Blue 365 Program for a Healthy Lifestyle and a $500 Gift Card Sweepstakes!

I love autumn!  It is my favorite season of the year. The trees in New York City begin to put on their autumn dress in October, and the city parks become breathtakingly beautiful!

I love autumn's bounty of bright orange pumpkins, wonderful harvest fresh fruits and vegetables, and I even enjoy the chore of raking the leaves! The crisp cool weather rejuvenates me both mentally and physically, and encourages me to let go the lazy days of summer and get back to pursuing healthy habits.

That is why I was intrigued to recently learn about the Blue365®, a national program offered by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association to members of participating Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Companies.  Blue365 makes it easier to incorporate fun, healthy activities into your budget by offering access to savings on a wide variety of fitness, nutrition, and even travel options!
After registering online, you will be able to qualify for "Featured Deals," and long term "Ongoing Deals," that are offered in weekly e-mails sent to your inbox, which will help you maintain healthy lifestyle choices. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has a Facebook page you can join to see the deals as they are offered.

The website is easy to navigate, and I was interested in many of the deals that I saw on it, such as a 20% discount on Reebok online store purchases under the Fitness category, and 50% off three bottles of Argentous alcohol free hand sanitizer in the Personal Care category.
Unfortunately, even though I presently have a health insurance plan through a Blue Company, mine doesn't yet participate in the Blue365 Program. I signed up anyway, as they will notify me if my Blue Company does join at a future date. To see the deals that bloggers chose to take advantage of, whose Blue Company already participates, see this link.

Check to see if your Blue Company participates in Blue365 on this link, and then register to take advantage of all the deals. If your plan does not participate, why not register anyway, like I did, in case they join at a later date? The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is committed to helping Blue Companies' members live healthy, happy lives.  They help make being healthy more affordable, which is definitely something we can all appreciate!
How are you planning to stay healthy through the Fall and holiday season?

Answer this question in my blog's comments section and you will be entered in the sweepstakes to possibly win one of two $500 Visa gift cards, courtesy of BlogHer.  Good luck!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive two (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the

following unique term in your tweet message: #Sweepstakes Entry; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the Official Rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two (2) entries per household. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This Blue365® Program Sweepstakes runs from 10/16/12-11/12/12.  

Be sure to visit the Blue365® page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

As full disclosure I am being compensated by BlogHer and Blue365® for this post, but all opinions expressed are my own.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is an association of independent, locally operated Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Companies.  BlogHer is an independent and/or separate company providing marketing/promotional services and does not provide Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield products or services.

Portsmouth, NH and the "Strawbery Banke Museum"

I can't believe I went to the charming town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire almost a year ago today, and never had the chance to blog about it! My husband had to attend a business meeting there for a couple days last year, and I went along, as I love this town! Portsmouth, N.H., a city of roughly 21,000 people, sits near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, a short, wide river that divides New Hampshire and Maine. As a historic New England seaport city, it is a popular tourist destination full of wonderful restaurants, shopping, and scenic venues.

Settled in 1623, Portsmouth claims to be the nation's third-oldest city. The original New Hampshire State House is located on Market Square in Portsmouth. It can be seen above as the building with large windows and chimneys on top.

As you can see by its identifying plaque it was the seat of colonial government from 1758-1776. The American Declaration of Independence was read from the building on July 18, 1776. Also, President George Washington spoke from the balcony on October 31, 1789. 

Do pirates now ride motorcycles? It seems Portsmouth is also a town full of fun surprises!

The beautiful and historic "Strawbery Banke Museum" (*note-the unusual spelling is not a typographical error) village is located in Portsmouth, and we had the opportunity to visit the area and take a tour.

The museum's web site states:

"Originally named Strawbery Banke by early (1630) British settlers for the wild berries growing there, Strawbery Banke today is unique among outdoor history museums - tracing 375 years of history in one of America's oldest continuously occupied neighborhoods. The 10-acre site, with its authentically restored houses and shops, period gardens, and costumed role players, presents the daily lives of ordinary people who lived here - from Colonial times to World War II, from the mundane to the elegant, from economic boom to wartime austerity - in engaging and accessible ways. Strawbery Banke Museum is a capsule of New England seaport life across four centuries."

"Strawbery Banke is unique among outdoor history museums in presenting an authentic neighborhood, with most of the 42 historic buildings on their original foundations. These structures, the earliest dating to 1695, provide our strongest link to the lives of the people who lived in this neighborhood. Some of the houses have been restored and furnished to particular periods in the past; some are used for exhibits on such special themes as architecture or archaeology; still, others serve as shops for artisans practicing traditional trades."

By the way - all the photos in this post can be enlarged by clicking on them once, and then again when they open on a new page.  You can view much more detail in these photo collages by enlarging them that way.  Use the back arrow to return to my post after viewing the enlargements.

Although the historical re-enactors were not there the day we visited, as it was off season, house tours were still available, and we saw homes decorated as they would have been over the four centuries this area was a thriving community.

One of my favorite rooms was this 1940's era kitchen!  It reminded me so much of my maternal grandmother's kitchen, as I remember it when I was a child. She had almost the same black, wood and coal burning cast iron stove.  The radio on the desk on the right was playing old-time radio show tape--it was so warm and cozy and wonderfully nostalgic!

Another favorite building was the "Little Corner Store" that was next door to the country kitchen I showed above.  Again, it reminded me of visiting my grandmother, who lived in a small town in Pennsylvania during my childhood. There was a small store, very much like this one, on her corner.  My grandmother always gave each of her grandchildren a quarter when we visited, which felt like a fortune.  As young children, my siblings and I used to be able to buy a large Nestle candy bar for only five cents! Are you old enough to remember penny candy?  I never thought I'd be old enough to say this, but: "Those were the days!"

Of course, visiting a location in New England in autumn is a very special treat because of all the magnificent fall color that is everywhere, and Portsmouth, NH was no exception!  I "oohed and aahed" everywhere we went that day.  Did you notice the "face" in one of the Strawbery Banke Museum house windows above? Halloween had just passed, and a museum staff member must have had a sense of humor to leave that image peeking out the window!

There are some wonderful historic lighthouses in this area of New England, and, as I am a lighthouse aficionado, I was fortunate to have a co-worker of my husband take us around to view them! Above is a distant view of the Whaleback Lighthouse located in the mouth of the Piscataqua River, nearest to Kittery, Maine.

This lighthouse was established in 1830; the present granite lighthouse was built in 1872, and it was automated in 1963. This lighthouse can be seen from many spots on shore, including Fort Foster in Kittery, Fort Constitution, Fort Stark, and Great Island Common in New Castle, NH, and Odiorne Point in Rye, NH. The lighthouse is accessible only by boat and is closed to the public.

Even in early November, a few wild pink roses were still blooming in the area along the coastline! The North East experienced a very mild winter last year. I'd love to show you more about the other lighthouses we saw in a future post... please stayed tuned!