Beachy Mountains Rolled Into One

If you're going on Spring Break, might as well do it RIGHT!?!  Our plans for the break began back in January when I came across a cute little cabin in the Smoky Mountains called "A Wolf's Den".  I shot an email to both my mom and sister and asked if it was something they'd be interested in doing for Spring Break. The plan was a quick (but eventful) trip from Wednesday-Saturday.  Everyone agreed almost immediately, and I set the reservation in motion and secured our place.  Our plans became even more exciting when after a few months of searching, Paul and Shannon found and purchased a condo in Crystal Beach/Destin.  It turned out that they would be able to close on it the week we were in Boston.  Shannon had mentioned to me that Paul was going to take off the week prior to Spring Break (he had to work the week of), and they were going to pull the kids out of school for a few days and head down to the beach.  They wanted us to join them if we could and then leave from there and head to Gatlinburg on Wednesday.  Thus, our break consisted of visiting two of our favorite spots.

I'm not entirely sure why Karson is puckering up in this picture and the one above.  I blame instagram and her need to take multiple selfies each day.  Maybe she has forgotten how to simply smile for a picture?  Tweens!

ROUND ONE - SPRING BREAK - SANDESTIN

We left for Destin immediately after school on Friday and did our best to miss Nashville traffic (no luck there). Matt is usually the token driver for long trips, but I had to drive about four hours which I loathed.  March madness + UK playing that night at 8 p.m. = me driving in the dark with an inattentive passenger, which stinks.  We finally made it to the beach close to midnight.

I haven't been to the beach on Spring Break for quite some time and was surprised by how NICE it was.  In the past, it seems like the weather is always sketchy this time of year--rain, wind, chilly.  Saturday was gorgeous.  It was so gorgeous, in fact, that I completely forgot to wear sunscreen.  Yep, you guessed it, no base tan for me, a complete and solid head-to-toe burn.  I am still flaky today.  The wind had a chill in it, and it truly didn't feel as hot as it apparently was.  Thankfully, Matt and I were the only two in our family effected. 

Here's that beautiful smile on my bathing beauty!

Being on vacation (for me) translates into no dieting and eating out--well who am I kidding, I do that when I'm not on vacation.  I'll admit it, I'm lazy when it comes to cooking and exercise.  It was our only night with Paul who had to leave Sunday afternoon and head back to BG.  His parents recommended a unique place for us to eat called McGuires Irish Pub.  Unique it was!  What stood out to me the most is all the dollar bills covering every square inch of the place--someone mentioned there is over a million in dollar bills.  I believe it.  I thought the food was okay, mainly because I only want seafood when I'm at the beach. I think people primarily go there for the beer, burgers and experience.

 I didn't drink any beer but looking at my large gut in this picture, you'd think I had tossed a few back. Note self: suck in stomach or wear Spanx in pictures.

Sunday, March 30, was MY 37th BIRTHDAY and I got to spend it at the beach, and even better, at The Donut Hole.  Are.You.Kidding.Me?  Yahoo!  I wasn't about to spend a minute in the sun.  My lobster skin couldn't handle it.  We had a late morning date at the famous restaurant.  Matt and Paul had played golf that morning and met us there for brunch.  I ordered the "Diet" Plate which consisted of biscuits and gravy, eggs and bacon--hardly a diet.  I also ate some of Karson's pancakes which we the size of at least two medium pizzas =).  Great way to start off my birthday!

Afterwards, Karson and I headed over to the Destin Commons.  She'd been wanting to see the movie Divergent since it's release the weekend before.  I'd been trying my best to finish the book which I read the bulk of during our flight to and from Boston.  We had some time to kill before our movie and did a little shopping.  We also managed to meet the world's fluffiest dog, Bentley.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a Sheepdog before.  I wish I could say that the owner was super friendly, but I felt like we were pestering him when we asked if we could pet Bentley and get a picture with him.  Sorry about that pet owner, but if you are going to bring an unusual dog to a public place, you better expect people to gravitate to you.

Ready to see some Dauntless action with Tris and Four!

Miles and company spent most of their time playing Minecraft and NBA Jam.  Hello?  We are at the beach and all you want to do is play video games.  I guess it's better than the teenage years when they will be out trolling for girls and getting into trouble.

Evan had been begging to go to The Backporch all weekend, so I honored his request and made it my birthday dinner choice.  I have to admit, I am not a fan of this restaurant but appear to be the only person who isn't.  The food is mediocre and a little overpriced but the wait to get a table is unbelievable.  I don't think I've ever been there when the entire place isn't completely packed.

I love these two!  I'm thankful for these special boys!

We still have not mastered the art of taking a sunset picture.  However, our glowing red faces make the picture light up.

My other mother-in-law Vicky had asked me prior to the trip what kind of cake I'd like to have on my birthday.  I told her I really wanted a coconut cake.  I could hardly believe my eyes when I woke up on Saturday morning in Destin, and she was making one from scratch for me.  How cool and thoughtful!  I'm one lucky gal being surrounded by all these special people to celebrate my 37th with!  The cake was delicious and everyone enjoyed it except for sweet little 4-year old Abby Kate who asked me over and over when Mamaw had put paper in the cake.  The consistency of the coconut flakes was perplexing to her taste buds. 

The kids were content with burying each other most of the day on Monday.  I think they spent more time under the sand than on top of it.

Everyone seemed a bit tired of seafood by Monday but not me.  I could eat it every day of my life.  We all went our separate ways for dinner.  A large group opted for Chick Fil A, but me, Matt and Evan went to Pompano Joe's.  It was a little chilly on the deck, but we were able to be seated almost immediately, as opposed to the hour wait inside.  The beach is always an entertaining site as well.  PJ's is connected to a public beach access so lots of people are in that area.  There was a group of college-aged students who appeared to be wasted and were talking loud, wrestling and swearing a lot.  It was a little annoying, and at one point, my Jeramy Black disciplined nephew Evan almost said something to them about their behavior =).

We love the king-fu in the condo.  Can you believe this bean bag holds two king-sized beds?  Whoa.

Tuesday was our last full day of the beach, and we made the most of it enjoying every single minute in the sun.  All of us couples went to Tommy Bahama for dinner which is becoming one of our favorite traditions.  For years, it was Louisiana Lagniappe, but we have quickly fallen in love with Tommy Bahama.  The fish tacos are nothing short of UH-mazing!

ROUND TWO - SPRING BREAK - GATLINBURG

One would think that the great Smoky Mountains is closer to Destin than to Bowling Green. One would be WRONG!  Ugh, our trip to Gatlinburg actually ended up being longer than our trip to Destin by about an hour.  However, the trip didn't seem to bad with Shannon, Meme and the cousins added to the mix.  The girls rode most of the way with mom and Shannon, and the boys were in our car.  We made a pit stop in Pigeon Forge at the Wal-Mart to load up on our groceries.  You don't want to make your way up a long, winding, mountain road with no food & drinks on hand because chances are, you won't go back down (especially after a long, tiring trip from the beach).

Wednesday was a wash, but after we were all rested up, we headed to Gatlinburg early Thursday morning for some fun! We started off our day at the Ole Smoky Mountain Candy Kitchen.  My bizarre children left with a bottled water, a rainbow sucker and a small chocolate hollow bunny.  Huh. 

After the "candy" stop (if you want to call it that), we went to the 5-D Shoot 'Em Up Cinema.  Watch out masked marauders, some gunslinging Bowling Greenians are in the hwouse.

After the cinema, we made our way over to Ober Gatlinburg which was overpriced and didn't seem of much interest to the kids.  I have fond memories of ice skating, the alpine slide and riding up the mountain tram.  However, it was going to cost our family around $70 bucks which seemed a bit ludicrous. Plus, Miles had been begging to play mini-golf, and Isaac was wanting to go to the Ripley's Haunted Adventure.  Isaac was the only child interested, and I, somehow, got selected to go with him.  This was my first haunted adventure with the Ripley's group.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  It was scary but not your typical Halloween haunted house scary.  Most of the adventure was in total darkness which made it scary.  We had about seven people in our group, and I became the LEAD in navigating us through the entire ordeal.  I won't spoil it for anyone, but we did manage to make it out unscathed thankfully.

Isaac was ready for more Ripley's fun after the Haunted Adventure, so Matt took he and Miles to the Believe It or Not Museum.  Karson was wanting to have a caricature done, and I'd seen a place on the strip that seemed reasonable.  Once we met the artist, I could instantly see why.  He was a caricature himself (he is photo-bombing out group picture above--cig in mouth).  He took some smoke breaks and offered the kids some perils of wisdom while sketching them.  Karson loved her picture and has it hanging up in her room. 

After the drawings and Ripley's, we all met at Dick's Last Resort for lunch.  This is my kind of place.  Service with sarcasm. 

A couple of funny things happened while we were there:

(1) a girl was removed from her table (her chair was pulled across the restaurant) and placed at another table because she was "misbehaving"

(2) it was someone's birthday and instead of singing "Happy Birthday", the entire restaurant was to yell "who cares!"

(3)  everyone receives a sarcastic hat which reads something comical:

Isaac-Wanna hear me fart the alphabet

Miles-More skid marks than Nascar

Karson- I practice kissing my Justin Bieber poster

*when the waitress wrote Miles's down on his hat, he looked at us dead-serious and asked "how did she know?"  Too funny.

(4) the waiters throw napkins in the air (or at you) instead of simply handing them to you

(5) if you order water, it is served in an ice bucket (see Karson and Meme's pictures)

After lunch, we were pretty worn out but wanted to make another stop at the Ole Candy Kitchen and wanted to peek in Buckboard Too, a nostalgic collectables store (the leg lamp from A Christmas Story is actually what caught my eye).  We spent the remainder of the day at the cabin playing cards and letting the kids run around and play.

Earthquake Cafe, let's get ready to rrrrumble (5.3 on the Richter scale)

We spent Friday in Pigeon Forge.  The only thing on the itinerary was Wonderworks.  You can spend an entire day in there, and since the weather was crummy, that's exactly what we did.  I knew Miles wouldn't enjoy it the same way the other four kids were.  Matt took him for more many golf at MagiQuest.

I decided to climb the rock, another instant reminder of how old and out of shape I am.

Our group of four got in line for the Spacewalk Challenge--if only there was a fast pass--no luck.  After about 10 minutes both Isaac and Evan were done waiting and got out of line.  The girls stayed put and probably waited around 45 minutes to encounter the indoor ropes course.

We ate lunch at the concession stand and then enjoyed some more of the exhibits.

Isaac and Elizabeth braved the Wonder Coaster.  He's looking a little nervous before they shut the  virtual simulator capsule.

After seeing all the exhibits, we let the kids play some lazer tag in a huge black-lit maze on the second floor.  We were exhausted after a day of fun at the museum and headed back to the cabin.  We left for home early the next morning and returned to reality.  Ugh!  It's been a transition trying to get back into the swings of things especially with our school year being extended to June 4.  Love making all these vacation memories and looking forward to summer break and more trips =)!