Five Faves: Vacation Brain

Linking up with Jenna again today!

It's no secret around these parts that, although I love Maine winters waaaayyyyy more than Michigan ones, I get super duper stir crazy this time of the year.  Not being able to go outside easily really does me in - and while *I* could bundle up and go outside, these years when I have little little ones in tow get pretty tricky.   Especially when one of the little ones is used to 60º winters and is not a big fan of snow.  And even especially when we've gotten over 40 inches of that awful white stuff (in his opinion) in the past week.  

All that to say that, why yes, I have vacation planning allllllll over my brain.  We have a week off planned for May and all I can think about is "Where should we go?  What can we fit into the budget that will get me some fun?"    I'm pretty sure we've made our decision, and will be booking reservations on payday (this week!  Yay!), but it got me thinking about previous family vacations and which ones I enjoyed the most.   I thought I'd share some of our favourite vacations with you to help with the cabin fever....

1.

Pensacola, FL

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You would think that, after all of the years we've spent vacationing here, this would be the easiest one to find pictures of.   Apparently not, haha.   Enjoy the not-so-perfect-colours of the beach picture, y'all.   Imagine the water to be bluer and the sand to be whiter, because that's what it looks like in real life.

This is where we'll be heading back this May for our vacation time - it's our go-to vacation spot.  Why?   It's partly because it's "home" for me (I lived there from about age 11 until college), but it's also because it is a fantastic vacation spot for families.   The beach is clean and beautiful (sugar-white sand) and not nearly as crazy as places like Panama City (it's just not as touristy and populated), and the price is right.  Because it's not as touristy as places like Panama City (2 hours east) or even Destin (1 hour east), you can find a very affordable beachfront condo for rent.   Our favourite place to stay is the Portofino Resort.  It may not be the cheapest place on the island, but for us, the extra expense is worth it - reserved beach seating (if you book through them) with actual chairs (and cough cough cabana boys/girls that deliver drinks), a kids swimming/play area with trampolines, dolphin cruises, golf (if you like that), multiple heated pools - both indoor and outdoor, and beautiful condos.  It's also at the end of the beach business/restaurant section, just before you get to the National Seashore, with its pristine beaches and fewer people.

There's plenty to do, too!   The Naval Aviation Museum is nearby and free to visit, and if you check the schedule beforehand (and plan for it!), the Blue Angels, who are based in Pensacola, will likely be practicing.  Practices are open and free to watch (usually on Tues/Wed, just check first), and afterward, the pilots come into the museum to sign autographs and take pictures.  It's a little boy's dream come true!

There's also a zoo, an aquarium, a historical district, a fort (where Geronimo was held!), and nearby cities  (Mobile, AL is only an hour away, with a great children's museum).

2.

The Big Apple

Visiting Saints at St Patrick's Cathedral

Experiencing the Macy's Thanksgiving parade

After moving back to Maine, we decided to travel down to New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  I was hesitant: 3 young children in a huge city (I'm not a big city fan, normally) on one of the busiest weekends of the year?  In the cold?   I thought Mike was crazy, but when our friend told us about a Catholic guesthouse in the heart of Manhattan, I gave in and went along with the craziness.

I'm glad that I did - that weekend, to this day, has remained one of my absolute favourite family vacations.  Mike had done his research, and knew exactly where we needed to go for great sights of the parade (Central Park West), and the Leo House was the perfect spot for our family.  It was like staying in a bed and breakfast...without the crazy cost.   The staff was warm and welcoming, and kept tabs on our family, which made it feel like a little slice of home.    Returning from a busy day in such a huge city where you feel so anonymous to a smiling face who not only remembered your plans for the day, but who honestly wanted to hear about what you had seen or experienced was such a comfort for us.   Not to mention, the homemade bread at the breakfast table every morning (and DAILY MASS!! when there was a priest staying there....you truly can get your daily bread at The Leo House!) was such an added blessing.

We spent a lot of time just walking around, since it was the start of the Christmas shopping season (window displays!!), but we managed to find a couple of tricks to keep the cost down and the comfort level high.  Biggest trick (for us)?   Trump Tower.   The bathrooms were clean, it was conveniently located, the food wasn't too horribly priced (and it actually was good!), and there's a Starbucks upstairs.    Mr Trump knows what he's doing......and we spent so much time there that weekend on bathroom breaks that I thought we might actually run into him.    The Leo House also would pack you a sack lunch (on homemade bread!!) for a small fee, which helped us cut back on costs, and we very much would have relied on that if it weren't so cold outside.  Picnic lunches could very much save a family a ton of money!

3.

The Pacific Coast Highway

This may be one of our more Circus-specific vacations (we *love* road trips!) and not up your alley at all, but it still remains one of my favourite trips as a family.   When we lived in AZ, both Mike and I were severely craving some ocean time, since we both grew up on the water, but our budget and his vacation time didn't really allow for our typical beach vacation (Pensacola).    We had a few days off over the New Years holiday, so we decided to be a bit crazy....or what most people would think of as crazy.

We packed up our little Prius with all three kids, a griddle, and lots of bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, fruit, and bagged salad, and hit the road.  We traveled over 1400 miles (Phoenix to Monterey, CA) in a four day period, spending all day exploring in the car.  We had picnic after picnic along the side of the road, finding fun new places and sites (Dr Seuss trees!  Redwood forest!  Elephant seals!), and crashing in a hotel room at night.   It was so much fun, and the boys had a blast exploring.

(And no, we do not have, nor did we borrow, a DVD player or any electronics for the car)

4.

The Maine Coast

This one is kind of cheating because we've only done weekend getaways and I'm kind of globbing them all together.   These pictures are from a weekend trip to the Samoset Resort  in the Rockport, ME, area that wasn't technically a vacation (I was speaking at a youth ministry event) since I was kind of working, but the whole family came along and we relaxed and played during the times I didn't have to be doing anything.

I love living in Maine - a friend once remarked that it's the most "geographically perfect" state in the country, and I have to agree.  And I've lived a lot of places!   Maine has it all:  rocky beaches, sandy beaches, mountains, plains, even a desert!   A $70 state park pass has often been the ticket to some of our favourite family vacations.  Unlike other states that we've lived in, Maine does a really good job maintaining and running its state parks.  The campgrounds are beautiful, and the list of things to do (and places to explore) is crazy long.   I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of our little staycations in our "backyard."

5.

Disney  World

Now it's time to "out" myself.  It seems that you can't really be on the fence about Disney when it comes to being a young family - at least a young family blog.  The emotions run high when you start talking about the Happiest Place on Earth (and the company that owns it).    Well, here's my big confession:  I am totally pro-Disney when it comes to family vacations.

A few years ago (2009 according to the pictures, I guess!), Mike was given the opportunity to speak at an ACOG conference, held at....Disney World.   Since his trip was being provided/paid as a presenter, we decided that this would be the perfect time to tag along to one of his boring conferences - taking his cost off of the total bill made it much more doable for a young family in the midst of a medical residency.

So we packed up the car (see a theme here?  We don't fly much - it's much more fun to explore along the way!  I'm a homeschooler, through-and-through, I guess), and hit the road.   24 hours later....we were rolling into the Contemporary Resort at DisneyWorld.   My mom met us a little bit later, after flying in from PA.  (Mike was at the conference and I was *not* doing Disney on my own with three super young kiddos!)

This trip has remained at the top of my favourite family vacations since then.   For all of the expense, Disney was a great family-friendly vacation.  Nursing rooms (villas, really - private rooms (with an "aide" to grab you anything you needed...or leave you alone if you'd prefer! with great changing facilities and quiet, dimly lit rooms), the option to bring your own food in, and lots and lots of staff to help direct you, help you get your food to the table, or just to help you get where you needed to go, really made it an easy vacation for us.   We were lucky enough to be staying at the Contemporary, which was on the monorail, and made traveling between parks super easy.    Our experience at the resort itself was so great that in the future, we plan on staying on-site again.

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So there you have it, our five favourite family vacations for your own planning and dreaming pleasure.  Feel free to email me with any questions or if you want a recommendation as to what to do or where to stay in any of these places - I tried to keep it short here for this post, but each of these places really deserves its own blog post and review.   Maybe someday......