Ni hao! As you read this, I'm on a grand adventure in Beijing, China. Don't worry, I will tell you all about it when I get back! But for now, please enjoy the company of some of my best blogging friends who have generously agreed to guest post while I'm traveling.
Hi All! I'm Katie from
The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life. There I blog about everything from fun, family, friends and fashion to my life as a teacher-librarian! I'm so excited to be guest posting today for Whitney, my fellow Blended Blogger, teacher friend (and single gal), while she's away enjoying China!!
I must admit when I heard where she was off to, I became a little bit jealous. I have never been outside the U.S., except to Caribbean vacation destinations, but China is definitely on the Life List for me. All this talk of travel though, I decided that for today's post I'm going to share my favorite vacation destinations!
These days, I don't travel too, too much! I used to travel more before I had a mortgage to pay! In fact this past summer was the first time I've traveled in about five years! But it's ok, because I really love my home, my town, and where I live! There is so much fun to explore right here! Find out a little bit more about where I'm from
here!
When I do travel, I'll admit, I'm a repeat offender! :) I'm not one who embraces change easily, so I don't mind going to destinations over and over! Here are some of my most favorite places to visit!!
Family Vacations to North Carolina:
In 1988, my family started renting a beach house on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina at a place called
Emerald Isle. It was pure heaven!!! Back then it was not too well known, and not very crowded. Pretty perfect! We went there for years and years and years and I loved it. Each year, our crowd got bigger and it made it that much more fun.
These past few years though, we've gone to the Outer Banks. It's about three hours closer. (Still a 10 hour drive, but that better than 13, especially with all the kids in tow! These days just my family alone fills up the house!! We've come a long way since 1988!
Caribbean Cruising:
I've been on lots of cruises. I started going on cruises after college with my best friend,
Mel. They were affordable on my measly Catholic School teacher salary (especially when you go during hurricane season!) and lots of fun. Ironically, my favorite days cruising are the super relaxing days at sea! It's really hard to beat a beautiful day, laying out on the top deck, looking out and seeing nothing but beautiful, blue water. But I've done lots of awesome excursions, too! Swam with dolphins, para-sailed, swam with sea otters, zip-lined in Belize, took a Mexican cooking class (where the margs flowed like water!). Such awesome stuff!! Actually one of my best vacations was when I went on the Mexican Rivera cruise out of Cali! We broke the bank that trip!! Went out to California a few days before the ship set sail! Stayed in West Hollywood and toured Hollywood Blvd in a red convertible, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Disneyland...the whole nine!!
So much fun!!
High above Labadee!
Nashville:
One of my favorite places ever!! I love country music and one day my
Mel and I just decided we would go to the
Country Music Association festival, a 4 day music fest they have each June for fans. We got an awesome deal for the event, so we jumped on it. That trip was a lot of fun, but it was the hottest June ever there and we pretty much died. Like 10 p.m. and still 100 degrees, hot. So the next time we went in April! That was more bearable. The CMA trip was packed with so much to do, when we went in April, we basically did the touristy things, went to bars and listened to music...pretty perfect! Oh and we took a road trip to
Dollywood!! It was further from Nashville than we thought (and in a different time zone!) but it was so much fun and not to be missed! We even ended our long day with dinner at Sonic! My first Sonic (and still only) experience ever!! I will return to Nashville one of these days!!
Disney World:
I thought I'd end with a little funny!!
Is it bad that I've been to Disney so many times and loved it each time, but my favorite was probably when I was 8 or 10. My whole family got to go with my dad on a business trip. We probably stayed in one of the nicest hotels I ever remember staying in The Lake Buena Vista something. At that hotel they had the BEST waffle cones ever!!!!!!! I got one every night!! I wanna say that my 10 year old self thought they were free, but they probably weren't. I know that probably pretty pathetic that my favorite part of that trip were those waffle cones, but that seriously was the best ice cream I've ever tasted!! And who doesn't love Disney World? (Whitney even celebrated 30 there!) Space Mountain Forever!
Since I couldn't find a picture of me eating ice cream cones at 10, I thought I'd include this one. Even as adults we wait on line to to see the characters. And let me just say, I liked it better when they just roamed the parks!!
Eyeore is my spirit animal!
Thanks so much for having me today Whitney! I hope you are having the BEST time! And I can't wait to hear all about your trip!
