Out of the Country Trips

For about a year now, we've been collecting miles in hopes of one day making a trip to Scotland. Since it takes A LOT of miles, which takes lots of time to accumulate, I've decided to start saving a small chunk of money toward this trip. It always seems impossible to take a trip out of the country but with a little bit of discipline, it's totally possible. I have no idea how to go about setting the trip up. I've been told that for our first trip, we'd be better off setting up a tour based trip. This way, we get to hit lots of the important points and we can always hit others on a return trip. Anyone have any advice in this area? Also, what about travel insurance ? Do we need it? Is it required?

Have any of you been to Scotland? If so, would you care to share your experiences? I'd love to hear the high points of your trip. It's going to be at least a year before we go....maybe two. I want to really be prepared so I figure I should start this new year by doing the research a little at a time. Your help is greatly appreciated, in case I forget to tell you later :-)

Guess Where I'm Going?

Lauren over at Baseballs and Bows is always talking about their wonderful family Disney vacations. Our family has never been but maybe one of these days we'll break down and go. We are planning a weekend getaway though. Jeff and I are taking off to Gatlinburg for the weekend next week. Guess what the best part is? It's a free 3 day 2 night vacation. We don't even have to go listen to anyone talk about timeshares for an hour!

Back in September, we decided to sell our Toyota 4-runner because it was a gas hog. We ended up buying a smaller truck and the dealership threw in this free weekend vacation. That's never happened to us before so it seemed too good to be true...until the gift certificate came in the mail. It didn't take us long to throw our plans together and make reservations. We haven't been in awhile so it'll be nice to go and see all the Christmas lights. I'm hoping to go to the Wild Plum Tea Room that a good friend told me about. I'd never even heard of it. That makes me wonder what else I've missed!

If anyone has suggestions, I'll gladly take them. Tell me about fun things you've done down that way or great places you've eaten. That's my favorite part!

Holiday Beverages

A few years ago, we went to Lancaster, PA on vacation. We had always wanted to travel to Amish country and I had read enough Beverly Lewis novels that I felt like I was already familiar with Lancaster and the surrounding area. We spent about four days up there and surprisingly enough, the Amish culture was not what we expected. We had allotted most of our time to learning more about the Amish and only saved one day for the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. After returning home, we talked about how we wished we had reversed our plans and spent more time at the Renaissance Faire than in the Amish towns.

The Renaissance Faire was a blast. More people than not were dressed in period clothing (performers and customers). There were things going on all over the fairgrounds and by the end of the day, we still hadn't seen everything. The girls were able to hold baby dragons. We watched a few jousting matches and several plays. The coolest thing, by far, was the human chess match. Queen Elizabeth and her court walked around the fairgrounds and were in character the entire time. There wasn't a moment that anyone was out of character. It was very neat.

At the end of the evening, we watched the closing ceremony and then were ushered to a winery on the grounds. There we were treated to a free wine tasting. This winery put out so many yummy wines that you really did need to take part in the tasting in order to figure out what you wanted to buy to take home. If they had a wine of the month club, we would have joined for certain! In the end, we ended up bringing home six yummy bottles of wine. I think my favorite was a blueberry wine but there was also one called Quilter's Delight that was quite nice. All of the bottles we brought home were holiday flavors. We enjoyed them at Thanksgiving and at Christmas with our family and friends.

So this year, as I prepare for Thanksgiving, I'm wishing I had some wonderful tasting wines. I'd like to have a special one for Thanksgiving and another special one for Christmas this year. As usual, I am seeking your suggestions. What do you serve, as a special drink, with your holiday meals?

Grown Up Night @ the Beach

L to R: Our pastor and his wife, Eric & Lindsay, Georgia, myself, and Jeff

While we were in Corolla, the adults got together and went out for supper one night. We had a great time and I fell in love with my shrimp wellington. It was the most wonderful shrimp I've eaten to date. This restaurant was right on the ocean and the view was wonderful. It was a bit breezy and there seemed to be a family of flies that absolutely loved our table! We had a wonderful time and after supper, Jeff and I enjoyed several rounds of shuffleboard. I think he beat me every time!

Is it too soon to say that I'm ready to go back?

Caroline: Outer Banks 2008

I mentioned that Caroline got at least 100 new freckles while we were at the beach. The proof is in the pudding:

Home Again

Our beach trip is over but that hasn't kept me from thinking back on all the fun we had. It was a wonderful week! The weather was perfect. The beaches were not crowded at all since all the local kids were back in school. We had our pick of just about any spot we wanted. The beach house we stayed in was awesome. It was three levels, had five bedrooms, and several bathrooms. The house next door had a cool hammock chair but I was in love with our two porch swings. There were also many things to do. There was shuffle board, basketball, volleyball, an outdoor pool, bike rentals, several neat little shops, and the Currituck Lighthouse was nearby. Down the road a few miles, we had access to an indoor pool, a gym, racquetball, and miniature golf. The indoor pool came in handy one day when it rained.

We all managed to avoid getting terrible sunburns but we used almost a whole bottle of SPF 50 sunscreen. Caroline got at least 100 more freckles. LOL! I'm working on getting our photos downloaded and will start sharing a few of those over the next few days. If you've never been to the Outer Banks, you owe it to yourself to go. Go right after Labor Day as rates are lower and it's not overcrowded. We stayed in Corolla and I can't say enough about it.

Vacation Update

I had hoped to post pictures during our vacation so that I could share with you all the fun we're having. Alas, my camera cord is at home, along with my ipod ear buds! In the craziness of packing the girls and hubby, I forgot many of my personal items.

I'll back up and tell you that we arrived here on Saturday evening. We dropped into the local Harris Teeter and then came on to the house. We decided to eat light for supper and just hang out around the house with our pastor and his family, as well as another couple from church. The beach house they rented is enormous. It has five bedrooms and is spread out over three different levels. It has a pool table, many little areas for the kids, and about seven tvs. It has almost everything except theater seating, which is just fine by me! It's very nice. From the balcony, we have a beautiful ocean view.

Sunday we got up, had a nice breakfast, and our pastor did a small worship service for us at the house. Afterwards, several of us went to the beach to hang out for the day. Sunday night we all had supper together. Since our pastor is a wonderful cook, and enjoys it, he spoiled us with seared tuna and a delicious shrimp pasta. Mmmmm it was good!

Monday we did much of the same thing. Hubby and I opted to take several of the kids to the indoor pool that is just up the road. We stayed there for a few hours and I wore myself out in the olympic-size pool. We came back and grabbed lunch and then headed out to the beach for the afternoon. Last night we met back up for supper but this time hubby grilled up some mean burgers. After supper we enjoyed a long game of Cranium.

I'm looking forward to shuffleboard and the beach today. We walked up to the outdoor pool yesterday and it was very nice. We've got plenty to do. The hard part is figuring out what to do next :-o) I can't wait to post some pictures this weekend when we get back.

See ya soon!

Greetings From the Beach

Last week we were asked to go to the beach with some church friends. What a nice blessing that was! We quickly accepted and now I'm writing from the Outer Banks in NC. We're here with two other families and having a wonderful time. I'm hoping to take lots of pictures so I can share them with you so stay tuned.......

My blogging has been very limited lately because we've been experiencing a busy time in our lives. I'm hoping things will settle down soon and that I can get back into a normal routine. I'm missing you guys and hoping to catch up my blog reading while I'm here this week!

See ya soon.....

Savannah: Lady & Sons

The best part of our vacation is always the food. It's all about the food. In fact, you could say that it has become our hobby. I had only one request while we were in Savannah and that was that I be able to eat at Lady & Sons. Being the Food Network junkie I am, I knew I wanted to eat there because no one does butter better than Paula Deen.

If you know anything about Lady & Sons, you know it's not the easiest place to get into. Because Paula has become so famous, her restaurant stays booked ALL....THE.....TIME. It's crazy. I wonder what the locals think of that? Since we arrived Thursday night, I planned to get us out early Friday morning to get in line at Paula's. Yep, you heard me right. Get in line. The restaurant starts taking reservations for lunch and supper at 9:30 each morning. Friday morning, we arrived near the restaurant around 9am and the line was already at least a hundred people deep. We decided to move on and try it another day.

This was what the line looked like at 9:30 on Saturday. Not sure if you can see but it extends well beyond the black car on the street.

Saturday, dh had a bagpipe competition and I knew I'd be on my own that day. I dropped him off around 8:30am and headed directly for Lady & Sons. When I got in line, it was 8:45 and there were about fifty people in front of me. People started to quickly fall in line after I got there. By 9:30, the line was really, really long. I met a nice teacher from KY while passing the time and she shared that she had already done this once before. She raved about the food and I started to feel like standing in line was going to be worth it. After standing in line from 8:45 to 10:00, it was finally my turn to make a reservation. I made it for lunch and then headed out to do some shopping. When my reservation time rolled around, I headed back to Congress Street and waited patiently to sink my teeth into some fine southern cooking. I guess I should note that by 11:00, the restaurant was completely booked for both lunch and supper. My tip for anyone who wants to go and get in to eat is be there at 8:30, bring a book, drink, and preferably, a friend.

It was good y'all. I had the pork barbeque with slaw and jelly roll fries. Before I ate that wonderful plate, they brought out the holy grail of breads....a garlic cheddar biscuit and a cornbread fritter. Oh...my...goodness! It was wonderful. I ate every crumb (remember I told you that I left my WW diet at home). It was worth every minute I stood in line. The restaurant itself was not really fancy. It was family style and the roar of conversation was nice. The wait staff was wonderful. I hate dh missed it. I do plan on taking my MIL and my mom to Savannah and when I do, we'll be standing in line to get some more of this good food.

The table setting, the holy grail of breads, and my awesome pork bbq plate

The restaurant has three floors and a basement floor, which technically makes it four floors. All floors were decorated the same except the main floor had more windows. It was loud, which I liked, and was a fun place to be. The restaurant is connected to Paula's store, The Paula Deen Store. In fact, to get to the waiting area of the restaurant, you have to go through the store (I'm guessing there's a strategy behind that). This area was small and modestly decorated. There was a tv on the wall and, of course, it was tuned to the Food Network.

I was seated on the third floor of the restaurant. I took this right after a bunch of people left so that's why it looks so empty.

The country style buffet, which most people ordered

I loved every second of it and I'll do it again in a heart beat! Is it time to go back?

Savannah: Part Two

One thing I forgot to do while we were on vacation was take a picture of our neat hotel room. We stayed at this cozy little place called Inn at Mulberry Grove. This hotel is about fifteen minutes from downtown Savannah. It really was a nice location. There's not much directly around it but within a few minutes drive, there are plenty of fast food places and stuff. The only complaint I have is that it is too far away from Tybee Island. If you plan to spend any time on Tybee, you have to be willing to drive the 40 minutes it takes to get there from this hotel or stay closer to Tybee. Anyway, this hotel is only two years old and is very well kept. The rooms looked just like they did online, including the cute decor, the LCD TV, and the nice landscaping. I was tickled pink! The bathroom was so clean that I couldn't believe my eyes. I really think housekeeping cleaned our bathtub every day. It sparkled! I was very impressed. Normally the bathroom and the bedding in a hotel makes my skin crawl. Something about being beneath a bedspread that isn't washed after every guest makes me want to sleep in a plastic bag.

The hotel staff was so nice. The lady at the front desk printed out directions for us, without us even asking. Every morning, we went into the lobby for a nice breakfast feast. They had everything a girl needs to get her morning started; waffles, yogurt, cereal, bagels, pastries, grits, BISCUITS, GRAVY, SAUSAGE, and EGGS. Guess what I ate? I guess I should tell you that my Weight Watchers diet was on hold during this trip. I'm happy to report that I only gained one pound while we were gone. Hooray!

Now, this hotel is not to be confused with another by a similar name. There is a hotel in the historic district called Mulberry Inn. I'm not sure if they are run by the same company or if their accommodations are the same. I know the one in the historic district was much more expensive. That makes sense but honestly, I'm glad we didn't stay downtown. It was nice to have a short drive back to the hotel each night so that we could spend that time talking about what we had seen and experienced that day. (When I go back and take my mom and MIL, we will probably stay downtown since they will enjoy the shopping and the mansion touring.)

We found some really fun places downtown. There were many little gift shops but there were also several art galleries and stores. City Market was a neat little place and there was even live music while we were there. It was a happening place at night. The carriage rides originate here so we were able to see the pretty horses several times on our trip.

It was fun and we saw some neat things but it sure was good to hit Asheville, NC and see those beautiful mountains. Once we hit Asheville, we knew we were only an hour from home and we couldn't drive fast enough to get here. I love going on short trips but I LOVE coming back home.

I'll be working on part three and have it posted soon. It will be all about the food we ate while on our trip. We were only there for a few days so we didn't get to hit all of the places we wanted but I'll tell you about the few we did hit. Stay tuned......

Savannah: Part One

DH and I had a great time in Savannah. It's the first time we'd ever stopped in Savannah to do anything. We have passed through there numerous times but we were always on our way somewhere else. When Jeff had the opportunity to compete in a bagpipe competition there, I knew I wanted to tag along and check it out. First, I have to tell you that I am fascinated by the trees in Savannah. They are huge and so lovely.

Then there were all of the beautiful homes with ivy covered steps. I didn't tour all of the homes because I want to make a return trip with my MIL and mom to do that. I didn't get a picture of the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" house. I really want to tour that when we take a gal's trip down to Savannah. There are so many Victorian mansions down there, you could plan a trip around just exploring those!

Of course there were beautiful little parks everywhere. Each had a name. My favorite was Oglethorpe Square but they were all beautiful. It was a nice place for us to rest our feet from all the walking we did. If I had brought along my book, I could have stayed here all day!

Trying to take a picture of ourselves proved a little more challenging than we thought. I figured out that you just have to hold your mouth right in order to get your faces into the picture :-o) We'll have to keep perfecting this!

We did plenty of other fun stuff that I'll be sharing soon. I can't wait to tell you about all of the yummy food we had while we were visiting!

Thirteen Things We Saw/Enjoyed in Savannah, GA

1. Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
2. Lady & Sons ~ And boy was the pork BBQ wonderful!
3. Paula Deen's Store
4. Colonial Park Cemetery ~ This was pretty amazing. Some of the head stones were so old that you could no longer read the engraving. That made me sad.
5. A lady who was posing as a statue. She was painted all in grayish-silver paint and stood as still as could be. I didn't even realize she was a real person at first. She was playing a drum but only played when passersby dropped money into her basket. I'll be sharing a picture of her in the next few days.
6. Armadillo road kill ~ Really, I was amazed. Around our parts, it's possum road kill. It was strange to see armadillo on the side of the interstate.
7. An old man playing saxophone in a shaded area on River Street. He was wonderful. We were having supper on the veranda of Dockside (a local seafood place) and it was nice to enjoy his playing as we ate.
8. The ocean ~ We took a day to go to Tybee Island
9. Cheaper gas prices than at home
10. Fried pickle chips at B&D Burgers ~ They were wonderful with ranch dip! They also had 33 different burgers you could order!
11. Horse drawn carriages on downtown streets
12. No rain and wonderfully pleasant weather
13. More shopping than my eyes could take note of

There were tons of other things we enjoyed and I'll be sharing those over the next few days as well as a few photos. I could write one list alone on the food we enjoyed!

For more TT's, visit the official site.

Wordless Wednesday....Breathtaking Cathedral

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, GA

See more WW posts at 5 Minutes For Mom.

We're Here Y'all!

I love to travel. We do it as often as we can afford to. Sometimes it's a ten hour drive to the beach. Other times it's an hour drive to Asheville, NC. One place that I've heard a lot about is Wilmington, NC. I've never been but I have been browsing the attractions there. There are plenty of things to see so I hope we'll be able to travel there in the near future. I love looking for places to stay during our visits. We usually stay in a hotel but one of these days, I want to get a condo and split it with friends. I think that would be so neat. When we are able to travel to Wilmington, I plan on browsing Wilmington real estate in hopes of finding the perfect accommodations.

My MIL goes to the beach every fall with several family members. They all split a big condo and have the best time. As soon as I can convince hubby that it really would be neat to vacation with friends, we're set. I'm not sure if he'll ever agree to it since he likes to be able to go wherever, whenever he wants. Hey, I can try though!

As for this weekend, we're in Savannah, GA and I'm on a mission to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant. The woman may get on your nerves but she's from the south, has a great accent, and loves butter and chocolate! How can you not like her! I just want to try her crab cakes and some sort of chocolate dessert and this trip will be all worth it! LOL! We just arrived so I'm off to throw our suitcases in the proper place and head to town.

Wish you were here!

Guess Where I'm Going Y'all?

DH and I are taking a four day trip to Savannah, GA this weekend. We'll be leaving early Thursday morning and coming home late Sunday night. The only real set plans we have is to attend the Scottish Festival and Games while we are there. DH is competing (solo bagpiping competition) on Saturday at that event but that's the only real thing we have planned. We want to take a day to visit Tybee Island so we're planning a full day for that and hopefully the weather will be nice. So, that covers Sunday (we'll spend the day exploring Tybee and then just head home from there). That leaves half a day and all night on Thursday and an entire day on Friday. So, I need your help. If you've been to Savannah and have any really great tips for us, please share. One must will be to eat lunch or supper at Lady & Sons. No one can travel to Savannah and not have a little Paula Deen before they leave :-o) Even if Paula irritates the snot out of you, you've got to love the fact that she's all about the butter! Oh, and chocolate! Right up my alley! I'll be leaving my diet at the hotel for that one!

I'm trying to throw together a quick schedule so that we can make sure to do all of the things we really want to do. If you've been to Savannah and done something you really enjoyed, let me know. We'll also take any restaurant suggestions you might throw our way. I'm excited already! Is it Thursday yet? LOL!

In Need of New Luggage

When is the last time you took a trip? Was it a long trip or a short one? When I take a trip, I over pack. I'm not sure why I started doing that. I guess I just want to be prepared in case of emergency. When hubby and I went to NY last year, I packed so much that I could not have put one more item in the suitcase. I always hide when it's time for him to pack our luggage into the car. I just know when he lifts my suitcase, he's going to ask what all I've packed!

We've never been the type of family to take a week long vacation. We've always taken long weekend trips. I think the longest trip we've been on, as a family, has been about four nights. We take several of these short trips every year. 2008 will be even no exception since my hubby has decided to start competing in bagpipe competitions. Because ours took such a beating on the trip to NY, we'll need to purchase new luggage sets for these travels. His first competition is in February, in Charleston, SC. I'm looking forward to his ventures in this area because I know how much he loves playing the pipes. I will not be able to go on every trip with him but I hope to accompany him on quite a few of them. I love going to new places and seeing all of the things it has to offer. How about you? Do you travel? Do you like to travel? If you could go anywhere, where would it be?

Buy A City Pass

Last year when Jeff and I were getting ready to visit NYC, we tried to prepare well in advance for the many things we wanted to see. We made a list of all the things we hoped to see and then listed them in order of importance. Because two days of the trip would be work days for Jeff, I knew I would spend those two days doing the things that he didn't care to miss. Being the frugal gal I am, I did a lot of research to figure out how to see the most for our money. A lot of our trip was so uncertain that it made it hard to pre-purchase any attraction tickets.

Now that we've been there and know the layout of the city, we know that we could see more for our money by purchasing a New York CityPass . This pass allows you to see six attractions for half the price of buying each ticket individually. The pass includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, a trip to the Empire State Building Observatory, and a trip on a Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise. You'll also get a map and insider information which shares the best times to visit these places. Now, I can attest to the fact that this is an excellent deal because I took a cruise on the Circle Line and went to the Empire State Building Observatory and paid more than if I'd purchased one of these passes. These also happened to be my two favorite attractions this time around. The lines were not bad because we went in December. However, with this pass, you bypass all the lines. That's a wonderful selling point in my book.

If you know someone who will be visiting NYC, the city pass would make a wonderful gift. If they will use the pass after December 15, they can take advantage of the winter special. This makes the pass valid until March 15. So, if they go up in December and can't see all of the attractions in the pass, they can make a return visit before March and still be able to use it to see the attractions they didn't get to previously. Since December seemed to be a great time to visit because the crowds were low, we will probably make a return trip during that month. Don't worry, this pass will be on my Christmas list as soon as we decide to go that way!

Sense & Sensibility Patterns

Many of you may already be familiar with this website but I wanted to share it with you anyway. Being a huge Jane Austen fan, I started looking for dress patterns to copy some of the dresses from Pride & Prejudice. I was so happy when I stumbled across Sense & Sensibility Patterns. I wish I could sew well because I'd love to go get material and start making these right away. Since I've never learned to sew clothing, I've enlisted my aunt's help. Hopefully she'll say yes to teaching me how to use these patterns to make some lovely dresses for myself and the girls. I love the elegant yet simple charm of these dresses. Have any of you ever used these patterns? Do you sew clothing and if so, what's your favorite thing to make? Do you make your own clothing? I know Gail can so maybe I need to enlist her help on this project as well:-0)

Penny Smashing

Lately, I've recalled so many memories from our NYC trip last year. I never thought I'd be able to go there because it's so expensive. Since hubby's company was paying his expenses, it was the perfect opportunity to tag along. I was able to see this place that I'd always wanted to see, plus we only spent half the money we normally would have spent to get there.

One of the things we enjoyed while there was touring the Empire State Building. The building is huge and the view from the 86th floor observatory was breathtaking. After taking many pictures and feeling like we were going to fall over the edge, we came back inside to make the trek back downstairs to leave. I spotted an old penny press with a hand crank and decided I had to smash a penny as a souvenir. Who wouldn't, right? The catch was that it would cost me $1 to smash my penny. LOL! I didn't care because I really wanted to smash my penny! I made my way over to the penny machine and there was a couple of girls there trying to smash their pennies. They were from Europe and spoke just enough English to ask for my help. They couldn't figure out how to work the machine. It had been years since I had operated one but I assured them that I could help. I dug into my wallet and found a penny, plus the dollar I needed to get the machine to smash the penny. I selected the design I wanted, which happened to be a picture of the State of Liberty. I started to turn the crank and something just wasn't right. I stood there trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. The European gals were talking to each other and I didn't understand a word they were saying. I'm sure now that they were talking about how silly I was....an American, in her home land, who couldn't even work this penny smashing machine! Boy were they ever right. I looked at my hubby and he just tried to pretend he didn't know me. The European girls decided they would help me and within a couple of minutes, they were cranking out my smashed penny. I have no idea what they did but those gals were able to get this machine to work. Needless to say, I was humiliated and felt like a blubbering idiot. We all got a good laugh out of it and the gals went on to make their own pennies. Not to be outdone, I reached deep into my wallet and dug out another $1.01 so that I could make myself another penny. I wanted one that I had made all by myself! This time I chose the design of the Empire State Building. I didn't want to forget the day that a couple of European gals showed me how to work a machine that I had used many times as a child. As I write this, hubby and I are laughing ourselves silly at this memory. Fun times!

Cost of entry into the ESB ~ $36

Cost to use penny machine to smash two pennies ~ $2.02

The memory of two foreign gals showing me up in my own backyard ~ Priceless

We Made It

We made it in to the Atlanta area around midnight. We made great time since we didn't actually get out of town until around 8pm. The drive is pretty easy and it seemed to go quickly. A few things I did not enjoy about the drive were:

• Stopping at a McDonald's for a sundae and having to wait in the drive thru for a good fifteen minutes. Did they have to make the milk?
• The terrible Route 25 going through Greeneville, SC. The bad thing is that alot of it is new four lane. It's just an awful road. I don't like it. It just seems dangerous at night. The visibility is terrible or something.
• The many big trucks on the road. I know they have to be there but hey, I don't like em' on the road when I'm on it!
• The fact that McD's people didn't give us any napkins with our sundaes. I had to ride from Greeneville, SC to Atlanta with sticky, icky ice cream covered hands. That's because they took so long to get it to me, it was half melted. Did I mention that they didn't give us enough spoons either? LOL!

A few things I enjoyed about the drive:

• It's very easy to reflect when you're riding in a car. Lots of time to think about things.
• That the drive was safe.
• The Mexican food we ate before we left town was wonderful.
• All of our stuff fit into the car.
• We didn't have any car trouble.
• That the hotel has internet access that actually works! Woo hoo!
• Listening to the girls giggle.
• Talking to my mom on the phone.
• Talking to my MIL on the phone.

It's late and I'm off to bed. Hopefully we'll make it to the aquarium in the morning and to The Varsity for lunch. For now, good night. Until we meet again.....