Bluegrass celebration from May 26 to June 10, 2012, you’ll want to book your Pigeon Forge cabin rentals on iTrip.net now.

One of the summer’s most popular events, the Dollywood Barbeque and Bluegrass Festival features more than 300 free concerts by some of the country’s greatest bluegrass musicians – along with some of the best finger-lickin’ BBQ in the South! This year’s festival headliner, Grammy award-winner Ricky Skaggs, will be joined on stage by Kentucky Thunder, Riders in the Sky, Rhonda Vincent and more. If you love country, this is an event you won’t want to miss!

Enjoy the natural beaches with their majestic dunes at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, in Santa Rosa Beach. The park includes three coastal dune lakes. Have a great time while hiking on the trails. Topsail Hill Preserve State Park easily enhances Beaches of South Walton vacations.

Deer Lake State Park in Santa Rosa Beach attracts visitors with its fantastic views of a dune ecosystem and Deer Lake, a coastal dune lake. Boardwalks across the dunes give you easy access to the beach for fishing, swimming as well as picnicking. The park is within easy reach of the Beaches of South Walton vacation rentals.

The Beaches of South Walton provide excellent opportunities for freshwater and saltwater fishing with 17 freshwater and saltwater lakes, Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Explore the attractive architecture of the local communities. The Beaches of South Walton provides a variety of architectural styles such as Caribbean and Cape Cod.

The beautiful Beaches of South Walton attracts visitors from all over the nation. Check out our superb Beaches of South Walton vacation rentals and start planning your next vacation.

With vacation rentals, you can opt for the things you want, choose the things you need, and relax in the comfort of a house that will exceed any previous accommodations. Searching for the rentals that will be a good match for you and your family requires nothing more than the use of a website or company that can point you in the right direction and show you all of the available properties in a particular vacation destination. Using a search engine gives you an opportunity to see all the pricing and housing options available in a selected area without having to use a real estate agent. With all of the options in front of you–instead of just the ones that the agent wants you to see–you can make a fully informed decision about where to stay and how much you can really afford to do.

Vacation rentals save you more money the more people that you bring and the longer that you are in them. With a hotel, oftentimes you will pay a nightly rate that goes up with each person staying in the room beyond two. Many vacation rentals charge weekly flat rates during the summer, meaning that if the rental goes for $1,500 for a week, it doesn’t matter if you bring two or ten people, it will still cost the same. On the other hand, four people sharing two hotel rooms at say, $150 a room per night, will cost you $2,100 for a week. If you could spend less or even the same amount to rent a whole house equipped with a kitchen, washer and dryer, outdoor shower, and rooms for everyone who wanted them, why wouldn’t you?

Don’t go back to a hotel in your favorite destination when there are many vacation homes for rent that will save you money in the long run and will provide you with a more pleasant experience.

Boasting the best beaches on America’s West Coast, San Diego on the coast of Southern California offers vacationers 70 miles of beautiful, award-winning beaches to choose from. Fine-grained sparkling sand, calm waters, plenty of sunshine, and an average temperature of 70.5 degrees F. make nearly every day in San Diego a perfect beach day. Selected one of the 2012 “Best Family Beach Vacations in the USA” by U.S. News Travel, San Diego offers many calm-water, family-friendly beaches that are lifeguard-patrolled and close to popular family attractions like the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld. An abundance of delightful San Diego vacation rentals adds to the area’s vacation popularity.

Named one of “America’s Top 10 Beaches” in 2011 by Dr. Beach and recipient of Trip Advisor’s 2012 Travelers’ Choice award for “Top 10 Beach Destinations in the United States,” Coronado Beach is a perennial award-winner, but San Diego offers a wide variety of gorgeous beaches that offer incredible views of the Pacific Ocean and Southern California coastline. Mission Beach, Mission Bay Park and South Carlsbad State Beach are just a few of the area’s more popular beaches. Clean, calm and well-patrolled, La Jolla Beach is a favorite with families enjoying San Diego vacations. La Jolla Shores is a top choice for snorkelers and kayakers. Area dogs congregate on Dog Beach for a refreshing frolic. For the more daring, Black Beach offers “au naturel” swimming and sunbathing.

Start planning your San Diego beach vacation today by booking San Diego vacation rentals on iTrip.net.

Coquina Baywalk a small, beautiful nature park is a great place to take a walk. Enjoy the natural mangroves and the beach. The trail also takes you up small coastal ridges. You might see pelicans, herons and dolphins in the bay. There are plenty of benches along the path. Several platforms over the bay provide opportunities to see fish. Coquina Baywalk is within east reach of Anna Maria Island vacation rentals.

The Anna Maria Island Historical Museum traces the island’s growth from a very small farming/fishing community into a tropical paradise where baseball players came for spring practice and a where a Hollywood movie was made. The Anna Maria Island Historical Museum has plenty of interesting artifacts and a lot of pictures of early structures. Plenty of people on Anna Maria Island vacations visit the museum

Beach Yoga classes are available year-round on Saturdays at the Pine Ave. public beach access, gulf-side in Anna Maria Island. The Yoga classes, held in a shady spot, are suitable for people of all levels.

Enjoy the beach while staying at one of the superb Anna Maria vacation rentals!

The best way to approach a Disney World vacation is to embrace the fact that you can’t do it all. Each of Disney World’s four theme parks is a vacation in itself. Choosing just one or two parks to explore takes the pressure off, allowing you to relax and enjoy your Orlando vacation.

Follow these insider tips and the ones in our previous post and your Disney World vacation will be a dream come true.

• Disney World’s popular restaurants book up fast so make reservations as soon as you schedule your Orlando vacation rentals on iTrip.net. Keep in mind that Disney World fare rarely rises above average. What you’re paying for is the ambience and the price is pretty steep. The character breakfast is worth the price if you have young children. Otherwise, you’re better off eating breakfast at your Orlando condo rental before you leave for the park and packing bottled water and a few snacks to take with you. Catch a quick lunch at the park but return to your condo for dinner or explore some of Orlando’s many excellent restaurants.
• To avoid long lines at premium rides, take advantage of the free FastPass system.
• Schedule shows after lunch so you’ll have a comfortable place to get out of the heat and reenergize.
• Pick one night to stay for the fireworks and watch from a spot near the main gate so you can beat the traffic going home. Otherwise, leave the park at least an hour before closing to avoid the mad dash for the exit.

Fort Morgan Historic Fort and Museum, a masonry fortification at the mouth of Mobile Bay, is well known for its role in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. The fort has living history demonstrations and you can also take a self-guided tour. It’s a great place to visit during an Alabama beach vacation.

Blakely State Park, nestled in pristine woodlands along Tensaw River, was the scene of the last major battle of the Civil War, fought just hours after Lee surrendered. Take a tour of the preserved Civil War battlefield. Blakely State Park has hiking and biking trails and a boardwalk located next to the Tensaw River. Blakely State Park enhances Alabama beach vacations.

The National Museum of Naval Aviation is one of the world’s largest air and space museums. The National Museum of Naval Aviation has more than 140 restored aircraft. Take a ride in the motion-based flight simulator and enjoy an IMAX movie.

Bellingrath Gardens and Home one of “Americas Castles” is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the South. Take the wonderful home tour and enjoy the year-round blooming schedules of azaleas, tulips, mums, roses, poinsettias and more.

There are plenty of things to do while staying at one of the superb Alabama beach rentals.

• Ignore the advice to stay onsite and book Orlando vacation rentals on iTrip.net. If you stay onsite, the constant barrage of all things Disney will keep you and your children wound up. Even when you’re away from the action in the park, you can’t truly relax. Mickey or Goofy could pop up in the hotel lobby or restaurant at any minute! Mickey and his pals set an exhausting pace, and little feet racing up and down the resort hallways at all hours isn’t exactly conducive to a good night’s sleep! Honestly, you’ll find your trip to Disney World much more enjoyable, relaxing, and affordable, if you stay in beautifully-appointed Orlando vacation rentals and spend some time away from the frenzy at the mouse house.
• Quench your thirst for free at Epcot. You can sample cola flavors from around the world free at the World of Coke pavilion. To find it, walk toward the fountains when you exit Epcot’s iconic sphere and follow the sidewalk around to the right.

Next time: More insider tips

“Head boats” charge a fee per individual. It’s a good idea to call and make a reservation. The Bahia Marina located between 21^st Street and 22^nd Street is Ocean City’s sport fishing headquarters. It’s within easy reach of Ocean City vacation rentals. The Bahia Marina has the largest small boat rental fleet in Ocean City. You can rent fishing rods and equipment from bait and tackle shops in the area.

Route 50 Bridge is a popular fishing location. You can also surf cast from Ocean City and Assateague beaches for sea trout, Bluefish, Kingfish and more. You can fish form public piers including Intel Park in downtown Ocean City, Third St. Pier (bayside), Ninth St. Pier (bayside) and Northside Park 125^th St. (bayside). The Inlet Pier puts you right out onto the water; it’s almost like being in a boat. The pier has plenty of room for locals and people on Ocean City vacations.

Have a great time fishing while staying at one of the excellent Ocean City vacation rentals!

A day on the beach is a breeze when you’ve got the right gear. New, lightweight beach gear in easy-to-carry or wearable packs makes short work of setting up for a day of fun in the sun. Whether you’ve booked well-appointed Sarasota condo rentals or charming Siesta Key beach rentals on iTrip.net, you’ll enjoy your relaxing vacation to the Beaches of Sarasota, Florida that much more when you don’t have to trek a load of heavy gear down to the beach every day.

The next time you head for the beach, here’s what to take along:

• Providing a spot of shade on the beach gives you a place to duck out of the sun’s rays once in a while. People have been lugging beach umbrellas onto the sand for decades, but they’re heavy, bulky and unwieldy; a struggle to carry. And when you do manage to wrestle them down to the beach, they provide only a small circle of shade. This year, scrap the beach umbrellas in favor of Noah’s Tarp by Kelty, the respected tent maker. Weighing less than 2 pounds, the 9-foot square tarp provides enough shade for the whole family and looks uber sleek.
• The beaches of Sarasota have a picturesque beauty that begs to be photographed. And the sunsets are magnificent! But digital cameras and smart phones don’t mix well with sand and water. Protect your personal electronics with handy AquaPacs. These pouches come in a variety of sizes, are 100% waterproof, and allow you to use cameras and phones without removing them from the pack.