This is a sponsored guest post written by Memphis Travel on behalf of Memphis CVB. Post powered by Sponzai.

More than just the home of the blues and barbeque, Memphis gives you plenty of ways to play around, with fun things to do no matter who you are or what you like. Of course, if you’re into Elvis, rock-and-roll and mouth-watering ribs, you’ve got to check out Graceland, Sun Studios, and the Rendezvous. But Memphis has much more to offer than this holy trinity of southern culture, with enough to see, do and eat to make it the perfect location for your next long weekend getaway.

The families out there (or the wild at heart) should be sure to check out the Memphis Zoo, one of only four U.S. zoos with giant pandas. Recently ranked the #1 zoo in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.com, the Memphis Zoo lets you get up close and personal with the animal kingdom. And with the recent addition the Northwest Passage, home to Polar bears in a see-through underwater exhibit, and the zoo’s newest section, Teton Trek, kids and adults alike are certain to have a blast.

Don’t let your midtown experience stop at the zoo; the Cooper-Young and Overton Square neighborhoods are just down the street. Ask a local Memphian where to find a tasty bite to eat, great local music and ice cold beer, and they will probably direct you here. Speaking of beer … the environmentally conscious visitor can enjoy a locally brewed beer by Ghost River Brewing or walk through the natural landscape and educational facilities at the Lichterman Nature Center.

Memphis has museums for just about everything. From the Civil Rights Museum, Cotton Museum and Fire Museum in downtown to the Brooks Museum, Children’s Museum of Memphis and the Pink Palace Museum further east, the number of places to have fun while you learn are as bountiful as the barbeque restaurants. Families, friends, sports fans, history buffs, self-proclaimed food critics – Memphis has everything you need to keep everyone happy.

So when you visit Memphis, stay a few extra days. Even the locals don’t run out of things to do. And to make it easy, memphistravel.com is launching a new travel guide to help you plan your next vacation. Simply choose from a list of interests and you’ll be given a sample itinerary with lots of great ideas. You can also register for a chance to win one of twelve trip packages that include tours, gift certificates to Memphis’ favorite restaurants, hotel stays and more. Go to itinerary.memphistravel.com to get started.

his is the time of year that everyone dreams about going on vacation. For many people the word vacation stimulates two senses. Either your mind goes straight to the beach and all of the fun you can have on the sandy beaches or it goes to the relaxing atmosphere that you can only achieve in the mountains. Can you just take a moment to imagine yourself in one of the Vermont Cabin Rentals. You would be surrounded by a beautiful mountain scene with everything that is there to do. You can go hiking or just spend a relaxing day in a chair and breathing in the clean fresh air. You can feel the difference in the air when you are in the Vermont mountains. You can enjoy the wildlife as you relax among the trees and you can listen to nothing but the birds and the quietness that is indicative of the natural mountain settings. There is something so refreshing about spending time in the mountains that makes you just feel good. You feel as though you have truly had a vacation when you return. With a refreshed feeling you can handle anything until next year when you can return again to another relaxing vacation! That is unless you can sneak a little getaway through out the year.

It is vacation time for so many people and that is what keeps us going. There are so many options on the trip that you plan. You can have your plans done for you with something like Branson vacation packages or you can plan your vacation yourself. What ever you decide to do make sure that you take time to relax and enjoy the time you have by just having fun.

If you have really young children or if you are young at heart there are so many Disney vacations that will create memories that will last a life time. There is something about anything Disney that makes childhood so memorable and fun. I know our kids would just light up when they saw anything that was Disney from the movies to the characters! I can not tell you how many character themed birthday parties we have had through the years!

When we went on vacation last year we rented a log cabin in the Great Smokey Mountains. It came complete with log furniture and everything. When the sun went down we were able to sit on our balcony and watch the event as if it were a show put on just for us! Our balcony over hung the mountains so it felt as though we were on top of the world. For this vacation there was no interruptions in life just life itself and that is what I call a vacation.

Did you ever just want to get away and have a great time? Were you not sure where to go to really let yourself and your family have a full day of fun and excitement? The answer is in New Jersey at Morey’s Piers. You can have a fun day in the beach front water park. The NJ Amusement Rides provide a great way for the entire family to have fun in the sun. Having fun just got a little cheaper with the spring sale going on at Morey’s Piers you can now save 35%. Two of everyone’s favorite things, fun and savings. Outdoor activities are always a great time for the family!

If you can imagine it through all of the cold weather we have been having lately vacation season is quickly approaching. It is time to make your reservations for your Mission Beach vacation rentals. Somehow it makes the winter months go by much better when you know you will be vacationing on the beach in no time. The winter months are fun and cozy for a little while but after that we are looking forward to the beach. When I close my eyes I can almost hear the beach and feel the sun. I just love the seasons and the changes and all of the fun we can have in each one. They each bring something out in our families that just makes life fun. From the holidays to the fireworks seasons are fun!

It is coming vacation time again and that means people are making decisions on their destinations for this year. We, like so many people, have had some great vacations and then some that we laugh about now but at the time we were not laughing. With all of the information at our fingertips there is no excuse to leave anything to chance on your vacation. For instance how many times have you left for your destination not sure where you were going to stay but thought you would just stop along the way when you get there? If you are planning to go to Myrtle Beach then you should get ahead of time the information on the best resorts in myrtle beach. Then you know what to expect when you get there and you will not find yourself in a hotel that you all share the same bath room. We stayed in a hotel where they gave you a time card when it was your time to use the bathroom on one of our vacations! That was all that was available, obviously! This is why I say it is always important to get your information ahead of time and since we live in the information age that is an easy thing to do. With a simple click of a button the guess work is gone and you have become informed.

When ever I take a business trip I make certain that I have travel medical insurance. It is important to have yourself covered should the unthinkable happen. If it is going to happen it will happen when you least expect it. We were on a trip when we saw a little boy jump in the air from the diving board only to come down and hit the diving board on his way back down. His family not speaking the language had a great deal of difficulty getting their son the help he needed and as we were told he would be in the hospital for an extended stay. Every time I travel now I think of those parents faces. I can not imagine what they were going through. We make certain and protect ourselves with insurance on every trip.

One thing that everyone looks forward to every year is their vacation. When things get crazy many people will give it a count down to their vacations to make things seem more bearable. One of the vacations that people in my office enjoy are las vegas vacations.  If I hear what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas one more time I will jump from my chair. When vacations start getting closer it really cranks up around here. It is fun to hear everyone getting excited about their vacation experiences. If there is one thing that brings people to the water cooler it is to talk about their vacations. I guess that means whatever happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas?