If you are into camping, mountain biking, or hiking with the kids, this is a must have app for your summer. I use it regularly to find places to take the kids too near me, especially now that we have recently moved. Just last week, I used it to find a huge state park near us that I had not heard about before.

Besides their site, they also have a very useful app that is available both in iTunes and the Android Market. You can use your smartphone’s GPS to find trails near you. You can use the app to view trail maps, read trail reviews and yo you can even share the trail with family on friends on facebook. You can also take pictures with your phone’s camera and they will be geotagged and place on a map of your hike! I purchased the pro edition which allows me to export the GPS track and print topo maps before the hike as well.

Again, if you want to get outside this summer, I can’t recommend AllTrails enough for the perfect summer staycation app!

Enjoy your escape from the world! Spend all day at the spa, or schedule a few treatments and go to dinner at a special place afterward. Enjoy yourself!

This post was submitted by Shae.

http://thefullpantry.com/2011/05/24/find-staycation-or-vacation-ideas-for-your-city

Laura’s list contains 30 cities and links to bloggers who have listed staycation ideas for their city. For instance, here are just few:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Indoor Garden Musings
Mansfield, Ohio – Live the Adventure
Cincinnati, Ohio – Savings Lifestyle~Cincinnati
Mount Vernon, Ohio – Living Better One Day at a Time
Dayton, Ohio – Savings Lifestyle~Dayton
Grand Rapids, Michigan – Kitchen Stewardship
Metro Detroit, Michigan – “Cents”able Momma
Oakland County, Michigan – Bargain Shopper Mom
Warren, Michigan – Saving Dollars and Sense
Grand Forks, North Dakota – Frugal Front Porch
Indianapolis, Indiana – Bargain Briana
South Bend, Indiana – Excuse The Mess
Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri – Kansas City Mamas
St. Louis, Missouri – The Pickledpigsfeet
Branson, Missouri – Getting Freedom from Debt
Springfield, Missouri – I Think I Can
Rochester, Minnesota – Everyday Notions
York, Nebraska – Heavenly Homemakers
Omaha, Nebraska – Mom Endeavors
Madison, Wisconsin – Many Little Blessings
Oshkosh, Wisconsin – A Little Bit of This and That
Chicago, Illinois – Chicagoland Homeschool Network
Champaign, Illinois – Chambanamoms
Black Hills, South Dakota – Little House on the Prairie Living

Thanks to Laura from TheFullPantry.comfor putting this great staycation list together.

This post was submitted by Cindy Mirkov.

With some help from Google and the sfexaminer.com, I was able to track down the document (GOGA, Draft GMP/EIS, Volume I, Part 4: The Alternatives for Alcatraz Island) that proposes these exciting changes.  The proposal is to

Here is the overview:

Many who visit Alcatraz Island are drawn by the island’s notorious prison reputation. Others want to see the crumbling ruins set against the spectacular scenery of San Francisco and the Golden Gate or understand the island’s human dimension: the American Indian occupation or the gardens tended by guards and their families.

In this alternative Alcatraz island would be managed to provide an expanded variety of settings and experiences that will pleasantly surprise visitors attracted by the notoriety of the prison, and connect them to the greater breadth of the island’s resources and stories. The park would seek to enrich the scenic, recreational, and educational opportunities in the heart of San Francisco Bay.

Visitors would have access to the majority of the island’s historic structures and landscapes to experience the layers of island history and its natural resources and settings. Many of the indoor and outdoor spaces currently inaccessible to visitors would be reopened to expand the range of available activities.

All historic structures would be preserved; most would be rehabilitated and adaptively reused for visitor activities and park operations. Food service, meeting and program space, and overnight accommodations (possibly including a hostel or camp site) would be provided.

This proposal, while exciting, is nevertheless, just a proposal and with budget constraints on everyone’s radar, who knows how much support this idea will have financially. However, here’s hoping a new hostel-like staycation destination comes to Alcratraz soon!

Found this article that sums it up! http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110828/LIFE09/108280363/Indianapolis-getaway-s-close?odyssey=nav|head

I include the Indy Marriott website because I recently stayed there and they have a great location right downtown!

This post was submitted by Cristina Chewning.

1. Urban Spoon

This is one of those apps that’s appropriate for staycationers and vacationers alike. I discovered this app while looking for restaurants in cities I was visiting professionally but fell in love with the app while using it to find places locally personally. I found great restaurants right in my neighborhood that I had never heard of before! Urbanspoon is a a restaurant guide serving major cities in North America as well as London. Search for local restaurants by neighborhood, cuisine or price. Find reviews from local newspapers, food blogs and fellow diners. Vote on restaurants and share your take on the best and worst places to eat with your friends.

Urbanspoon – Urbanspoon

2. Gas Buddy

No matter how far you are driving on your staycation (even if it is within your own town) you want to find the cheapest gas on the go – for free! In one click, locate gas stations near you and see their current gas prices. Never overpay for gas again.

GasBuddy – Find Cheap Gas Prices – GasBuddy Organization Inc

3. Any travel app by Sutro Media

Sutro Media develops travel apps that cover a range of cities all across the United States; from Madison to Milwaukee, they have you covered. If you live in an area that applies to one of their apps, I’d encourage to download and install your city’s app on your smartphone. You would be amazed at the destinations right within your neighborhood. You can see the current list of their available apps here (expanding weekly):

http://www.sutromedia.com/apps.html

4. Living Social

Want to save 50%-90% at restaurants, spas, gyms, and more? Download Living Social. This free iPhone / iPad app lets you access LivingSocial’s daily local deals. Each day, they introduce a new, cool thing to do in your city — and give a HUGE discount for trying that new thing. They like to refer to themselves as the “United States of Savings.”

LivingSocial – LivingSocial

Ponds are literally teeming with life, especially in the spring. Finding a pond to sit and relax by is a sublime spring experience. All you have to do is sit still and watch the wildlife around you, from blue dragonflies to songbirds to turtles. Ponds are also fantastic playgrounds for kids. Mine once sat still for an entire ten minutes (no small miracle) watching and waiting for a frog to catch his fly. When he finally did, they broke into wild applause. Better than television!

How to Make it Happen

Many city parks and sometimes cemeteries have beautifully cared for pond habitats. You can call your city’s Parks and Recreation Department for recommendations. If you know someone on a farm or rural acreage, ask if you can visit. Untended ponds often offer more diverse wildlife such as beavers and otters.

Don’t rush. Take along a blanket and picnic lunch. Take a book and read under a shade tree. If there are ducks on the pond, take stale bread to feed them. Take nets for either catching butterflies or skimming for tadpoles. (Either way, release them back to the wild!)

In this guide, you will discover:

• Over 80 kid-tested destinations within a 2-hour drive of Cincinnati, including many in Dayton
• Detailed information on every listing including age recommendations, stroller-friendliness, and the length of a typical visit
• Easy-to-read maps
• Practical considerations that moms and dads need to know
• Category table including everything from archeology to trains to hiking
• Many free and low-cost attractions
• Encouragement and tips to start creating family traditions
• Sample summer and year-round itineraries Mom-tested advice on how to travel locally with kids of all ages
• The many benefits your family will experience

How to Make it Happen

Call your local Chamber of Commerce to find out the locations and times of markets in your area. Some markets are large enough that they may have their own website. Arrive early to find the best deals––if it’s a popular market merchants may sell out of goods early. If you become a regular, booth operators may hold back special items for you upon request.

Buy whatever looks good that week, or make a weekly meal list before you go and buy items for the week. Buying from local producers is a great way to eat fresh. But don’t assume that all produce at a Farmers Market is organic. If it is important to you, ask.

Once you have what you came for, just take the time to stroll around. Grab a drink, enjoy the entertainment, and watch other people go about their business.

Additional Activities

1. Consider growing your own vegetables in a backyardgarden.
2. If you can offer a product or service you think people would like, consider renting your own booth at the market.
3. Go to an open fish market for fresh fish.