Financial Planning for Beginners (US)

I have never been paying much attention to planning finances until now and realized the mistakes I made for not understanding the importance of this much earlier. But better late than never. I was fortunate to have a good friend working in financial planning domain and she kind of motivated me to learn some basics around these. I have listed some important things we should know and invest in US if you are a beginner with no background in this area. Please note that blog is not intended for experienced financial planners. 

• Tax Brackets - If you want to understand the tax bracket your annual income falls under, check out this page - 2021-2022 Federal Income Tax Brackets & Tax Rates - NerdWallet. This will help you understand your payroll taxes better.

• 401K Retirement Savings Plans - There are many websites which explain all about this plan. But in simpler terms, employers offer this retirement plan to their employees and employees decide whether to enroll in it or not. This requires some contribution from employee for every pay cycle and employers match that contribution up to 4 or 5% and could vary across different employers. All the money contributed to 401K account will be used to invest in different investment products and can grow as years pass and we can withdraw (also referred to as distribution) the amount without any penalties after age 59.5. If we have to withdraw earlier than that age, we would be charged hefty penalties and the amount would be taxable. 

There are several kinds of 401K plans, mainly Traditional/Regular 401k & Roth 401k. Traditional 401k plan is pre-tax dollars taken out from our salary and we pay tax when we withdraw the amount while Roth 401k is post tax amount, hence there is no need to pay tax again, if we withdraw this amount post the qualified age (59.5). 401K accounts can be transferred when we change companies.

There is another retirement savings plan called Roth IRA which is an individual plan and not offered by employers. We have to get these through some bank or brokerage firms. Not everyone would be eligible to invest in Roth IRA as it is usually offered to low-income families. This is also paid post-tax. So, if you think you would be in a higher tax bracket at the time of your retirement, it is advisable to invest in this one if you are eligible.

There is a maximum allowed contribution amount limit for 401k & IRA plans (Eg: $19,500 in 2021 and $20,500 for 2022 for 401k etc.). It is advisable to max out that contribution amount every year. 

• 529 College Savings Plan - This is a plan to fund college education with non-taxable and growing income. Every state offers different plans. Our state offers "Ohio 529 Plan" which has 4k state tax deduction per child per year from the total amount we contribute to this plan, 15$ fee yearly and few options to choose from (age based or individual choice).  All the FAQs related to the plan are addressed in this page - Face Your 529 College Savings Fears (collegeadvantage.com).  Please look for something like this for your state and find out all the details.

If you have multiple kids, you can transfer the amount in 529 account between them and it can be used for their children also. This amount is tax free for any eligible expenses.

If your kids are young, I would definitely recommend enrolling in this plan from a young age and start saving some money for their college education as colleges are very expensive here. 

• HSA Plans for Medical Expenses - This would be non-taxable income that is saved in HSA account and can be used for any kind of medical expenses. This amount can be rolled over and we can save it and use it whenever you need throughout your life.

• Mortgage Payments and Re-Financing - If we have any home, auto mortgages for a large amount, we usually end up paying lot of interest over the years. So, it is recommended to revisit them every once in a while, to see if we can pay off some amount every year so the number of payments (tenure) can be reduced, or the monthly payment amount can be reduced in the future.

Understand your loan details properly around the Interest Rate, Tenure, Principal, Interest Amount and see if it helps to re-finance your loan or pay additional one-time payments every now and then, so you would actually save a lot of interest amount in the long run.

• ESOPs, Stocks, Bonds - Some Employers provide ESOPs (Employee Stock Option Plan) to its employees at a discounted price. It is advisable for employees to buy them as they provide much better discounts compared to the market price and can immediately help see profits at times. ESOP are usually allowed to be purchased during Annual Open Enrollment period.

Learn to invest in at least few stocks, bonds after doing some research. Don't overboard but start with smaller amount in the beginning and expand as you get more experience. You could use apps like Robinhood, Robo-advisors etc. to create an investment account, transfer some amount from your back account to Robinhood account and buy/sell stocks that you are interested in.

• Emergency Fund - Keep aside some amount every month in a different account for Emergencies. It is advisable to keep aside 3 to 6 months of salary as emergency fund to handle unexpected emergencies. At least 3 months of living expenses must be saved in our bank account for immediate withdrawal and other 3 months could be invested in some other investment options

• Life Insurance Plans & Term Insurance Plans - Everyone knows about life insurance plans as we are so accustomed to those for quite some time and we all know the importance of taking such plans, so our loved ones are covered. But I realized that many of us don't care much about Term Insurance plans which has its own benefits compared to Life Insurance plans. Term Insurance plans require much lesser premiums for much larger life insurance benefit amounts that our beneficiaries get when a qualifying event occurs (E.g: death). But the disadvantage is that you won't get any returns on your premiums and there is an age limit for coverage (e.g.: some plans cover only until we are 70-75 yrs. of age and not beyond that). Life insurance plans on the other hand have smaller benefit amounts with higher premiums, and you get some returns for the premiums you pay. It is advisable to diversify and have both these plans. If you are a kind of person who is worried about your family's future if something happens to you, you should definitely invest in these plans, and it will definitely relieve some of burden that you have been feeling.

• Estate Planning, Will, Trust - This is again to make sure your loved ones are taken care of when you leave this world. If you are living in US, this becomes very essential as these decide who would take care of your kids (primary, secondary, tertiary preferences) and what assets do you want to add to a trust and how you the trust amount to be paid out to beneficiaries and at what age can they get the amount and who would manage your trust when you are gone and whom do you give permissions to decide on your health treatments when you are not in a position to decide for yourself. 

You can reach out to any attorney who provides these services and get it done. Some employers also offer legal insurance plans and if you have enrolled in it during open enrollment, that insurance company will pay for all the estate planning costs if you get these services for an in-network attorney provider.

US High School, ACT, SAT, College Admissions

As a parent of a new high school kid, I was so lost with all the information on High School Courses, Extra Curricular activities, AP, IB, College Credit Plus (CCP), Career Tech Programs, ACT, SAT Exams, College Research, Application, Admission process, College Financing, when is the right time to prepare for ACT, SAT etc. So, I tried to attend some sessions on these topics, and I will use this forum to summarize what I have learnt so it can be useful for other parents in a similar situation and also to help my kids if they want to refer to these in future.

Colleges give considerable importance to the following aspects in the order given below. I will go over some of these in detail. 

• Good grades/GPA in all courses
• Did the student take any challenging courses such as College, AP, Honours Courses?
• ACT/SAT Scores
• Essay
• Counselor & Teacher Recommendations
• Extra-Curricular Activities
• Class Rank

High School Courses:

Every state has certain graduation requirements (e.g., 22 credits) and we need to pick courses to meet these minimal requirements. If we take normal high school courses at grade level, we usually aim for 4 GPA for each course if we get an A grade. But students are expected to take challenging courses, so they are better prepared for college rigor. These include Honors, AP, IB, CCP, Career Tech courses. Honors courses will result in 4.5 GPA if we get an A whereas AP, IB, CCP courses will result in 5.0 GPA if we get an A.

AP & IB Courses are provided by College Board & Internation Baccalaureate and offered in schools, taught by high school teachers. These are yearlong courses. Some of the courses are also considered by colleges and given credit.

College Credit Plus Courses

• Ohio has a dual enrollment program called College Credit Plus where students can attend some college courses during high school and get both high school and college credits. 
• This is open to grades 7-12 and these courses can be taken up during school year or summer or online or in-person at participating colleges. 
• We need to submit an "Intent to Participate" form by April 1st if we are interested to pursue it. 
• This program is free for students if they pass the course. If they fail, they will be asked to pay approximately around 500 to 750$ per course.
• Students must take Level 1 courses first and must finish 15 credits before moving to Level 2.  The Level 1 courses should be a continuation from high school course prerequisites.
• These are treated as AP courses and an 'A' grade in this course will be treated as 5.0 GPA.
• We need to earn a minimum qualification score on ACT/SAT/Assessment exams to be qualified to take these courses. (Eg: ACT score of 18 in English and 22 in Math).

Career Tech Courses 

These courses are more career oriented and helps a student pursue their area of career interest early on. These courses help earn college credits and industry credentials and differentiates students on college applications and resumes. In Ohio, we have some organizations called DACC, Tolls etc. who offer these courses. Students apply as sophomores to most programs. Some course examples are given below.

• Bioscience

• Engineering Technician

• Digital Design

• Culinary Arts

• Exercise Science

• Cybersecurity

• Health Technology & Nursing

• Welding

• Pharmacy Technician

• Wildlife & Resource Management

• Robotics, Automation & Design

• Early Childhood Education

• Zoo School

Recommendations for Parents:

• Build a course plan for all 4 years of high school based on the chosen careen path and based on graduation requirements. It's better to do more than minimal graduation requirement as some colleges expect more that. (E.g., Graduation requirement excepts 2 world language course credits but some colleges except 3 world language credits).
• Push your kids to take up advanced (AP)/challenging courses if you think they have the capability. Sometimes we underestimate our kids, but they are definitely smarter than what we think.
• Keep kids occupied with classes, schoolwork, extra-curricular activities, volunteering etc. so they don't get distracted with other things. 
• College Applications should show that we are very proactive, passionate, hardworking etc. So, our course choices, grades and extra-curricular activities should showcase this.
• All the advanced courses, electives and voluntary activities should be oriented towards the career path your student wants to pursue in college. (If you are pursuing medical field, I have some links in the appendix below which will help take better decisions on ideal courses, expected salaries as of this date and the career journey)
• Don't take College courses until you feel that the student is really ready for college classes.

ACT/SAT:

I attended a session for Parents by Dr Sampath from Prep Accelerator, and I found it to be very helpful. He conducts online ACT/SAT boot camps to students, and I would definitely recommend it when your kid is getting ready for these exams.

• ACT/SAT tests are much harder than High school tests as they require lot of memorization and are at a much faster pace and longer test duration (3 hrs.).
• These tests can be taken multiple times as needed to improve the scores. These are conducted 7 times a year nationally (just google for dates every year and register on the respective sites). Some schools also offer these tests to juniors in fall for free.
• Both these tests are equally accepted by universities, and we can choose to submit one of these or both of these as you prefer in the college applications.
• ACT maximum score is 36 and SAT maximum score is 1600.
• ACT has English (25%), Math (25%), Reading (25%) & Science (25%) whereas SAT has English (25%), Math (50%) & Reading (25%). Science includes Data Analysis.
• ACT has 215 questions for 3 hours and SAT has 154 questions 3 hours. ACT requires much faster pace than SAT.
• ACT Math involves some pre-calc and SAT Math involves some trigonometry.
• Test results would be available anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks post the actual test.

Recommendations for Parents:

• Pick up advanced Math in middle school itself. If your school allows 7/8 Math in 7'th grade, go for it at the time of Middle school course scheduling. This will put you in a good position with your ACT/SAT Prep.
• Complete Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and then start testing for ACT/SAT. You can focus on other components such as English, Reading, Science until then. If taking Algebra 2 in Junior year, start testing Dec or Feb of junior year by considering the bandwidth of your child with other school and extra-curricular activities.
• ACT/SAT English involves some grammar as well which is not taught in high schools here. So, look for other options to train your kids on English Grammar.
• Make sure kids are well prepared before taking these tests as these scores are available online and colleges can view them unless you specifically cancel them. There are some limitations on what test scores can be cancelled and within how many days. The tests conducted by schools cannot be cancelled.
• There is no negative marking on these tests. So please encourage students to attempt all the questions. Mark difficult questions and come back to them at the end.
• Identify the colleges you are interested in, find the target scores that are required to be eligible for those colleges and shoot for that target score when preparing and taking these tests.

College Applications & Financing:  

College Application process begins in October/November timeframe for early admissions and Jan/Feb for normal admissions.  We usually get responses from colleges in a month or two and we need to finalize from those colleges and communicate by May for Fall/August Enrollments. 

Identify colleges that has good graduation rates, good value of the degree and major, good internship opportunities and good financial aids and use that information to make an optimal choice.

There is an option called Early decision where we have a binding agreement with the College if we get selected.

Types of Application deadlines:

• Early Decision can be used with only one college (and that college has to offer that option!). It is essentially a binding decision -- you'll withdraw any other applications and go to this school if you are accepted.
• Early Action is a second type of early application deadline but is not binding. Early deadlines often coincide with the deadline for scholarship consideration.
• Rolling Admissions means that the college will consider each application as it arrives and will return a decision more quickly to the applicant. They will continue to offer acceptance until they have filled their class up to their regular deadline date.
• Regular Deadline is the final date for applications. Some colleges will continue to accept applications after this date if they have space in their incoming class.

Early deadlines may happen as soon as mid-October or early November or December. They may also have slightly different names and definitions like Restricted Early Action and others.

College Financing

College Categories from most expensive to least are as follows - 

• Ivy League (Approx 80K per year)
• Private Non-Profit (Approx 55K per year)
• Public Out of State (Approx 45K per year)
• Public In State (Approx 30K per year)

Usually, private colleges don't provide scholarships for merit-based students. They provide scholarships only for need based students and if we are a from a higher income family, we might have to pay the whole amount.

These are the 5 important questions we need to prepare for when thinking about College Financing.

1. How much colleges think you can afford?  
2. How much can we actually afford?
3. How to find schools that are generous with financial aid?
4. What are the out-of-pocket costs for all 4 years of college? 
5. College funding gap and resulting student loans 

For #1 above, utilize this FAFSA EFC Calculator - 

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator (finaid.org)

FAFSA is a federal formula and considers parent income, student income, parent & student non-retirement-based assets to determine family income and determine scholarship need based on that.

Cost of College (COA) - Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need

Recommendations for Parents:

• Avoid/Minimize Student Loans. For every 10,000$ student loan we take, we need to pay 100$ per month for 10 years. So never take out more than what our kids can make in the first year of job.
• Have College money talk with kids so they don't get disappointed in future if we cannot afford some college.
• Financial Aid forms (FAFSA) are available by October 1'st and it is recommended to apply by Nov 1st for Colleges starting in fall of following year. We need to fill this form each year.
• If you are not a financial need-based family, just ignore that and rather focus on colleges that provide Merit based scholarships and have your student focus on doing better at Academics.
• Visit the college websites for scholarship options and apply for those separately if your kid meets the eligibility requirements.

Few other useful sites for calculating expenses / scholarships:

• Home – BigFuture | College Board
• Home | Federal Student Aid
• Find Scholarships for College Students in 2023-2024 | Bold.org
• Google for "Net Price Calculator" for any college

Volunteering & Service Hours:

• Search for Volunteering options around your area in Libraries, Hospitals, Food Donation Drives, Zoo, Animal shelters, Retirement & Medical facilities, School athletic/music events etc. Search over the internet, do direct visits and find out, talk to friends etc. Most of them have some minimum age requirements such as 14+ or 16+.
• Some of these institutions have an application process, deadlines, interviews, require referrals etc. just like actual job hiring. Once selected, there are some orientation/training sessions to get them started.
• Do more than recommended service hours for graduation if you want your kid to be eligible for National Honour Society which requires 24 service hours each in freshman and sophomore years and greater than 3.5 GPA.

Useful Links:

Parent Action Plan: 10th Grade – BigFuture | College Board

The Steps Along the Physician Assistant Career Path (pitt.edu)

Doctor In US 2022: The Ultimate Guide For How To Become A Doctor (leapscholar.com)

Careers A-Z - Explore Health Care Careers - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science

32 Medical Careers In Demand (Plus Salary Info and Duties) | Indeed.com

Gardening Tips for Beginners (US)

 We live in Ohio; US and we have very short summers here. We have chilly weather from Oct - April and so we are only left with few months to do Gardening. 

I usually start in May and buy baby plants from Home Depot or Lowes or some nurseries. We could always germinate seeds indoors from March and move them out in May but for beginners, I would recommend buying plants directly.

For Vegetables, start with Tomato, Chilly, Green Pepper, Mint plants. You could buy 4-5 tomato plants, 1 or 2 Chilly and 1 or 2 green pepper plants and plant them in individual 12-inch pots if you don't have options to plant them in ground. I tried others like Okra, Egg Plant, Colored Peppers but they did not result in good yield, and we need to have lots of these plants for a good yield. So, stay out of those at least until you become experienced in this stuff and have lot of patience and space.

Buy good organic potting mix (I usually buy several bags from Sam's club or Costco when on sale) and fill the pots with this mix. Add Miracle Grow Plant food and mix it into the soil. Soak the soil with water. Plant the baby plants you got from store into these bigger pots, water them and keep it in an area with good sunlight. In summer, water plants every single day and do deep watering until the water flows out of the pot.

For Tomatoes, plant the roots as deep as possible and cover the stem with soil as much as possible as the stems grows roots and will help with better plant support. Tomatoes need 8 hours of sunlight and lots of water. Trim the leaves at the bottom of the pot so they don't get infested with bugs. And remove any side branches that pop up and just leave 1 or 2 main branches. Don't water the leaves. Also, when the plants start having lots of leaves, keep removing some of them so plant can focus energies on producing fruits. And don't encourage early flowers if the plant is not yet strong to support it. Remove those flowers until main stem is strong enough. Provide plant food once every 2 weeks. You could alternate between Epsom salt water and miracle grow plat food. If you start in May, you will start having good harvest from July till September. 

In October, remove all the plants and clean your garden space for next year. You could use the space for winter veggies if you'd like.

I tried some leafy veggies such as Spinach, Methi, Lettuce, Gongura, Chukka Kura, Thotakura, Coriander from seeds and was successful at times but not always. Don't lose hope if they don't last. Keep trying and have patience. Some of these veggies need cooler temperatures and cannot handle extreme heat.

I also tried several flowering plants this year such as Roses, Tulips, Buttercups, Hibiscus, Lillies, Gladiolus, Mums etc. I don't recommend Buttercups as they don't last longer. All these flowering plants need flower boosting plant food once every few weeks. Keep removing dead and old flowers from plants so it can produce newer ones. We need to prep Roses for Winter during October month by trimming the branches to just 1 or 2 inches above ground level and cover it fully with mulch. And add cow manure in spring after snow cycle in done.

I will create another blog about winter care and indoor plants soon.

School Lunch Ideas

 As South Indians, our staple food is rice and some curry, but my son doesn't prefer taking that to school. And our non-vegetarian options are limited to Chicken, Shrimp, Fish & Goat. So, I had to explore other options and I have listed some of them here to just give some ideas to other moms. I will provide the recipes/links also soon.

• Chicken Lettuce wraps
• Chicken Salad with Lettuce, Carrots, Celery, Kale, Red Cabbage, Peppers, Spinach, Cheese, Croutons, Cooked Chicken, Buffalo sauce, French Dressing, Southwest Ranch etc.
• Chicken Stir fry with Taco Seasoning and Broccoli with yum yum sauce
• Chicken/Veg Quesadilla
• Chicken/Veg Sandwich
• Cheese Toast with Avocado Guacamole
• Bread Omlette, French Toast, Waffles & Pancakes
• Pasta (red, green, white) 
• Spinach or Green Peas Rice
• Chicken/Egg/Veg Fried rice
• Tomato rice 
• Green Rice (Cilatro, Mint, Chilli, Coconut, Ginger Garlic paste & Garam Masala)
• Chicken/Mutton/Veg Biryani
• Paneer curry w Chapati/Tortilla
• Frankie roll with chicken
• Spanish Omelette
• All kinds of Paratha (Paneer, Veg, Gobi etc.)
• Pav Bhaji
• Egg Bites with Lots of Veggies
• Dosa Bites (Small Veggie Balls/Pancakes with Dosa Batter)
• Egg Croissant
• Egg Dosa
• Mac N Cheese
• Noodles
• Subway Sandwich (Homemade) with Baguette bread
• Egg, Veg & Cheese Quesadilla 
• Chicken Drumstick/Chicken Boneless Fry with Broccoli & Boiled Corn
• Veg Spaghetti (Garlic, Onions, Zucchini, Broccoli, Carrot & Tomato Puree, salt, Italian seasoning, cooked Spaghetti, cheese)
• Chicken Fajita w homemade hummus
• Kung Pao Chicken w White Rice
• Masala idli / Mini idlis with spice powder coating
• Grilled Chicken Kebabs

Some pics:

W

Kung Pao Chicken

Chicken Fajita

Chicken Drumstick with Broccoli & Corn

Chickpea Salad with Chicken fry

Subway Style Sandwich

Chapati/Tortilla w Veggie Omlette

Spanish Omlette

Chicken Alfredo

Spicy Mini Idlis

Chicken/Paneer Quesadilla

Quesadilla

Pizza

Pav Bhaji style bread with veggie filling and cheese

Learning Tips

I have recently attended a Learning Session on Coursera and here is a summary of important takeaways.

• Focused and diffused thinking - both are essential for better memory retention.
• Practice and repeat across days. Not in 1 day.
• Practice makes the memory permanent. more u practice, more the memory becomes permanent.
• If u want something to be stored as long-term memory, then repeat the topic once every few days so it gets registered in the brain better.
• Procrastination can be avoided using a timer. Set timer to 25 mins for focused reading and then take a break for some time to do whatever you please and restart for another 25 mins focused session. Continue this process.
• Dig deeper, experiment, practice makes us remember the concepts well than cramming.
• Sleep well so toxins in brain are removed and to make our memory connections stronger.
• Try to read some important topics before sleeping so we get dreams around it, and it will help with better memory on that topic.
• Exercise/run to produce new neurons in brain which improves memory.
• Passion and Persistence, staying the course, not giving up is the key to success. Don't think that you are not smart enough, hence cannot be successful. Not all smart people are successful.
• Being with creative people and youthful ppl makes u feel more creative, youthful and open to new learning and new perspectives.
• Teach others, write blogs, talk to people, ask lot of questions
• Read anything and everything about it
• Immerse in it and practice it. Don't be scared to try out even if you fail, it's ok to fail than not doing anything.

Attached some useful tools from the course.

10 Top Ideas to Help Your Learning.docx (barbaraoakley.com)

Test preparation checklist.docx (barbaraoakley.com)

Cake Recipes (Tried and Tested)

Basic Cake

2.5 cups All Purpose Flour (Maida)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 or 2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk

Mix/Sift the dry ingredients (flour mixed, baking pdr, baking soda) and keep it aside. 

Beat butter, sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla essence, add the above dry ingredients.

Bake for 1 hr at 350-degree Fahrenheit and check for doneness with a toothpick. If not done, extend the time for a little longer and check again.

Banana cake

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
3 ripe bananas
few walnuts crushed
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda 
1 or 2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix/Sift the dry ingredients (flour mixed, baking pdr, baking soda) and keep it aside. 

Beat butter, sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla essence, add the above dry ingredients.

Bake for 30 mins at 350-degree Fahrenheit and check for doneness with a toothpick. If not done, extend the time for a little longer and check again.

Carrot Cake

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup wheat flour
1.3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup veg oil
1 spoon vanilla essence
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
Half cup nuts
1 or 2 cup grated carrot (3 big carrots). Little more is also ok.
Little milk

Mix/Sift the dry ingredients (flour mixed, baking pdr, baking soda) and keep it aside. 
Beat butter, sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla essence, add the above dry ingredients, grated carrot, walnuts and bake at 350F for 1.15 hour or till done

Chocolate cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups All Purpose Flour 
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Mix and keep aside

2 large eggs
1 cup butter milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup oil
Mix and keep aside

Combine all the above, add 1 cup boiling water or coffee and bake for 1 hr at 350F or till done.

My Mom's Cake 

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
1 spoon vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Half cup nuts (Cashew, Almond, Walnuts crushed, Dry fruits)

Mix/Sift the dry ingredients (flour mixed, baking pdr, baking soda) and keep it aside. 
Beat butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence, add the above dry ingredients, nuts and bake at 350F for 30 mins or till done. If increasing the quantities for flour, sugar and butter, increase the oven time also accordingly.

Dates Cake

Eggless Dates and Walnut Cake – ShowMeTheCurry.com

Put-In-Bay, OH Trip

There were very few visiting places from the place where we live, and we wanted to get away for a short trip during summer holidays. So we chose Put-In-Bay Island as it's only a couple of hours drive for us. We really loved this place and would definitely recommend it for a 2- or 3-day trip with family.

We reached Port Clinton via Car and then took Miller Ferry to go to Put-In-Bay Island. These ferries are very huge and transport our cars as well. We rented a cute little tree house like Cabin from South Bass Island State Park | Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ohiodnr.gov) and it was a never before kind of experience staying in such cute little cabins. It's right beside Lake Erie and there were several options for kids to play on the swings, swim in water, fish, kayak, walk around, bike etc.

These Cabinets had 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and a living room. There are beds but we need to take blankets, cooking utensils, Soaps etc. There is firepit and grill outside as well. There are several stores nearby to buy wood for fire. 

It's difficult to park car wherever we want in Put-In-Bay, hence everyone rents Golf carts or walks around. We took Golf Cart for couple of days when we wanted to visit some attractions that are farther from where we stayed and managed to walk rest of the days. There are several places to visit, and I have listed some key ones below -

• PUT-IN-BAY DOWNTOWN with lots of restaurants and good food options (Would recommend trying as many restaurants as possible as they are so worth it.)
• DERIVERA PARK, Boardwalk, Key West Area in Downtown
• PERRY’S VICTORY AND INTERNATIONAL PEACE MEMORIAL
• THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE AT PUT-IN-BAY (Expensive and not many butterflies)
• SOUTH BASS ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE AT PUT-IN-BAY
• MOTHER OF SORROWS CATHOLIC CHURCH
• HEINEMAN WINERY TOURS 
• CRYSTAL CAVE (Very beautiful and a must see if you have never seen a crystal cave before)
• SCHEEFF EAST POINT PRESERVE (Beautiful spot for pictures)
• ADVENTURE BAY AMUSEMENT PARK (Car Racing was so fun)

There were many other attractions, but this is all we could manage in the short time we spent there. 

We went there over a July 4'th long weekend and have been fortunate to see the fireworks display over the lake. It was a beautiful experience.

Frosty Bar Pizzas were very good and there is live music in several restaurants in the evenings. We can see several grape fields with lots of grapes hanging around.

Miami & Key West Trip

 Miami was one place that I was longing to see as you keep hearing about it a lot. Finally we went there during Christmas break and stayed there for a week. We stayed in Royal Palm hotel by Marriot on South Beach and got a good sea facing room. Beach was just a few steps away and we used to go there every day. Our hotel was decent but I would recommend staying at Loews hotel if possible. That hotel was right next to us and it looked so good. We took a rental car but we hardly took it out as it was difficult to find parking everywhere.

Miami is all about Beaches, Food and Fashion. I have listed some important places to visit in Miami.

• Oceans drive on South Beach - Its a street filled with so many restaurants, live music, beautiful buildings and colorful night life. 
• South Point Park Pier - This has very beautiful views of sunset and sea and fisher island. You can spot lot of jelly fishes here in the beach.
• STAR Island - (This island has huge beautiful houses of celebrities). Take a Duck Tour to enjoy the experience of Bus & Boat Ride from the same vehicle.
• Wynwood Walls
• Vizcaya Museum & Gardens - Worth seeing the beautiful and luxurious house of some rich person. The gardens here are so beautiful.
• Bayside Marketplace (Park, lot of shops, restaurants facing the sea with big wheel ride (Sky Views) for city views)
• Frost Science Museum (Kids will enjoy this)
• Little Havana, Calle Ocho (Famous Cuban street with Cuban culture all around)

There were many food options with mostly expensive restaurants but you can also find affordable ones if you walk around a bit more. There is lot of walking involved and there are many places to shop too. Weather is very warm here but it was so lovely in December. 

We also drove to Key West, Florida from Miami for a 1 day trip. It was a 3.5 hour drive and the drive was so worth it as you are driving with sea on both sides of the road on 7 mile bridge and there were so many small islands through out your journey if you want to stop and laze around.

Key West is the southern most point of US and there is a picture spot where everyone takes pictures without fail but expect long lines here. The city and houses here looks quite different and nice to see. You can get fresh coconut water here like in India. We just roamed around Duval street which is a famous busy lively street with lot of shops, dining etc. You can get awesome sunset views @ Mallory square with some live attractions every evening.