True Turkish Delight of Turgutreis

We’ve written about most of our spring trip to Turkey but have barely mentioned the fabulous week we spent at the beach on Turkey’s Bodrum Peninsula. Perhaps that part of our brains has still been on vacation, fully relaxed in the heat of the Turkish sun.  Ah, if only….

British, German or Dutch tourists know full well what Americans are ignorant of – Turkey has fabulous beaches!  We didn’t run into a single other American tourist (fine with us!) the whole week we stayed in the town of Turgutreis. Locals were surprised to hear us speak English with American accents, something they don’t hear much of there. In fact, we didn’t run into very many other tourists at all as we were there in early May, a few weeks before European schools got out, meaning just before the high tourist season hit. We often had the beach, restaurants and shops to ourselves. Delightful!

We chose the town of Turgutries for its proximity to the Bodrum airport (about an hour’s drive) but still far enough from the party town of Bodrum to enjoy peace and quiet. Per our usual mode of accomodation, we rented a comfortable three story home, Swan Villa, owned by a lovely British couple. The villa shares a pool with another villa next door, owned by the same British couple and also for rent. No one else was staying in the second home while we were there but it would be a lovely spot for two families or an extended family to rent both homes for a shared vacation.  For our small family of 3, one villa was more than enough space with its 4-bedrooms, large living area, fully stocked kitchen and three lovely balconies.  While not beachside (nothing really is in Turgutreis except a few very small, expensive hotels), we were about a 12 minute walk to the beach and the main shopping/ eating area of town.  One quick plug for our friend Akin who owns the Corner Pub and runs a reliable transportation service, as well as manages the Swan Villa with great attention.

What to do in Turgutreis? Not much really, which was exactly what we were looking for. The beach is a thin strip of gravely sand lined with beach lounge chairs and umbrellas. I imagine it gets very crowded during high season and the chairs are premium real estate, but for us we had our pick of spots to relax. The lounge chairs are owned by the restaurants that line the beach but the beach itself is public. By law  (and the restaurant waiters will confirm) you are free to sit in their chairs with no obligation to buy anything, although we generally at least ordered drinks. Sadly for us it was a bit too chilly to swim in the crystal clear waters. A few weeks later it was probably just perfect. Still it was warm enough to read thick novels while Grace played happily in the sand.

There’s a small shopping area with the typical tourist trinkets. We came home with bars of luxurious handmade olive oil soap and several cotton tablecloths, all reasonably priced.  There are dozens of restaurants, all of which will invite you in anytime you walk by. The restaurants right on the beach are the more expensive but also have the best food. We enjoyed dishes like clay pot kebabs, grilled meats cooked in sauce inside a clay pot. The pot is smashed open at your table and the delectable bits poured out for you. Yum! Locally caught seafood abounds as well as beautiful fresh salads. Be sure to ask about pricing on seafood though, as we found it could range from $10 to well over $75.

The rest of the peninsula is worth exploring too. The dolmus mini-busses leave from the a small parking area a few blocks from the main beach and they go everywhere for just a $1 or 2 per person.  We spent a day in Bodrum town. It’s incredibly touristy and the town itself was not for us, but the Underwater Archeological Museum in the old castle is one of the best museums we’ve ever been to. The medieval castle itself is incredible but the museum it houses showcases the science of underwater archeology and the many ancient shipwrecks off the Turkish coast that have been dug up excavated. Most fascinating to us was the reconstruction of a shipwreck from 1500 BC. Archeologists found claypots, coins, and even parts of the ship still intact 3500 years later!  We also took a day trip from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos, a short 1 hour hop by ferry to the home of Hippocrates.  Be aware, though, most of the interesting historical sites are closed on Mondays.

Another evening trip we took from Turgutreis was to Gumusluk, a small fishing village a short 20 minute dolmus ride from Turgutreis. There we dined at Yakamoz restaurant on freshly caught monkfish cooked in a lovely sauce of garlic, olive oil, sundried tomatoes and delicious Turkish chilis. We savored every bite of that meal, our last before returning to Istanbul.

If your time in Turkey allows, we do recommend a side trip to Bodrum if you want some time to relax. We had played tourist full force in Istanbul for a week and wanted some time to decompress before returning home. We found the peace and tranquility we were looking for in Turgutreis.

Easy Safety Tip That Could Keep Your Child Safe

I lost Grace once in a Columbia Outlet store. She was lost all of 1 minute at most but still I panicked as I looked for her little legs under the rows and rows of crowded clothing racks.  I found her when she turned off the store’s lights. Some childless genius had installed the store’s lights right at toddler level and Grace had proudly switched them off. Bad for other shoppers, good for frantic mama.

That’s the only time she’s really, truly been lost but it happens to the best of us all the time. I know it will happen to us again, that’s for certain.  I came across a brilliant but easy tip today on the Tea Collection’s travel blog and I plan to start using it immediately. Ready? Here it is:

Take pictures of your kids on your cell phone. Every time you’re in a crowded place, at home or abroad, take pictures. That way if you lose your child you can immediately show people what she looks like that day – hairstyle, clothes, the candy smudges on her cheeks.  I had never thought of this but it’s a great idea that takes just a second and doubles as a fun memory of wherever you go together, even if it’s just Target.

What do you to keep track of your little ones in public places?

Sometimes You Just Gotta Let Loose

Check out this toddler dance party!  Ever full of energy, Grace and her little buddy Kenna got down while four exhausted parents packed up the cars after 5 days of family camp.

Can Kids (and Parents!) Sleep Well While Camping?

Well-rested little camper, Grace

I grew up camping for every family vacation. I’ve talked my husband into venturing out a few times each summer, including last week over the 4th of July. One of the biggest reasons I hear from others with little ones to not camp is the sleep issue. How do you get a baby or toddler (or even older kids for that matter!) to nap and get enough night time sleep with only a thin tent to block out noise and light?

We just returned from a five day campout with our church. Thanks to a few tricks Grace napped longer than at home (2 1/2 hours some days) and slept well at night too.  That made for a more restful trip for me and Steve and Grace had more energy to give to the rest of each day.

Our tricks are really very simple, similar to what we do in hotel rooms.

1. We keep the same bedtimes and naptimes as at home. It’s tempting to let her stay up later to play with all her friends but it comes back to bite us in the long run. She was in the tent headed to bed at 7pm. The downside of this is we had to stick close by once she was in bed. Since we were camping with friends that wasn’t a big deal. We enjoyed games, snacks, campfires and reading by flashlight after she was in bed.
2. We keep the same bedtime and naptime routine as at home. We read a few stories, sang songs, said our prayers and put her to bed. The first day she yelled for a while when we put her down for her nap. We tried to be as consistent as we are at home (hard in a public campsite). We went to her a few times told her gently but firmly to lay down and go to sleep. After about 45 minutes of fussing on and off she did, and every day after that we had no problems.
3. Bring the pack n play. For as long as we possibly can we’ll be using the pack n play for Grace, maybe even after she’s transitioned to a big girl bed.  That way she’s contained and not tempted to play around in the exciting new tent or in the very fun suitcases.  When she does fuss she eventually gets bored with it and falls asleep whereas if she were out of it I could imagine her unzipping her way out of the tent dozens of times.
4. Bring a white noise machine. It may seem silly while camping but IT WORKS. We were camping with lots of other families so besides the usual sounds of campsites (birds, cars, people walking by) we had the sounds of lots of noisy kids having a great time after she was in bed.  We use the Marsona white noise machine which we love because its internationally adaptable plus has an optional (sold separately) battery pack, which was perfect for camping. I loved seeing the looks on people’s faces as they’d walk by our tent while Grace napped. What is that noise? I’m sure they were thinking. Is someone vacuuming in there?
5. Use black sheets strategically. This solved the light issue for us and I wish we’d thought of this sooner in our parenting life.  We used binder clips to clip the sheet to seams in the tent and put them around the pack n play, sort of like a tent within a tent.  We draped a second sheet directly onto the pack n play after she was asleep at night. These two combined helped her sleep until 6:30am or even close to 7 a few days, much later than she would have had the sun blazed in when it rose at 5am.

We use these same tricks when we’re staying other places too, like hotels or with friends or relatives. Our sleep is pretty important to us and these tips keep us all happy travelers.

Do you have a trick you use when camping or traveling to help your child sleep better?  Share it with us. Any ideas how to get your child to sleep in until 8 or 9am, even when she doesn’t do that at home?