Spring Break 2015 Saturday March 14, 2015

This morning we got up (early yet again) and hit the road around 7:45 after Ryan and I ate a mediocre breakfast downstairs (the boys went to Starbucks for breakfast).  Then it was nothing between us and home but 600 miles. 

We got stuck in about 1 hour of traffic due to an 18-wheeler carrying hundreds of tires getting in a big wreck.  We ate lunch in Jackson, MS at a McAlisters again, since it was so good, then made it home to Dallas around 6:15 after 2,534 miles!

It was nice coming home to the apartment – so little to do to get caught back up.  The trip will be officially over once we pick up Hooper tomorrow. 

Great trip!!!

Spring Break 2015 Friday March 13, 2015

We got up this morning, had a nice breakfast and got on the road.  The plan was to drive from Savannah to Tuscaloosa via Auburn.  We stopped briefly in Columbus, AL for Chick-fil-a (I am now suffering from horrible heartburn) then we drove to Auburn. 

The campus was surprisingly void of trees.  There are some but it just wasn’t what I had expected.  We moved on to Tuscaloosa via Montgomery (or maybe the outskirts of Montgomery but either way the town looked very beautiful – not at all what I’d expected – lots of trees, lots of hills, very clean.)  We got into Tuscaloosa around 5:00, with the time change back to Central and I walked on the Microtel treadmill while reading ‘Gone Girl’.  Ryan is upstairs in the room reading Harry Potter 6 (we’ve read them all together and she’s going back and reading them all on her own).  Oh and this Microtel is a million times nicer than the one we stayed at in South Carolina. 

Around 6:00 we drove through the campus and saw the football stadium – it’s huge!   

 

Then we had a nice dinner at McAlisters.  And surprisingly, all four of us loved our meals. 

We headed back to our hotel, took showers and got into bed.  I stayed up late finishing my book (very good).  This was certainly not one of the best days of the vacation but considering we drove almost 500 miles (almost 2,000 in total), it wasn’t too too bad.

Spring Break 2015 Thursday March 12, 2015

Wow.  This was a great day.  We got up around 7:15 and got ready to go to Congaree but the breakfast was fairly picked over so Grant ate at the hotel and we all headed back over to Chick-fil-a for a quick breakfast then went down to Congaree National Park. 

 The park was neat but was about what I expected – nothing that I’d ever want to go back to.  We went on a 2.7 mi boardwalk “hike” which seemed like a piece of cake compared to what we’d just done in the Smoky Mountains.  

Then we got in the car around 10:45 and drove down to Hilton Head.  The drive was uneventful and we arrived around 1:15.  Hilton Head was really beautiful.  We ate at the BEST seafood place ever called Sea Shack.  And it was a shack but it was amazing. 

Then we drove down to the beach, parked in the only available parking spot, and walked out onto the beach of the Atlantic Ocean and put our feet in.  There was a gusting wind and a lot of spring breakers out and about but the kids can now officially say that they’ve been in both oceans.  

We got back in the car around 2:45 and drove to Savannah.  The kids watched Big Hero 6 for the 400^th time.  They’ve been watching it in English, Spanish and French and have been cracking up at the same scenes every time.  There’s a funny part where one of the characters says something random like, “Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient amulet he found in the attic.  Uhm,uhm uhm, the amulet it green. Uhm, uhm uhm –it’s probably an emerald.  I personally have no idea what he’s talking about but it’s funny to hear it in Spanish.  We’ve all enjoyed saying, “Uhm, uhm, uhm, el amulet es verde!”

We pulled into the Savannah Hampton Inn around 4 and checked in.  We got a HUGE corner room which seems like it’s almost twice as wide and much longer than a normal room.  It’s awesome, especially after the “Microhell” from last night. We promptly got out our Savannah map and went on a 1.5ish hour walk of Savannah.  And all I can say is “WOW”.  I like this town so much better than Charleston.  There are little city parks every few blocks and the architecture is so interesting.  There’s also moss hanging from most of the trees, just like what you imagine. 

We went down to Forsyth Park and the kids swung on playground swings, then we walked over past the cemetery then over to City Market where we had dinner at Wild, Wild Wings.  It was delicious.  Nick and I both had a few beers with dinner – ahhhh.  Then we briefly sat and watch some live music outside, walked through and bought wonderful cookies at Byrds and walked back to the hotel around 7:45.  The hotel is so very nice.  I’d really like to come back here sometime soon.  I really enjoyed this day and am sad to think that our trip is basically over.  I think we’d all four like this to last a little bit longer. 

Spring Break 2015 Wednesday March 11, 2015

We got up this morning and had yet another hotel breakfast, which was surprisingly, very good again. Originally the forecast showed an 80% chance of rain but all we got was a little drizzle.  (I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been on this dang trip.) Our hotel was about 1/3 mile from the entrance to the Biltmore so we entered the gates around 9:30 and purchased tickets for Nick and me.  The tickets were $50 for adults and free for kids ages 9 and under.  Good think Ryan is 9!  We drove over to house and did the self-guided tour.  The house truly was incredible – 250 rooms and 178,000+ square feet.   

 

 There happened to be a temporary exhibit featuring the costumes of the television show Downton Abbey.  Ryan was completely taken by the costumes.  I found the “his and her” bedrooms very interesting and the bowling alley, swimming pool and “gym” were a surprise.  There was also a separate kitchen for meat and pastries.  We didn’t spend a lot of time there but we did buy the picture that was taken of us.

We walked through the gardens briefly and through the greenhouse which grew hundreds of orchids.  Grant was grossed out by the smell of the place.  We then got back in our car and drove down to the Antlers Village and had a great lunch at Cedric’s.  

Cedric was the name of George Vanderbilt’s Saint Bernard. We left around 1:30 or so and drove down to Columbus, South Carolina.  The drive was beautiful and pretty short – 160 miles or so.  After driving through downtown (not a whole lot to it) we checked into our Microtel around 4:00 – not the greatest place but definitely close to the next National Park.  The kids immediately hit the vending machine, their favorite thing in the world. I went for a run while the kids and Nick stayed in the room.  Ryan and I played Sorry while the boys played catch then we walked over to the Chick-fil-a next door for dinner.  After a quick shower Grant and I played catch for a bit outside of the hotel then we turned in for the night.  Nick and Ryan played Quirkle while Grant attempted to write a book about Spring Break but after he spelled “break” “brake” he got super mad and ended his book after one sentence and is now crashed out next to me.  Tomorrow we’re off to Congaree, then Hilton Head then Savannah.  I am so excited!  It will really be the last true vacation day of the trip as the last two days will be pretty well chewed up with driving.

Spring Break '15 Tuesday March 10, 2015

This morning we got up around 8, had breakfast again, which was again, delicious, and packed up.  We went back into the park and this time decided to hike the 5.4 mi Rainbow Falls trail.  We’d heard the day before that it was a great hike.  The only obstacle was the weather forecast which was full of rain.  When we pulled into the parking lot, it wasn’t raining but the wind was HOWLING and it made Nick and me both a little bit uncomfortable.  The tall trees were swaying back and forth and it just seemed like a huge storm was going to blow in.  But man-oh-man was luck on our side yet again.   

We hiked up and it took a little more than two hours.  It was super muddy and pretty steep.  The first hour we made cairns along the way every ten minutes or so.  There were several small waterfalls along the way and lots of water crossings and even a few log bridges that always make me nervous.  

 We played ‘I’m thinking of something’ up (and down) much of the trail and no one suffered any serious injuries.  Ryan sang a large section of ’99 jugs of milk on the wall’ and made it the whole way through by the time we finished the hike.

At the top we precariously situated ourselves and had a small picnic/snack or salami, crackers, cheese and apples.  Then we headed back down.  And man it was super windy but it never rained once in the almost 4 hours that it took us to complete the hike. 

At the end I realized my Timberland hiking shoes that I’ve had for 16+ years had torn so I took a picture of them and threw them away in the bear-safe trashcan at the end of the trailhead. 

We drove back through Gatlinburg and re-entered the park through the main entrance and drove south down the road that divides the park between east and west. 

The drive was something!  It began raining and there were iced over small waterfalls all along the way.  I can’t believe how lucky we got with the rain.  

 We drove south into Cherokee, NC (an Indian reservation) and stopped at a Dairy Queen where we all got a much-needed snack.  Then we drove over to Ashville. 

Before we checked into the hotel, we drove by my Great Grandfather’s house and sent a picture to my mom.  So cool!   

Then we checked into a Baymont Inn and Suites and all took showers/baths because we were filthy – literally covered in splattered mud from the hike.  Then we took a quick drive through downtown Asheville (I LOVE THIS TOWN!) and ate at the Wayside Grill, which used to be a train station (at the recommendation of the man working the front desk).  The food was delicious and the service was great.  Then we headed back to the room and the kids got into their bathing suits.  Believe it or not, the hotel has a washer and dryer that are dirt cheap so right now, I’m sitting by the edge of the indoor pool/hot tub while the kids are swimming and we have a full load of filthy laundry in the wash. 

It was another amazing day with luck firmly on our side yet again!  I love this trip!!