Day trips, short trips, long trips - I love them all.
Holly Jolly Jekyll
I'm always looking for a way to spice up a road trip. Jekyll Island GA is a nice halfway stop for us when traveling home to NC to visit family. We are fortunate to live on a beautiful Gulf Coast beach but there are a few other coastal towns that have our hearts. Jekyll Island is one of them. We recently stopped for a quick overnight stay and crammed in a few of our favorite things. Sand dollars are an abundant find if you're into shelling or what I affectionately refer to as "treasure hunting". Grab a bite a Tortuga Jack's or Red Bug Pizza. Rent a bike or pedal car to explore the island. And be sure to visit during the Christmas Season because they light up the historic district and it's like a scene straight out of a Hallmark movie.
Christmas at Walt Disney World
We've done Disneyland a few times, but this was our very first trip as a family to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. It definitely won't be our last.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort at Disney Springs. This is a Disney partner hotel which gave us early entry to the parks each morning as well as a free hourly shuttle service, while still allowing us to earn those coveted IHG reward points for future stays.
We visited Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. The holiday season is one of the busiest times of year to visit Disney but we took full advantage of early entry and were able to ride all of the popular rides plus some old favorites. In the future I will likely purchase lightning lane passes for some attractions to help maximize our time in the parks, but we still experienced quite a bit by having a list of "can't miss" rides and using only stand by lanes.
I fully understand now why people turn into Disney fanatics. It's truly a magical place and you tend to forget about real life outside of the parks. We can't wait to go back!
Sea World Orlando
We visited SeaWorld Orlando over a long weekend. There are a lot of mixed opinions on SeaWorld - here’s mine.
We’ve visited SeaWorld San Diego multiple times over the years. This was our first visit to the Orlando park.
I’m so pleased that the main focus of the park is education and conservation. Not everyone lives near the coast so this may be the only way for some to be informed and educated on marine life and the importance of taking care of our oceans. My kids live in a beach town where school field trips include regular visits to rehab centers, marine science centers, etc. Not every child grows up this way. I’ve seen grown adults visit our area and set foot in the ocean or gulf for the very first time. What an incredible experience that must be.
SeaWorld Orlando also refers to their park as the “Coaster Capital of Orlando”. All of their coasters are on theme and provide a thrilling experience. We rode every coaster multiple times with little to no wait. I read that February is a slower month for park visitors so this definitely worked in our favor. Kay and I loved Manta, G’s top pick was Mako, and Eric loved Pipeline.
We purchased the all-day dining pass for our family of four and found that this was a great deal. It nearly paid for itself after one meal.
We stayed close by at the Holiday Inn Express at SeaWorld. We love to stay at IHG hotels and resorts so that we can rack up the points for future travels. This location was fantastic. The pool and common areas were great, the rooms were very clean and modern, they offer a convenient shuttle service to and from the park, and the hotel is within walking distance to several restaurants.
Overall we had an incredible experience!
Spring Break at Owa
My Husband decided kind of last minute to take time off from work while the kids were on Spring Break. I’m always up for a staycation in a nearby beach town so we loaded up the RV and headed to the coast of Alabama.
There's a newer RV park located in Foley, Alabama called Tropic Hideaway. This resort is part of the OWA complex and it’s an easy hour and a half drive from the Navarre area. The accommodations at Tropic Hideaway were well done with huge sites and nice amenities like heated pools, putting greens and a large dog park. The bonus is that Foley sits just north of the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach areas which boast beautiful beaches and a lot to explore!
The kids were thrilled to spend Wednesday doing all the fun things at Owa. They love to walk the streets of Downtown Owa and look forward to popping into the arcade and candy shops. Downtown Owa is completely free to visit, and they offer plenty of easy parking. Browse the shops, take in a show, or grab a bite. The main attraction of course is Tropic Falls. It's an indoor/outdoor waterpark and theme park in one location, and admission gets you access to both. They also offer passes to experience just the ride portion of the park if that's more your speed.
On Thursday we drove into Gulf Shores to take in the sights and grab some ice cream. I really enjoy the entire Foley/Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. They have a lot of good local restaurants and tons of things to do so we pop over from time to time for a change of scenery.
We’ve visited Owa many times before as a day trip. It’s an easy drive from Navarre and we always have a great time at Tropic Falls as well as the Downtown Owa area.
Add it to your list of things to do if you’re in the area!