Posts Tagged ‘deals Travel City Chicago museums travel free cheap attractions save money’

Chicago’s Crown Jewel FOR FREE

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Chicago is now known for another landmark, the Bean. This sculpture is so engrained in the city’s persona, it real name has fallen by the wayside. This is the spirit of Chicago, and the spirit of Millinium Park.

Millenium park is the crown jewel of the city. It represents the attitude of the mayor’s vision to bring the city into the future. Not only is the bean part of the park, but so are futuristic fountains that squirt water from mouths of images of actual people. Besides that are art exhibits of unique sculptures, all for free. If you happen to have children, there is an area dedicated jst for them.

This free attraction in Chicago apitimized the new vibrence of the city. To pass this FREE attraction up is not frugal at all.
See more free attractions at Nonrevwebsite Chicago Attraction. See more free attractions from arond the world at Nonrevwebsite.

Best Food Deals in Chicago

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Chicago is a tough place t find cheap food, but if you are persistent you can find food for $2. And if you found this article, you are persistence and it will know pay off.
The cheapest I found was $2 Sliders. The best I found was $2.95 slices of pizza. Here is the list we found… for now;

$2 Sliders – LaSalle Power Company
$2.95 Pizza – Pompei
$5 Fish and Chips – Butch McGuire
$5 Burgers – Citizen Bar

Now these specials are on certain days of the week. That is why you need to click on the names above to get more information. Besides the day, you will get the location of the restaurant.
So enjoy the cheap food in Chicago. If you find anything better, tell us. If you want to find deals like this or better, tell us at nonrerwebsite.com.

In and Out of Africa for Half The Price

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

In and Out of Africa for Half The Price

As with all of our trips, it started with a substantial amount of planning. We used Fodor’s South Africa to get an overview, and then contacted the interesting places. We found out that pre-arranged tour packages go for $1000 per person per day without airfare. If you plan it yourself like us, you can do it for less than a quarter of that.

The flights on South African Airways where very crowded, it was very difficult to get on the flights. South African has a lot of issues when it comes to non-revs. Do as much as you can in the states before you go to Africa. If you want to travel within Africa, instead of non-rev’ing, you may want to pay for the tickets to guarantee you get where you want to go. Once Delta gets it flights to Johannesburg operating, it should be much easier. For flights within South Africa, there are discount airlines which charge $100 for a one way ticket.

To make our trip run smoother, I purchased an international phone card to use with my cell phone. We could not make our first flight so I informed our ride in Africa from the airport in the United States. This will reduce a great deal of frustration and confusion. Once I got to Africa, I purchased a chip for my phone and several minutes all for $10. This was a great investment and I would advise others to do the same.

Once we landed in Johannesburg, we caught our ride to the Kruger National Park area which takes about 5 hours. We used Wilderness Encounter and were met by Brendan Schmikl who drove us to the lodge where we were going to take our first safari. The ride also included a lunch which made the ride after the flight more tolerable. Some Lodges have transportation, but most do not. We had to arrange ours separately.

We arrived at Kuname River Lodge in the late afternoon, which gave us time to do an afternoon and night ride. It was a great way to unwind from all the travel. We chose Kuname from a reference of a flight attendant (remember to ask for the Airline Employee Discount). The park as well as the accommodations were incredible. It turns out besides being a great place to see animals, it gives an airline discount. This is one of the hidden treasures of our journey.

While at Kuname, we were lucky enough to see some of the big 5 animals, Lions, Buffalo, Elephants, Leopards, and Hippopotamus. This was a once in a life time experience and I recommend you do this before you die. This encounter with animals in their natural environment will make you appreciate the unspoiled environment. There is also the impeccable service which not only is apparent in the gourmet meals and 5 star accommodations, but also the sunset wine tasting out in the african bush.

The next morning started at sunrise ,before the heat becomes so hot that the parks stars, its wildlife, take a nap. We tracked animals all morning until we stopped for breakfast at the watering hole. While they served us coffee and biscuits, the resident crocodile joined our party. The hippopotamus were too busy with their mud baths to partake in our meal. After three wonderful days and nights, we had to get up at 5 AM to catch our ride back to town.

After the 5 hour trip back to Johannesburg Airport, we tried to non-rev on South African Airways to Cape Town. Unfortunately, the personnel were not helpful, to say the least. I checked the flights before we left and they were open. When we got to the airport, ALL the flights were full. I suggest getting back ups on other airlines and be ready to use them. Better yet, there are discount airlines like Kulula.com which charge $100 from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Cape Town Waterfront for the next three days. Cape Town is a wonderful place and was named one of the top ten cities in the world. The city is very compact and easily accessible by foot. Even so, be careful at night and exercise good judgment.

The waterfront is a great place to visit for souvenirs or to eat. By the Clock Tower, you can purchase tickets and catch a ferry to go to Robbin Island. If you want to go to the island, it may be worth your while to go and get your tickets the day before. Table Mountain is a great place to go but its hours of operation are very dependent on the weather. You have to check with Table Mountain to see if the winds are cooperating, allowing you to take the cable car ride up. Strong winds along with cloud cover can close them for the day.

We decided to go to the Cape of Good Hope through a tour company to save time and effort. It did allow us to look around and enjoy the scenery, but did not allow us to stop and enjoy some of the most beautiful scenic drives in the world. We met some other non-revers who decided to rent a car. It seemed like they made a better choice.

The next day we took a tour which eventually ended with Whale Watching. We started out going up Sir Lowry’s mountain pass to stop at False Bay. Again, the views were spectacular and are worth the cost of the tour. Next we drove to the Harold Porter botanical garden which had some of the most extensive collection of South African flora. Then we drove to the highlight of this tour, Hermanus Bay, to take a Boat Tour to spot whales. After that we went to a wine tasting at Whalehaven winery to relax and soak up the moment. Finally we went to a traditional Country Store which is like our general stores with amenities like dried Kudu which is like elk jerky.

Our final day was spent walking around the city square bargaining in the local market. We purchased some great art and fabrics, but held off obtaining soap stone or wooden crafts for when we went to Zambia and Botswana where they are actually made.

After Cape Town, we traveled to Livingstone in Zambia to tour Victoria Falls. We stayed in a more rustic but not at all uncomfortable resort called Stanley Safaris. This resort includes food so it is fairly reasonable compared to others. The service is very attentive and warm. It overlooks a large open area and the Zambezi River which feeds Victoria Falls.

The first thing we did was visit the falls. It was breathtaking. We happened to go during the dry season which means there was a great view of the rock formations. This tour, like all the others, are separate from accommodation costs but can be arranged and paid through the resort and placed on you credit card. This allows you to save your cash for when you need it, like bartering for crafts.

The next day we took a day tour of Botswana. It was an amazing trip to a park which touts 74,000 elephants as well as rhino, hippo, zebra, and other exotic animals. A description could be the world’s best zoo without any fences. The one caution is to bring your passport and be prepared to use a full page.

The following morning, we took a tour to visit a traditional zambian village, the mukuni village. the employees that worked at our lodge were all from this village. we were able to spend time observing the typical daily life of this very poor village, and we walked around all morning touring the homes, schools, chief’s palace, and craft market. all of the buildings in this village were huts made mostly of mud and straw, and woodworking is the main source of income. this was an amazing and humbling experience.

One the final day we experienced the pinnacle of our trip, tea on the edge of Victoria Falls. The little patch of green right at the abyss offers tea, sandwiches, and cocktails to make a memorable trip to one of the Seven Wonders of the World unforgettable. If you are lucky enough to go during the end of the dry season, you can swim at the edge of the tide pools. Let me describe that for you, you’re in the water, there is a 12 inch wall of rock which is the end of the tide pool, then there is a 400 foot drop to the water below.

To say that the trip to Africa as a Safari to remember would be an understatement. It gave us the chance to explore a part of the world not many have experienced and it made all those movies filmed here seem tame. The problems we had on South African Airways paled in comparison to the experience. And now with Delta’s new flights to Johannesburg, those bad experiences will be illuminated. Packages here can be expensive, but if you follow my guide you can have the experience of a lifetime for half the price.

For more Free Attractions around the world, got to Nonrevwebsite.com .

Save $119, Top 10 Free Chicago Attractions

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

As a site that prides itself in finding the best deals when you travel, we think this is a great list. What makes it so great is the fact that it encompasses the best attractions the city has for FREE. These are places you will want to go, your children will want to go, and they are all FREE. Did I mention they were free?

With the financial difficulties we are all going through, I hope this list will help entertain you and your family and allow you to save money for things you might need it for, like a mortage. So take this list and share it with everyone you know. And feel free to share your own free things to do in Chicago. 

  1. Field Museum – Special FREE Days Savings $23.00
  2. Shedd Aquarium – Special Free Days Savings $15.95
  3. Chicago History MuseumFree Monday Savings $14.00
  4. Museum of Science and Industry – Free Days Savings $13.00
  5. Lincoln Park Zoo Free Days  Estimated Value $12.00
  6. Art Institute of Chicago – Free Days Savings $12.00
  7. Museum of Contemporary Art – Free Days Savings $10.00
  8. Adler Planetarium Free Days Savings $10.00
  9. Chicago Children’s Museum – Free Days Savings $9.00
  10. John Hancock Building

Your can see all othese with links to the days they are free at on our Chicago Free Attraction Section. Please feel free to share this and add your free attractions. The person you give this too may give you a tip to a great free attraction.

Cafe Spiaggia and Restaurant Week

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Today my wife and I went to one of the restaurants featured in Restaurant Week, Café Spiaggia which claims it has the best Gnocchi in Chicago. For $22 a person we had an salad, entrée, and a dessert. The Entrée was a pasta dish and the dessert was either gelato or sorbet. I have to admit, this pasta reminded me of Rome it was so good. Our waiter, who was more like the V-P of Marketing, was unbelievably helpful and knowledgeable. As a matter of fact, when you go there, ask for Greg.
They gave us a table by the window that was very intimate and had great view of Michigan Avenue. These tables are discreet enough that you can eat by yourself without being too obvious.

All in all this was an excellent experience. Would we go here if there wasn’t a special fixed menu, as a matter of fact we were talking about it. Restaurant Week  just pushed off top dead center to go. I think Restaurant Week, the last week in February, is a great motivating force to get people out to experience great restaurants and make them realize how many amazing restaurants we have.

Pleasure or Pork

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

As a resident of Chicago working in Atlanta, I get asked about the Earmarked Project that caused an uproar. Remember last year when a Presidential Candidate talked about the $3 Million dollar Pork Barrel overhead projector?

Now you can see that overhead projector for free. That’s Right, the Adler Planetarium has free days, or as they call them Discount Days. For the General Public that means a savings of $10.
Besides viewing Chicago’s most famous Pork Project, there are several great exhibits on my favorite subject, Travel. In this case it is Space Travel and the destination is the Moon. The exhibit titled Shoot for the Moon includes “exciting stories of space exploration and America’s bold plans to return to the Moon.” It’s devided into two parts. The first, A Journey with Jim Lovell, tells the history of space travel while Mission Moon describes our future plans to returning and colonizing the moon. There is even an interactive section on what space travel will be like for young astronauts.
If you would like to see other free attractions or more deals in Chicago, visit our Cheap Cities section.