Myrtle Beach After Christmas

I thought I'd share some highlights from our recent trip to Myrtle Beach. We had some points left over from our vacation club, enough to book a 2-bedroom unit for 3 nights, so we decided to pack up and go. The boys didn't want to tag along, so it was just Mike, Kate and me. Kate had some Christmas money and she wanted to hit up the outlet mall, I wanted to see the Christmas lights and decorations at Broadway at the Beach, and Mike... well he said he was just along to be our chauffeur :).

Welcome to South Carolina!

Summer Fun 2013

Well, summer is over and school is back in full swing around these parts. I really hate to say good-bye to summer! I love the lazy, laid-back days of just doing much of nothing :).

Of course, I do enjoy the fall. The nice mild-weather days. The structure and habit of daily routines. Well... we eventually get there!

I've been looking back through my pictures from our summer travels and I thought I'd share some of our highlights.

Vacation to Orlando

It's been a while since we've been to Orlando, Florida, so that's where we spent a week at the end of May. It rained and stormed our first day there, but only for a little while. We were able to get out and explore the resort late in the afternoon. What a lovely place!

view from our balcony on a rainy afternoon

 

Back to the Blog

Wow! I haven't been around here in quite a while! I can't believe it's already the end of June and the last time I was here was near the end of April. Wow!

I have to admit... I've kind of gotten caught up in the Instagram craze. Kind of easy to keep up with friends and family through the posting of pictures. But I realize I sure have missed blogging. A lot has happened around here since April.

Charleston, SC - Part 4 - the Aiken-Rhett House

This is the last in the series of Charleston posts.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this historical port city, but as the saying goes -- "All good things must come to an end."

On our last day there we toured the Aiken-Rhett House. I absolutely love touring old, historic houses and in my opinion this one is a must see.

 

Charleston, SC - Part 3 - Fort Sumter

 

Fort Sumter

Where the War Between the States began.



In 1829, Charleston Harbor was selected as a location for one of the forts in a series of coastal defenses that became known as the Third Coastal Defense System. The fort was named Fort Sumter in honor of Brigadier General Thomas Sumter, Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina.

Charleston, SC - Part 2 - Sightseeing

Some of the sights in Charleston...

 

Rainbow Row

 

The homes at Rainbow Row were once the center of Charleston's commerce in the mid-1700s. Merchants had their stores on the first floor and they lived on the upper floors with their families.These old row houses are very popular to Charleston, representing one of  the first styles of Charleston homes. I love that everything in this city has so much history behind it!

Charleston, SC -Part 1- Lodge Alley District

Mike and I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for a few days back in December, actually during the week before Christmas. We had some points left over from our yearly allotment in our vacation club that couldn't be "rolled over" and saved for the next year, so rather than letting them expire, he decided we would use them for a mini-vacation for just the two of us. I love it that he likes to plan things like that. :)

And I especially love that he likes to take me to explore places that are rich in heritage and history! And I must say, this trip did not disappoint!

How We Afford Our Vacations

Recently, after seeing on my facebook page all my pictures of our summer travels, I had a friend ask me how we were able to afford all our traveling, that we must be rich.

I know the comment was made in jest, but I have to admit, it stung a little.

We are not rich. ~ Well, I suppose that depends on how you define rich. If you mean rich in God's abundant love, mercy and grace; rich in family and friends; rich in love for each other, then YES we are overwhelmingly rich! If you mean rich with much money at our disposal, then no, sadly we are not rich.

I was slightly taken aback by that comment, but it did get me thinking. How do we afford our vacations and travels? I thought about that and I came to some conclusions, so I made a list. And it got me thinking, these are simple things that anybody can do, so why not share them with others?

Family Getaway

We went to Panama City Beach, Florida recently. We had a couple days off for fall break, so we accompanied my husband's sister and her family on a mini-vacation. I'm not sure what it is about the beach, but we seem drawn to it, for sure.

Myrtle Beach, SC

 

Have I mentioned before how much we like the beach?

Yes, of course I have. We like it so much, we went twice this summer. I mentioned earlier that we have had an extremely busy summer, going more than usual. In fact, we'll be going to Panama City Beach for a fall break with my husband's sister and her family later this month.

Fernandina Beach, FL

 

We have some friends who rent a beach house for the summer, and they invited us to spend a few days with them in July.

 

There's nothing our family enjoys more than spending time at the beach. Especially my husband.

 

That's him, out for a morning stroll, looking for shark's teeth.

Summer Vacation - Part 3 - Washington D.C.

This is the third and final post in this series of our vacation to the great state of Virginia and Washington, DC. If you missed the first two, and are interested, you can go here for part 1, and here for part 2.

We only allotted ourselves two days for touring DC, knowing full well that we'd never be able to see everything in such a short time. It was two hours, one way, from our resort to DC. So our plan was to leave early and stay late, and try to squeeze in as much as we possibly could. Walking, walking, and more walking. Wow, that makes for a loonnngg, tiring day! It was worth it to me, but to the rest of my family... let's just say that although they thoroughly enjoyed the sight-seeing, each of them is not quite the history enthusiast that I am.

Summer Vacation - Part 2 - Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

This is the second of a three-part series about our vacation to the great state of Virginia, and Washington, DC. If you missed the first post, and are interested in catching up, you can go here.

Since our resort was not too far from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, we paid a visit there one afternoon. Undoubtedly, not everyone gets such a thrill as I did from visiting this plantation. How can I explain it? To walk in a room where someone from our American heritage walked, to touch the very walls he touched, to see the chair in which he at one time sat.... yes, I know... there's no help for me. Now if we had been able to visit George Washington's Mount Vernon, too... well, that would have sent me right over the edge :).

Summer Vacation- Part 1 - Shenandoah Crossing Wilderness Resort

Wow! Our summer was so busy. We were on the go, much more than usual! I can't believe I haven't taken the time to post much! I guess now that we're back in school and settled back into a routine, it's time to play catch up again :).

We'll start with our trip to Virginia and Washington DC, right after school was out for summer vacation. Let me just start by saying this was my dream vacation! I have wanted to visit DC for quite some time now, considering I am such a history buff!

Winter Vacation~2011

We've gotten into the routine of taking a winter vacation, in addition to a summer one. My husband says it is his stress reliever (lol). He plans for them, saves for them and ensures that they happen!

This year we went back to Gatlinburg, Tennessee (we went there last December). Only this time we went with his sister and her husband. We had hoped that her whole family would be able to go, but unfortunately both her daughters (and her son-in-law) had to work during the time frame we were gone.

We had so much fun! I love Gatlinburg, and would really like to visit there during the summer sometime (but we usually do a beach vacation in the summer). We enjoyed strolling the streets of downtown and visiting all the little shops. We visited Dollywood, country music singer, Dolly Parton's theme park. It was really something to see this time of the year ~ over 4 million lights ~ every thing was so beautiful!

Family Trip to St. Augustine

Remember back in July, when my husband and I went to St. Augustine for our anniversary? Remember how I said we both loved that place so much that we felt like we simply must take our kids there some time? Well, last Thursday and Friday Kate was out of school, and even though Ryan was not (his college holidays don't really match up with Kate's school holidays, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas) we decided to go for a couple of days.

We had a really fun time. Our plans didn't really work out like we originally planned (sometimes they don't), but we still had a great time together. I wish Ryan could have been with us. Maybe we'll go back again another time :)

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Our Weekend Trip

DH and I took a little road trip this past weekend. We needed some time for just the two of us. We RARELY (meaning almost never!) go anywhere without our kids. Seriously, in our 21 years of marriage I can count on one hand the number of times we've gone away without them. So DH booked this early anniversary trip over a month ago.

We went to St. Augustine, FL... the oldest city in the US. We only stayed for the weekend. DH's plans involved sight-seeing on Friday, and relaxing at the resort on Saturday before returning home on Sunday. But apparently he forgot about what a history buff I am! There was no way to experience everything in one day! So... the relaxing around the resort on Saturday? Yeah, that kind of didn't happen. We spent two whole days walking all around historic Old Town, St. Augustine (we did ride the trolley some of the time) learning about lots of history that you never read in your textbook education at school. And even two days wasn't enough time to see it all. I told dh that we definitely have to plan a vacation here now so the kids can experience all that we did!

Beach Vacation and Father's Day

~ Beach Vacation ~

This year we vacationed in Miami, Florida ~ actually Surfside Beach, one of Miami's beaches.

Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

We took a mini-vacation to the mountains in Tennessee for a few days before Christmas to experience Winterfest in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Winterfest is just what its name suggests... a winter festival. A festival of Christmas-themed shows and events. But the biggest thing about Winterfest is the lights. More than five million of them on displays located throughout the cities. Beautiful, twinkling light displays all over town. 

 Since our Explorer is still in the body shop, (and we still don't have a rental car to use) we borrowed dh's father's car. It is a Buick Sentry and seats 5. So it was close quarters all the way there and back! Although we were a bit cramped while riding, it provided us some "close to one another" time (hehe). We definitely made memories this trip!

Our hotel had an indoor pool, lazy river and hot tub, and since they were located in the basement level of the building, they didn't close until 2:00 am (compared to your typical 10:00 or 11:00 pm closing)! It was really nice to come back to the hotel and play in the pool or float in the lazy river or relax in the hot tub after being out exploring in the cold all day and half the night! 

The hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas. At the front desk area, there was a gorgeous nativity scene with a beautiful backdrop depicting the village of Bethlehem. I wish I had taken a picture of it...

Here we are in the gift shop area of a local restaurant, taking pictures while waiting for our food!

Will and Kate on the escalator in the mall

Ok, we splurged a bit and went for the aqua massage while in the mall. I think it was like $10 for 7 minutes or something like that.

And here I am, having a turn. I got 5 extra minutes of massage time (without paying for it). The gentleman operating these machines looked just like Santa Claus in disguise. I think he really must be St. Nick, and since I've been such a good girl this year, he gave me some extra time!

downtown Gatlinburg

A stop at the Fudgery, where we bought 1/2 a pound of chocolate peanut butter fudge, and a 1/2 pound of chocolate and nuts fudge... mmm...mmm.

Will, standing in front of a nutcracker-themed Christmas tree. This is just one of the MANY different trees at The Incredible Christmas Place. Here they celebrate the spirit of Christmas every day of the year! This place is a Bavarian-style village of shops with anything and everything Christmas.

Here is Ryan checking out the motorized hockey players on a frozen pond in the Snow Village. This shop had nothing but village accessories. I am a Christmas village enthusiast. Each year I always add a new piece or two to my collection, so needless to say, I was in Christmas village heaven here!

Kate, standing in front of a North Pole-themed Christmas tree.

The courtyard of this Christmas village was beautifully landscaped, with lots of lighted trees and lovely Christmas decorations. 

We attended Christmas at the Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction. We really enjoyed this show.

Here is our family waiting for the show to begin.

Here we are at WonderWorks, a fun and educational experience for all ages. This place was way cool!  Here you can experience hurricane force winds and an earthquake. You can simulate flying a spacecraft. You can climb a rock wall and you can walk a ropes course three stories high. 

You can play lazer-tag, you can play in the arcade. All in all, this place has over 100 fun-filled, fascinating hands-on activities.

On Christmas Eve, our last day there, we drove through the Smoky Mountains National Park, up the winding road to the top of the snow covered mountain and down the other side.

You can see the snow-covered mountain top (our destination) in the distance.

I'm not really sure what this is that Kate is standing in front of. It looks a little like a frozen waterfall, but I don't think that's what it is. It seemed to be a large wall of icicles in front of a cave opening. Whatever it is, it was beautiful!

Will, Kate and Ryan

It was a relaxing time for our family, and so much fun. A much needed break after the wreck. I'm so thankful that we were able to go and experience this time together.