Burlington, Vermont 7/26-7/28/13

Last minute plans lead us to Burlington, Vermont. We actually went on a recommendation of a client who suggested if we like our hometown we’d love Burlington. And we did!

We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton in South Burlington. The hotel was clean and cute, however for our size family it was tight. We were only there for the weekend. The room had two double beds, chair, desk, standard hotel room. We did have a small fridge that was nice with small kids. We only went with our boys, 8, 4, and 10 months. We were on the main level so no worries or stairs or elevators with the kids. We were also down the hall from the indoor pool which made getting there so much easier. Being empty when we went was a plus for us too! Hot tub was just that a hot tub, no jets were working but that was ok since we couldn’t really use it with 3 kids. There was a small fitness room but you know we didn’t touch that. There was plenty of shopping and restaurants nearby, definitely a great location.

Since we weren’t there long we really only had Saturday to spend sightseeing; we found some information about a hot air balloon festival and craft fairs. We headed over in the morning only to see the craft fair, the hot air balloons wouldn’t be filled into much later in the day. It was rather small and typical craft fair but they had hands on musical tent for the kids. My kids LOVED it. There were so many new and exciting instruments they could touch and play. Some we didn’t even know what they were. We couldn’t pull them away. They were also excited to see what the locals referred to as the MARBLE MAN! All marbles, all shapes, all sizes. There were many other types of vendors but I think what surprised me the most… BOOZE! Yep, lots of alcohol. Not just wines, but hard liquor and beers and everyone was offering samples. We don’t really drink but we liked that it was offered. I think another thing I enjoyed was a lot of the artists had signs that said PLEASE TOUCH. As a mother of 4, 3 being boys, I’m use to people cringing when we walk in to any place with glass. Artists ENCOURAGED the kids to feel it, see it, and sense it! They talked to the kids not just the adults. It was truly a different kind of craft fair for us. However, we made our lap in about an hour.

Since lunch time was approaching we decided to hit the farmers market literally a block away. Again, lots of things to taste, touch and see. Kids had fun playing in a crazy tree on property. However, of course it’s a Farmers Market they didn’t want anything to eat there. So we plugged in the waterfront into the GPS and drove towards it. Only to be detoured by a MASSIVE farmers and artist Market. We found some parking, walked up to it. So many things to see and buy but the kids wanted to eat.

We ate at a little pub called Scuffer. It was fairly empty as most people were eating outside. Callan who is only 10 months old, had the best grilled cheese it was almost as big as him. ALMOST being the key word. Declan loved his chicken fingers and Shamus was on strike only opting for chocolate milk. The staff was friendly despite a family of 5 invading their pub.

We walked the lunch off through the market, enjoying a slush or Popsicle; looking at street vendors and artists. No horns honking, people yelling, or someone trying to sell you something you don’t want to buy. No homeless people begging for money or thugs sitting on the corner. Political groups telling you are wrong, doomed or immoral. It’s truly a beautiful place and we hadn’t even seen the water yet.

We walked down to the water front. You could take a dinner cruise, have a picnic (cute bakery up the street with garage doors opening the shop right up, great idea), or visit the Aquarium that’s right there. One of the things we liked also was a lot of people rode bikes. I know a lot of people hate bikers. I’m definitely not a bike rider or a hater of bikes. Lord knows I can barely ride to the corner on a bike. But it’s nice to see that people use alternative methods for getting around, keeps traffic light and environment clean.

What we liked about Burlington: Everything, really I don’t think there was anything we didn’t like

What we liked about the Doubletree: It was super clean.

What we didn’t like about Burlington: We didn’t stay

What we didn’t like about the DoubleTree: Full size beds, 2 fat people, make for bad night sleep.

North Conway, NH 5.24-5.27.13

One of the reasons Jay and I started this blog was that when we decided to start camping with our very young children we had a hard time finding tips and tricks to camping with them. It has emerged to cover all our traveling as finding hotels that are kid friendly is our goal. We own a timeshare in Animal Kingdom Disney World (DVC) and Eastern Slope Inn (ESI) in North Conway, New Hampshire. Both timeshares participate in the RCI program. We purchased the ESI after camping at Cove Campgrounds a few times in the past and fell in love with North Conway. In addition to our weekly timeshare rentals we also purchased what is called the PEP program. It allows owners to stay 21 days a year without using their timeshare weeks and for a housekeeping fee. Ok now that we have a little background, let’s chat about what we did last weekend.

Memorial Day weekend 2013, we used part of PEP program and stayed at the Eastern Slope Inn. It is a beautiful white building located right in the heart of downtown North Conway. Right across the street from my favorite place, White Mountain Cupcakery, winners of Cupcake wars and home of the best Snowball cupcake ever! … Back on topic, ESI has a pool, playground, Flatbread Pizza all located on site. It’s close to shopping, hiking, the Cog railway and stands proudly in front of the Saco River.

Last December we used our PEP program for a weekend getaway and stayed in the Main Inn (hopefully, more on this stay later). However, this time we were located in Randall House which is located right next to the main inn. We had a 1 bedroom, 2 bath 3 levels with a great little balcony that overlooked the center of town.  Master bedroom is located upstairs with a Jacuzzi tub right in the suite. However, there was no door to the room so consider the little ones walking in if you use the tub. The second floor is open room with a murphy bed located in the combined living, kitchen and dining room. This layout is similar to the layout we had in the main inn but is located on the second floor. This is no way handicap accessible. However, Stroller accessible has options. There is a main foyer that houses two rooms such as 3A and 3B.  Then each room has its own keyed entrance. Ours lead us into a nice foyer again with peg hooks on the wall. Perfect for leaving a stroller, ski or snowboarding gear as well. Sadly, we do not have any pictures to show you as I forgot my camera and we left early.

Why did we leave early? Mother Nature was very mean. It rained Friday, Saturday most of the day. It lightened up a little bit on Saturday just enough to get out and check out the craft fair on the main lawns of the railway and playground. Sunday didn’t look any better, so we left Sunday morning, headed to Kittery Trading post for some shopping then back to Boston. That is why I have no pictures. 

I do want to mention a few restaurants and places we visited in the past.

Peaches: We had brunch here one time while camping, so yummy. But there is always a wait at breakfast. But I’d say it’s worth it if you can keep your kids entertained. No way is this place stroller friendly on the inside, but there is outside seating.

Merlino’s Steakhouse: This place is terrible, don’t waste your time. The food was horrible. Although our waitress was super nice she’d disappear for a while. Downstairs is loud with the bar and upstairs was a lot of stairs with three small kids. I won’t even link it for you.

Moat Mountain Smoke house & Brewing Company: This place has a lot of character, the food is outstanding. The only word of caution is that you better be prepared to wait when it’s normal lunch/dinner hours.  The BBQ Ruben Reuben is to die for.

As mentioned we love White Mountain Cupcakery, this is stroller friendly. However, I’d be doubtful it’s allergy friendly as they sell peanut butter cupcakes. I love the snowball, it’s white cake, raspberry filling and coconut covered buttercream frosting, yum! 

There is also an array of the big chains, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, Dunkin Donuts etc.

Since I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about it in the past, I’d like to also mention for the stroller friendly options, Diana’s bath is stroller/hp accessible. It’s hard packed gravel (I think) up to the bath where you can picnic and take a dip in the ice cold mountain waters. It is located right down the street from ESI.

What we liked about Eastern Slope Inn: Location, by far. It’s right in the center of everything. Being a member also we get to use the facility anytime we are by it.

What we didn’t like about Eastern Slope Inn: Multiple floors and open staircases; something to consider when you have little ones.  The other thing about the layout is that the roof was tilted in on the second floor. If you tried to get in or out of the bed, you either had to crawl over someone or risk banging your head on the incredibly low ceilings.

What we like about North Conway, NH: Everything, always something to do. (StoryLand and by Mt Washington road is down the street).  The most shops are have very nice people who can give you advice (Eastern mountain) to just local talk (the jewelry store we visited)

What we didn’t like about North Conway, NH: Traffic and crowds, during holiday weekends it gets crowded. We’ve been during July 4^th, Memorial Day weekend, and Father’s day weekend which also lands on Bike week.

Final thoughts: We love North Conway; we will be there MANY, MANY,MANY more times. Hopefully with a camera, nice weather, and more reviews on stuff to do, places to eat, and what to see. 

Gatlinburg, TN 4/14-4/19/13

As usual its April vacation break and we are off on another adventure. This time we were heading to Gatlinburg, Tn. This is our first time to Tennessee as a family. I (Sarah) have been to Nashville a few times with Caitlyn long before I was married to Jay. Jay has never been. In search for vacation using our time share points we kept coming across Gatlinburg. Unsure what was even in Gatlinburg, I asked a friend. Dollywood she said. I’m sure the Great Smokey Mountains felt a little shafted.

Jay drove down with the two older boys, while Callan and I stayed behind with Caitlyn. I had a Calculus test on Saturday. We flew out of Boston on Saturday, meeting up with the boys in Baltimore. Jay’s parents live in Gaithersburg, MD so this is often a stopover for our many road trips. It’s about 8 hours from Boston, hour from Baltimore and thirty minutes from DC. We left Sunday morning to head to Gatlinburg.

Arriving at our hotel was interesting. I shed a few tears as we drove down what the locals call Rattlesnake pass. A few times we didn’t think our minivan would fit the narrow road with steep drop-offs and no guardrails. We finally made it to Tree Top Resorts (part of the RCI exchange) in one piece.

We stayed in a two bedroom suite close to the pool and no one behind us. Our suite was so clean and everything was waiting for us as we requested (high chair and portacrib). We had a full, nicely stocked kitchen, living room/dining room combo. Table easily sat 8. Gas fireplace in the living room with a balcony that overlooked the pool and you could hear the river rushing by. The boy’s bedroom had twin beds, no TV, for our TV addicted children. The master suite had another private balcony, with Jacuzzi tub however, the bed was small, had to be a full, definitely not a king. Our room had an older TV, but if it still works then who cares. Like most time shares housekeeping came at additional cost if you wanted daily service, which we did not use. Since we are good at reusing and reducing we didn’t need to exchange linens for the 5 days we were there. There was an indoor and outdoor pool. Neither was busy, and sat empty most days. You have to bring your own towels but we usually do anyways. It was clean and had two pools 3’-5’ and then a smaller 1’ pool which was awesome for our little ones. There is also a hot tub. There is a lighted footpath behind the main resort. We decided to take it not realizing it’s EXTREMELY steep and narrow. HOLD ON TO YOUR LITTLE ONES. There are no rails again and very steep drops. One false step and you’re done.

Tree Top Resort Gatlinburg, TN

The resort is set back off the main strip, don’t worry you don’t have to go Rattlesnake pass (Sherman Calbo Rd.) It’s a quick drive to downtown Gatlinburg, you could probably walk it. There is no free parking in town, so plan on paying $8 or take the free trolley. There is a Hard Rock Café and several other restaurants in Downtown. However, downtown was bit dumpy and touristy for our liking. Seemed like every step someone was screaming at you to grab discount tickets with them. The stores weren’t cute or quaint, too many trashy t-shirt shops and arcades, nothing unique at all. More like the strip outside Disney World, they should take advice from North Conway, NH.

We visited Pigeon Forge often, the grocery stores and Wal-Mart are there; as well as several restaurants and more neon flashing touristy sites. We did our traditional mini golf game. Again, it wasn’t packed so we were able to take our time with the kids. However, it’s not accessible. So stroller was tough.

We wanted to hike but realized in the rush of the very busy week before we forgot the Kelty back carrier for the baby. We were able to find 4 accessible trails online, which none of the locals told us about.  The morning we planned on going it rained, of course. So we opted for the auto roads through the mountain. We started just outside of  Gatlinburg Main Street and followed the VERY narrow winding road called Cherokee Orchard road and drove over 5 miles throughout the Great Smokey Mountains. Again was a little nerve-wrecking for Declan and I. Shamus fell asleep as did Callan. We got to see some very pretty waterfalls, great views, and some fantastic old Mountain homes. I’ll attach pictures. When we came out the bottom by Ely's Mill we were surprised to realize it was right at our Resort.

On our last full day we decided to visit Dollywood. The lines were minimal, and park was typical local amusement park. (NO Disney size park). There are two parks but the Splash Country was closed. We were able to visit all the age/size appropriate rides in one day, but now I wished we could have done it in two. I was exhausted and got sunburn due to lack of shade. The food was terrible and prices steep but overall not waiting in line was fun. But I’d definitely recommend taking two days to do it. Especially if you go early enough in the season were lines were minimal you can ride twice.

There was also a car swap in town the weekend we left (we stayed Monday-Friday) so the main road in Pigeon Forge was lined with everything from Model T’s to a modified boat to drive on land. Everyone just sits on the strip with the hood of their cars up. They were riding golf carts, scooters and bikes up and down visiting all the cars. It was great to see.

What we liked about the Tree Tops Resort: Everything but the beds.

What we didn’t like about the Tree Tops Resort: The beds, too small and rolled to the middle.

What we like about Gatlinburg: The Mountains. Definitely a great hiking spot, wish we did more.  Dollywood was fun too.

What we didn’t like about Gatlinburg: the touristy feel, and the food. We didn’t find one good place to eat, so disappointing in the south.

Final thoughts: We probably wouldn’t go again, I wouldn’t mind stopping by but I doubt we’ll plan a trip down here again.  If we did come, it would be to buy that '47 Willy’s pickup for sale.

Lack of post does not mean lack of travel!

I know it’s been a while since we posted. But we’d like to get back into. For now we’ll start with today and move forwards, we’ll update past post as time permits. A lot has changed his we last posted. The kids are now 19, 7, 4, and our newest member Callan was born in September.

Caitlyn (19) still isn’t a fan of road tripping nor will she camp with us. Teens! Declan (7) would much rather fly and I think we are slowly realizing he’s not a hiking kind of boy. I wonder if the fear of heights has anything to do with it or maybe the lack of internet connection. Shamus is now 3 almost 4 is up for anything and everything.  Callan is only 8 months as I write this post. So far he is NOT a fan of the road trip. He took his first Flight last Friday from Boston to Baltimore, other than the 2 hour delay he did fairly well.