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Fun times in Florida

April 20, 2020Planes, Trains & AutosLeave a comment

Hey Guys!

So, as most of you know by now, I am originally from Florida. I still have several family members living there including my Dad & 2 of my sisters.

This year, we decided we would pay them all a visit during the holidays.

So, the day after Christmas, we headed to Fl. The drive takes approximately 9 hrs from our house to where my family live.

We were fearful that the traffic would be horrendous with it being the day after Christmas, but turns out, there was hardly any traffic at all!

Since we left around 6 pm on Fri, we decided to stop half way and get a hotel. I hadn’t booked a room in advance as I wasn’t sure where we would end up wanting to stop.

Since we were traveling with our dog, I had to find a pet friendly hotel. So, I got on Expedia and searched for a room in a nearby town and found something fairly quickly.

Isn’t it great that we can book a room while driving down the road?! Technology sure has made our lives so much easier!

The next morning, we continued our drive.

We arrived in Fl around mid afternoon and headed to my parent’s house. They own a condo that sits right on Daytona Beach so my hubby and I were going to spend a few days there while my daughter stayed with her aunt.

After picking up the key to the condo & dropping our daughter off at my sister’s house, the hubby and I headed to the beach!

It took us about 1.5 – 2 hrs to get there from my sister’s house.

Once we arrived, we unloaded our luggage and headed to Hidden Treasures Rum Bar & Grill to eat dinner.

We had never eaten here before but it was recommended to us so we thought we would give it a try.

It has a lot of good reviews on TripAdvisor but I wasn’t impressed! There was only 2 other tables being waited on while we were there. I’m sure it had to do with the time of year.

I ordered the baked fish, collard greens and sweet potato tots…it was very average.

After dinner, we stopped and snapped a quick picture of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.

The lighthouse stands 175 ft tall and was constructed in 1887.

We then headed back to the condo & called it a night.

The next morning we couldn’t wait to get our first glimpse of the ocean!

I love listening to the sound of the waves crashing & walking on the beach but, other than that, I am not a beach person.

We sat on the balcony and drank our coffee to the wonderful sounds of the waves crashing and the seabirds singing ….so relaxing!

A shot of the inside of the condo

Once we were finished with our coffee, we decided to take a walk on the beach.

There were Portuguese man-of-wars lying all over the beach! You don’t want to step on one of these! They have a powerful, painful sting!

We actually saw several different kinds of jellyfish lying all over the beach…we really had to watch where we stepped!

After our walk, we headed to find something to eat.

We ended up at Flapjack Johnnys where I ordered a mushroom & cheese omelet with a side of bacon and my hubby ordered a burger. The food and service was very good!

Read reviews here

After we ate, we headed back to the condo for some much needed R&R!

Later, we took another walk down the beach. The pier is close to the condo so we walked down to take some pics.

After our walk, we headed back to the condo where we spent the rest of the day relaxing.

The next morning, I was up bright and early & witnessed the most amazing sun rise!! I don’t witness many of these because I am usually not an early riser!

Look what I’ve been missing!

Later, we headed out for another walk on the beach

And then headed to Boondocks for lunch

Boondocks sits right on the water’s edge at a Marina…I loved being able to sit right beside the water! So relaxing!

I ordered the grilled fish with shrimp and the hubby ordered the fried seafood combo that came with fish, shrimp, clams and oysters.

The food and service were both very good.

I definitely recommend this place for the food, service & the views!

After lunch, we headed to the Lighthouse Point Park….I didn’t even know this place existed until my sister told me about it! They had recently visited Daytona and found it!

There is a $10 entrance fee but we thought it was worth it.

The 52-acre park features fishing, nature trails, an observation deck and tower, swimming and pavilions.

A Weekend in Asheville, NC – Day 2

March 28, 2020March 28, 2020Planes, Trains & AutosLeave a comment

Hey Guys!

So, as I promised in my last post, let’s start with the Airbnb property we stayed at during our visit to Asheville.

Read Day 1 here

Since our anniversary is in December, the most expensive month of the year for us, I decided to try and find something that was more cost efficient.

However, it had to have a hot tub! We love hot tubs so that’s always a must for us!

I started looking on Airbnb for some homes near Asheville and stumbled upon one that had all 5 star reviews and was less than $200 a night! So, I decided to book it.

The house was in Zirconia, NC which was approx 40 mins outside of Asheville.

Of course, you never know what to expect from Airbnb properties but so far, we’ve had really good experiences with them. They are also usually cheaper than staying in a hotel.

We arrived to the house around 8-9 pm… we had a difficult time finding it as it was located at the top of a hill on a small, narrow & winding road.

Once we arrived, we entered the code in the keypad and hoped we wouldn’t be disappointed!

Thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised!

The house was so cozy & spotless!!

The hosts had turned the gas fireplace on for us and left us a sweet handwritten note along with some snacks!

The house had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, sun room and a huge deck!

The most important thing was the hot tub and it was so nice! We couldn’t wait to get in!

So, that’s what we did! 😉

The next morning, we woke up to see the beautiful views from the house!!

We then got ready and headed out for breakfast….we decided we would eat atBiscuit Head since we had never eaten there.

We had read that this place stays super busy so we weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived.

Thankfully, there were only about 7-8 people in line when we got there.

The line moved fairly quickly. Once we got to the counter to order, I ordered the gluten free biscuit with bacon egg & cheese and the hubby ordered the country ham & egg biscuit with the gouda fries.

It was delicious!!

After breakfast, we decided to drive parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs north and south from Asheville with plenty of spots for roadside picnics, breathtaking vistas, easy to difficult hiking trails, and a reprieve from commercialism.

The 469-mile, non-stop recreational motor road follows the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, connecting Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.

Our first stop on our drive through the park was the Walnut Cove Overlook at an elevation of 2,920 ft.

The views were beautiful and I can imagine that in the fall, this place is very crowded!

On the parkway, you go through many tunnels.

Our next stop was the Wash Creek Valley Overlook.

The next stop was the Hominy Valley Overlook (there are a ton of overlooks on this drive)

Next was Mills River Valley Overlook

Next was Buck Springs Gap Overlook

At this same stop, was a one mile trail to the ruins of Buck Springs Lodge...a lodge that was built by George Vanderbilt but was removed in 1963.

The Vanderbilts owned all of this land at one time. We only walked a short distance on the trail as it was too cold to walk the full mile.

After this stop, we continued our drive.

We came up on these old cabins so pulled over to snap a few pics

Next we passed the popular Sliding Rock…..Sliding Rock is a waterfall located near Brevard, so named because visitors can slide all the way down the waterfall into the plunge pool below.

I just took a picture from the road….even though it was closed, you could still walk to it if you wanted to.

Next stop was Looking Glass Falls…

This is another popular stop on the parkway because it’s a roadside waterfall with easy access.

The waterfall is 60 feet tall.

There are steps that lead down to the falls for a close-up view. You can venture onto the rocks in the stream below the falls, and even do some wading and swim underneath the falling water when water flow is lower.

It’s a beautiful waterfall!

We continued our drive and ended up in the small town of Brevard…at this point, we decided to turn around and head back.

On the way back, I spotted a bald eagle perched in a tree!! So, we pulled over to take pictures…This is a rare sighting for us!

As we continued our drive, the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains…..

Later, we arrived back to Asheville and started looking for somewhere to eat…we decided on a place called, Juicy Lucy’s.

As you all know by now, my hubby loves burgers and has to have one on every trip! So, this trip was no exception!

I ordered the mushroom burger on a gluten free bun & he ordered a bacon cheese burger…the food was good but I’ve had better. I thought the burgers were overcooked.

After leaving here, we headed back to our Airbnb to once again, relax in the hot tub!

Sadly, the next morning, we had to check out and head back home …BUT before we did, we took another opportunity to enjoy the hot tub!

Before we left, I took a few more pics of the house from the outside

On the way home, we drove through Maggie Valley because we had heard so many people talk about it.

Once we arrived, we decided to eat. We couldn’t find many places that were open because it was off season and a Sunday.

We found a place called, Pop’s Place.

We did not get a warm welcome from the staff as they were closing in 15 mins from the time we arrived.

We quickly ordered and when our food came out, it was ice cold just like the service!

I definitely wouldn’t recommend this restaurant!!

We really enjoyed our time in Asheville and hope to visit again soon!!

Thanks for reading!!

Read Day 1 here

A Weekend in Asheville, NC – Day 1

February 4, 2020January 5, 2023Planes, Trains & AutosLeave a comment

Hey Guys!

My hubby and I celebrate our wedding anniversary in December….so, for the past few years, we have started booking long weekend trips to celebrate!

This past December we celebrated 31 years of marriage!!

So, for this anniversary, we planned a long weekend in Asheville.

We had actually tried to plan a trip here for our last anniversary but Asheville was hit with a “once in a hundred year” snow storm so we had to cancel our trip!

Asheville is only a 5 hr drive from our house so we woke up early on a Fri morning and headed to the Biltmore where we had a 3:30 pm scheduled entrance time to visit the house.

I’ve been wanting to visit the Biltmore during Christmas for a long time as I’ve read all the lights and decorations are amazing!

I’ve seen it during different times of the year and it’s a sight to behold! So, I was especially excited to see it all decorated and light up!

The drive to Asheville is a beautiful one which made driving the interstate a little more enjoyable!

We arrived at the Biltmore around 1 pm. We had to park and take the shuttle to the house…it took around 5 mins so you could actually park and walk to the house if you wanted.

Click here for a map of the grounds

When visiting the Biltmore, be on the lookout for black bears as there are many that reside on and around the property!

Once we arrived to the house, we took a few….hundred pictures…of course!😉

The house was completed in 1895. It took 6 years to complete.

It’s a staggering 175,000 square feet (four acres) with 33 bedrooms, 65 fireplaces and 43 bathrooms. Almost 10 million pounds of limestone was used to build it. The entire estate originally covered 125,000 acres but now it’s a modest 8,000 acres.

If you have never visited the Biltmore, I would highly recommend you do so as it’s truly an unbelievable place!!

Click here for 10 facts about the Biltmore, here for movies that have been filmed at the Biltmore and here for the history of the Biltmore.

As usual, I took way too many pics!

The detail in the architecture is incredible!

No telling how old these trees were!

The views from the house were beautiful!

I loved all the old statues scattered around the grounds!

You can walk to the gardens from the house but unfortunately, we didn’t have time.

After taking our pictures, we headed to find something to eat before our entrance time.

To the right of the house was a few shops and a couple of places to eat.

We decided on something quick since our entrance time was getting close.

We opted for the Courtyard Market….they serve salads, soups and sandwiches.

Click here for a list of restaurants on the property

I ordered the mixed green salad & added chicken for $11 and my hubby ordered the classic all beef hot dog w/ chips for $6.95. The food was ok, nothing special for sure.

Sitting inside the covered eating area

After lunch, we walked through some of the nearby shops…

One of them being the Biltmore Confectionery. I loved all the Christmas decorations!

Of course, we had to buy some chocolate….and it was delicious!

Shortly after we left the shops, we entered the house.

It’s hard for me to describe the beauty of this place but when you throw in some Christmas decorations, it’s jaw dropping!

I never get tired of visiting this house! It’s just amazing!

The decorations were endless….a tree in every room!

The first room you will come to as you enter the house, is the conservatory.

The beautiful Conservatory was completed in 1895 and highlights a wide variety of exotic plants. Its tall arched windows look out onto the terraced butterfly garden and the Walled Garden beyond, and the pointed glass roof lets in an abundance of natural light.

We took the self guided tour but if you are visiting for the first time, I would recommend taking the audio tour so you can learn about the house and each room you will be visiting.

On the tour, you will get to visit 3 floors of the house and the basement.

However, for an additional cost, you can add in different tours where you can see other parts of the house.

I can’t remember the names of each room we visited but the next room was a dining area…and it was breathtaking!

Look at this fireplace!

Next was another dining area and it was just as amazing! So ornate!

Next was the tapestry and seating area

There are tons of paintings hanging all over the house…

The next room was the incredible library!

At the age of 12, George Vanderbilt began keeping meticulous records in a series of journals called “Books I Have Read,” a habit he continued throughout his life. By his death in 1914, George had logged 3,159 books, which means that between 1875 and 1914, he read an average of 81 books a year.

A testament to his passions for books and collecting, the walls of the Library are lined with walnut shelves housing George’s personal collection of 22,000 volumes.

Look at the ceiling!