The 2012 summer season is quickly coming to an end with the start of school, and a fast approaching Labor Day. It’s not too late to sneak in your summer vacation, if you’ve unknowingly worked it away.  As mass traveling slows in coordination with the changing of the leaves, destination rates and expedition costs quickly decrease, making some of summer’s most desirable locations easily accessible. With that in mind, here are four top destinations for end of summer stays!

Branson, Missouri- Centrally located, Branson is usually within driving distance of Memphis, St. Louis, most Midwestern cities, and a half- day drive from New Orleans, Georgia and Knoxville. While major tourist attractions like Silver Dollar City are sure to be busy with families squeezing in a last minute day-cations, discounts on tickets for shows and parks are at an all time low. This is especially true when booking packages like Silver Dollar City and White Water’s Splash and Play Pass.  Regularly $90 for adults and $60 for children, these combo tickets are now priced at a third of the cost, $30 and $20 respectively, for an entire week’s visit.

The Crystal Coast, North Carolina- Beat the heat …
 

The first day of school can be challenging for all students who seem mostly concerned with the first day jitters of dressing fashionably or having the best binder and backpack. For children of foster and low-income homes the challenge for the first day of school is having the basic materials to be able to succeed.

The United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County 2012 School Supply Drive helps to provide the means for students to meet their educational needs by encouraging the community to purchase a back pack and fill it with essential items appropriate for middle and elementary school studies. To boost donations, Festiva held a United Way Happy Hour at our corporate headquarters in Asheville on July 6 to assist with meeting back to school requirements, raising $300 from employees alone.  The Happy Hour was held in the corporate headquarters of the Zealandia Castle, where employees could purchase drink tickets and even dedicate a personalized portion of their upcoming paychecks to the United Way School Supply Drive, creating an easier and effective way for Festivian’s to donate.  To be able to host this event, Festiva Hospitality Group releases all employees the last hour of the work day with …
 

We were introduced to Peppertree Atlantic Beach in the early 2000s through an exchange. The unit assigned to us was on the third floor. After several trips up and down the stairs we were finally able to relax in a very nice spacious three bedroom unit overlooking a large pool. Hmmm, that was a long haul for a couple old timers in their 70s.

That evening we sat on the deck outside our unit and commented on the peacefulness. Of course it was off-season. A time we find, as retirees, enjoyable. In our earlier days we camped with our four children, but they have grown and have their own families.

Now, we timeshare and love it. So here we were at Peppertree in Atlantic Beach, just a few short hours from our home in Holly Springs, N.C., anxious to look over the resort.

After a good night’s rest we were able to do that. We walked around the resort property really checking out the place. Very nice. So convenient. We investigated purchasing a week. We did, and before long we had bought three weeks of vacation, two in the spring and one in the fall. Later, when Festiva offered us …
 

Festiva Hospitality Group has recently launched a monthly Blog feature that allows members to share their Festiva vacation experiences. Each member experience Blog includes a firsthand account as well as photos of their family vacation memories at a Festiva resort.

“We want our members and guests to hear about vacationing at our resorts directly from the source: our members. While we have plenty of great information about the properties and their surrounding areas on our resort websites, there’s something a little more personal that can be offered from firsthand experiences,” said Sara Little, director of corporate communications for Festiva Hospitality Group.

The experiences shared on Festiva’s Blog come from members who have submitted photos and stories to Festiva’s annual contest, have sent in letters or e-mails after a particularly memorable stay or have become fans of Festiva on Facebook or Twitter and have expressed their joy for vacationing with Festiva online.

Since the first post in December, Festiva’s member experience Blogs have taken us from the beauty of summer in Western Maine at Rangeley Lake Resort to holidays in the breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains in Banner Elk, N.C., to a Labor Day getaway in the Wisconsin Dells to the historic …
 

by Patricia DunhamIn the summer of 2000 my husband was looking through our timeshare resort listings and came upon Blue Ridge Village. Since my summer vacation as a teacher was coming to an end he decided that we would go to Blue Ridge Village for Thanksgiving that year. My initial reaction was not positive as we still had two unmarried “young adult” children and I felt Thanksgiving was for family time. However, we started making plans and reservations for the trip and asked another couple to go with us. I can still recall my excitement as we started driving across the state on the 7+ hour trip and came into the foothills. Even though the fall colors were gone by then and there was very little snow on the peaks of a few mountains I could relax in the beauty of the land. We stopped in Boone for gas before turning down 105 and heading towards Banner Elk. Grandfather Mountain greeted us just before we turned onto 185 to get to Blue Ridge Village.

Upon arriving in our unit I was overwhelmed by the décor and well-stocked kitchen as well as the large tub with the magical lights in …