Travel Archives - The Way Home

Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Travel

A Puerto Rico Adventure to Remember

With one year of high school Spanish under her belt, Savannah has gotten to immerse herself in 2 different hispanic cultures with a mission trip to Honduras and a Puerto Rico adventure to remember this Summer.

One of our dear friend’s daughter graduated this year and asked Savannah and I to tag along for a special trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate her graduation. I was tasked with finding and booking adventurous excursions to help us explore the beauty of Puerto Rico.

We rented a 3 bedroom condo through Airbnb at the Aquatika resort. Savannah and I flew in a day early and were able to get settled and find our way around our corner of the island. The resort was a safe gated community with a variety of pools and beach access that made it fun for the girls to explore some on their own.

Most people who come to Puerto Rico, come to Old San Juan on a cruise ship. In one day this is the only part of the island they are able to take in. After attending a local church service on Sunday, Savannah and I had a fun meal at Waffle Era Tea Room and decided to explore the streets of Old San Juan before picking up the Tash’s from the airport.

I enjoyed the cobblestone streets with varied colored buildings. We found some of the iconic picture spots… Umbrella Street on Fortaleza Street (which currently was lined with paper bells), Pigeon Park, and the 2 forts that line the northern shore.

El Yunque Rainforest Adventure

We began our week with a full day of adventuring with I sland Journeys. We met up with a tour that took us trekking through a muddy trail, climbing over rocks, through crevices, around waterfalls, and plenty of time to slide down rocks and jump off cliffs into a refreshing pool of water. Check out my highlight reel below…

Bio Bay Kayak Tour

After a nice local dinner at Rincon Del Faro, where we were able to try an island favorite, Mofungo – a plantain mash stuffed with meat of choice, we headed to our final adventure of the day with a Kayak tour to a bioluminescent bay.

Puerto Rico is home to 3 different bioluminescent bays where you can usually see the glowing plankton throughout the year. Our tour partnered with Kayaking Puerto Rico in Fajardo to take us out in kayaks through a mangrove canal into an open lagoon. The plankton is best viewed under a new moon and dark sky conditions, which we didn’t have on this evening. With the help of a tarp to create darkness we were able to splash water into our kayaks and see the magical blue sparkles glow jump around.

A Magical Island Tour

Caroline is an avid horse rider and has grown up tending to horses, so we knew we had to experience Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, by horse. We took the local ferry across to the island for our afternoon adventure with Esperanza Riding Company. We had a taxi pick us up at the Ferry Terminal on the north side of the island and take us the south side of the island. We enjoyed fresh mangos from the orchard at the stable, while we waiting to set saddled up.

We rode through some trails, city streets, and scenic overlooks, but my favorite part was the open beaches we walked through with the island’s wild horses all around us.

This trail ride was a little less intense than Savannah’s first experience on a horse last Summer at Bryce Canyon!

An Underwater Adventure

If you go to Puerto Rico, you can’t miss one of the many options to snorkel and explore the underwater reefs and sea life. On Wednesday we dodged thunderstorms and spent the afternoon with Snorkeling Puerto Rico. We were chartered in a boat out to a reef location to explore, then we beached for a bit at the edge of Icacos Island.

We caught a beautiful sunset after the storms on our way to dinner.

If Walls Could Talk in Old San Juan

With our last day in Puerto Rico, we went to explore more of Old San Juan and take in the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. This fort sits majestically at the tip of the northern most point of the island. It was pretty impressive to walk through the 500 year old solid walls of this fort and think of all the people it has seen over the years! The views from the top and different levels were pretty impressive!

We got back to our resort just in time to quickly change clothes and catch sunset portraits on our beach. I couldn’t think of a better ending to our week in Puerto Rico, full of adventure and memories to remember!

It is hard to believe we are about to embark on Savannah’s Senior year!

I would love to know if you have a favorite place you have been in Puerto Rico or if you are planning a trip in the future!

Spread the love

Categories: Faith, Family, Life, Travel

The Circle

On a recent last minute trip to Nashville, the girls and I were able to experience our first Grand Ole Opry show. Being Thanksgiving weekend and one of the busiest times around the Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills Mall, I was surprised to find some balcony tickets available and knew it would be a fun to experience the Nashville country flavor in a family friendly environment.

Carrie Underwood introduced the evening through a prerecorded video that explained the history behind the “circle” of different colored wood on the stage, and the emotion that artists feel as they walk into that circle on the Grand Ole Opry stage. I was surprise to learn the Grand Ole Opry is coming up on 100 years running.

The show was a blend of old and new talent and featured more than just vocal artists. I appreciated the spotlight given to the instrumentalists on stage and we were blown away from the talent of a harmonica player.

As the show moved from one act to the next, what caught my eye was the limber camera man in the shadows who would stretch and contort himself to film varying angles of the artists and instrumentalists. He knew how to project the artists in the best light to shine for the audience on the big screens.

More than any artist on stage, it was this camera man that I resonated with. I have spent many years in the shadows finding and casting the best light to tell the story of children, families, and various events. I am at peace when I am able to fulfill this creative role in my life.

Sitting on one side of me was a daughter who didn’t particularly want to be there, but allowed herself to relax into the show and enjoy the experience. Understanding music and playing the clarinet in the school band, I envisioned her on stage as an accompanying musician. The other daughter on my other side was excited to see the stage where some of her favorites like Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash once performed. She is developing a vocal talent and I could see her standing in that circle one day with a microphone in hand. As much as she can see herself also in the circle, she fears the spotlight corrupting her strong moral character. Her fears light a fire in me to guide her to be a light in this dark world!

In Life

Whether you are called to be in the circle as the lead performer, backup singer/musician, or the one recording the event, be proud of the role you play to deliver an excellent show to the spectators.

Spread the love

Categories: Faith, Family, Life, Travel

Let Your Light Shine

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.

While we were on our family vacation to Utah, I knew I wanted to find a red rock background to photograph Sarah Beth in this dress we purchased from SHEIN. The Double Arch at Arches National Park at sunset turned out to be the perfect backdrop!

Each year we challenge our Spoiled Rotten Photography photographers to find inspiration in a work of art, or work of another photographer that speaks to them and experiment with different lighting, setting, clothing, etc. to produce their own work of photographic art.

I have been a fan of LJ Holloway’s soft environmental portraits for a while. I recently came across this senior session she did with a red rock environment, and it got my wheels turning for what I wanted to capture in Utah with Sarah Beth.

The reality of taking portraits at a popular National Park is the image on the left. There were a good many people crossing our path while trying to take sunset portraits. Never underestimate Photoshop to save the day.

After working with several angles, using the sun and the arches to our advantage I just happen to catch an unexpected magical glow of the sun through a tiny hole in big rock to the left of the Double Arch. I adjusted my camera settings to freeze the sun’s rays as it burst through the hole at the perfect angle and we photographed a couple images adding a touch of light from an external flash Savannah held off to the left.

I love the effect in the following image with the natural light source, the sun, and the artificial light source bursting in unison.

The look and determination on this image owns me! Only Sarah Beth would climb the Double Arch barefoot and in a dress as a reward for letting me take portraits in front of the arches.

Sarah Beth you radiate the Lord’s light and I have no doubt you will continue to Let Your Light Shine throughout your life.

Are you traveling to an amazing destination? Hit me up, I’m always available for hire to travel and capture you and your family in amazing places!

Spread the love

Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Travel

11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour

We just got back from an 11 day Utah/AZ National Park road trip tour of the “Mighty Five” National Parks in Utah plus the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It would be possible to take this trip in 7 days, but we gave ourselves some extra time in Salt Lake City after we flew in and in Las Vegas before we flew out.

After our trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, we knew we wanted to take the girls to visit as many national parks we could this Summer before our annual National Park Pass expired.

Jonathan had a lot of Marriott Rewards points banked from work travel, so we chose our accommodations around hotels we could stay for free and then chose a VRBO in the middle of our trip to be able to spread out and wash clothes.

Thursday, June 2 – 5:30 pm Southwest flight to Salt Lake City.

I was able to book one way tickets for around $200/per person.

Friday, June 3 – Salt Lake City – SpringHill Suites Sugar House

We didn’t get to hotel till 1:30 am, so we slept in and then hit a couple thrift stores looking for dresses for Bonneville Salt Flat pictures. We drove around downtown and spent some time walking through the Mormon Church History Museum before going back to hotel to rest and get ready for salt flat pictures.

Saturday, June 4 – Salt Lake City

We had a day to explore Salt Lake City with the Connect Pass.

Sunday, June 5 – Salt Lake City

We left our hotel and visited a local church in Kaysville before beginning our drive to Moab. It is about a 4 hour drive from Salt Lake City to Moab. We got checked into our hotel and had enough time to grab some food at the local City Market grocery store before driving out to Dead Horse State Park to catch the sunset.

Monday, June 6 – Moab – SpringHill Suites Moab

Our hotel was less than 5 minutes from the Arches National Park entrance. We left at 4:30 am to drive into the park and be able to hike the Delicate Arch Trail to watch the sunrise. We began the trail around 5:00 am in the dark with flashlights and a Father/Son group navigating alongside us. It was well worth the early wake up call to beat the heat and the crowds typically found at the Delicate Arch!

After hiking back down the mountain, we drove around the roads and checked out the Windows Arches and Turret Arch before heading back to the hotel to catch breakfast. After resting, we walked around in the local shops of Moab and enjoyed an afternoon meal at the local food truck park.

Tuesday, June 7 – Moab

We got up early again to watch the sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. It was about a 45 minute drive into the park from our hotel, but we didn’t have to hike too far to get to the Mesa Arch. This is a very popular spot for photographers and tourist to capture the sun’s rays peaking over the mountain and through the thin arch.

We hiked a few other short trails like the Whale Trail and the Upheavel Dome Trail before heading back to the hotel. Our hotel had a really nice outdoor patio and pool area, so the girls enjoyed resting and swimming for the afternoon. That evening we went back into the Arches park to take some portraits before sunset.

Wednesday, June 8 – Moab

We left our hotel and drove 2.5 hours to Capital Reef National Park. We were surprised by the different looking mountains and rock formations as we drove into this park. The green orchards were a pleasant oasis amount the mountains. We hiked the Cohab Canyon Trail. We had a later start in the day, so we definitely felt the heat more while hiking. There is a cute little bakery by the barn and the Cohab Canyon Trail. We got 2 small pies to enjoy as we drove the scenic drives before we left the park.

There really aren’t many hotels built up around Capital Reef, so it is no surprise it isn’t as popular the other 4 Utah parks.

From here we had about 4.5 hour drive to get to our next destination in Page, Arizona. Page is right on the Utah/Arizona border, and not too far from the parks in Utah, but the few roads have to route around mountains.

Along the way we found Henrie’s Drive In restaurant and tried their famous “Chubby Cheese Burgers”.

We had just enough time before dark to stop and hike up to the Sand Caves just outside Kanab, Utah. These caves are easy to access just off Highway 89 and a fairly easy hike up to.

Thursday, June 9 – Page – VRBO

There are plenty of hotels in this tourist/crossroads town, but we chose a VRBO to have a little more space to spread out and be able to do laundry half way through our trip. Page is famous for its local Antelope slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend. Page is on Arizona time, which in the Summer is 1 hour behind Utah time, so that messed with us a little with sunrise and sunset times.

We did a Kayak and Canyon tour in the morning. This was a lot of fun and we got some amazing pictures in the lower Antelope slot canyon that can only be accessed by boat.

We enjoyed Birdhouse for lunch in town after that physical activity in the sun.

We were able to able to check out the famous Horseshoe Bend at sunset along with hundreds of other people!

Friday, June 10 – Page

We drove 2.5 hours to the Grand Canyon North Rim National Park. This was one of the most scenic drives of the week, driving to and from the park.

Make sure to stop at the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center and walk out on the bridge to see the Colorado River below.

Jacob’s Inn is a fun pit stop before you enter the drive to the park. They have a great gift shop with tshirts that are cheaper than the park visitor center. They have some amazing cookie choices also that you don’t want to miss!

We drove around to the lookout vista points at the Grand Canyon and didn’t take on any hikes. Before we left, we did see a rain storm brewing to the south. We were told it had been 70 days since the southern Utah region had gotten any rain!

For dinner, we stopped back at Jacob’s Inn to try the Fry Bread food truck. It didn’t disappoint!

Saturday, June 11 – Cedar City – Courtyard Cedar City

We packed up and left our VRBO and drove 2.5 hours to Bryce Canyon. We booked an afternoon horse trail ride through Bryce Canyon. We are all new to horseback riding, but everyone said this may have been their favorite activity of the week! We did the 3 hour tour that takes you 8 miles into the canyon and around the Peek-A-Boo trail and back. Once we got over the fears of going downhill on switchbacks on the edge of cliffs on a horse, it was smooth riding.

The views from the top and from below were amazing!

It was another amazing scenic drive from Bryce Canyon to our next hotel in Cedar City. We stopped at Aunt Sue’s Chalet for dinner along the drive. The the food was ok, but the homemade pie was pretty fantastic!

Sunday, June 12 – Cedar City

Our last National Park to visit was Zion National Park. I know this is a favorite park for many, and I wish we had more time and energy to devote to exploring it. We came prepared and geared up to hike the famous Narrows hike along the Virgin River. We got to the park early to beat the crowds and heat and catch the 6:00 shuttle bus to the Narrows hike. At Zion, everyone has to park at the visitor center and ride a bus to 1 of 9 stops to reach different trails.

Recommendations for Narrows Hike

Water Shoes – Shoes have a good grip on the bottom.
Water Socks – This shoe and sock combo were comfortable for hiking in and out of water.
Hiking stick or dowel to keep balance on rocks – we picked up 4 dowels at a local Ace Hardware and left at the end of the trail for someone else to use when we were done.

You walk along a paved 1 mile path to get to the entrance on the river and then you are hiking through the river and along the shore back and forth to go up the canyon. We didn’t hike all the way to the end of the trail, and turned around at the Wall Street area. It took us a good 5 hours to complete the trail. It was well worth an early start after we saw the crowds that had increased on the hike back!

We were tired and hungry when we got back so we stopped for lunch at the restaurant at the lodge.

When you leave the park don’t miss the gem of a local coffee shop, FeelLove Coffee just outside the park. They had an extensive menu and was a nice treat for the drive back to Cedar City.

There was a Golden Corral across the street from our hotel, so the girls were excited to try that buffet for the first time.

Monday, June 13 – Las Vegas – Marriott Grand Chateau

We packed up and left Cedar City and stopped in St. George for lunch and one last cup of FeelLove Coffee before heading to Las Vegas. Once we got to Las Vegas we had a few hours before we could check into our hotel, so we drove down and checked out Hoover Dam. We were impressed with the size and magnitude of this dam as we walked across it! Like Lake Powell in Page, you could see where the water lines on Lake Mead was hundreds of feet below where it once was.

After checking into our amazing villa room, we wouldn’t get to enjoy long, we toured the strip checking out the shopping and restaurants tucked into the grand hotels.

Sarah Beth loves Flamingos, so we made sure to check out the flamingo habitat at the Flamingo Resort.

With children, make sure to check out the huge M&M store, but a tip for you. When you are suddenly craving M&M’s you can get a bag for a lot cheaper next door at Target.

Las Vegas may not be somewhere I want to spend a lot of time, but it was fun seeing some of the famous sites before our early morning flight.

Tuesday, June 14 – 5:20 am flight on Southwest from Las Vegas to Birmingham

Thanks for sticking around while we shared our 11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour. Let me know if you love any of these places we visited or if you need help planning a future trip for your family!

Spread the love

Categories: Family, Life, Travel

Experience Salt Lake City

The best way to experience Salt Lake City with children is to get the Connect Pass. We had a Saturday to explore local attractions and this pass well paid for itself as we were able to visit 5 of the 16 attractions on the list.

Savannah loves dinosaurs, so we began our day at Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life. It was a well put together museum taking you through different prehistoric time periods and meeting some of the animals that would have lived in different regions.

Next we drove over to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, which is also in the Thanksgiving Point area. We didn’t know what to expect walking in, but this was a well done hands on museum for children and adults to explore together. Our girls would have appreciated it a lot more 5 years ago, but it was still fun to check out.

We completed the Thanksgiving Point attractions with a walk through the beautiful Ashton Gardens. They were hosting a Dinosaur Island through the Summer, so it was fun to meet the animatronic dinosaurs along the paths.

After lunch we drove out to Park City for Sarah Beth’s request to do the Ropes Course at Olympic Park. This was my first experience with this type of high ropes course. Savannah and I went with the Discovery course that ended with a zipline back down and Jonathan and Sarah Beth braved the moderate Canyon course.

With the rest of our evening we drove to the downtown SLC area and enjoyed a stroll through the Red Butte Gardens. It was a fun place to dream of gardens we would love to have one day.

On the way to the gardens Sarah Beth was pleasantly surprised to see the East High School from the High School Musical series.

While we were downtown on Friday, we walked through the Mormon Church History Museum. It was interesting to learn the origins of the Mormon faith. On the upper floor they had unique religious artwork from artists from all over the world.

I look forward to the fresh restaurant choices that Salt Lake City has to offer every time I visit! Some of my favorites are…

The Best Fresh Fast Casual Dining in Salt Lake City

Blue Lemon – Real food served quickly.
Cafe Rio – A build your own Tex Mex entree. Make sure to try the mint limeade!
Cafe Zupas – A large menu with soups, salads, and sandwiches. What’s not to love about the surprise chocolate covered strawberry that comes with every meal?
Pizzaria Limone – Unique personal pizzas. Who knew fruit could be so good on pizza!
Crumbl Cookie – Where this cookie craze began!
In-N-Out Burger – A CA favorite that you can find in SLC.

Have you been to Salt Lake City? What are some of your favorite activities?

Spread the love

Categories: Family, Life, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

A Salt Wonderland

When you think of Utah, you may think of snow covered mountains, but do you think of salt filled lakes? I have always wanted to drive out to the Bonneville Salt Flats and take pictures, and it wasn’t until our recent Utah family trip I was able to experience this mysterious salt wonderland.

We flew into Salt Lake City, Utah and had 2 days to explore before we started our Utah National Park tour in Moab. We packed white dresses to take portraits with the girls and as a family. When we arrived in Salt Lake City, I mentioned to the girls… “What if we could find some colorful flowy dresses at a thrift store that you could wear on the salt flats?” They were on board with that idea, so Friday morning we stopped by a local Deseret Industries Thrift Store (One of the nicest thrift stores I have been in!) and they they just happened to have 2 pretty dresses that fit the girls perfectly. Best $20 I’ve spent for portrait clothing!

The Bonneville Salt Flats recreation area is about an hour and a half drive West on I-80, almost to the Nevada border. When we got there we saw cars pulled out onto the flat and people were taking pictures, and playing on the hard packed salt flats. We had a 4×4 rental SUV so it was easy enough to drive out and pick a spot. You would not want to drive onto the salt flats if there is standing water on the ground. When we arrived, we had a couple hours before sunset. The sun was still a little high in the sky making for harsh conditions for squinty eyes and reading the back of a camera.

We drove around to the backside and found a magical puddle of water being illuminated by the setting sun and Sarah Beth hopped out and we were able to capture some final magical images.

We made a local friend who decided to follow us around on all our adventures for the rest of the week.

A salt wonderland was a fun experience to begin our Utah Family Adventure. The girls were excited to try In-N-Out Burger when we made it back to town.

Spread the love

Categories: Life, Photography, Travel

Million Dollar View

This million dollar view was literally the climax of our trip to Montana!

After looking at the best things to do in Glacier National Park, I knew the Highline Trail was at the top of my list of things to do with our limited time at the park. From everything I read, it offered some of the best variety of terrains and views and a relatively flat 7.5 mile one way hike. Towards the end of the trail, I knew there would be a harder trail called the Garden Wall Trail that we could take for a view that would be worth the steep hike up.

I am not a seasoned hiker, but I envisioned completing this hike and was up for whatever challenge it would present. Jonathan and I set out on the trail about 10 am knowing that we would be on this trail most of the day. We had beautiful weather and the trail lived up to its expectations with ever changing terrain and beautiful meadows of wildflowers. We joked that the national park service had strategically planted special effects along the way to keep the hike interesting. At times we felt like we were participants in the Hunger Games with swarms of gnats, flies, cool waterfalls, rocks to climb over, mountain goats along the path, marmots playing hide and seek, rock slides, and warnings to carry bear spray… just in case.

We got to the optional Garden Wall trail in about 3 hours. Little did we know that 0.6 mile vertical hike would require multiple stops to rest along the way, but everyone coming down said the hike up was definitely worth it!

Once we finally reached the top we were able to view Grinnell Glacier sitting right below the backside of the mountain. I thought we were at the top until I saw a small outline of a person up on an even higher rock viewpoint. So, up I climbed to get the best possible view. I hauled my camera in my backpack all this way, so I wasn’t leaving without getting the best picture I could. After climbing up and joining the crowd of adventurous adults, much younger than myself, I snapped a few pictures and then saw the ominous dark clouds moving in over the East side of the mountain. I climbed back down and joined up with Jonathan and we agreed we better start heading back down the mountain before we got caught in the storm. That impending storm got us off that mountain A LOT faster than it took us to go up! When we made it to the bottom, we had to choose… hike back the 7 miles we came to get to our car and potentially walk through rain or continue on to the chalet we could see 0.8 up ahead where we could take shelter under cover.

The effects kept coming… we walked through big rain drops all the way to the chalet. It was a refreshing rain that got us wet without actually soaking us. That storm did settle in for about 30 minutes and we were undercover for most of it. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees with the rain, and quickly warmed back up with the sun.

We decided to try the 4 mile Loop Trail that would take us back to a parking lot. We met a young couple along the trail that we were able to hitch hike a ride back to our car. By the time we made it back to our car, it was 7 pm. It was a great last day to our trip and an experience and million dollar view I’m sure we will tell our grandkids about one day.

Have you taken any memorable hikes that resulted in your own million dollar views?

Spread the love

Categories: Family, Life, Spoiled Rotten Photography, Travel

Meet me at Magnolia

You can meet me at Magnolia any time!

This girl of mine is just like her Mom and enjoys a good adventure! After making arrangements to be in the Houston area to help launch the newest Spoiled Rotten Photography franchise, I knew I would have one day to explore the area. When I discovered Waco is less than 3 hours from Katy, I began scheming how I could get Sarah Beth out to Texas to join me for a day trip to Waco to experience all things Magnolia. I knew this would be a dream opportunity for her that I didn’t want to miss out on. The girls and I discovered Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Fixer Upper show in 2016 and binge watched each of their episodes, following the design trends and watching the projects that always seemed to get bigger. After watching Joanna work her magic, I began seeing an innate design and interior design ability in Sarah Beth. She has been the child that will ignore the growing mound of clothes in a corner, but will rearrange her furniture and stage the nic nacs on her shelves everyday. Of course, when I shared this idea and plan with Sarah Beth she was so excited and ready to soak it all in, even if it would be a quick trip. We found a direct flight from Bham to Houston on United Airlines. The tickets were cheap enough Jonathan could fly out with Sarah Beth cheaper than we could pay for her to be accompanied by a United staff member, and then catch the same flight back to Bham that evening. Everything aligned perfectly to make a smooth transition at the airport.

I visited The Magnolia Market and Waco area with my Mom in January 2017, but this would be Sarah Beth’s first trip to Texas. I was excited to see all the new development and projects that have been added since 2017. We just missed by a few weeks the completion of the newest expansion with church, small shops, and wiffle ball field.

Given the current social distancing protocols, we had to wait some at the shops and restaurants, but nothing compared to what it probably would be in a normal year. After visiting the main Magnolia Market store we grabbed a chai latte to share at the Magnolia Press and walked through the Magnolia Home furniture store. We drove over to the Magnolia Table restaurant for lunch. With limited capacity we had to wait an hour for a table for a late lunch, but the delicious brunch/lunch menu is worth the wait! We split the Farm Breakfast and Gaines’ Family Favorite chili. They were both fantastic, and we agreed it some of the best bacon we have ever had!

With our lunch ticket they gave us the cutest little Waco passport booklet. After lunch we drove around the Castle Heights neighborhood to see the Gaines’ upcoming castle project, saw the Hillcrest Bed and Breakfast, and drove out to the original Magnolia on Bosque, which is now the sister discount store. We found a few additional treasures and souvenirs and headed back to get the rest of our passport stamps and end our afternoon with a cupcake from the Silos Bakery.

If you have been thinking about visiting Magnolia, you should totally do it! Grab your daughters, a few girlfriends, or your spouse and make it a weekend getaway. I promise you will leave refreshed and inspired. You can meet me at Magnolia any time!

Spread the love

Categories: Family, Life, Travel

Drive into a New Decade

If we are shifting everything up and changing normals in 2020, I might as well drive into a new decade in style.

This month we took the plunge and upgraded our faithful 2010 Honda Odyssey mini-van for a more sporty, economical, smooth riding 2020 Toyota Highlander. We searched high and low for the unicorn color combo that I preferred.

The other day I began thinking of the memories and how each of the cars I have driven have defined the era of my life or decade that I drove them.

I was blessed by my parents to drive a Saturn sedan from the time I could drive through my collage years. It was one of the few “American Made” cars that we all agreed on in the mid 1990s. That car protected me and passengers from both a rear and front-end collision during my first couple of years of driving home from school. It transported me around town to various part-time jobs. That car safely transported me to and from Tampa while attending Florida Collage and then allowed me to finish my collage career at Auburn. That car taught me independence

After getting my first “real job”, as a teacher in Auburn, we traded in the green Saturn for a more spacious Toyota Camry. That car was the vehicle of my 20s.

The practical Camry would be the car that would…

• Carry me to work each day

• Haul boxes of materials and books to and from classrooms, multiple times

• Welcome me safely home to our first 3 houses

• Welcome our first born child home from the hospital

• Accept a 2nd carseat in the back for our growing family

I would have driven that car indefinitely as a family of 4, but in 2010 Jonathan talked me into transitioning to a mini-van. So Mother’s Day weekend 2010, we traded in the well-loved blue Camry for a gray Honda Odyssey van and we quickly grew to love the additional space and comfort it gave our family. That van would be the vehicle of my 30s.

A lot of growth occurred while driving that van…

• Our children grew from toddlers to teenagers

• Would welcome us home to our next 2 homes

• Dropped my girls off for their first days of school

• Hauled A LOT of photo equipment and props for countless photo sessions

• Allowed me to reach many personal goals

• Countless trips between Atlanta and Birmingham

• Even though the van encountered a few bumps and scratches from parking, it kept us safe on the road

• Memories together as a family traveling

• Many visits to see family

• The goodness of essential oils to keep carsick prone children traveling well

• Bucket list items checked off along the way

• Taught me about spark plugs

• Hauled our camp chairs and tent for outdoor church this year

Once again I would have been happy to drive that faithful gray mini van another 200,000 miles, but I sensed it was time to drive into a new decade in a new ride. So the vehicle of my 40s will be an SUV.

I envision this will be the vehicle that will…

• Teach me about the car technology I have been missing out on like Apple CarPlay

• Be sportier and more fun to drive around town

• Be more economical with a hybrid engine

• Be will a safer vehicle to drive and park with all the cameras and safety features that have been added

• Be time alone to think and pray

• Teach both my girls to drive in

• Drop the girls off at collage

• Do I dare say it could be the vehicle we drive away from their wedding in?

Driving down the road the other day, Sarah Beth said, “I hope you drive this car until I have kids.” That comment made me stop and think…. “Whoah… how long do I potentially have before that point?” 10 years? 15 years? Sarah Beth assured me it would probably be closer to 15 years… That sweet girl has her whole life planned out, even though it could change every 6 months.

Am I just nostalgic, or do you mark time and memories by seasons you have owned and driven certain cars?

Spread the love

Categories: Life, Travel

Postmarked – Getaway to Asheville

Asheville, NC is the perfect Southeastern getaway town!

After months of extended time at home in 2020, and our planned European vacation being cancelled, we began researching a getaway vacation closer to home. With air travel still a little restrictive, we opted for a location that was within driving distance. We have always heard great things about Asheville, North Carolina so we opted to spend our Anniversary with a week exploring Asheville.

Asheville was put on the map by the Biltmore Estate at the turn of the 1900s, and has remained a popular weekend getaway. Situated in the valley of the Blue Ridge Parkway, there are plenty of scenic views and trails to be discovered.

A highlight video of our getaway to Asheville.

As with most of our vacations we cash in Marriott points. The Renaissance Asheville Hotel was the perfect location to be able to walk to the small downtown area filled with restaurants, art galleries, and local shops. Our room on the 11th floor was the perfect spot to view the sunset each evening.

How We Spent Our Time in Asheville

We began our week with an e-bicycle tour with Flying Bike Tours. This was out first experience riding an electric bike, and I was amazing how easy it was to ride up hills without much effort! I highly recommend the 2.5 hour tour with guide.

This bicycle tour was a great way to get a taste of the city and see places that we would like to go back and see more of. Our tour began in the South Slope area with a short bike up to Basilica of St. Lawrence, then a ride down the quiet streets of the Historic Montford Neighborhood. We meandered through the Reed Creek and Glenn’s Creek Greenways and then up and across to the Omni Grove Park Inn. To end the tour we got a short history of the area and architecture from Pack Square.

Monday, July 6 Jonathan and I celebrated our 18th Anniversary. We were spoiled with some amazing food from Tupelo Honey and dessert from French Broad Chocolate. Get the Shoo Mercy Sweet Potato pancakes at Tupelo Honey! This ensemble of food is worth every calorie!

On Tuesday we dodged early morning and late afternoon rain showers to visit some trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the NC Arboretum.

Once we drove up into the mountains we were met with dense heavy fog. We first hiked the Craggy Pinnacle which should have yielded an amazing panoramic view, but we were met with white clouds in all directions. We just missed the brilliant pink and purple blooms of the Catawba rhododendron bushes. These bushes brighten the trails in late Spring during May and June.

We also spent some time exploring the Craggy Gardens Trail. We saw some unique wildflowers and wild blueberry bushes along this trail.

After coming down the mountain from the Blue Ridge Parkway we drove to the West side of Asheville to visit the North Carolina Arboretum. This Botanical Gardens was so well put together with colorful garden themed lego displays sprinkled throughout the grounds. I found a lot of inspiration among each of the carefully laid out areas to explore.

Wednesday was a beautiful day to check out the Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore house was open for tours, but it was necessary to purchase a tour time slot in advance. We got to the property shortly after opening to spend time walking through and checking out the gardens. The gardens are pretty extensive, and not a feature you want to miss. There is sure to be something blooming in the gardens during each season of the year. Since the Summer heat and humidity were heating up, we left the property to grab some lunch and then came back in time for our 2:45 house tour. We did opt for the audio tour, which I would recommend to understand the stories behind each of the rooms.

Thursday was a day to relax before we headed home. We enjoyed more amazing food at Isa’s French Bistro, followed by a deep massage at Unity Spa, and dinner at one last local favorite, Packs Tavern.

In my search for outdoor things to do in the Asheville area, I came across The Never Ending Flower Farm in Barnardsville, NC. My mind has been in garden mode this year and I thought it was be fun to go pick a bucket of flowers, on our way out of town, to take back home. There is so much joy infused into bright colored Summer flowers. It was as good for my soul to be able to pick them as it was to give them away.

I’ve been asked what it was like to travel during COVID19 and navigating local regulations. We purposefully chose a location we knew we could do a lot of outdoor activities. At the time of our visit, North Carolina was mandating masks to enter all buildings, so we carried and used a cloth mask to walk through the lobby of hotel, to walk to table at restaurants, shop in stores, and tour the inside of the Biltmore House.

Along with Charleston, SC, I would rank Asheville, NC on a list of top 5 cities in the Southeast for a getaway vacation.

Have you ever been to Asheville? Do you have favorite restaurants or places to visit? I would love to hear your Asheville experiences in the comments. If you have questions about visiting, I would love to chat!

Spread the love