CONTEST The grand prize for vacation stories

11:07 am June 11, 2009, by Charles Yoo

So what do you win?

A Bentley? A mansion in Buckhead? A brand new life?

Not quite.

The Atlanta Travelers Blog grand prize winner will receive a three-night stay at the AAA Five Diamond rated resort, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. This luxurious oceanside escape is located 20 miles southeast of Jacksonville, Fla., and is stretched along the sparkling blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

A Florida landmark, the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club is a chance to indulge in deluxe accommodations and be surrounded with opportunities for more amazing vacation stories to share with family and friends.

The 3-night prize value is worth $807.

Complimentary guest room for 3-nights (or 2-nights as applicable) at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. Nightly room gratuity and room tax included.
All additional resort charges (food, beverage, recreation, spa etc.) is the financial responsibility of the guest.
Prize must be redeemed prior to December 21, 2009 and is subject to availability. Not valid July 2-5, 2009, October 28-31, 2009.

WIN A DELUXE STAY IN FLORIDA at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club
Be a part if the Atlanta Travelers Blog. Contest ends Aug. 30

No purchase necessary. Contest is open to Georgia residents, except employees of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and immediate families of the same. Contestants under 18 must have a parent’s permission to play. Contestants must enter their e-mail to play; failure to do so will result in disqualification. Not responsible for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind. Only one entry per person, per giveaway; more than one entry will result in disqualification. One (1) winner will be randomly selected to receive a three-night stay at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, a value of $807. Nightly room gratuity and tax included. All additional resort charges (food, beverage, recreation, spa, etc.) is the financial responsibility of the guest. Prize must be redeemed prior to Dec. 21, 2009, and is subject to availability. Not valid July 2-5, 2009, Oct. 28-31, 2009. Winners will be selected at random from all entries. Winners must come to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution office located at 72 Marietta St., Atlanta, GA 30303 to claim prize on or before Sept. 30. Contest begins on June 1 and ends Aug. 30. Winners will be notified by phone and/or e-mail on or before Aug. 30. No substitution of prizes. Prizes are not refundable or transferable. One winner per household within a 60-day period. Winners are responsible for all taxes on prizes, if any. While supplies last. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not responsible if the event is postponed or canceled. Decision of the judges is final. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and free internet service is available at your local public library. If you have questions, call 404-526-7249.

Atlanta, be here now. Check out ajc.com/travel

18 comments Add your comment

Mike

June 11th, 2009
10:55 pm

So my wife and I are on a company trip to Amelia Island and staying at the Ritz Carlton. I’m scheduled to play golf with a colleague but I have to rush to take a shower and in my haste to get in and get out, I hang my shirt from the emergency fire sprinkler on the ceiling just inside the bathroom door. As I’m showering my wife rushes in, the door brushes the shirt and sets off the emergency fire sprinkler in the room and I mean it was like Niagara Falls in the bathroom. A flood begins in the bathroom with water running into the bedroom and out into the hallway. My wife is screaming, not knowing what has happened–only that she is being sprayed with gray water. I’m in a panic running out of the room with just a towel setting off other alarms trying to find a housekeeping person. I made the tee time but we’ve never been invited back!

Melissa Eubanks

June 13th, 2009
1:03 pm

Spring Break 2007. My family and I were on a short get-a-way to Helen, Ga and my kids wanted to swim so we hunted a hotel that had a indoor pool because it was kinda chilly. So we wound-up at the Super 8, checked in for a 2 night stay, paid cash(upfront), went to our room and changed to go to the pool. We had a great time in the pool and went back to our room to shower and get ready for bed. Thats when the trouble started….(I am the practical joker in the family and I am always trying to scare everyone.)So my kids got out of the shower and the floor in the bathroom was wet, I had my pj’s on and I had to use the bathroom, so I grabbed a towel, wiped up the floor and tossed it in front of the sink in the other room. Well, when I tossed it there was something brown that looked like a shoe string. Well, being funny, I screamed SNAKE. My husband and kids jumped on top of the beds sreaming and yelling “Get it, Get it” I’m laughing at them, bent over the towel to actually see what was in it and dang if it wasn’t a snake. It looks up at me and hisses and a fork-it tounge come out and shakes at me! Then I really start screaming snake, snake! I WET MYSELF!(I do not like snakes at all)and they knew that I was for real this time. My husand, not coming to my rescue, yells at me to get the garbage can and put it over it. I say a few bad words at him and try to get him to understand that “he” is “the man” and he should be the one to trap the snake. My kids were screaming, My oldest daughter was yelling she wanted to take a picture of it and all I was thinking was this snake is between me and the door, and if the flash goes off will it scare the snake more and it come after me like the deer did in “Are we there yet”. Well,”I” trap the snake in the garbage can, with my husband still standing on the bed and my kids run to get the front desk attendant. The lady come in and takes the snake, kills it and returns to informs us that it was a baby copperhead. She asks us if we wanted to change rooms, my husband tells her that it was late(by this time it was 1:00am)and he did not want to move everything so “he” was ok. SHe leaves our room. I explain to him(in a nice, sweet, calm voice)that if there is a baby cooperhead, there is a BIG MAMA Copperhead somewhere near and me and the kids would not be staying in that room, we would be sleeping in the truck! He then decides that we should change rooms. The lady at the front desk changes our room to a room on the upper floor, kinda laughing about our situation. We get to the other room and we try to settle-in, it is now about 3:00am. We try to watch happy cartoons to forget about the snake. That works for my husband and kids, they fall asleep(for a little while)I keep watching cartoons and a dang GEICO commerical comes on, that stupid lizards tail looks like a snake wiggling around. Then everything starts looking like little snakes. Even on Sponge Bob-theres a little eel that looks like a snake. I start feeling like something is crawling on me, I can’t sleep so I go downstrairs and wait for them to wake-up. They come down around 8:00am and say that they can’t rest either. We speak to the new lady at the counter and explain that we would not be staying the 2nd night and she stated that the other lady told her what had happened and that she was sorry. Well, I was really expecting to be refunded(at least)for the 2nd night that we had pre-paid for and she said that she couldn’t do that and that we needed to speak to the manager that was out of town and he would get with us sometime next week. I kept calling and calling for a few weeks only to finally receive a letter from the hotel that stated that they were sorry for our “unwanted, un-invited guest” in our room,(never mentioned SNAKE) and offered us a free night stay. We NEVER took them up on the offer!

CONTEST The winner of family trip tales - ‘Pull my finger’ | Still Traveling

June 15th, 2009
10:15 am