Christy Whitehead Photography - Newborn, Family and Headshot Photographer in Jacksonville, Florida

Travel Tips–Must Haves, What To Avoid, Safety & More!

I travel every year and have been to Europe and the Caribbean numerous times. Not to mention, I drive and fly all over the US. Here are some things that I would recommend for travel and maybe even for every day life! And of course, lots of ways to save money!

Phone Apps

TooGoodToGo–We found this app while in NYC. Basically, at the end of the day many restaurants throw away a bunch of food. Instead of it being trashed you can get a deal and there’s less food waste!

In the above picture, I think we paid like $5 and got all those croissants and rolls. We just showed up, showed the cashier the screen in our app that showed we purchased it and they started filling bags for us. There was a pumpkin roll that smelled SOOOOO good. We did this about 3x over 2 weeeks at different places. We got some awesome snacks and pastries for breakast. We even got chocolate at a chocolate shop.

So if you have time, and the city you are in is on the app–try it out!

Groupon–I have a love/hate relationship with Groupon. I was on vacation once in Orlando and they had pirate dinner show tickets and our whole group of about 16 bough them through groupon but we found out after we paid for them that we could have gotten the tickets cheaper on the Pirate show’s website. So, for shows and such, def. check the website to verify if the deal is good.

However, I used it on our recent trip to NYC to find a local eatery that was by where we were staying. They had NYC bagels and cream cheese. We showed up and the place was packed (We had to sit on the sidewalk to eat) and authentic. My daughter LOVED it.

Hotels, Flights and Bookings

For awhile, I was using Hotels.com exclusively to book hotel rooms because I would get a free night every 10 bookings. But they changed up their rewards program so I don’t always use them, but I will compare prices with them as they are often the lowest rate. And if you use them a lot they give you better rates overall.

Hopper and Kayak are two good sites/apps to use to compare cheap flights or hotels.

If you are looking for a cheap deal on hotels, I would recommend using a computer and pulling up different tabs. Check Hotels.com, agoda and then when you find a hotel and rate you like, go directly to that hotel, let’s say Hyatt and look on their website. You can see their standard rates as well as if they have some specialty rates. Sometimes just booking directly through the hotel can get you the best rate.

For example, I was supposed to go to Vegas earlier this year and I searched the discount sites but when I went to the Mirage’s website directly, I found that if I joined their rewards program I would get $20 in free food each day as well, for the same price.

Airfare. To find the best rates, I typically pull up a couple of tabs on my computer, just like I do with hotels. Hopper is usually one of my go tos for good rates. I would also compare rates I find on a discount site with the airline directly. Although, I have typically found that the discount sites have better rates than the airlines themselves.

A couple of the discount apps search multiple sites and apps and you need to watch the results. For example, this is a search for a roundtrip flight to Japan for July on SkyScanner. The companies on the left are the ones offering up the flights, and you can see they have bad reviews. A google search on some of them show bad reviews. So be careful not to book with companies that aren’t well known or if a price is too good to be true.

I had to fly out of state for a funeral one year and I found that Priceline had the best rate and saved me nearly half, even over calling the airline directly and asking for a bereavement rate.

Travel Agent. Most travel agents won’t charge you anything to book with them. I am a pretty savvy shopper, but I will also email a travel agent I know and see what kind of rates they can get me. They usually can’t find that great of a deal on airfare, but they can often get you better deals on whole vacations or hotels.

Living in Fla I can often find good deals for the theme parks, but I have had a travel agent check and get me an even better rate for the same hotel and park. I have worked with Lori Osgood at Cruise Planners, if you want to shoot her a message. Let her know I sent you!

Flight Board. Want to track delayed and cancelled sites, this app does it.

Travel Credit Cards

I went searching for the top rated travel credit card and ended up with the Capital One Venture Card. You can use this link to check it out.

I use this card for EVERYTHING. And you can book travel through their app. I haven’t necessarily found any great deals on their travel app, but I like the free travel insurance I get for using the card to book travel.

I have the Venture card. And one of the things that’s nice about that card is it covers the cost of doing the TSA Precheck. Which, if you fly much, it will save you time!

At the end of the year they send me an email that tells me how much money I saved and how much money I got back. Last year I think it was close to $600 in cash back.

Extra CC Tip! Most credit cards allow you to add additional users to your card. Some of them will report to the credit bureau, so you could get extra cards in your children’s names to help their credit.

I actually have a card issued in my teenage daughter’s name. She keeps it on her in case of an emergency or if she needs to buy food or something while she is with her friends. When you get the CC bill you can see who did what charges.

While we were in NYC she was able to use her CC to swipe and get on the subway while I used mine.

Hot and Cold

So in the last year I have learned that I have a metabolic disorder. My body acts like I’m diabetic when I’m not. It makes me extremely sensitive to heat (which can drop your blood sugar). Here are a couple of things I pack with me now to help cool me and my family down!

I have started carrying Gatorade powder packs with me. You dump one in a standard water bottle and it tastes pretty close to the real thing. It helps keep me from feeling as bad in the heat.

I bought these before a trip to Legoland in the summer and I was shocked–even my husband loved them. Each member of the family gets a different color and they work great to help keep you cool.

At the minimum, I try to keep an old school folding fan on me. I forgot mine in the Dominican Republic last month and had to buy one, they wanted like $10.

Just don’t buy the paper ones that are really cheap, they’ll break on you. I found these cute ones on Amazon.

Plane, Train & Automobile

I feel like we never have enough cup holders in the back of our car. So I recently bought some of these:

It’s a super cheap and easy fix!

One of the big things most people buy is a travel pillow.

I tried this one and while it has rave reviews, I did not like it. I’m not sure if it’s the idea of sleeping forward like that or the fact that it was just bulky once blown up.

I personally, like this one below and will ocasionally sleep with it at home too since it provides neck support. It folds as well so that’s nice.

I’ve recently gotten paranoid about blood clots on planes and picked up some of these. I personally get overheated easy and hate to wear socks, so I didn’t want anything that covered my feet.

Bathroom Essentials

I bought this to keep my jewelry from tangling.

I have a hard time sleeping when there’s lights on or I can see light. I use one of these for travel and at home.

Medications

If you are prone to headaches and migraines, I recently bought this migraine stick (I found a three pack under a different name that was cheaper but it didn’t work as good) and it’s helpful. And it’s not much larger than a chapstick.

My friends and kids know to come ask me if they need allergy meds or anything else. But I do NOT want to keep 10 bottles of meds in my bag.

I have this cute little bag that is ideal if you want to keep bandaids and such on hand along with a selection of tylenol, etc. Small and fits in a purse or backpack. I use it for trips to theme parks, etc. where I want a good assortment and can’t necessarily run to Walgreens.

I also have these below as well. If you ever see me out and about, I usually have this type in my bag. It holds a small assortment of quick meds I might need. Super useful. You can take a Sharpie and write on the lids or use a label maker.

I have several meds and supplements that I have to take morning and night. I keep this one for trips that are more than just the weekend. I can also put my face mask and ear plugs in here. I like that it’s zippered so the pills aren’t accidentally going to go flying out into my bag.

Luggage

I’ve seen people swear by luggage cubes and I wasn’t sure if I’d like them, but I really do. When I travel with my kids, especially, I give them each one to put their clothes in. I can usually get their clothes each in one and mine in it’s own as well. We recently did a one week cruise and we were each able to get a week’s worth of clothes in our own bags. I then put these inside the luggage and when we get somewhere each person can take their bag out and it’s easy!

I also like this brand. They zip up around the edges to compress even more. And I like that it’s different colors so I can color code my kids’ stuff.

My daughter loves to shop so I like to have a bag I can take with me in case she spends all her money.

We bought one of these and I like that it goes down into a small flat pack or two different sized bags.

If you really need to save space in your bag, you could always bring those vacuum bags. I found this in my pantry that I had bought for food storage and never used. Charged it up and took it to NYC and it worked like a charm and was super small. The one I bought is no longer sold, but I found these other small ones on Amazon. You can also use it to blow up pool floats!

Hotels

How many times have you ended up in a hotel and there’s ONE plug? I usually need two usb plugs just for my watch and phone. I picked up some of these to make it easier on our family.

Door Lock. I bought one of these, but I haven’t used it yet. I travel often alone or just with my kids, it’s small and easy to carry for peace of mind that no one’s going to get into your room.

Want to check for urine, bugs or other ickies? These flashlights are super small and portable.

I might sound a little paranoid, but did you hear about people who have gone to a hotel and died from carbon monoxide poisoning? I was reading that in the last 20 years, at least 1,090 people have been injured at US hotels from carbon monoxide poisoning, and 32 people died (And that’s just in the US!). So, I bought a version of these.

Theme Parks

I can’t recommend these bags enough if you’re going to a theme park or even hiking. I have back and hip issues so I get really weird about bags. These don’t bother me at all.

I have 2 of these at home (and bought some for my teenager’s friends who saw ours and wanted one too) and we use them for Universal and Disney. There is an insulated compartment where the water bladder is.

I highly recommend filling the bladder halfway with water and freezing it the night before your day out. Not only will you have a cold drink through out the day (add water to it the morning of) but if you pack sandwiches they’ll stay cold in this compartment and none of your other stuff will get wet!

This also fits in the lockers at Universal Studios easily! And we’ve even shoved a wand in there!

Amazon has other bags, but many don’t have that insulated compartment! You get what you pay for and I recommend this brand. They have fun colors too.

Other Goodies

Don’t forget your chargers!

If you’re not going to be somewhere you can plug into you’ll probably need a battery pack. Click here to see a two pack for less than $20!

And if you’re always forgetting your charging cable, I just bought one of these bracelets. I think I’m going to attach it to my bag, it has a usb charger cable in it!

If you don’t want to carry a purse or just want your phone/camera out for quick and easy access, try one of these!

Speaking of your phone, I hate carrying a purse or wallet, so I highly recommend a phone wallet.

You can find one that sticks onto the back of your current case. There’s also some super cute full wallet styles:

Bag/purse alternative. I try to always keep a bottle of water on me, a folding cloth bag for shopping, lip gloss, and some basic meds. I have back and hip problems so I don’t want a huge bag. I found these to be a great fit:

I don’t carry a 40oz bottle in it, but I find the bottle holder area can hold a cloth bag at the bottom and at least one standard plastic bottle. I will often shove my phone and the water bottle in the top, no problem. It has compartments on the front for money and necessities. I sometimes turn it into a waist bag.

When we were in NYC, it started raining and we had to run into Walgreens and overspend on crappy umbrellas. You might want to pick up a travel one before you travel. I was able to shove it into the top of my bag (the floral one above) with my drink).

If you need earbuds but don’t want to fork out for airpods, my husband bought me these. Affordable and work great. And I don’t feel guilty that I don’t use them all the time.

However, if you have prescription glasses, you seriously need to go check these out. You can have glasses with built in speakers! I bought some and they are awesome! You can answer your phone with them and so much more! Go to this link and type in “Revel Tune 2.0”. Don’t be the annoying person the Subway or at the doctor’s office listening to their phone, grab you a set of these!

Shoes! Bring more than one pair of shoes on any trip. Just in case one breaks, or if after a full day it has just rubbed you raw, you’ll have an alternative. I would also recommend something with a back on it if you’ll be doing a lot of walking on questionable terrain.

The above is a photo of my poor feet on our NYC trip. We spent 2 weeks walking around the city and my shoes rubbed me raw!

I often carry a small container of baby powder in my bag when at the theme parks or traveling to pour into shoes to absorb moisture to help guard against this.

In the above image I used medical tape to wrap around my poor toes and to act as a barrier on the top of my feet.

We bought this foldable kettle so that I could use it camping and not have to worry about glass breaking. Works great to make tea or hot chocolate. When we go Boy Scout camping and it’s cold, our campsites don’t have power but the bathrooms do! So I run down and while I’m brushing my teeth in the bathroom our hot water starts to boil.

Shopping bag ideas. When you’re out shopping, some places will charge you for bags or won’t provide one. I try to always keep a cloth bag in my bag.

You could also keep one of these on you so that you always have a cloth backpack to carry everything.

Do you travel with a cooler and don’t want to get your cheese or other food items soggy, but need to keep them cold? I bought a Drybag and put it IN the cooler! Added my fruit containers, sandwich stuff, etc into that and it stayed dry but cold the whole trip! Plus you can use it by the pool or in a boat to keep your stuff dry.

Crazy enough, I also try to always carry a pack of cards with me. Usually Uno Flip or Spot It. Both are great for adults and kids to play together and Spot it is SUPER EASY and the little ones can play it along with people in their 80s easily.

This gives my kids something to do and if we’re ever in an awkward social situation it helps to break the ice and keep everyone busy.

We have the original Spot it, as well as the camping version. But you can pick up Disney Princesses, Harry Potter, Marvel and so many more!

NYC Specific Tips That May Apply Elsewhere!

With my worry about the heat, when I packed for a June trip to NYC I wasn’t expecing to need a jacket. But in the mornings, between the buildings and sometimes on really windy days, it got COLD! So make sure to pack a light wind breaker, even in the summer.

Paying for the Subway. We knew we would be using the Subway a lot so each person had their own credit card that they would use to pay for the subway. Basically, we would get to the turnstile and swipe our card and go. After each person pays for 12 trips, the rest of the trips during the week are free. Read more about the fares here.

Getting Around/ Finding your way. There are several apps that have subway maps, etc. And after some trial and error we figured out that Google Maps really is the best and easiest way to find your way around.

All you have to do is put in where you want to go, and normally our maps show us via car, but if you look there is an option for walking or public transportation. Click the one you want and it’ll show you several different options near you for the bus or subway.

AmazonGo. There are several of these stores around NYC. And they had some cheap food options. You will need your Amazon app or a credit card to enter. You just show it at the entry gate and then the store just knows what you buy–there’s no employee scanning you out. It was really weird!

For example, I like to pick things up and might change my mind. Also, they had things like donuts in a case. I grabbed one and left and checked my Amazon app and sure enough I was only charged for what I left the store with! They had some hot and cold options for food. However, we did find that many days they were sold out of some items.

Drinks. I’m used to going into a fast food place and getting refills. This was extremely hit or miss in NYC. We went to one fast food place and were able to get free refills, but other ones we couldn’t. If you drink a lot, keep this in mind.

Cash. I try not to bring too much cash with me when I travel within the US and I regretted it on our NYC trip. I needed $1 bills for all kinds of minor tipping and $5-20 bills for tour guides. Also, some stores ONLY took cash. China Town was especially a cash only society.

Homeless/Mental Health Issues.

Every single day we were in NYC we saw people talking to themselves and sometimes just acting crazy. One day we got on the Subway and we thought the guy next to us was talking on the phone. He was having a whole conversation with what we thought was someone else–nope!

One day while we were walking to meet up with a tour a big man came screaming at us and tried to get into a confrontation with me. I did not engage him and I basically tried to go into a store to get away from him. The store was just opening and at first didn’t want to let me in, but quickly realized something was off and this guy was harrassing me.

Riding the subway. My daughter hated it, it always smelled like pee. The photo to the right has a guy sleeping on the subway with a pile of bananas under him.

This happened around 9am maybe during the week. So not even at night. My daughter was really upset and started to cry.

If you are traveling with people or just you and your kids, I would highly recommend sitting down and talking about safety. I explained to her why we went into the store. I told her to never engage with them and just go the other way. I let her know that if he had started attacking or hitting me it was NOT her place to try and stop him. Her job was to call 911 and to get to safety.

Safety/Getting Robbed

I often get asked about safety and if I’m ever scared to travel. The answer is no, I am rarely scared while traveling. Out of ALL the places and countries I have traveled, Italy and Rome are probably my favorite. That being said, I saw a lot of crime there.

Riding in packed busses, etc. always have your bag on the front of you and your ID and money hidden. I remember someone grabbing my butt while on a bus, probably looking for money. In that tour we did have someone in our group lose their wallet on the bus to someone doing that.

I was walking past a restaurant in Rome and a woman was sitting outside with her purse at her feet and I could see a man trying to grab it, I had to yell at him for her to realize. Always be mindful of your things.

I recently bought a pack of little alarms. And boy are these suckers loud! You can get a 5 pack for less than $20, so hand them out to friends!

Make copies! Make a copy of the front and back of all your credit cards, IDs, passports, etc. Keep one copy in your luggage and leave one at home with someone you trust. That way if you get robbed or lose your bag you have some proof of ID and info to use.

Also, if your phone has a digital wallet, save a credit card there just in case you lose your other ones.

In conclusion

I hope you found lots of useful tips and info. One more money saving tip, join a site like Rakuten. Then whenever you’re shopping online just go to their site and see if the store you want is listed. You’ll get cash back for shopping this way.

At Christmas, I made a large purchase from one store through Rakuten and they sent me a check for $57 in the mail afterwards.

If you have any other great tips, feel free to comment!

I hope you found the information in this blog post helpful! Please note there are affiliate links in use. While you don’t pay anything extra for using my links, I do sometimes get cash back or rewarded for you using them. So thank you!

NYC Tips: Attractions & Things To Do

When we started planning this trip, it was supposed to be a long weekend but when we added up all the things we wanted to do the trip kept getting longer and longer, until it ended up being a two week trip. And we stayed busy every single day and still didn’t get to see everything we wanted. For starters, there are over 100 museums in NYC, but there’s even more stuff to do and see than just museums.

Save Money

We bought the NYC Sightseeing Pass, which you pay one price for either a set number of attractions or unlimited attractions over the course of however many days you choose. We bought the 10 day pass.

A sample of some of the attractions on the pass and how much tickets normally are, but are included with the pass.

There were over 150 attractions on the pass for NYC. There are a couple of other similar passes out there. Most have some of the same attractions and each has a couple attractions that are exclusive to them. I just stumbled on this company first. I liked the idea of not having to stress about how much we were going to spend every day and I knew I would be getting a deal.

To maximize the pass, we started using it the day after we got there and then used the last couple of days that we had without a pass as days where we went and did everything that wasn’t included on the pass.

Sample savings from the Sightseeing website.

Something to keep in mind if you buy a sightseeing pass. Sometimes certain attractions or tours would stop working with the pass company. For example, I had planned on doing a couple of walking tours but they were suddenly no longer offered 2 weeks before our trip, so I had to reconfigure what we would do. That being said, new stuff is also added periodically.

Planning & Organization

I ended up creating a Word template to keep track of where we would be staying on what days and what we would be doing. While it’s fun to not have a schedule, in NYC if you want to save time and not waste your days in the Subway going all over town you’ll need to do some planning. To maximize your time and the Sightseeing Pass, I highly recommend having some sort of game plan for each day.

Plus, all the museums and attractions have different dates and times they are open. For example we really wanted to go to the Musuem of Jewish Heritage, but it’s closed on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday and some days had limited hours.

I would typically only schedule two things for us to do each day but I would keep a list of other things in that area to do that were on the Sightseeing Pass in case we finished early or had the energy to do something else.

It looked something like this:

Date	Time	Location	Notes
5/30		Edge9:00am until 11:00pm daily * * Last guest elevator up at 10:00pm 30 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001 Closest Subway34 Street-Hudson Yards Subway Station	Go for sunset

I just added a Table in Word and created a new line for each item.

This allowed me to easily keep track of the dates, the time if I had a reservation, the location and any notes, like a reservation number.

To make the most of our two weeks there and to get to know different neighborhoods more intimately, we switched hotels/hostels every 3-4 days. And I tried to plan our activities around each neighborhood as much as I could.

Times Square Area

Our first couple of days, we were in the Times Square area. After checking into the Americana Inn we headed over to Macy’s. We rode the old escalators to the very top and looked around the toy section and then left. From there we walked around Times Square and shopped until my daughter was ready to drop.

She loves clothes and saved up her money to go shopping in NYC. We rode the escalators down to the basement of Forever 21 to find the clearance sections and found some awesome deals—like party dresses for around $6! Being June and not able to handle heat very well I packed for the heat, but walking around in NYC there were days when it was windy and cold! We ended up buying hoodies as well. So make sure you pack one unless you feel like buying one!

They Disney store in Times Square was interesting, but packed, like most of the shops, so we didn’t stay long.

There were several interesting shops along the strip. If you are looking for discount souvenirs, need to buy an extra set of luggage (like we did because my daughter did sooo much shopping) than check out Lot Stop Dept for deals. (Just check everything thoroughly and keep your receipt if anything breaks.) We found one when we were walking from Times Square over to B&H Photo.

Madame Tussauds

We also did Madame Tussauds as it was free with the Sightseeing Pass. I don’t know that we would have gone if it wasn’t included in our pass as it’s normally about $47 a ticket. It was a nice air conditioned break from the crazyness of Times Square. It wasn’t packed at all.

Rise NY

I’ve seen these types of attractions popping up. And if you have ever been to Epcot and done Soaring, that’s basically what these are. It was a fun little excursion. We probably spent less than an hour here, it def was not packed. It was on our Sightseeing pass as included so we did it.

Spy Museum

Around the corner from Times Square was the Spy Museum. This was NOT on any list I had to go to nor was I really interested in going, however, we happened to have lunch next to it and my daughter said since it was on our Sightseeing Pass (and we wouldn’t have to pay) we should go check it out.

To be honest, we had a blast!

It was surprisingly interactive and we both had a good time. They had a lot of history of spy culture, some cool movie props and such but they also give you a bracelet to scan and do tests to see how good of a spy you are. We had a lot of fun and I’d highly recommend this for probably 8 and up both boys and girls will get a kick out of this. You can def. do this museum in about an hour, but I’d say plan for 2 hours to be on the safe side.

B&H & Sam Ash

Being a photographer, I’ve always wanted to go to B&H Photo in NYC. In the past years, it was always closed when I was in town so I never made it. This time I made it happen. As we were walking over there, we passed Sam Ash (music store), well my husband had mentioned in passing that that was the store he would want to go to in NYC. And they ended up being right across from each other. That was kind of funny.

Sam Ash was smaller than I expected and they didn’t have in stock what my husband wanted, but my daughter fell in love with a Bass.

B&H was HUGE. They had all kinds of electronics, even gaming chairs. I explained to a manager that I couldn’t buy anything as I was flying back, but could I get a shopping bag and they happily obliged.

Harry Potter & Legos

If you or your kids love Harry Potter, they have “The Exhibition”. We did not do it, but we did visit the gift shop. Living in Florida and having gone to Universal Studio’s Harry Potter areas multiple times, I will say I found things at this shop I had never seen before. And the theming was great.

Here’s a video I found that goes over it:

There are also two Lego stores on 5th Ave. We visited the one in the Flat Iron district, it wasn’t huge, but they do have a good selection.

We picked up the “NYC postcard” kit. They do sell it at Walmart online for about $29 (but it’s slightly cheaper on Amazon), but it was a great souvenir and I think it was only like $15 when we bought it in the store.

Bryant Park

We also stumbled onto Bryant Park nearby. During the summer they have movies in the park and one night we watched Mean Girls while eating a picnic. It was nice to be there long enough to get to act like a local.

On the back of Bryant Park is the NYC Public Library, which like most places in NYC has been in many movies. We went in and it had beautiful architecture, although the library room that is famous in many movies you had to have a reservation to go into. So I took a photo from the hall–it looked soooo much smaller than it does in the movies! There is also a cute little shop here as well.

The High Line

The High Line is the newest park walking area that sits above the street on old train tracks. Here’s a video I found on Youtube about it.

I would say for us, it was good for a little walk but wasn’t something we would spend all day at. Chelsea Market was nearby so that was a great little visit. If you have little kids they are probably going to be bored. It was pretty, but not necessarily fun for the little ones.

Bus Tours

I wanted to do a bus tour on one of our first days there to help get the lay of the land per se and let my daughter take in a lot of the sights easily. The Sightseeing pass had a 5 hour Experience Bus Tour that normally runs $99 per person and so I booked that since it was included.

To be honest, I was very dissapointed in this tour. We saw some of Manhattan, but the majority of it was us going on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. We didn’t get off for the Statue of Liberty, it was just us riding back and forth to see it. There was no commentary for this aprx. 2 hour part of the tour, we were just on our own to ride the ferry and look at it. You could seriously do this on your own (and it’s free), it’s super easy. I would have expected some information about the statue, about the island, SOMETHING.

Another day we did the On Location Movie Bus Tour and this was fun. We stopped at lots of movie sites and the tour guide was an actor and had some insight about different shows. They also played videos on the bus of some of the scenes from movies to refresh your memory about a location. I feel like movie buffs and teens will def. like this. The tour guide even said they had seen celebrities at some of the stops before.

Walking Tours

There were several walking tours on our Sightseeing Pass. I also found there were several FREE walking tour companies, like this one. And some companies had free tours first thing in the morning and paid tours at other times. (Although they are free, plan to tip the tour guide at least $10-$20 per person in your group. Some people did not seem to tip at all.)

We tried both the free tours as well as some of the tours in our Sightseeing pass. I felt like the walking tours were very hit or miss. The descriptions didn’t always align with everything they would talk about, etc.

We took one tour of SoHo/Little China and the description said that they would point out where certain celebrities lived. I felt like my daughter would love that part of it, but they didn’t point out any of them. We talked more about architecure, etc.

My daughter LOVES thrift shopping, so we booked a free Vintage Shopping Tour and were really turned off by the tour guide, she was really rude to us and some other guests.

I don’t want to dissuade you from trying a walking tour, like all tours, how great it is will depend on the tour guide, many of them have great reviews.

We did a Hamilton walking tour where we were the only guests (the threat of rain kept others away) and it was loaded with information and the tour guide was fantastic.

Bike Tours

There are several bike tours around NYC. While we were there Fancy Apple had one of Central Park that was included in our Sightseeing Pass. Because we were walking sooo much every day, we felt like the bike tour would give our feet a break and we’d be able to see more of Central Park that way then by foot.

I opted to upgrade to the Ebike, but I don’t know that we needed it. If I would have been renting the bike for the day, the Ebike would have been a good investment for that.

The tour went to a lot of different areas in the park and the tour guide was super helpful.

You can also just flat out rent a bike for the day from several companies. There are lots of bike lanes in NYC.

Statue of Liberty

I went to the Statue of Liberty like 20 years ago and it was completely different. There’s a new museum on the island and a lot more to do. It is seriously a full day thing. The Statue of Liberty was included in our Sightseeing Pass, however, if you want to go up to the top of the Crown, you have to make special reservations, which you can’t do with the Sightseeing Pass. There’s no extra cost for this, but you’ll have to do this in advance.

1st: The steps leading down 2nd:View from the top 3rd and 4th: in the crown

I’ll forwarn you, there are a LOT of steps and it is a workout, if you decide to do the Crown ticket. If you are claustraphobic, you may not like it.

If you like to look at everything and take in the museum information, plan on being here all day. There is a restaraunt on site as well.

Coney Island

I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Coney Island. I had been to NYC 2x before but had never made it, but this time we went!

It took awhile to get there on the Subway, I think it was like 14 stops, more than an hour ride. Our sightseeing pass included an unlimited ride pass for certain rides and also the Aquarium next door. The aquarium website said you needed to make reservations and we didn’t but they still let us in. I wasn’t sure how far everything was from each other, but we took the subway to the aquarium stop and it was across the street from the station and then Coney Island was right next door.

We started off at the aquarium and ended with Coney Island, but I wish we would have done Coney Island first, because it got RIDICUOSLY hot out there.

Living in Florida, I found the aquarium worth about 1-2 hours, a quick see. It has air conditioning in some parts, so it would have been nice after the hot rides. They also had birds I have never seen in the south, so that was interesting.

Here is a video of the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island, I had never seen anything like it. It was a Ferris Wheel with like a roller coaster in the middle.

Central Park Zoo

I’ve always wanted to go to the Central Park Zoo but I’ve always heard bad things about it and how it’s super small and I imagined horrible cages and the movie Madagascar. Our Sightseeing Pass included the zoo and I’m soooo glad we went.

Was it small? YES! Was it horrible? NO! I was actually amazed at some of the habitats. The bears had a huge habitat with a waterfall and such, much better than our zoo in Jacksonville. They also had a Red Panda and some birds I had never seen before.

We found the main section of the zoo and then across the walkway we found a kids’ section. My daughter and I both had a great time. You could easily do this zoo in maybe 2 hours and not be to rushed.

Left: Red Panda Middle: Part of the bear exhibit Right: My daughter on the lily pads in the kids area

Brooklyn Bridge & DUMBO

My daughter and I watched a documentary on the Brooklyn Bridge and it was one of the places we really wanted to go. She purchased this pink dress for like $6 in Times Square because I had originally hired a photographer to meet us on the bridge for a photo shoot. However, the day of our shoot it was supposed to rain so it got cancelled. But we headed out there anyways.

The threat of rain didn’t deter the crowds and it was still packed! Going from the Manhattan side I was surprised by the crowds as well as the fact there were a TON of tables of people selling souvenirs.

After our impromptu photo shoot on the Brooklyn Bridge we took the subway over to the other side (DUMBO is what the neighborhood is called) and caught the tail end of a flea type market. We grabbed some ice cream and enjoyed a park view before taking a ferry back.

Hop On, Hop Off Bus

Our Sightseeing pass included the hop on and off bus, so we hopped on one day. We sat on the top and didn’t hear any commentary. After we got off the bus we found out you needed to plug headphones in, but they didn’t tell us that or offer us any. So if you do take the bus, make sure to bring your own OR ASK!

Crafters, Markets & Festivals

We love handmade markets and such and were able to find quite a few. Here’s a list of some of them.

Every Sunday there is a green market around the Natural History Museum. They have lots of food stuffs, but they also had lots of craft and jewelry vendors.

The Chelsea Market is kind of like a hip indoor mall with specialty shops. Lots of one of a kind stores and restaurants. Open every day.

Honestly, if you take the time to just walk a neighborhood, you’ll find lots of cool little places with unique vibes and handmade artists.

Museums

Natural History Museum

Seeing as how this was in A Night at the Museum, we had to go. This was actually a larger museum than we expected and we didn’t get to see all that we wanted.

They had a really cool insect exhibit with fantastic giant photos and also some displays with real live insects. My daughter and I both enjoyed this section. They had geodes and a whole lot more. You could easily devote a whole day to this museum.

Guggenheim

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the Guggenheim. I guess I figured it would be an art museum stuffed with paintings and such like most other art museums I had been to, but in an interesting building.

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by it. Even my 12yo found it interesting. Yes, it has a cool building concept, but it’s not a stuffy art museum you’re used to. It actually didn’t take long to get through, maybe 2 hours. We didn’t read every single thing, but we took in enough. It had some really modern pieces that were a bit how shall we say interesting, lol. Some we weren’t sure what to think. And then there was a hall or two of traditional paintings. Worth the visit.

The Tenement Museum

I don’t think we got any photos on this “museum”. It’s more like a walking tour through old tenement buildings. Basically the old houses from the last 100 years. Most people don’t realize that families used to live several people to a small apartment with a bathroom down the hall shared by everyone else living on that floor.

This wasn’t included in our Sightseeing pass, we paid for it seperately, but enjoyed it. There were several children on the tour and I think they found it interesting as well.

9/11 Hands On Tour

There were several 9/11 Museum type tours on our sightseeing pass. We did an audio hand’s on tour, that is no longer offered through the sightseeing pass we booked, but I did find it here.

My daughter wasn’t alive on Sept. 11 and at her age it seems the schools really haven’t taught her anything about it. In preparation for our trip I spent several months showing her educational videos about NYC. I wanted her to get excited about the trip and to see certain things, like the Brooklyn Bridge and also understand the enormity of different places, like where the towers were.

I ended up finding this documentary and we watched it together. It was extremely powerful and we both cried at parts, but I didn’t want to hide the truth from her and I felt like she was mature enough to be able to learn and take it in. It was a fantastic documentary and had a lot of facts I did not know.

The Hands on Tour is basically a small apartment that houses artifacts from the only photographer that was on site every day and allowed to be there with the fire department during the rescue and cleanup. He ended up collecting artifacts and audio recordings as well. You’ll get a headset to listen about different pieces. It was extremely moving. The day we were there, the photographer happened to be working the museum. I would recommend this for adults and teenagers, but not younger kids.

Frances Tavern

This was near the tip and walking distance from the 9/11 memorial.

From the website:

“Fraunces Tavern is a historic landmark and the oldest & most historic bar in the city.

It is known as the watering hole for many of the founding fathers & George Washington gathered his officers there to bid them farewell after the British Army left America at the end of the Revolutionary War.”

I can only imagine the number of people in history that have graced it’s doors. There is a museum as well as a bar. We never seemed to make it there in time to do the museum. I would say if you’re a history buff or happen to be passing by, it might be worth a look.

Off the Beaten Path

One night while we were walking back to our hotel we saw a line of people standing outside a little shop waiting for a machine. I asked a woman what they were waiting for and she said that it was a fortune telling machine and it was free.

We of course, had to get in on this action so we got in line. Basically, you answered a couple of questions about your birth and such and then could ask it one of a set of preprogrammed questions. It took a photo of you and then spit out a fortune.

Julia Fox aparantally did it in a viral tik tok as well. Here’s a story about that. And you can see a little video I made of my daughter doing it below.

It was a fun experience and my daughter loved it. From what I understood it was only going to be there for a little while and then shipped somewhere else. But sometimes I find you stumble on fun things just walking around and being open and willing to ask.

Hidden Art

We found art installations all over the place. From cute little diaramas in shop windows to subway tiles.

Observation Towers

There are several observation towers and buildings you can go up into now adays to see out over NYC. While we were there it rained and/or was cloudy on several days so some were closed.

We did manage to go to the Edge, which is probably one of the most interesting.

You’re 100 floors up and you go out on the side of the building and there are glass floor areas where you can lay on top of and the glass walls tilt out. I am scared of heights and this was terrifying to me! My daughter was all for it.

There’s a couple of other viewing places like One World Observatory and Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center.

I will say, if you are planning on going, it gets PACKED! Sunset and weekends are probably going to be the worst, so if you can go during the week, I’d try to do that.

And of course, you have the Empire State Building, which is always a must see NYC attraction.

In conclusion

There is sooo many things to do in NYC and this list doesn’t even go over everything we did in 2 weeks. For me, I bought the Sightseeing Pass and then let my daughter look it over and let me know the things she wanted to do and then I highlighted the things I really wanted to do and made a plan based off that.

If you have any questions let me know!

**The Amazon link is an affiliate link.

New York City Travel Tips — Hotels, Hostels & AirBnbs

Planning a trip to NYC by yourself or with kids can be daunting.

My daughter (12) and I recently took a 2 week trip and I wanted to share all the helpful information I picked up along the way. I am going to break this down into more than one blog, with the first one being about hotels, AirBnbs and hostels–because we stayed in each of them.

I’ve included cell phone photos and links to helpful information.

Housing: Hotels, AirBnbs & Hostels

I personally like to stay in a location for several days and get the feel for living like a local. Since we were there for two weeks, we switched lodgings every 3-4 days to experience different neighborhoods. Each was completely different, but we def. had our favorites.

If you’ve never been to NYC, something to keep in mind, most hotels under $200 a night will not have a private bathroom. If you’re lucky you might get a sink in your room. Some hotels will have two single beds and the room is going to be the size of closet with a bunkbed.

Times Square

Our room inside the Americana. Super small, but did have a sink.

We wanted to start in Times Square. I wanted to be where all the lights and action is. This is also one of the most expensive areas. I found a deal on a hotel right off Times Square. We stayed in the Americana Inn. The rooms weren’t horrible, they are older and the lobby was tiny and one of the managers that ran the front desk was not friendly. Some of the rooms were louder than others (we asked to see some of them as there was a noise in our room.)

They had a little breakfast, but the area is SOOO small, like one 2-person table. We never ate there because of the crampedness. There was a little mini kitchen at the end of our hall and we used that to store food one night. The bathrooms were super clean and they did have several bathrooms on each floor and we never had to wait for one. The bathrooms/showers also were private.

There was a boba shop next door and around the corner a little convenience store, so that was helpful to grab a cheap drink.

I wish I would have spent a little more and chosen something like Margaritaville. The location would have been better and that hotel was newer. FYI, Americana Inn does have a complimentary storage room if you do arrive before check in and need to stash your things.

Left: Girl Scouts near the hotel. Right: The view from our fire escape at the Americana.

On the same road, walking to Times Square we found a Girl Scouts shop with a little museum in it. They also made custom Girl Scout shirts. They had swaps and badges, etc. My daughter is a Girl Scouts so we def. had to do a stop in there.

AirBnB/China Town

Left: Part of the entrance to the AirBnb. Right:Around the corner from the Airbnb.

One thing to keep in mind with AirBnbs (at least when we went) is AirBnbs basically have to be an apartment-share. So you will be sharing the space, but this is also a great way to find an affordable housing and live like a local. And for us it was an educational experience.

We stayed with a woman who had come over from China looking for a better life. She lives in an old Tenement apartment, which if you’re unfamiliar, back in the early days of NYC a tenement would have multiple families in a room that is smaller than a standard hotel room—with multiple units sharing one bathroom down the hall. (There’s a tenement museum in NYC you should go to if you want to know more!)

She lived above the shops in China Town which gave us a rare opportunity to live like a local. Her apartment was smaller than a standard hotel room and like many old apartments in NYC, the shower was a metal tub in the “kitchen”, and the toilet was basically in a little closet just past her bed. The woman works as an actress and a Chinese translator.

If you have mobility issues, this probably would NOT be ideal. One of the things you do have to watch for is many apartments do NOT have elevators. The hallways were hot and narrow and going up and down the stairs every day was miserable.

We became friends with the woman in the apartment and she wanted to hear about our day every day and she would make recommendations. She also told us about 9/11 and what she endured living in NYC during that time.

While we enjoyed the experience, it def. is not for everyone.

Central Park YMCA Hostel

Left: Our bunk room, super small. Right: The hallway, it felt very much like a prison.

This was one of the cheapest accommodations and it was one of the best locations. However, the staff was often rude or too busy talking with their friends to pay attention. And the room was an oversized closet with bunk beds and thin pillows. I woke up in pain every day dealing with these beds, they were awful. The hallways and room felt like a prison.

The word “hostel” though often scares people. I have stayed at many in my travels and they are typically rooms with bunk beds, and you pay per bed. There’s a communal shower down the hall. Some have huge rooms with like 8-12 beds, but there are private options with one larger bed or 2 beds in some of these places. Many have rooms just for women as well. If you are traveling with kids, many do NOT allow children, so keep that in mind.

If you are looking for cheap accomodations, also look into Capsule or Pod hotels, it is the same idea but slightly more private sleeping arrangements.

Heading towards the subway there was always multiple food trucks and we would pick up something for breakfast there or grab some delicious bakery items from Paris Baguette (seriously, you won’t regret anything you buy in there!) and head to Central Park to people watch and feed the pigeons.

This really became a highlight of our trip and we enjoyed it much more than I expected. My daughter begged to go hang out in Central Park every day, we enjoyed it so much.

We LOVED spending time in Central Park and I’m pretty sure we ended up in one of those prank fart videos you see online!

There were several AirBnbs on Central Park and if I had to do it again I would have gotten one of those. There was also another hostel farther down the park that had good reviews online and might be worth a look.

A note, the YMCA does have a luggage locker, so if you get there early or are staying late, they will hold your bags, but they do charge per bag and it took awhile to get the security guard to take our stuff and they weren’t friendly about it.

The Millennium/Near the 9/11 Memorial

Left: View from our hotel. Right: Our room

This was an affordable hotel, which was surprising considering it was newer and in a great location. It was right across from the PATH transit system and the WTC memorial and was probably one of the safest hotel locations of our trip.

The PATH had multiple subway lines and there was a subway entrance right outside the hotel door which was extremely convenient. This was also the only hotel we had that felt like a normal hotel room and had a private bath. We also had a fantastic view over the WTC site. The staff wasn’t always friendly and they didn’t tell us about hotel credit we got towards food or anything, so make sure to watch for that.

They do have a storage room if you arrive before check in and need to stash your bags, and there was no charge for this (just tip the guy, he was friendly).

Not only was there public transit and the 9/11 Memorial right out the front, but the church where Hamilton is buried is right around the corner. There is also a McDonalds behind it and an Amazon Go shop next door as well as lots of other great eatery options.

In Conclusion

Accomodations can def be one of the most pricey parts of your trip. I used several apps to search for rooms and find rates. I would HIGHLY recommend checking your room location and where it is to a subway line. You will be doing A LOT of walking every day and having a subway line right next to your room/hotel can be a lifesaver!

Apps I used to find rooms:

Hotels.com

Airbnb.com

Agoada (had the hostels and really cheap rooms in general)

I’ll be posting more blogs in the next couple of days with more information and tips!

VENDOR FEATURE: Sara Sohn, Confident Pelvic Rehab

In today’s blog I’m featuring Dr. Sara Sohn, who in a nut shell, helps women stop peeing their pants (and other sexual issues!).

Moms, most of us have issues where we laugh or sneeze and it happens. It sucks, but it happens. Well Dr. Sara lives and works right here in Jacksonville and comes HIGHLY recommended, so go talk to her!

About her

Business Name: Confident Pelvic Rehab, opened May 2021

What do you specialize in: Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, Sex Counselor and mentor to other health providers.

I help people to stop peeing their pants and heal painful sex, so they can live and love – confidently. I also offer a sex certification to health and wellness professionals interested in taboo topics.

How did you get interested in this line of work? My mother is an OBGYN, I’ve always been interested in pelvic floor and sexual health.

What is something about your business that sets you apart? All appointments are between 1-hr and 2-hr with in a comfortable environment. I am one of the only pelvic floor certified pelvic floor physical therapists and sex counselors in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

What is something about your business that most people might find interesting?I thought of the name Confident Pelvic Rehab, while on a long road trip by myself, and was really excited about the play on words “CPR for your privates.”

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Give value in the world. The more you give the more you receive.

The fun stuff, tell me your favorites:

Burger: Kickbacks

Pizza: Milanos

Chinese: Peony’s

Sushi: Sake House

Mexican: Taco Lu

A drink: The Voldstead

Ice Cream/dessert: Biscottis

Color: opal blue

Drink: matcha tea

Alcoholic beverage: Tequila, lime and club soda

Meal: Falafel

Dessert: Chocolate Ice cream

Movie treat: Icy with the stick

Movie: Sharktale

Song: No Day But Today

Dream car: Jeep

Theme park: Seaworld

Holiday: Passover

Candy: Sour Patch Kids

Cake flavor: Pumpkin

And what about your first:

Job: Camp Counselor

Car: An old Convertible

Where were you born? New York

How did you end up in Jacksonville? I went to grad school at UNF

Where’s your favorite place to travel? Glaciers anywhere (Argentina, Antarctica and Canada)

Where do you want to travel to next? Alaska or New Zealand

What are your hobbies? I love to sing and swim in the ocean.

Do you have any pets? I have a Bourder Collie named Minty

Do you have any interesting talents? I can remember names fairly easily

When family is in town, where do you take them to entertain them?

Itchetucknee Springs, Flamingo Lake, River Walk

Where you can find Dr. Sara:

https://www.Confidentpelvicrehab.com

www.Facebook.com/groups/cprforyourprivates

IG: Instagram.com/drsarasohn

She’s also featured on our Resources page.

Professional headshots by Christy Whitehead Photography.

A little fun around town with Latch On Jacksonville –Christy Whitehead Photography

I recently featured Samantha Kastelz on my blog to talk about her business Latch On Jacksonville, where she helps parents with their car seats concerns. However, I wanted to follow that up with a fun blog post of some of her favorites, including this around town.

What’s the best place to get a…

Burger: I love M Shack and Burger Barn. I LOVE when I can add bacon and avocado to a burger

Pizza: I don’t eat pizza…I am gluten and dairy free, but my husband and kids love a good stuffed crust Pizza from Pizza Hut

Chinese: Green Tea…Yum. I love beef and broccoli and sweet & sour chicken

Sushi: not a sushi girl

Italian: I used to LOVE Italian but alas Gluten makes it difficult to find anywhere good. However when I did enjoy going out for Italian I liked Enza’s and Spinach Manicotti

Mexican: Mexican all day. Tacos are my favorite. Salsa’s, Chuy’s, La Nop…I can eat tacos anytime.

A drink: I’m a red wine kina girl. Fisher Unity, Faust, Stags’ Leap, are a few of my favorites

Ice Cream/dessert: anything with peanut butter

When family is in town, where do you take them to entertain them? All of my family lives here except my half-sister. I grew up in Middleburg so my parents still live there. We like going out to eat and we are members at Deerwood Country Club so we do a lot of family events there

Now tell me some fun stuff about yourself, what is your favorite:

Color: Pink

Drink: Celsius and Zip Fizz..energy anyone?

Alcoholic beverage: Cabernet

Meal: I’m a foodie and can find something l like just about anywhere but any type of taco is generally a safe bet for me!

Dessert: I’m not a huge sweets person but love a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

Movie treat: I’m not really a movie theatre person and I don’t do popcorn. I know, I know. Icee maybe.

Movie: Princess Diaries

Song: Anything by P!nk or Taylor Swift…I have their albums on a playlist on repeat generally

Dream car: Blacked out Range Rover

Theme park: Aquatica

Holiday: Valentine’s Day

Cake flavor: hmmm. I usually do Sweets By Holly PB Cupcake

And what about your first:

Job: A doctor’s office as a file clerk when I was 14

Car: 1995 Honda Civic manual coupe. I wanted to the funky door handles

Go find Samantha on the web here:

Your website: latchonjax.com

Facebook: LatchOnJax

IG: @LatchOnJax

She’s also featured on our Resources page.

Professional headshots by Christy Whitehead Photography.

Jacksonville Newborn Photography Studio

If you’re looking for a newborn photographer, this is just some of the newborns I’ve photographed this year in my North Florida based studio. I have Watch Me Grow packages that cover the full first year as well.

If you’re looking for more information about newborn sessions, you can take a look on our website here.

When daddy used to be a professional baseball player…

Book your own newborn session in our studio by contacting us at our website. All newborn photographs by Christy Whitehead Photography.

Headshot Photographer – Christy Whitehead Photography

I’ve been photographing a lot of headshots lately. Here’s a bunch of them in hopes of giving you inspiration for your own headshots. And if your company needs headshots, I can come to you and make the whole process as painless as possible.

If you’d like more information about headshots, check out our headshot page. If you are an individual needing headshots, you can book your session directly from that page.

Click on an image to see it larger and uncropped.

If you are looking for a head shot for yourself or your entire company, you can contact Christy at her website. All images taken by Christy Whitehead Photography.

In Studio Pregnancy Portraits – Jacksonville, Florida

Are you looking to have pregnancy photos taken in studio? These are a handful of the sessions I’ve done this year in our North Florida studio. I also carry a large assortment of body suits and dresses for your use during your session.

Check out more information about pregnancy sessions here.

If you’re looking for a pregnancy or newborn photographer, please check out Christy Whitehead Photography.

Pregnancy Sessions with Husbands & Children – Jacksonville, Florida Photography Studio

We’ve had tons of great belly sessions lately with our pregnant mommas taking pictures with their spouses and sometimes their children. This blog is going to feature some of those images in hopes of giving you ideas!

Check out our website page for more information about pregnancy portraits.

If you are looking for a pregnancy or newborn photographer in the North Florida area, contact Christy Whitehead Photography to set up your session.

Holiday Sessions – Jacksonville, Fl Christy Whitehead Photography

It’s that time of year, it’s starting to actually cool down a little and it’s time to get on the calendar for your annual portraits! Whether you just want to have some fun in your Halloween costume or you need photos for your Christmas cards, here are the current options available with us.

OCTOBER

Left is last year’s pumpkin set, this year will be slightly different and flowers can be added or subtracted.

You can do this as part of a normal session, for no extra cost OR do JUST the themed session under a limited edition pricing.

You can choose to do a white set, which is great for a character/Halloween costume, especially with adults OR we’ll have our pumpkins and hay out. Below images are SAMPLES from previous years.

To book a standard family portrait session where you get a standard/non holiday backdrop AND a Fall backdrop of your choice, along with family photos and individuals of children, etc. If you’ve never booked a standard session with me, please check out my FAQ. (Let me know in the notes what set you want!): Book full family session here.

MINI Up to 5 people, 3 digitals included (more available for purchase), ONE holiday backdrop/set of your choice. Session is aprx. 10-15 minutes and then we will immediately go through and narrow down and pick out your favorites before you leave! BOOK IT HERE.

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER

November and December are super busy with several limited edition photo sessions: Beach minis, Santa Sessions, and studio holiday portraits.

BEACH MINIS

Friday, Nov. 12th. These will be done in the Jacksonville Beach area. Choose a sunrise or sunset session time. Perfect time to get your family photos in for the year or to do holiday cards!

Each session includes $200 towards your choice of digitals or prints. Book a Sunset Mini here.

SANTA

Sunday, Nov. 21st. We will be using the fireplace set. Our Santa is background checked and has a real beard. Session includes 5 digitals. Book Santa Sessions here.

HOLIDAY PORTRAITS

For November and most of December, there will be 3 options for holiday portraits. Please make sure to indicate which one you would like, when you book! Available Nov. 5th-Dec. 17th.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR LINKS TO BOOK!)

Fireplace set, Bed set or White Christmas Tree Farm set.

AVAILABLE NOV. 5th-DEC 17th ONLY

To book a standard family portrait session where you get a standard/non holiday backdrop AND a holiday backdrop of your choice, along with family photos and individuals of children, etc. If you’ve never booked a standard session with me, please check out my FAQ. (Let me know in the notes what set you want!): Book full family session here.