Rain on a Tin Roof

Category: Travel

Things for Kids to do in New Orleans | Day Three

Planning a New Orleans family vacation? Contrary to popular belief, NOLA is loaded with lots of kid friendly activities! This itinerary will outline plenty of things for your kids to do in New Orleans!

This is Day 3 of our kid friendly three day New Orleans itinerary. See Day 1 Activities here and Day 2 Activities here.

Our last day in New Orleans. *sigh*

With any trip, including this one, I like to leave the last day low key and open for the most part so we can cross anything off our list we weren’t able to do yet or to just relax and take in the city.

So that’s what we did! We had one scheduled tour for the day, but it was in the evening, so we had the whole day to do whatever we wanted. It was the perfect ending for this trip!

If you haven’t read about our previous two days in NOLA…

For reference, we took our seven year old on this trip. She’s proven herself a fantastic little traveler over and over before. New Orleans is a walking city, so if your kid won’t do well with lots of walking, I don’t suggest making this one of your first family trips. If you are taking kids that are younger or older or taking multiple kids, then modify accordingly.

Adults, don’t worry – there are plenty of things here that will also keep your attention!

New Orleans 3 Day Itinerary

See Day 1 in New Orleans HERE!

See Day 2 in New Orleans HERE!

Day 3 – Free Time & Ghost Tour in the Evening

Sleep in!

This was the first and only day of our trip we didn’t have a morning tour already scheduled. We opted to sleep in and get up and ready at our leisure.

Breakfast at Cafe du Monde

Enjoy those glorious beignets and cafe au lait one more time before you have to leave. I also wouldn’t turn my nose up at you if you went back later in the day for more. 😉

There’s usually a live band playing just outside the cafe so sit back, take it all in and enjoy! Don’t forget to tip them before you leave though – these guys are a huge part of the New Orleans experience.

After breakfast…

As I said, I planned our trip so we had most of this day free to do whatever we wished. I’m going to share how we used our time below. Be sure to read our Day 2 itinerary for more kid friendly things you can take advantage of in New Orleans.

Stroll around Jackson Square

Damn, it’s gorgeous. As I said in our previous day’s itineraries, morning is the best time to take pictures and really breathe in the city. It’s less crowded and cooler too.

The Presbytere

The Presbytere is a museum to the right of St. Louis Cathedral. It has two exhibits – one about Mardi Gras and one about Katrina. The image above is a display you see as soon as you walk in which perfectly grasps the heart of both exhibits.

While the Circus throughly enjoyed the Mardi Gras exhibit, she was also intrigued by the Katrina exhibit. It’s a wonderful exhibit that will pull at your heart and accurately depicts the resilience of New Orleans and its people.

If you look closely at the costume above, you can tell portions are made of blue tarps which were a staple in New Orleans after Katrina.

There are countless costumes in the Mardi Gras exhibit that will leave you in awe.

The Circus loved seeing it all and it only more solidified her stance on her need to come back for Mardi Gras.

Stroll around the French Quarter

We spent a good bit of this day also just strolling around the French Quarter.

I adore the architecture that one can only find in the Quarter.

The courtyards of New Orleans are one of my absolute favorite parts of homes in the area. I’ve decided a courtyard is a future must for me.

Shopping

After lunch, we did a bit more strolling through the quarter and some shopping at the same time. Here are some of our favorite shops to visit in the quarter….

Faulkner House Books

If you’re a book lover, and especially if you’re a Faulkner fan, you must visit Falulkner House Books. Yes, Faulkner did live here at one time. This is a charming little book shop that of course has lots of books centered around New Orleans.

The Mask Company

After discovering Mardi Gras, the kid was intent on finding a mask to take home. I am not a fan of all the cheesy souvenior shops throughout the Quarter, so every time she wanted to go in one for a mask, I would say no, we’ll find a better one and drag her on down the road. We lucked upon the Mask Company just down from Faulkner House books on Pirate’s Alley. It’s a small little shop filled with only masks and the sweet man who runs it. Both she and I bought a mask here.

Southern Candymakers

If you want pralines or anything sweet, hands down, Southern Candymakers is the place to go! Don’t you dare stop at any other candy shop! I promise you won’t regret it! And while you’re there, just go ahead and have them pack up a box of pralines and send to me!

Nola Couture

I mentioned this fantastic little store as well in our day two activities. I wanted to mention it again here because they also have a location in the French Quarter. I adore this store.

Forever New Orleans

This is a fantastic little shop for alll things New Orleans, but not cheesy souvenir type things. I got a pretty little fluer de lis butter spreader here, and a NOLA hat I adore. Forever New Orleans is on Royal Street and there are loads of other stores along Royal as well that you might enjoy perusing.

What’s New Nola

This was a cute little shop filled with more New Orleans related items and also items from local NOLA artisans. I snagged a great little tray from here depicting the French Quarter.

5-in-1 New Orleans Ghost and Mystery Tour

While planning our trip, the Circus had requested a ghost tour. You all know that made me as happy as a clam! We opted to do this 5-in-1 ghost and mystery tour. It covered a little bit of everything – ghosts, voodoo, vampires and more.

This is a walking tour, so if you’re taking kids along, make sure they are prepared. My kiddo had to sit a couple times when we stopped to listen to a story from the tour guide. And although she didn’t see an actual ghost like she wanted to on the tour, she did enjoy it. The tour guide really got her hopes up at one point when he told us all that he “guarantees we’ll see some spirits at our next stop.” Turns out, we were taking a break at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, which is a bar. The Circus’ face dropped and was not amused. Her reaction was priceless. 😂

Dinner at Meauxbar

For dinner, we went to Meauxbar in the Quarter – another absolutely delicious restaurant we discovered on this trip!

First off, and I can’t stress this enough, get the duck fat popcorn. It’s exactly what it sounds like – popcorn tossed in duck fat. And it is everything. We all ate that up as fast we could, thus the nearly empty bowl there. As far as entrees, Grunt had the French onion grilled cheese and I had the steak – both were fabulous.

That’s a wrap for this visit to New Orleans – until next time, NOLA!

See the Day 1 New Orleans itinerary here.

See the Day 2 New Orleans itinerary here.

Want to plan another adventure?

Isle of Palms Beach Vacation – our most favorite beach! It’s beautiful and no crowds!

Things to Do in Pigeon Forge – fun family friendly things and of course – Dollywood!

Things to Do in Chattanooga – you’ve never seen the underground waterfall?!

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October 24, 2019
3 Days in New Orleans with Kids: Day 2
Ready for a visit New Orleans but not sure it would be a family friendly trip? Not so fast – there are plenty of kid friendly activities in the Big Easy! Here’s how to fill 3 days in New Orleans with kids!

This is Day 2 of our kid friendly three days in New Orleans itinerary. If you missed Day 1 – see it here!

Is it bad that we’ve only been back from New Orleans for a couple weeks and I’m already plotting our next trip? #itsmyfavorite

I am getting a bit of a fix though reliving the trip through these posts, so thanks for allowing me to do that, y’all. 💜

Day two highlights included the one-of-a-kind cemeteries you can only see in NOLA, Mardi Gras fun and some of the most delicious Italian food I’ve ever had – yep, Italian in New Orleans!

Background information if you haven’t read the Day 1 itinerary:

We have one kid and at the time of this trip, she was seven. She’d been on multiple trips before this one and is a great little traveler. New Orleans is a walking city, so if your kid(s) isn’t up for some walking, I wouldn’t recommend this trip. Of course, if you have kids that are younger or older or have more than one kid, you can change this itinerary up to best fit your needs.

And as I also said before, this trip itinerary includes things that kids and adults will both enjoy!

What to Do in New Orleans with Kids

See Day 1 Things to Do in New Orleans with Kids HERE!

Day 2 – Cemetery Tour, Hop On/Off Bus, and Mardi Gras World

7:00 am CST
Wake up and get ready.

7:30 / 7:45am-ish
Breakfast at Cafe du Monde in the French Market.
Yes, breakfast at Cafe du Monde again. Why? Cafe du Monde. duh.

You can of course opt to go have breakfast elsewhere – I hear there are some fabulous brunch spots in NOLA, but Cafe du Monde was just always easiest and convenient for us. And beignets. We can’t get enough beignets.

8:45am CST
Head to the Gray Line Tour Lighthouse Office to take a cemetery tour!

9:00am CST
Cemetery and Voodoo Tour

Whether you’re into cemeteries, ghosts, and voodoo or not, you have to take a stroll through one of New Orleans’ Cities of Dead.

We did the Cemetery and Voodoo Tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 via Gray Line New Orleans.

St. Louis No. 1 is one of the oldest cemeteries in New Orleans and is actually closed to the public. You can only get in if you are with a tour group or have family buried there.

There is nothing else on earth like a New Orleans cemetery. They are fascinating, beautiful and full of history.

The cemeteries in New Orleans are one of the first things that I fell in love with there.

There are many highlights in St. Louis No. 1 to see and learn about, one among them being the tomb of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen.

If you can only tour one cemetery while you’re here, make it this one.

I will say, the Circus wasn’t as into the cemetery tour as I thought she’d be. She liked seeing it, but it was hot and gets even hotter in the cemetery with it being enclosed by concrete walls. So that’s something to keep in mind if you want to do the cemetery tour with kids.

11am CST
Cemetery Tour Ends. Head to the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Station.

For the rest of this day, until it was time to head to dinner, our crew did the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus tour around the city. We walked to Stop #5 to get our tickets and board the bus.

I know – it’s super touristy, but if you’ve never been in New Orleans before, it is a really great way to get an overview of the city and an idea of the city layout.

Since it is a hop on – hop off style tour, you can choose to get off and on at any of the tour stops. You can opt to buy single day passes or multiple day passes. This is helpful if you want to just ride and get your bearings on the first day, then use your ticket the next day to take advantage of the hopping on and off and visiting sites along the route.

There are 19 stops along the route. You can see them all here, but below are some of our picks for family friendly stops!
- Stop #1: Jackson Square
  – Cafe du Monde
  – St. Louis Cathedral
  – The Presbytere – amazing Mardi Gras and Hurricane Katrina exhibits.
- Stop #2: French Market
  – Shopping, food vendors
- Stop #4: Treme
  – Backstreet Cultural Museum – we did not get to visit this, but it’s definitely on my list for next time. I think the kid would have loved seeing all the Mardi Gras Indian memorabilia.
- Stop #7: Riverfront
  Again, two more places we didn’t get to see, but kids would love!
  – Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium
  – Audubon Aquarium
- Stops #11 – #13: Garden District and Magazine Street
  – There are loads of fantastic little shops and places to eat along Magazine Street. There are also gorgeous houses to take in as well. We all enjoyed strolling down Magazine. A couple of our favorite shops along Magazine are Nola Couture (their candles smell divine!) and Fluerty Girl.
- Stop #16: Mardi Gras World
  Mardi Gras World is a must for kids – they will love it!
This is literally where Mardi Gras comes to life!

Mardi Gras World is where most all the floats for Mardi Gras are made. It is so cool to be up close and personal with these beauties.

The Circus loved learning about how all the floats and characters are made and then walking around and seeing them.

There are also great little photo ops as well. 😉

After leaving here, all I heard from the kid for the rest of the trip was when are we going to Mardi Gras?! One day kid, one day.

6pm CST
Dinner at Irene’s.

Oh Irene’s. We love you so! You might not think Italian when you think New Orleans food, but Irene’s will change your frame of mind! You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu and be sure to save room for their cheesecake – to die for! This is a nice restaurant, so make sure your kid(s) is up to being on their best behavior here. Reservations are also recommended.

See Day One’s Itinerary HERE!
See Day Three’s Itinerary HERE!

Feel free to add any kid friendly things to do in New Orleans in the comments!

Ready for more adventure?
Jimmy Carter Sunday school – take a trip down to Georgia and attend former President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school service!

Disney World Tips for the Average Family – for those of us who aren’t super hardcore all things Disney. 😉

A Weekend in Nashville – the birthplace of country music and so much more!

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October 22, 2019
Things to Do in New Orleans with Kids

It’s not all about Mardi Gras in The Big Easy! New Orleans is actually a pretty kid-friendly city! This New Orleans itinerary will show you plenty of things to do in New Orleans with kids!

I have been in love with New Orleans since I was 13.

There is no other city quite like it and every last bit of it has my heart.

If I had it my way, I’d whisk away to The Big Easy at least once every month or so. They do call it The Big Easy for a reason and it just seems like every little worry on my mind melts away when I’m there. Maybe it’s also the abundance of alcohol. I don’t know and I don’t care either way.

Needless to say, I was most definitely the most excited person about our recent family trip to New Orleans. It had been far too long since I’d set foot in my beloved city and I was super pumped to get to introduce the Circus to NOLA.

While there are obviously NOLA things you aren’t going to do with the family when you’re there, say like bar hopping along Bourbon, there are so many more wonderful things here that are family friendly.

And really, to me anyway, New Orleans is so much more than Bourbon Street. In fact, it’s not even near the top of my list of my favorite things to do in the city.

We were able to spend three full days in the city. For our trip, I set down and planned out each day – something I’ve never done before when it’s just me and Grunt. I think creating itineraries when traveling someplace like this with kids is key though. You know your kids best and know when they might need downtime factored in somewhere or how long they may or may not last at a museum. Having a schedule – a flexible one preferably – always a good idea with kids.

Another thing to note specifically about our itinerary: We have one kid and she was seven at the time of this trip. She’s proved herself a great traveler countless times. I knew she could do New Orleans without any problems. I say all that, so you know the factors I considered when planning out our itinerary. Obviously, if you’ve got more than one kiddo and/or younger or older kiddos, you may want to change this up a bit.

And all that being said, this itinerary and most all the things we did in New Orleans this round are things that are great for both kids and adults. Even Grunt Labor said he discovered new things he hadn’t previously.

Family Fun in New Orleans

Where We Stayed

The Troubador

While I adore the French Quarter, we didn’t want to stay there with the kid in tow. If you’ve ever stayed in the Quarter before, you know how noisy it can get at night. I wanted the kid to be able to sleep well each night so she would have enough energy for the next day. Therefore, we went with a hotel in the Central Business District – The Troubador.

The Troubadour is a boutique style hotel, so the decor was gorgeous and there was a touch of NOLA in every room. It was about a 20 minute walk to the French Quarter or an 8-10 minute Uber/cab ride depending on the traffic.

We went with the Troubie room, which was plenty for us. There were two queen size beds and the bathroom was spacious. We also ate at Jayne, the restaurant located inside the hotel, the night we arrived since it was so late, and it was delish! They also have a great rooftop bar that overlooks the city. We didn’t get to enjoy that since we had the kid in tow, but it looked amazing.

Transportation

We flew into New Orleans and took an Uber from the airport to our hotel. We did the same thing when leaving out. Throughout the trip, we walked or took an Uber if our destination was out of walking distance or the weather wasn’t cooperating.

You can of course rent a car if you’d like, but it’s really not all that necessary if you do the things we did or similar ones. Even if you want to go out to River Road to tour a plantation or take a swamp tour, most of those tour companies provide transportation.

New Orleans Kids Activities

On to the fun! We had three full days in New Orleans. I’m going to break each day’s activities down into individual posts to keep from writing a book on our trip. 😆 I’m also going to include the timelines for our days, but of course when you go to plan your own trip, you can change those up to your liking! FYI – New Orleans is on Central Standard Time.

Day 1 – Swamp/Bayou Tour & City Park

7:00 am CST
Wake up and get ready.

7:30 / 7:45am-ish
Breakfast at Cafe du Monde in the French Market.

You can walk or Uber, but either way, one simply cannot go to New Orleans without eating beignets at Cafe du Monde!

The Circus’ exact words were, “Oh my gosh! You guys weren’t kidding about how good these were!”

There’s usually some live jazz going on outside of Cafe du Monde, so be sure to take that in as well!

8:15am CST
Head to the Gray Line Tour Lighthouse Office to take a swamp tour!

On the walk there, enjoy the sights of Jackson Square. It was rainy this first day there, but a rainy day in New Orleans is still better than a sunny day anywhere else! P.S. Early morning is the best time to get pictures around the city – there’s hardly anyone else around blocking your shots!

On your way to the Lighthouse office, you can also walk along the Mississippi River and enjoy the sights there as well…

8:30AM CST
Depart for a Swamp and Bayou Tour.

We did the early bird Swamp and Bayou tour through Gray Line Tours. There are other tour times throughout the day, the early bird just worked best for us. Gray Line will drive you out to where the tour will start, so no need to worry about transportation.

Everyone in my crew really enjoyed the swamp and bayou tour. There weren’t a whole lot of people in our boat, so everyone could get up and move around to see better – and yes, there were alligators!

And did you know they eat marshmallows?

The Circus loved that of course, and all the scenery was just really beautiful.

The boat captain even had his baby alligator on board and while the Circus didn’t care to hold it, Grunt did.

12:30pm CST
Arrive back in the French Quarter from the swamp tour.

12:45pm – 1:45pm CST
Have lunch in the quarter.

We had lunch at Cafe Maspero, which was just about a five minute walk from where the Gray Line bus dropped us off. It was yummy! We highly recommend the Fried Alligator to start with – the Circus loved it as well! Grunt and I split the Roast Beef Po’ Boy and it was great too. It was a great little lunch spot!

2pm CST
Uber or Taxi to City Park.

2:20pm – 5pm CST
Enjoy City Park!

Oh City Park, we love you and there isn’t a kiddo out there who won’t love City Park! City Park is huge and there are lots of things to do here for both adults and kids, but we stuck to the main attraction for kids – Storyland and Carousel Gardens Amusement Park.

Storyland is a playground filled with storybook sculptures.

Kids can go and play on/in these sculptures.

Dads may also find their magic slipper. 😆

Storyland was truly a magical little place – we loved seeing all the classic stories come to life!

We also had lots of fun in the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park which is within the same area as Storyland.

There are 17 rides in the amusement park ranging from little kiddie rides to a roller coaster. The roller coaster is a smaller scale one and the Circus was easily able to meet the height requirements for it.

We all enjoyed the rides here!

Before you leave City Park, you must have a Snoball. Just like with beignets, not having a snoball in New Orleans would be a sin! These at City Park were delish!

5-5:15pm CST
Uber or taxi to dinner.

If you’re eating someplace nearby City Park, obviously you might not need transportation. For dinner on our first night there, we ate at Brennan’s in the French Quarter.

Brennan’s has been on my “eat at” list for a while now. We’d never made it there on any of our other trips to New Orleans, so this time since I was killing it in the trip planning department, I made reservations ahead of time.

Brennan’s is on the higher end when it comes to restaurants. It’s not super fancy – the kid went there wearing what you see in the picture above and I wore what I had on at the park too. Men can’t wear athletic shorts though, so take note. If you’ve got more than one kiddo or younger kids, this might not be a good choice for you. The Circus has been to nice restaurants before, so she knew to be on her best behavior.

I have to say, absolutely every single thing at Brennan’s was wonderful. From the maître d’, to the servers and of course – the food! Everyone was so sweet to the kid. The maître d’ had her go out to the courtyard as soon as we got there so she could see the turtles and then they had a whole conversation about it while we waited on our table.

When one of the servers went to go feed the turtles later, he even stopped at our table to take the kid to feed them too!

And the food! 😋 I had duck, Grunt had rabbit and the Circus had grilled chicken. It was all divine. The Circus ate all of her’s, a good bit of mine too and then asked if I could please add duck to our menu at home! 😆 Keep dreaming, kid. We had the signature dessert here as well – Bananas Foster. Brennan’s is the original creator of the dish!

After dinner, everyone was pretty tired, so we walked back to the hotel and called it a day. What a day it was though. 💜

Day Two New Orleans Itinerary HERE!
Day Three New Orleans Itinerary HERE!

Are you planning to visit New Orleans soon?

Looking for more ideas for your next adventure?

Must Do’s in New Orleans – other things to get into in The Big Easy.

Our New York and Boston Trip – with the kid in tow!

The Whistle Stop Cafe and More – yep, a Fried Green Tomatoes road trip!

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October 17, 2019
My Go-To Bags for Stress Free Family Travel + Packing Tips

As you all know, my little family loves to take a trip. Since the kid was a baby, we’ve always done our usual yearly and sometimes bi-yearly beach trip. As she’s gotten older though, we’ve been able to expand destinations that include a bit more exploring – there was no one happier than her mama when we went to Boston and this kid happily skipped along the Freedom Trail asking a zillion questions.

We love our week long beach trips just as much as our adventuring trips or quick 2-3 day road trips as well.

While I most definitely have not mastered the art of remembering every little thing when we go somewhere, I have learned a lot and therefore, packing for trips and exploring has gotten much less stressful. Here are my best packing tips and go-to bags that save my sanity.

This post is sponsored by Baggallini, however all opinions are 100% my own. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Traveling with Kids: Packing Tips + Essential Bags

Combine suitcases whenever possible.

Unless the kid is feeling uber-independent, I always put both her and my clothes, toiletries, etc. together in one suitcase or travel bag. Having the one piece of luggage for both of us means there’s one less thing to keep up with and carry, plus it helps to keep me from overpacking – which I’m getting better at with every trip.

Speaking of overpacking…

Don’t stress too much on clothing. You’re going on a trip to enjoy yourself, not to put on a fashion show. Choose comfortable clothing that includes a few key pieces you can easily dress up if needed.

The same is true for kids. They will be much better behaved and enjoy the trip more if they are in comfortable clothes.

For kids, and also helpful for adults, pack outfits together. I always pack the Circus’ clothes with her outfits put together, shirts on top of pants. That way when she goes to put something on, she knows what goes together.

And always always always, throw in a light jacket or cardigan. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten to the beach and while I thought I’d never need a long sleeve piece of clothing in June, I was wrong.

While I haven’t bought them yet, I have heard wonderful things about packing cubes. I’m hoping to get a set or two before our trip to New Orleans and test them out.

Always have a backup outfit on hand.

From the time Mama told her story about getting to Europe and their luggage not making it over when they did, I always try to have a spare change of clothes for both me and the kid within easy reach when traveling.

My Baggallini 3-in-1 Convertible Backpack works perfect for this. It will easily hold a change of clothes for both me and the kid as well as a toiletry bag. It also has a sleeve on the back that allows it to easily slide over your luggage handle. Since it can hold a change of clothes and toiletries, it’s also one of my go-to bags for quick overnight trips.

There are multiple interior pockets for optimal organization as well as quick access pockets on the front and room for a water bottle and umbrella on the sides.

I like to use those interior pockets to pack meds that could be needed on the trip like allergy medicine, Tylenol, etc. so they are within easy reach.

The removable wristlet that comes with the 3-in-1 Convertible Backpack is super handy as well.

It will easily hold a few cards, lip gloss and another essential or two. Its strap clips to a hook inside the bag, so no digging around for your wallet – you always know right where it’s at. The wristlet is also RFID blocking – so no one can easily steal your credit card info just by standing next to you.

Since it’s a 3-in-1 bag, it’s very versatile. It can go from tote to backpack to crossbody with a quick couple of clicks.

So when you get where you’re going, you can switch it to backpack mode, load the exploring essentials and be on your way.

The 3-in-1 Convertible Backpack is also water resistant, which makes it perfect for summer trips to water parks. We loaded it up the other day for a quick trip to the fountains at a local park.

Don’t forget snacks.

If you’re traveling with kids, you know they often end up needing a snack at the most inconvenient times. Be sure to stash some snacks in your tote and keep it within easy reach on road trips and while flying.

Keep them entertained.

Anytime we go on a trip, whether driving or flying, I always pack a new coloring or activity book and crayons for the Circus to help keep her occupied.

This is also the time to take advantage of technology. We load the iPad up with a couple movies that she can watch as well.

If you’re traveling with a baby or toddler that really isn’t into all that yet, consider buying a new small toy to take with you and surprise them with it on the plane or in the car.

Tuck away a crossbody bag.

Anytime we go somewhere, I like to throw in a great crossbody bag that can hold just the essentials while I’m out and about.

My favorite crossbody is the Baggallini Take Two Bryant Crossbody. It has two zippered pockets and two exterior pockets to hold the essentials.

This bag also has RFID blocking card slots built-in to keep your cards safe. It’s lightweight and water resistant as well.

I love having the Take Two Bryant Crossbody when I travel because it keeps my hands completely free. It’s also my go-to bag for thrift stores and yard sales so I can easily dig for those deals.

If we go out to dinner and I want it to be a bit more “fancy,” I just take the crossbody strap off and replace it with the wristlet strap.

Don’t sweat the mishaps.

Above all, have fun! There are going to be mishaps, there might even be meltdowns. Take a break, regroup and then get going again. It’s all about enjoying new places and making memories with the family.

Our next family adventure is New Orleans in the fall – where are you headed to next?

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August 12, 2019
That Peanut Farmer from Georgia.

Want to attend a Jimmy Carter Sunday School class? I’ve been and it’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Below, you’ll find information for planning your trip to Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia to attend former President Carter’s class!

No matter what side of the aisle you’re on or what you think of his presidency, one thing is for sure – the peanut farmer from Georgia certainly turned out to be one amazing humanitarian.

Image Source

His smile is also quite contagious – the grin will win!

The Carter Center, his non-profit organization has worked since the early 80’s to advance human rights and improve the quality of life for people all over the world. He’s received countless honors and awards for all his humanitarian efforts.

Just this past month, he became the oldest living president in U.S. history – he doesn’t show many signs of slowing down though. He still teaches a Sunday school class at his church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia twice every month. A couple of friends and I put attending one of his classes at the top of our list last year and just before Christmas, we crossed that one off the bucket list!

Maranatha Baptist Church: Jimmy Carter Sunday School Class

Y’all, it was truly an honor to attend this man’s Sunday school class. His message that day centered around waking up everyday and choosing to have hope even when there are so many negative things going on in the world. It was a simple message, but one that can make a very positive impact on your attitude.

Just from hearing him talk for an hour, it was so obvious how much of a caring and thoughtful man he is. Positivity and humanity just radiate from him.

If attending one of President Carter’s classes is something you’re adding to your list, here’s a little more information to help you plan.

Travel to the Plains, Georgia Area

My crew drove from Chattanooga down to the Plains area. It was part of our Fried Green Tomatoes Road Trip and for us, it was about a five hour drive. It wasn’t a bad drive at all though- lots of state highways with beautiful scenery.

If the drive would be too much for you, then your best bet is going to be to fly into the Atlanta airport and then rent a car and drive the rest of the way. It’s about 135 miles from Atlanta to Plains.

Where to Stay

Plains, Georgia where Maranatha Baptist Church is and where the Carters still live is very small. The only lodging I found there was the Plains Historic Inn. Most people stay in Americus, Georgia when visiting Plains, which is about 20 minutes away. This was what we opted to do and stayed at the Americus Garden Inn.

It was a very lovely bed and breakfast and the hosts, Kim and Susan, were incredibly welcoming and helpful. They knew we were attending the Sunday school service the following morning and would be leaving before breakfast was served, so they packed each of us a to-go breakfast.

Another hotel option in the Americus area is the historic Windsor Hotel.

We didn’t stay here, but we did have dinner at one of the restaurants here on Saturday night and the hotel was absolutely beautiful. The food was great too!

Attending Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church

The Sunday school Class is held in the sanctuary of President Carter’s church, Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. As of right now, President Carter teaches two classes per month. You can find his schedule here.

Get There Early

The class starts at 10am (eastern time), however you’re going to need to be there much earlier. Our group of three got to the church at 5:30am. Upon arrival, every car is stopped and given a number. We were number 53 – so that means that yes, before 5:30, there were already 52 other cars ahead of us.

Doors will open and seating will begin at 8am, going by the number you were given upon arrival. There are overflow rooms if the crowd is larger than what the sanctuary will hold, but the limit of people inside the church is capped at 475.

We hung out in our car during the wait and slept for a bit before eating a packed breakfast from the Bed and Breakfast we had stayed at the night before.

Other Attractions to See in Plains, Georgia

After the Sunday school service, you can stay for the church service of course and afterwards, you can have the opportunity to have your photo taken with President and Mrs. Carter. Unfortunately, we had a good drive back home ahead of us and we wanted to see some of the other historical sites and attractions in the area before leaving, so we left after the Sunday school service. As Jason said, “It’s enough for me to know that I was here and heard him.”

If you have some time, be sure to check out some of these other places in Plains…

The Train Depot: President Carter’s Presidential Campaign Headquarters

Jimmy Carter used the old train depot in Plains as his Presidential Campaign Headquarters.

The depot is filled with information and memorabilia from the campaign. They even have one of the old televisions in a cabinet from the 70s set up and continuously playing clips from the campaign trail.

Plains Trading Post

If you are a history buff or presidential campaign buff, then you absolutely must stop at the Plains Trading Post.

The Plains Trading Post is filled with all kinds of campaign memorabilia from countless presidential campaigns – even back to Lincoln! I am a sucker for the old campaign buttons and so I bought one from each presidential race from Kennedy forward. I turned them into ornaments for my USA Christmas tree. 🙂

Jimmy Carter’s Boyhood Farm

Also located in Plains, is Jimmy Carter’s childhood home and farm he grew up on.

The house is open to tour, as well as what was once a little store to the right of it. The house is decorated and furnished as it would have been when Jimmy still lived there with his family.

We really enjoyed perusing through each room and learning more about how he grew up and what it was like in Plains back then. We were there just before Christmas, so the house was simply decorated for Christmas and I absolutely loved seeing them using a wagon as part of their Christmas decor – one of my favorite Christmas decorating moves!

You can also visit other spots such as the historical Plains High school and more, which you can read about here.

This was such a great trip and I’m so glad I have friends who are nerdy history people like me and love to mark things like this off their bucket lists too!

If you missed it, on the way down to Plains, we stopped in Juliette, Georgia where Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed and ate at The Whistle Stop Cafe, then wandered around that area – we had a ball! Read all about that here!

You might also want to read about these trips too…

A Weekend in Nashville

A Chattacation: Things to Do in Chattanooga, TN

A Trip Along the World’s Longest Yard Sale

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April 3, 2019
The Whistle Stop Cafe and More: A Fried Green Tomatoes Road Trip

If you’re a fan of Fried Green Tomatoes (the movie!), then you’ve got to plan a trip to Juliette, Georgia, where the movie was filmed. You’ll love eating at The Whistle Stop Cafe and seeing all the landmarks from the movie in this charming little southern town!

I think Fried Green Tomatoes will forever stand the test of time. Both the actual food and the movie. I don’t know that there’s nothing a plate of good fried green tomatoes can’t cure and I would argue that the same could be said of the movie. It’s in that same category with Steel Magnolias – when you see it’s on television, no matter how many times you’ve watched it, you know you’re going to stop and watch it again and you know you’re going to shed a tear or two as well.

A couple of months ago, two friends and I took an overnight trip down to Plains, Georgia to attend former President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class. As it turns out, Juliette, Georgia, where Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed, is just a bit off the beaten path on the way down to Plains. And in Juliette, you can even eat at The Whistlestop Cafe. Yes, the real one that Ruth and Idgie ran in the movie.

The Whistle Stop Cafe

Two months later, I’m still giddy over the fact that I really got to go here.

I first fell in love with the movie when I was probably in middle school, so it’s like one of those childhood dreams come true.

We of course ate fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and they were delicious.

You’d of thought Idgie and Ruth fried them up themselves. In fact, all three of us were very impressed with our meals. Jason put it best – you don’t always expect these kind of places to be really good since a lot of their business is just touristy because people just want to say they went. However, this was not the case at the Whistle Stop – it was all delicious!

Fried Green Tomatoes Movie Landmarks

After lunch, we perused the rest of Juliette, which is just absolutely charming. We started behind the Whistle Stop and kind of worked our way in a circle.

BBQ Pit from Fried Green Tomatoes

Just behind the cafe, you can see the BBQ pit where Frank Bennett became some of the finest BBQ the south has ever seen – secret’s in the sauce, you know.

Smokey Lonesome’s Shack

To the left of the BBQ pit and behind some of the other shops in Juliette, Smokey Lonesome’s shack can still be seen.

From here, we worked our way back up to McCrackin Street, the main street in Juliette.

Buddy’s Arm’s Grave

Buddy’s arm is buried along McCrackin and so we stopped there to pay respects, of course.

Ruth and Idgie’s Place

There are quite a few charming little shops along McCrackin and we of course visited them.

Most all of the shops/buildings along McCrackin were used in the movie, including The Little Red Barn shop that was Ruth’s and Idgie’s place. We also stopped in another shop for some honey from the bee charmer. 😉

There are lots of unique things in all the different shops. Unfortunately, one of the things I fell in love with, this squirrel was not for sale.

It was a rainy December day when we were there, but there were still some beautiful colors all around. I snapped this picture outside the bank building from the movie, which is now a gift shop. The owner of the shop told us that this building had actually just been built solely for the movie and was just a shell. It wasn’t fully enclosed and made useable until it was turned into a gift shop.

Buddy Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison’s Graves

After seeing everything we could in downtown Juliette, we drove just about five minutes up to a nearby church to see the graves of Buddy Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison.

The Bee Charmer had already left some honey. 😉

Jason reached in his pocket and found exactly three pennies and no more, which he deemed was a sign.

I concur. There are some things in life you just can’t argue with. We left the three pennies there on the graves and headed south for the rest of our adventure.

Towanda!

For reference, Juliette is about an hour south of Atlanta. While it was a stop for us on our way on down to Plains, it’s still a great little day trip from the Chattanooga area or of course from Atlanta.

Looking for more adventures in the South?

Things to Do In Nashville – a must-visit city of the south!

The Must Do’s in New Orleans – my personal favorite!

Things to Do in Chattanooga, Tennessee – a great spot for family vacations!

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February 5, 2019
127 Yard Sale, The World’s Longest Yard Sale: Tips for Shopping
The 127 Yard Sale is the world’s longest yard sale. It typically runs the first Thursday – Sunday of August every year and stretches all the way from Alabama to Michigan. You can find some real treasures and great deals along the yard sale route! Below you’ll find basic information and my best tips for shopping the HWY 127 yard sale!

If you live in a town that the longest yard sale passes through, then you might have a love-hate relationship with the yard sale. I grew up in a small town along the 127 corridor sale and that was sometimes the case for me. I absolutely love yard sales, but the traffic that comes with the 127 sale is unreal sometimes. Furthermore, it’s like everyone forgets how to use a turn signal and the car in front of you may slam on their brakes at any given moment because they spotted a woven turkey basket to add to their collection.

All that being said, I was totally one of those people who was driving slow, failing to use my blinker and slamming on my brakes last Saturday. All in the name of yard saleing.

So if you live where the longest yard sale passes through – I get it. Also, I’m sorry for my lack of proper driving skills during the yard sale. It’s only once a year though and there are treasures to be had, so the good outweighs the bad – in my opinion anyway.

I’ve also seen the yard sale go through phases. My earlier memories of it was as it being true yard sales. It progressed to where lots of antique vendors came and sat up and you could hardly find a good deal at all. Slowly, I’ve started seeing more of those true yard sales again and more good deals. And that makes me very happy.

Last Saturday, myself and four of my friends loaded up and did a leg of the world’s longest yard sale. We had such a great time and found so many great deals. In case you aren’t familiar with the yard sale, I wanted to write a post about it and give you some tips for shopping it in case you decide to find some treasures for yourself next year during the sale.

Hwy 127 Yard Sale Dates

The 127 yard sale is typically the first Thursday – Sunday in August every year. However, the yard sale used to run for a full week back in the day and some people still abide by that timeline. The Circus and I were shopping the yard sales the Saturday before the Thursday that the yard sales were officially supposed to begin this year.

*The official dates for the 2019 longest yard sale are August 1st-4th. So go ahead and mark your calendars.

Highway 127 Yard Sale Location

The longest yard sale runs all the way from Gadsden, Alabama to Addison, Michigan. Technically, it starts at either end and you can work your way from one end to the other if you so wish.

Photo via 127YardSale

From where it begins in Michigan all the way to Chattanooga, Tennessee, the yard sale follows Highway 127. Highway 127 ends in Chattanooga at the foot of Signal Mountain, but the yard sale picks back up again along the Lookout Mountain Parkway in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and then on into Alabama.

In all, the yard sale goes through six states – Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia and covers 690 miles.

I have never completely went from one end to the other. The farthest I’ve ever been was from Dunlap, Tennessee to the Kentucky line one year. This year, I did some shopping in Dunlap, Pikeville and then all along the Lookout Mountain Parkway leg of the sale.

The Longest Yard Sale: Tips for Shopping

Go with friends and/or family.

First off, anything like this is a hell of a lot more fun with friends. I went with four other friends this past weekend and we had an absolute ball. Besides laughing at a few questionable items we saw for sale, going with friends is also great because sometimes they might spot something you didn’t that they know you’ll love. Plus, there are some places along the route where you’re in the middle of nowhere – it’s always best to have a buddy when Deliverance could be just one wrong turn away. That being said, the sale route is full of some truly gorgeous scenic drives.

My great uncle and I went one year – the year I made it to Kentucky. That was during the time when there seemed to be antique dealers at every turn. I bought one single item during that trip, but it’s still one of my most favorite yard sale trips because as we were walking through all the sales, my uncle would point out all these things that he remembered having around his house when he was growing up.

Take multiple vehicles and fuel up.

This past trip, our posse had one SUV and one truck. The truck bed of course held any larger furniture pieces that we found and the SUV held the smalls.

Also, if you see you’re getting down to a 1/4 of a tank of gas or so, go on and fuel up at the next gas station you see. There are some stretches where there isn’t a service station for quite a while.

When and Where to Start

A lot of this is up to you. Before you go, decide where on the route you want to start and what direction you’re going to go in. If you really want to do the entire thing, then you’re going to want to take off work for at least 3-5 days, I think. It kind of depends on how often you stop at sales. Most of the sales will be open by about 8am each morning. Closing times vary – I saw some people closing up shop around 4pm, but have shopped at some until around 6pm. If you are making this a multi-day event, you’ll need to also book hotels. Since I have always lived so close to the sale, I’ve never made it an overnight trip.

Take cash.

While I’m sure if you are purchasing a big ticket item from a person who is more of an antique vendor you could use a credit card, but for the most part, you’re going to want to have cash. Have plenty of ones, a few dollars in quarters and of course, fives, tens and twenties are good too. I was actually quite surprised by how few people selling had change – I thought that was yard saleing 101. There were a few times this worked in my favor though – I handed them a $5 bill for a $1 item, but since they didn’t have change, they took the $0.50 I offered them instead.

Take bags and/or boxes.

Take some of those reusable grocery bags you have at home or boxes and set them up in your trunk or hatch or whatever. As you buy items, put them in your bag or box. If each person in your crew has their own container of some sort, then this will make dividing things up easier when you’re done. You may also want to throw in a little newspaper or bubble wrap in case you need to wrap up breakables that you purchase.

Wear comfortable shoes and clothing.

Seriously y’all. This is not the time to be cute – especially if your spending a good portion of your time during the sale on the more southern routes. It’s the first weekend of August in the South – we’ve bypassed “hot” and went to just a few degrees below hell. Put on comfortable, breathable clothes. I wore my shortalls with a t-shirt underneath. I opted for the shortalls, because like regular overalls, there are plenty of pockets where I can carry my wallet, keys and phone and not have to lug around my entire purse. If you have to carry a purse, opt for a small lightweight one that you can sling across your body.

I also suggest tennis shoes or some kind of comfortable shoes that are closed toe. You’re going to be walking through lots of yards and some fields. There might be holes here and there. You want comfortable shoes. Additionally, in the mornings or if it rains, these places will be wet – you don’t want wet feet all day, thus why I also suggest closed toe shoes. If you’ve got rain boots, throw those in the car if you want to.

Hydrate.

Again, it’s August in the south. Drink plenty of water, people. If you’ve got room, pack a cooler with iced down water. However, if you don’t want to take up valuable potential space for all the treasures you’ll find, people are always selling drinks all over the yard sales for usually $1 or less.

How to find the best deals.

Our group consists of deal finders. We are all cheap. The thing with the 127 yard sale (as I said above) is that there are lots of people who are more antique/vintage dealers that will rent a space for the sale and set up shop. These people tend to be selling their items at prices you would see at your local antique store. Those aren’t the kind of prices we are looking for at yard sales. There are some people who do the 127 sale looking for those kinds of things and will pay those prices. We don’t. We believe yard sales should have yard sale prices. And as my friend Ashely put it, “We don’t care what it sells for on eBay.” Lord, I can’t tell you how many times I overheard some vendor saying that to people. If we wanted to shop on eBay or at an antique store, then we would! We’re yard saleing for a reason, dammit.

This year, my friend Ashley recommended that we take the Lookout Mountain Parkway route of the yard sale. She had done it before with coworkers and swore that it was much better in terms of having “real” yard sales with yard sale prices. She was right! There were of course still some vendors along the way that were essentially asking retail prices for their items, but we got pretty good at identifying those sales and skipped them. If you’re really looking for the good deals, then use these tips while shopping the longest yard sale:

Have a lookout.

I was in the lead with the truck and the SUV behind me. Jason rode with me and was the lookout. As we would approach sales, I would slow down and he would look to see if he thought it was worth us stopping at.

Stop at those church sales.

God bless all the little old church ladies who donate their time and unwanted items to church sales. They tend to have really good stuff at really good prices. They are also just as sweet as can be.

Don’t discount the yard sales off the main route.

Somewhere along the way, you’re going to see signs pointing off the main route to yard sales. These can be hit or miss. More often than not, I’m probably going to check them out because there are going to be a lot of people who don’t want to get off the main route, so there might be a few gems there just waiting for me.

A barn or building full of stuff isn’t always great.

You’ll see a lot of yard sales where they have an entire building or barn with stuff in it for sale. In our experience, this stuff was all overpriced.

If there’s a field full of people set up, then prices probably aren’t that great.

There are lots of property owners along the yard sale route that will rent out their land to vendors during the sale. You’ll see quite a few really large areas just covered with vendors. In my experience, those people are typically more overpriced. If you see maybe 2-5 people set up selling somewhere though, you might find a good deal there. For the most part though, we found the best prices at family yard sales along the way.

Offer less.

Don’t forget that you can offer less than what they are asking. This is especially true at the end of the day on Saturday and on Sunday. Toward the end of the day on Saturday, we ran into quite a few people who were packing it up or told us that would be their last day. They were very much ready to make a deal so they didn’t have to take it all with them. This is even more so the case on Sunday since it is the final official day of the yard sale.

Enjoy the scenery and atmosphere.

One of my best friends, Jason, rode with me this past weekend when we hit up the sale and we both really enjoyed the scenery along the route. We both agreed that if you wanted to see parts of the real south – not the big cities, but small southern towns, that the longest yard sale was definitely a way to do it and find some great deals at the same time. Stop at local restaurants to eat – skip the chains! We had lunch at a little BBQ place and it was some of the best BBQ I’ve had.

And now for what you’ve really been wanting to know – What did I get at the yard sale?

I spent $57 at the yard sale during the one day I went with my friends and I got everything you see above. The full breakdown:
- A glorious Camel Stand/Side Table (Jason’s dear mom, Judy, who is our group mom, actually picked this up for me at a 127 yard sale in our home town, I’m including it here though since I got it on Saturday! Thank you, Judy!!)
- Countless Christmas decorations include vintage Santas, nutcrackers, vintage Christmas signs, outdoor lights, basic ornaments, a bow maker, lights, two brass horns and more.
- Two Brass Camel Home Decor Accessories
- A Vintage, but Broken Toy Train that I plan on jazzing up for Christmas and a smaller train car to bling out for Christmas as well
- Three Vintage Brooches
- A Clock originally purchased in Saudi Arabia that will get adorned with vintage Santas for Christmas
- Vintage Picnic Basket
- Umbrella with a Wooden Duck Head Handle – I’m a sucker for old umbrellas with adorable handles!
- A random bunch of bamboo
- Multi-Colored Animal Lights
- Multiple Pieces of Clothing
- Two Wool Plaid Blankets that are heavy, warm and will be beautiful at Christmastime
- Framed Fern Cross Stitch
- Framed Carousel Art (going to jazz that frame up with a pop of color!)
- Halloween Candelabra
- Not pictured: a kid’s play guitar, one Beanie Baby and a Barbie Horse Drawn Carriage (all for the Circus.)
I did a Facebook live on Sunday going through everything I bought, if you didn’t catch it, you can watch it here!

The Circus and I did do a few of the 127 yard sales the weekend before and there were a few other things I got then too that aren’t pictured here. I think that day I spent about $30 or so.

Have you shopped the 127 Yard Sale before? Share your yard sale experience in the comments!

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for next year!

Also, you can find more information and resources about the longest yard sale on 127yardsale.com!

Most importantly – strap those treasures in on your way back….

Couldn’t risk breaking that camel!

Looking for more tips on finding great deals?

How I find the Good Stuff on Craigslist and Other Second Hand Selling Sites – my tips for finding the bargains!

Want to have a yard sale of your own? Check out my tried and true yard sale tips here!

Want to save this 127 sale post for later? Pin the image below!
August 8, 2018
Things to Do in Pigeon Forge | The Circus’ Birthday Trip

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is loaded with countless things to do that your entire family will enjoy. There are so many things to do in Pigeon Forge including the Dollywood theme park, dinner shows, shopping, and numerous other Pigeon Forge attractions like go-kart racing, putt-putt golf and more!

For over a year, the Circus has been talking about going to the Dolly Parton museum (located inside Dollywood) to see Dolly’s dresses. I can’t count how many times she’s mentioned it. We kept meaning to get around to it last year, but that just didn’t happen. So at the beginning of this year, Grunt and I decided that for the Circus’ birthday, her gift from us would be a trip to Dollywood and Pigeon Forge to make her wish come true. Besides that, I love giving her experiences for her birthday rather than loads of gifts.

Grunt and I both love to travel and visit both new-to-us places and old favorites. Of course, we want to pass that love along to the Circus. We love to see her face light up during all our adventures. Our trip to Pigeon Forge proved that she loves adventures and trips just as much as we do. She has yet to stop talking about all the different things we did. I hope she’s always up for an adventure.

Enough sappiness already, right?

Our main purpose of this trip had been to go to Dollywood, but we ended up doing lots more in Pigeon Forge and had an absolute ball. Both Grunt and I were pleasantly surprised with quite a few of the attractions we visited. Here’s the lowdown on where we stayed and everything we did.

A big thanks to the media folks at both Dollywood and My Pigeon Forge for providing us with tickets to multiple attractions in the area.

Where to Stay in Pigeon Forge

Pigeon Forge is full of all kinds of different lodging. There are hotels for just about every budget and you can even rent a cabin in the area. For this trip though, we stayed at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort.

And it was amazing.

You guys, we were so impressed. We absolutely fell in love with the resort. I never doubted that the resort would be great, but I guess it also never occurred to me just how amazing it would be. I mean, it’s Dolly Parton’s hotel – how could she not do anything less than amazing?!

Isn’t that picture everything? It’s my favorite from the entire trip. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already seen it there. I titled it “Just Two Girls with Big Dreams.”

It’s not an overly huge resort, so it’s not jammed packed with people, which was a plus for us. It’s just big enough and it has the amenities you would expect at a large resort.

They have a large pool outside and another one inside. We did both of them and enjoyed each. There is also a barn outside where story time is held for kiddos every evening.

Every day from 4pm – 6pm, Dolly’s pink lemonade is served up. We enjoyed quite a few cups of that in rocking chairs that are just about around every corner at the resort.

Of course, Dolly herself is around every corner as well.

We loved seeing all the albums along the walls. The Circus went through pointing to all the ones we had and all the ones she wants.

One of the best things about staying at the DreamMore Resort are the perks you can get at Dollywood. If you stay at the DreamMore and visit Dollywood during your stay, you get a TimeSaver pass good for some of their most popular attractions. That keeps you from having to wait in super long lines at those rides! It’s also good for some of the shows at Dollywood. On top of that, you can also take a shuttle, free of charge, right from the resort to the theme park. They drop you off at an entrance separate from the main entrance and you can walk right in without having to stand in long lines. They’ll pick you back up too!

Things to Do in Pigeon Forge, TN

Pigeon Forge Attractions

There are countless attractions in Pigeon Forge ranging from theme and water parks to shopping, museums, comedy shows, go-karts, arcades and much more. We were in the area for three days and two nights and managed to pack quite a bit into that time period, but there is still so much more we could have done if we had a little bit more time!

Dollywood

I think it might be a sin to visit Pigeon Forge and not go to Dollywood. If you aren’t aware, Dollywood is a theme park that Dolly Parton herself started.

There are lots of rides – and we realized just how much of a daredevil our daughter is.

That’s her and her daddy all the way up there!

There wasn’t a ride she wasn’t up for riding, unfortunately though, her height did knock her out of the running for a few of them. She loved everything she did get to ride though.

One thing that I really love about Dollywood and how I think it differs from other theme parks is that it’s not just rides. Dolly Parton’s museum, Chasing Rainbows, is located in the park and ya’ll, it was just awesome. The museum holds countless artifacts from Dolly’s life. This museum was what the kid has been talking about going to visit for over a year.

You can see her Coat of Many Colors as shown above.

There are also displays from all the various movies she’s been in. The Circus has just discovered the 9 to 5 song, so she was all about seeing the outfits and parts of the set from the movie.

And then she made her way over to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas display and I thought she would nearly come undone over all those dresses. We have the album, but of course, she’s not quite ready for that movie, although she can’t for the life of herself, understand why. 😉

Dollywood also offers lots of different shows throughout everyday. We didn’t go to any of those, (I was outvoted!), but there were quite a few I would have liked to see that sounded good.

Hollywood Wax Museum

The Circus wanted to visit a wax museum when we were in Nashville this past February, but we didn’t have the time. This trip though, we made it a point to take her to the Hollywood Wax Museum in Pigeon Forge. My stars, y’all, I had no idea how much she would love it. She thought it was so cool to see some of her favorite stars in life size figures.

Grunt also got to make believe for a little while. 😉

It truly is amazing how true to life and real these things look.

The Track Family Fun Park

The Circus wanted to ride some go-carts as well, so we visited The Track Family Fun Park for that. She of course, loved it and would have ridden all day and night if we would have let her. The Track also has Blaster Boats you can ride. I’m not a huge fan of wet rides, so I let her and her daddy do that. Keep in mind though that just because you aren’t in the water, doesn’t mean you aren’t at risk of getting sprayed by the boats. Not that I’m talking from experience or anything. 😉

There’s also an arcade there and just like her Mama, she loves a good arcade. This kid though has the magic touch. She’s now played that game above three different times at two different arcades and each time, she hits the jackpot.

Seriously, if you need an arcade buddy, she’s your girl.

Magiquest, Mirror Maze & Pirate Golf

When the kid saw the big Magiquest building shaped like a castle, she immediately wanted to go in there. Grunt and I didn’t think it would be something that we would really enjoy as we aren’t really into the Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings/Magi stuff like that. But, since it was the kid’s birthday trip, we gave it a whirl.

And we all loved it.

Magiquest is actually four attractions in one – Magiquest, Pirate Golf, Mirror Maze and Laser Challenge. We did the Magiquest first. Each person is given a wand programmed specifically to them and their Magi name, then you have to go through various different spaces that look like an old village and forest to find charms and unlock new levels. We all had a ball doing it.

We also did the Mirror Maze here, the first we’d ever done, and it was a lot of fun, although I’m sure we all looked like idiots holding our arms out everywhere.

And finally, we did a little putt-putt golf, blacklight Pirate style. I didn’t know pirates preferred black lights, but whatever works!

Titanic Museum

This place is very impressive. As if a huge building made to look like the Titanic isn’t enough, wait until you see everything that’s inside. The museum has very in-depth information relating to the Titanic, crew members and passengers. There are artifacts and even a glacier inside. Sorry for the lack of photos from this place; photos inside the museum weren’t allowed.

The Outlets

Shopping! There is literally a slew of shopping to be had in Pigeon Forge. There are multiple outlet malls and never was I so grateful to have them so close on a trip! Once we got up there, it was more rainy and cooler than we had expected or packed for, and so that sent us to the nearest outlet mall to find some cheap raincoats and a couple of long sleeve shirts to get us through a couple of cool mornings and nights.

The Dolly Parton Statue in Sevierville

If you didn’t know, Dolly is from the area herself and there is a statue of her outside the courthouse in Sevierville. We had a little extra time one night before dinner, so we headed there to take a picture.

Visit My Pigeon Forge for more great attractions in the Pigeon Forge area as well.

Dinner Shows in Pigeon Forge

Pigeon Forge is also loaded down with various types of dinner shows. We had never done a dinner show in Pigeon Forge before, but did two on this trip.

Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud

So going into this dinner show, both Grunt and I didn’t really expect much. We were just kind of like, ‘We’ll give it a shot, but won’t be surprised if it’s not very good.’

Well we were wrong.

The Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud was so much fun. Now, it doesn’t actually talk about the real facts and information surrounding the real feud that took place between the Hatfields and McCoys (I feel my former history teacher self starting to come out.), but it is hilarious, full of entertainment and just an overall good time.

The Circus was glued to the show the entire time and still talks about her favorite parts from the show. On top of that, she ate more fried chicken than I ever thought her little belly would hold and got worried when she thought the waitress might take it away. If you ever get a chance, go see it!

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Adventures Dinner Show

To round out our trip, on our last night we went to Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Adventures Dinner Show.

While it was different than the Hatfield McCoy show, it was still just as good. There’s lots of music, dancing, acrobats, comedy and more. Once again, the Circus was glued to the show. She got her face painted just before the show at The Outpost just outside the auditorium where there are games, face painting and refreshments available before every show. And this time around, she cleaned her plate of mac and cheese and baked ham, then jacked both mine and her father’s portions as well. It was a fantastic night.

Another trip in the books for us and another great time had! I’m sure we’ll head back to Pigeon Forge in the next year or two – as soon as the Circus has grown tall enough to ride all the crazy daredevil rides. 😉

Do you have any fun things to do in Pigeon Forge to add to this list?

You might also want to see…

What to Do with One Night in Chattanooga

Disney World Tips for the Average Family

A Weekend in Nashville

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June 12, 2018
One Night in Chattanooga

This post is sponsored by Booking.com, however all opinions are 100% mine. Affiliate links included in this post.

I have lived in Chattanooga for nearly a decade now and this city still surprises me sometimes.

I grew up driving from the country over the mountain to come to Chattanooga for things like school clothes or to see a movie. We took field trips to the Tennessee Aquarium. Other than that though, I never really ventured out into the city for much else. Even when I came to college over here, I basically went straight to my classes and straight back home. I was terrified of driving downtown. Two lane roads versus lots of one way streets and multiple lanes can break a country girl out in a cold sweat. I’m happy to say, I can easily maneuver throughout the whole downtown Chattanooga area now though and even know shortcuts that Grunt doesn’t know and he’s been here longer than I have. Parallel parking though, well I’m still working on that one.

In the time I’ve been here, many parts of downtown Chattanooga have changed – for the better. The Southside has underwent a huge revitalization and it is nothing short of amazing. When Grunt and I go downtown, there’s a good chance, we’ll end up somewhere in the Southside for dinner, drinks or other fun. A few weeks ago, Grunt and I had the opportunity to visit the Chattanooga Choo Choo – yes, the very same one from the song – and we were pleasantly surprised at what we found.

I decided the best way to share all our favorite things about the Chattanooga Choo Choo and what we love to do downtown in general would be to create an itinerary of sorts for ya – just in case you ever want to come for a visit.

One Night In Chattanooga

Where to Stay

The Chattanooga Choo Choo

The Choo Choo is a perfect hotel choice because it’s so close to everything. Now, as I mentioned before, Grunt and I were pleasantly surprised by all the changes made and still being made at the Choo Choo. It had been a long time since I had last been to the Choo Choo to just walk around and check it all out- like senior prom long time ago. It wasn’t bad or anything back then, but it also wasn’t anywhere that I just had to get back to soon.

Things have changed.

The Choo Choo has been revitalizing their entire property. They have brought in unique new restaurants, have retail shops in train cars, a live music venue, a guitar museum, a bar in a train car and so much more. I was so impressed with everything I saw going on down there. It’s actually on my list now for the Circus and I to visit one day when she’s out of school.

In fact, the Chattanooga Choo Choo made Booking.com’s Book the U.S. list – a list of 51 of the most unique properties in the United States and the District of Columbia. The Choo Choo is in good company – also on the list is Southfork (yes, the Southfork – totally on my bucket list!), a castle in Kentucky (who knew Kentucky had castles?) and a jail in New Orleans (another city that holds a special place in my heart.)

Why would the Chattanooga Choo Choo be so unique though? Besides the fact that it was made nationally popular by Glenn Miller’s song?

Well, for one, you can opt to stay in a train car during your visit.

The Choo Choo has multiple different train cars that can be your hotel room. If a regular hotel room is more your jam, then they also have the MacArthur Building on site with newly renovated rooms.

Also, can I please get some railing like that for my staircase? Hubba, hubba.

Right now, Booking.com is holding a Chief Booking Officer Contest – if you enter, you could be the lucky one to win $50,000 to travel to as many of the unique properties on the Book the U.S. list as you can in 50 days! You can enter the contest here and also see the full list of the most unique properties as well.

If you win and need a travel buddy, I’m sure I could work some free time into my schedule – especially if you’re going to hit up Southfork. 😉

You can also click here to get $30 off a Booking.com reservation if you need to book a getaway now!

Where to Eat

One of the great things about staying at the Choo Choo hotel is that there are so many great restaurants within walking distance. A few of our favorites…

Stir

Stir is actually located on the Chattanooga Choo Choo property and oh man, is it good. We have frequented it quite a few times. The night we stayed at the Choo Choo we had drinks and an appetizer at Stir before going on to dinner at a new restaurant we hadn’t tried before. They are known for their cocktails and by far, their 1948 Margarita is my favorite. Grunt and I are also big fans of their truffle fries.

Alleia

We were so excited to finally be able to try this Italian restaurant. So many of our friends had been raving about it, but we just hadn’t been able to go. Oh my gosh, ya’ll. The food was amazing. We did a full five course Italian meal, splitting each course and it was the way to go, everything was delicious. This was just down the street and around the corner from the Choo Choo.

Clyde’s

Another one that is in walking distance, Clyde’s is more laid-back casual food. It’s still delicious. We’ve gone here many times with groups of friends.

Feed

Just across the street from Clyde’s is Feed. It’s a great place for groups or just couples – once more, the food is awesome.

There are a slew more of restaurants within walking distance of the Choo Choo – these are just a few of our personal favorites.

What to Do

Songbirds

Songbirds is a guitar museum that is jaw-dropping.

There are guitars, upon guitars, upon guitars. It’s an amazing collection and just about every one has a special history. Songbirds is located right on the Choo Choo property. You can also catch a show at Songbirds as well – they have songwriters who perform regularly at the guitar museum and other musical events at their venue below the museum – a Fleetwood Mac cover band was there when we visited the Choo Choo. We’ve also seen The Breakfast Club, an 80’s tribute band there before.

Comedy Catch

If comedy is more your thing, you can catch a comedy show at the Comedy Catch, also located on the Choo Choo property.

Regan’s Place & Westbound Bar

Two of my favorite bars in Chattanooga are located right beside the Choo Choo – Regan’s Place and Westbound Bar. Regan’s is a retro dance bar and Westbound is a country music bar. They both fulfill my diverse musical tastes and they are side-by-side each other.

Both bars are located on Station Street, right beside the Choo Choo. The best thing about this area is that it’s an open container street – one of only a few in the state of Tennessee – you can take your drink from Stir and walk right over to Westbound or wherever else on the street.

Walk Around!

The entire Choo Choo property is filled with lots of great little things…

You can visit one train car where you can try out various kinds of craft beer.

Of course, you’ll want to actually take a picture with the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

Terminal Station, where you will check-in to the hotel is absolutely beautiful. I adore the old track signs hanging above the doors.

And that ceiling – another hubba hubba moment.

Of course, they also have plenty of old train cars to explore.

The Next Day…

If you have more time to spend in Chattanooga, then there are lots of other attractions in our city. I actually wrote about some of the best places to visit in Chattanooga right here.

Before you go, don’t forget to enter Booking.com’s Chief Booking Officer Contest right here for your chance to win $50,000 to travel to some of the most unique properties on their Book the U.S. list!

All my readers also get $30 off their next Booking.com reservation by using this link!

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March 15, 2018
13 Disney World Tips for the Average Family

If you saw any of my Instagram stories last week, you probably saw where we were at Disney World!

This was our second trip to Disney with the Circus. We took her two years ago around Christmastime when she was three and she’s five now. I have to say, it was still just as magical this time around as it was last. I’m not ashamed to admit that I did get a little teary-eyed when I saw Cinderella’s castle that first day. I never went as a child, so I think I’m allowed to be a little sappy about the whole experience now, right?

While we had planned to take the Circus to Disney again in the future, it was my father-in-law who asked earlier in the year when we were all going back and therefore, started the wheels a spinnin’ for this trip to happen. A huge thank you to my in-laws for taking us all!

Even though, this was just our second time going to Disney, I felt like this trip went so much smoother than our first one. We learned a lot that first time around, so we were much better prepared for this trip.

You might have noticed that I titled this post Disney World Tips for the Average Family. Average being the key word there. We know lots of people that go to Disney multiple times a year. My hat is off to them because that would be just more than I could handle. They are total pros at Disney World and all that it entails. I could never keep up with them. That being said, these are the things that us average folk have learned what and what not to do when it comes to Disney World.

And if you have no plans of doing Disney, then by all means feel free to just browse through the photos of our trip below and tell me how cute the Circus is. 😉

Disney World Tips for the Average Family

Where to Stay & Eat

1. Stay at a Disney Resort on the monorail if you can.

If you want to have easy access to all the Disney parks, dining and everything at Disney Springs, then you will definitely want to stay in a Disney resort. Personally though, we highly suggest staying at a resort on the monorail. Resorts on the monorail are a little more expensive than other Disney resorts, but they make travel to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot so freakin’ easy. If you eat at restaurants in any of the resorts on the monorail, you can also easily get to them. There are three resorts on the monorail: The Contemporary, The Polynesian and The Grand Floridian. We stayed at the Grand Floridian this time around.

The Magic Kingdom was just one monorail stop up from the Grand Floridian. To get to Epcot, we just took the monorail three stops up, switched trains and then we were right there at Epcot. You do have to ride a bus to anywhere else you might want to go, but having such easy access to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, where we spent three of our days there, was awesome. We only had to take buses to Disney Springs and Animal Kingdom.

If you don’t stay at a resort on the monorail, then Disney does have buses at all the resorts that run regularly throughout the day which will take you to all the Disney parks, Disney Springs and other Disney hotels. We stayed at Pop Century the first time we went and used the bus system the whole time we were there. Pop Century wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as convenient as being on the monorail. I will say that the food and beds were both much better at The Grand Floridian than they were Pop Century though.

2. Never pay full price for your trip.

Disney always has some sort of deal(s) they are running. All of their current offers can be found here. Even after we had already booked our trip using a special offer, we got a coupon in the mail for an extra percentage off (I can’t remember the exact amount) and we were able to get that additional discount. Grunt also works with Disney travel consultant, so she helped us book everything. She knows her stuff, so that made the booking process go smoother as well – especially with that first trip when we didn’t know much.

3. Get the Disney Dining Plan and book your dining reservations as soon as possible.

In our family’s opinion and in the opinion of multiple other families I’ve spoken with, getting the Disney Dining Plan is the way to go. I think it is roughly $70 per person 10 years or older per day and $25 per person 3-9 years old per day. The plan consists of two snacks, one quick service meal, and one table service meal for each person each day. You also get a mug at the start of your stay which you get unlimited refills on throughout your stay.

For us, we tended to use our snacks as our breakfast. Snacks could roughly be anything in the parks or at a quick service restaurant that are a single serving such as fries, a cinnamon roll, a cup of yogurt, a piece of fruit, etc. A snack can also be an ice cream bar, a drink, etc. Each resort has a quick service restaurant so we would have our “snacks” there in the morning, then head out to a park.

Think of a quick service as a meal at a fast food restaurant, except the food is better. 🙂 There is at least one quick service restaurant at every resort and lots in every park.

The table service meals are sit-down meals. These are the ones you need to make reservations for as soon as you can. You can start making your reservations for table service meals 180 days out from your reservation. Do it then! These are the restaurants where there is usually also character dining, so they fill up fast. This trip we went to:

The Crystal Palace

This is inside the Magic Kingdom. Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore are here, but my kid was not a fan of them. The food was great!

1900 Park Fare

1900 Park Fare is located inside The Grand Floridian. This is where you will find Cinderella, Prince Charming, the evil stepsisters and evil stepmother.

Ohana

Ohana is inside the Polynesian resort. Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto are here, but only for breakfast.

On our last trip we also went to the Tusker House (inside Animal Kingdom) and Chef Mickey’s (inside the Contemporary resort). Both of those had some of the original Mickey characters – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Daisy, etc. and both were super yummy.

Before Your Trip

4. Download the Disney app.

I didn’t have the app on my phone for our last trip, only Grunt Labor did, but this time around, I did have it and I loved it. On the app, you can see what you have coming up, easily change your Fast Passes, see where characters are in every park, what wait times are for rides, etc. It’s like your own personal guidebook to Disney World.

5. Custom t-shirts are fun.

I didn’t know that custom t-shirts for Disney World were a thing until when we went the first time and Grunt was like, “We have to get Disney shirts made for the Circus!” Apparently, most people have Mickey or Minnie ears or the Cinderella castle or the princesses or whatever put on t-shirts and then put their names on it too. That’s what we ended up doing for the Circus’ shirts on our first trip.

This trip though, we went a different route.

I just wasn’t really a fan of the Mickey or Minnie ears and then the name under it. Every person and their mama had one in the park and I wanted the Circus’s to be more unique. So the Circus and I talked it over and decided what her favorite characters were, then we came up with some designs for a custom t-shirt for her everyday. And then I jumped on that train too and had my own t-shirts made as well.

On our way down to Disney, we both wore our Beauty and the Beast inspired shirts.

The next day, the Circus was meeting Ariel, so she wore her little mermaid shirt with her monogram on it.

We were also meeting Tiana (my favorite) that day, so I wore my Tiana inspired shirt.

On the day we went to Animal Kingdom, the Circus wore her “Working on my Roar” shirt and I wore my Bare Necessities tee.

The next day we went to Epcot and I wasn’t really sure who or what we would be doing, so I wore my Mary Poppins shirt and the Circus wore her Cinderella shirt. The Circus also wore her Cinderella shirt the night we had dinner at 1900 Park Fare when she got to meet Cinderelly, as she calls her.

And on the last day there, we both wore our “Boo” shirts that were Minnie Mouse inspired.

*A huge thank you to my friend, Ashley who made all our t-shirts for us!

6. Book the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique ASAP.

If you have a little girl who wants to get the full princess experience, then you might want to take them to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, where fairy godmothers in training transform them into a princess.

There are three different packages to choose from and we went with the full-on-make-me-a-princess-package. That package is $200, so not cheap, but Grunt and I were talking about it and it actually isn’t too bad of a deal if you were going to buy your little one a princess dress at Disney anyway. We paid about $80 for a princess dress for the Circus the first time we went. At the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique with the package we got, the Circus got a princess dress of her choosing, a matching wand and crown, her hair styled, makeup done and polished nails. She also went home with a goody bag that was filled with a Cinderella carriage necklace, makeup, nail polish, and other knick-knacks. Of course, she also got the full princess experience. That was the only “souvenir” she got from us though while were there.

The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique books up super fast though. There are two locations at Disney World – one in the Magic Kingdom at Cinderella’s castle and one in Disney Springs. You can book your appointment up to a year in advance.

7. Book your FastPass+ rides 30 – 60 days in advance.

With your park ticket purchases, you will also get three fast passes per day per person for rides. These are one hour time slots that allow you to go the ride you have your fast pass for and bypass the line. You can book these right in the app. If you aren’t staying at a Disney resort, you can book the FastPasses 30 days in advance. If you are staying in a resort, you can book them 60 days in advance.

While You’re There

8. Splurge on PhotoPass.

As you go around to the different parks, you will see lots of Disney cast members with cameras taking photos of visitors. They are usually also wherever character meeting spots are. This is part of their PhotoPass program. After they take your photos, they will scan your band and the photos will automatically be put into your PhotoPass.

You can purchase all your photos from your trip for $200. Most all of the photos in this post are from our PhotoPass purchase. For us, it is really worth it because you don’t have to lug your good camera around and you can really enjoy the experience, rather than trying to get a photo every time you turn around.

To get your money’s worth, every time you see a PhotoPass cast member with a camera, just stop and have your picture made.

9. Get to the park early to ride.

If you can, get up and be at the park when it opens. Doing this allowed us to get in line ASAP at Epcot to meet Anna and Elsa. If we hadn’t been there earlier, then I don’t know that the Circus would have gotten to see them.

The first day we went to the Magic Kingdom, we went straight in to Adventureland – it was essentially dead. We were able to get right on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride and then the Jungle Cruise, both with zero wait.

We were even able to switch the FastPass+ that we had originally gotten for the Jungle Cruise on another ride. After those rides, we headed toward Fantasyland and stopped at It’s a Small World, once more with zero wait time.

The second day we were at Disney, we went straight to the Fantasyland area and rode the teacups, Dumbo and the Barnstormer with zero to very little wait time.

10. Epcot is a great place for meeting characters.

I didn’t really know what to expect at Epcot as I had never been before. I knew adult beverages were in abundance there (YAY!) and there were some rides we wanted to do, but as it turned out it was a really great place to meet characters as well. As you walk through the different countries, you will see signs where Snow White, Jasmine, Belle and other characters will be throughout the day.

These wait lines were so much smaller than ones at the Magic Kingdom! And with Snow White, you got to take a photo with her right at her wishing well.

She was pretty proud of that lipstick stain. 🙂

11. Divide and Conquer.

We were lucky on our trip because we had a team of four adults who just wanted the Circus to have a great time and experience everything she wanted to. For that reason, we would all divide and conquer a lot if need be. One of us would go stand in line for a ride or another character meet and greet, while another one stayed with the kid or did something else. Pa totally won the award for dividing and conquering this trip. I can’t tell you how many lines he jumped in a line so the Circus could meet a princess. 🙂

12. See a parade in the Magic Kingdom.

The first trip we took to Disney World, I didn’t really care to see any of the parades in the Magic Kingdom. I just figured, it’s a parade, what’s so great about it.

I was wrong.

They are truly magical.

Try to see at least one parade in the Magic Kingdom – I think there is always one or two per day. You’ll get to see lots of characters you might not get to see otherwise. The music is fun and the performers are all so talented.

13. Don’t miss the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.

By all means, make it a point to see the fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom at least once during your stay. On our first trip, we were in the park to see them. This time around, we saw them just after dinner at the Polynesian resort one night. I think that I almost liked seeing them more at a resort off the monorail, than actually in the park. The resort still played the music that went along with the fireworks and the Circus and I had plenty of room to dance around on the grass during them.

Obviously, we had a great trip! I hope you do too if you go!

You might also want to see…

Isle of Palms Beach Vacation

A Chattacation: Things to Do in Chattanooga, TN

October 19, 2017
A Weekend in Nashville

For a girl who loves country music as much as I do, it should be no surprise that I love Nashville, Tennessee, Music City U.S.A.

I grew up watching Ralph Emery host Nashville Now, The Crook and Chase Show and rarely missed a country countdown on TNN (The Nashville Network) from age five on. There is nothing in this world like good country music and no place quite like Nashville.

For my birthday a couple weekends ago and our anniversary as well, Grunt Labor and I took a weekend trip to Nashville. As always, it didn’t disappoint. Here’s what we did while we were there and what I would highly recommend you doing if you are ever in the area…which you should make it a point to be in the area at some point in your life. That’s just my completely biased opinion though of course. 😉

A Weekend in Nashville

Disclosure: Visit Music City provided us with passes to some of the local attractions we visited, however all opinions are my own.

Our first stop wasn’t actually in Nashville, but in Lynchburg, Tennessee – the home of Jack Daniels.

Jack Daniels Distillery

Lynchburg was about a 45 minute detour on our way to Nashville, so we decided to head there first and visit the Jack Daniels distillery. We had planned on taking a tour, but we weren’t good planners and the next available tour was too late in the day for us. Nevertheless, we walked about the visitor center there, which was cool.

I had heard that if you go to Lynchburg, the place to eat there is Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House. I did make reservations for that and I am so glad I did.

Miss Mary Bobo’s

Y’all. It was so good.

You’re seated with other guests at a round table and the food is served on a lazy susan. The food is cooked with lard and real butter and Jack Daniels and it is just so damn good. While we were there, they served catfish, slaw, greens, ribs, okra, cornbread, rice casserole, and apples. Oh and there was pecan pie for dessert. I may or may not have had to unbutton my britches for the rest of the ride to Nashville.

We had tickets for the Eric Church concert both the Friday and Saturday nights that we were in town, so after checking into our hotel, The Gaylord Opryland, we headed downtown. We didn’t have much time for dinner, so we grabbed a quick bite at Paradise Park and also took in the music from their live band, then headed onto the concert.

Eric Church Concert

Yes, I had a shirt made that said Good Girls go to Church specifically for this concert. Big thanks to my friend, Ashley for whipping that one and another out for me for the following night’s concert!

The concert was absolutely amazing, ya’ll.

I don’t know if any of you listen to Eric Church, but if you like good country music, then I highly suggest him. He doesn’t have that new country sound like some new artists do that I’ll refrain from mentioning. He kind of has a southern rock sound, but with a dose of old school country. He killed it both Friday and Saturday night.

On Saturday, we hit up a couple of our usual stops and a new one..

The Johnny Cash Museum

This was our first visit to the Johnny Cash Museum and it did not disappoint. They have so many personal pieces of Johnny and June’s that it’s just amazing to behold. It’s incredibly informative and very personal.

This wall of his records was one of my favorite things in the museum. It’s astounding just how many records he made.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

I always love going to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. They have special exhibits throughout the year and while were were there, one of those was dedicated to the group Alabama.

Which as everyone knows, is the greatest country music band of all time. It was a great exhibit and I’m so glad we got to see it. Even with all the permanent exhibits they have, I still find something that I didn’t see the last time we were there.

And finally, it isn’t a trip to Nashville without stopping at the Ryman.

The Ryman Auditorium

The Ryman, the mother church of country music, is where the Grand Ole Opry first aired on the radio and put country music on the map. I love just walking around this place and soaking it all in. I’m quite sure that Minnie still walks the stage on occasion. 🙂

That was all we had time for this trip, but there’s a little girl who was super pumped to see all the pictures of Dolly from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, so I think we might have another trip to Nashville in our future. If you want more ideas for what to do in Nashville and where to eat, read this post too from one of our other trips there. You can also check out the Visit Music City website for more Nashville goodness.

Looking for more great weekend trips? Here’s a few more of our favorites…

The Must Do’s of New Orleans – Best. City. Ever.

Things to Do in Chattanooga, Tennessee – Pardon me, but is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?

Want to remember these Nashville travel tips for later? Just pin the image below!

June 6, 2017
A Chattacation: Things to Do in Chattanooga, Tennessee

As I said in Freak Show Friday last week, we got hurricaned out of our beach vacation plans for the second year in a row. We ended up having a fantastic little staycation, albeit a bit of a redneck one. 😉

Last year when this happened, my in-laws were with us and we did just about every “Chattanooga” thing you could do around town. We did some Chattanooga things this year as well, so I thought since I do live in what has been proclaimed as one of the best towns ever, I figured I would show y’all around town – virtually.

Places to Go and Things to Do

Rock City

If you’ve ever traveled south of the Mason Dixon line, you may have seen a barn or two that sports a roof painted with “See Rock City” on top of it. Rock City has been around for quite some time. It’s really something to see. It’s full of winding trails through rocks atop Lookout Mountain. And by rocks, I mean big rocks.

There are also a few gnomes who can be spotted and you can wonder through Fairyland there as well.

I would say this one is a must when visiting Chattanooga. Read more about Rock City here.

Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls is on the side of Lookout Mountain and is actually an underground waterfall. You go down into a cave, walk for a bit and then come to the falls. The tour is guided and stops are made throughout the cave to talk about it’s history. Read more about Ruby Falls here.

The Tennessee Aquarium

In Chattanooga, we are lucky enough to have one of the best aquariums in the country. Or at least, I think we do. 🙂

We have both a saltwater and freshwater aquarium. We even have penguins. The Circus loves going to the aquarium. Personally, I’m a fan of the river otters. Read more about the aquarium here.

The Creative Discovery Museum

The Creative Discovery Museum is specifically for kids. It’s another favorite of the Circus’. It’s a hands-on type of museum where kids can play while also learning about how things work. There’s a water works station, an art area, you can dig for dinosaur bones and there’s always a rotating special exhibit as well as many other things. Read more about the Creative Discovery Museum here.

Coolidge Park

Coolidge Park is a great park right along the Chattanooga riverfront on the North Shore side.

It’s great to just go to and walk along the river, but it also has a carousel to ride and if it’s hot, you can let the kids run through the sprinklers.

Where To Eat

We made it a point during our staycation to try out a new restaurant every night that we hadn’t eaten at before. These are those and a few Chattanooga favorites of mine.

TacoNooga

We did TacoNooga one night for dinner. It’s located on the North Shore, near Coolidge Park that I mentioned above, and more casual. I had the TacoNooga and the Camaron – both were fantastic.

Feed Table & Tavern

Feed is located downtown on the hip Southside and features a farm fresh menu that is super yummy. I had the Sloppy Joe and it was delicious.

The Purple Daisy Cafe

The Purple Daisy Cafe is at the foot of Lookout Mountain and is a great lunch spot. They will even put your items in a picnic basket to go. Their BBQ is world famous, but I really love their Chicken Salad Sandwich.

Southern Star

The Southern Star is another great lunch spot and is located downtown. True to it’s name, they offer the traditional southern “meat and three” plate with different choices daily.

Aretha Frankenstein’s

I think if you visit Chattanooga, it might be a sin if you didn’t go to Aretha Frankenstein’s for breakfast one morning. They are in North Chattanooga and known for their breakfast.

Where to Stay

Since I live here, I’ve never actually stayed in a hotel here. Based on where all the attractions are though, I would say that staying downtown would be your best bet. These are a few hotels I’m familiar with that are unique to Chattanooga.

The Dwell Hotel

Ok, I really want to stay in The Dwell Hotel just because of the interior design. Honestly, I’d be happy if they’d just let me go in and wander in awe from room to room. (I’d promise to keep my drool off the carpet.) You think I’m kidding, don’t you? Just go take a look at their room gallery.

The Read House

If you’re a fan of a good ghost story, then you’ll want to stay at The Read House. The Read House is a historic hotel downtown that has it’s very own ghost as well.

Chattanooga Choo-Choo

You could also opt to stay right where the trains used to come into town – at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. You can even stay in an old train car if you want!

And of course, I don’t think I could write this post without telling you about the most important places in Chattanooga…

Where to Drink

The Big Chill Bar & Grill

While I am still bitter about the Big Chill having to move from downtown to the North Shore, it’s still one of my favorite bars. It’s not the same, but the music is still good and the drinks are still strong. Also, their food is great. Try the Chicken Salad Melter with fried okra. Trust me.

Regan’s Place

Remember the new club my friends and I somehow managed to get into on opening night, Regan’s Place is that club. It’s a dance club, but not booty dance club. Oh no. Think 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s hits. It’s so much fun.

Clyde’s

Clyde’s is very casual and laid back. You can even play ping pong there.

Have any of you ever visited Chattanooga before or plan to?

Looking for more things to do in great Southern cities?

The Must-Do’s of New Orleans

Things to Do in Nashville

October 27, 2016
Isle of Palms Beach: Where to Stay, Where to Eat, What to Do

If you’re looking for that beach you’ll love coming back to year after year, you can stop looking. Isle of Palms beach is that beach. This barrier island, located just outside of Charleston, SC, IOP isn’t crowded, has a small town feel, wonderful restaurants and yes – beautiful beaches.

When the Circus was five months old, we crashed my in-laws vacation with them to the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. I had never been there before and Grunt hadn’t been since he was in middle school or high school. My in-laws though had been practically every year. We had a great time.

The next summer, Grunt Labor and I thought it would be fun to try out a beach / resort in Florida.

We were complete idiots. Grunt Labor and I, not the in-laws. We should never have strayed from their yearly vacation plans.

The Circus had a good time, but the rest of us not so much. The entire resort was too crowded, too loud and the traffic was ridiculous. Before the trip was over, we were all in agreement that all future beach vacations would be at the Isle of Palms.

We go at least twice a year in the spring and summer and if we can, in the fall. The Isle of Palms has quickly turned into one of my favorite places in the world and while it can’t top New Orleans, it comes a close second. In fact, our master bedroom design and makeover was inspired by the Isle of Palms. If you haven’t been before, I highly recommend it. Here’s where we stay, places to eat and things to do while your in IOP.

Where to Stay on Isle of Palms

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Wild Dunes Resort

We always rent a condo for a week at Wild Dunes Resort on the island. This is what my in-laws had been doing for years before Grunt Labor, the kid and I crashed their vacations. We’ve went through both VRBO and Island Realty to rent a condo in the past. For the last two or three years, we’ve stayed at the same one for our beach trips, which is this one. It’s ocean front with a great view and there’s a pool just right outside the condo as well.

If you don’t want to go the condo route, Wild Dunes also has a hotel and many houses you can rent there as well. If you don’t want to go through a rental company, you can book through the Wild Dunes website.

If you’ve got someone in your party who loves golf, then Wild Dunes also has great golf courses. If you’ve got kiddos, there is a great playground for them there as well. We usually also rent bikes to get around the resort area while there. There are wonderful little bike paths all around.

There are also lots of beach houses you can rent on the Isle of Palms that aren’t within the Wild Dunes resort. There are a few hotels as well right along the ocean.

Places to Eat on Isle of Palms

I love to eat. Seriously, eating at great restaurants every night is one of my favorite things about vacation. Luckily for us, my in-laws had been scoping out all the best restaurants on the Isle of Palms and nearby in Mt. Pleasant for the last decade, so they know where to eat. We do breakfast and lunch at the condo every day and dinner out. Mama whips us up an amazing breakfast every morning and I am like the worst daughter-in-law ever because she’s always done cooking by the time I drag my butt outta bed. These are our go-to restaurants on the island and it’s always a good idea to make reservations at them:

Long Island Cafe

The Long Island Cafe is on the Isle of Palms right beside Harris Teeter. It’s a small restaurant and I wouldn’t have given it a second look the first time I saw it, but my in-laws knew better. It is so good. In fact, when back home and asked what I want to eat, I have told Grunt Labor She Crab soup from the Long Island Cafe. I have no idea why he wouldn’t just run and get it for me. 😉 I don’t think you can go wrong with anything there, but we love the She Crab Soup obviously, the Filet Mignon, the Crab Cakes and Crab Stuffed Shrimp.

Acme Lowcountry Kitchen

Acme Lowcountry Kitchen is also on the Isle of Palms. We just found this one a couple trips back and fell in love immediately. For starters, the Lowcountry Eggrolls are awesome. I’ve gotten the Lobster each time we’ve been and never been disappointed. Grunt Labor had The Hunley Trio I believe the last time and he loved it. My father-in-law got one of the nightly specials the last time and liked it as well.

The Boathouse

The Boathouse is also on the Isle of Palms and one of our staples. Most of us always get some sort of fish here and it’s always good. I got the Lobster Tail and Filet Mignon combo last time and it was delish.

Morgan Creek Grill

Morgan Creek Grill is on the water and has spectacular views. There were a few years where we quit eating here because the food wasn’t that great, but we tried on it again on our last trip and were happy to discover that they once more have spectacular food. On top of that, they will often have live music going on outside, so it’s a really fun environment.

The Refuge

The Refuge is in the same shopping center as The Long Island Cafe. It’s a newer restaurant and we tried it for the first time on our last visit and it was absolutely divine. Grunt and I split the lobster ravioli and it was more than enough for the two of us.

Places to Eat on Nearby Sullivan’s Island

Sullivan’s Island is connected to IOP by bridge and it’s a 20 minute or less drive there depending on where you’re staying on the island. Sullivan’s Island has a wonderful small town feel and there are lots of great places to eat there.

Sullivan’s Restaurant

Sullivan’s is a cozy little casual restaurant with wonderful seafood. It’s been on the island forever, so you know it’s good.

Poe’s Tavern

While I haven’t been here yet, Poe’s Tavern is on my list. People have raved about this one in the comments before and it’s just never worked out for us to get in while we’ve been there.

Home Team BBQ

If you’re in the mood for BBQ, then you can score some at Home Team BBQ. This is a newer restaurant on Sullivan’s Island. We tried it the last time we were there and it was really good!

Places to Eat in Nearby Mt. Pleasant

Mt. Pleasant is just about a 20 minute hop across the bridge from IOP. It’s a great little town, with some great restaurants too. We often frequent these there…

Shem Creek Bar and Grill

Shem Creek Bar and Grill is over the bridge in Mt. Pleasant (about a 15 – 25 minute drive depending on traffic). It’s a fun, casual spot with good food.

For us, it’s always custom to take the kid’s picture in this sign just outside the restaurant. We have one from when she was five months and on up from every vacation. Shem Creek is known for their oysters, but we aren’t oyster people. We opt for any of the fish specials, crab cakes and the seafood stuffed flounder. Also, they have fun cocktails. 😉

Water’s Edge

Water’s Edge is also in Mt. Pleasant. My absolute favorite (and Grunt Labor’s) here is the Yellowfin Tuna. Anything else we’ve ever had though has always been good as well – you can’t go wrong!

Page’s Okra Grill

Page’s Okra Grill is always packed and deservedly so – it’s delicious. It’s southern cuisine meets coastal seafood and it’s delicious. They also have a phenomenal breakfast and brunch.

Things to Do in Isle of Palms SC

The beach of course…

We spend a lot of time at the beach. The Circus could play (and has) in the water when it’s 100 degrees or 50 degrees out. Her Pa will let her do and get away with just about anything while at the beach.

As my husband said, Pa is not an adult in charge when he is with The Circus, he is just her play companion who also happens to have car keys and money. Nothing is off limits. Gaia (Grandma, but the Circus calls her Gaia) gets onto both of them equally as needed.

On our last trip to the beach, we finally started renting the beach umbrellas and chairs – best decision ever.

We just called the Isle of Palms Beach Chair Company, set it all up and they had our chairs and umbrellas out by the time we got to the beach everyday. No lugging all the chairs and umbrellas down with you!

There is also a pool just outside our condo that we spend a little time at. I think most all the condos in Wild Dunes have a pool that you can swim at.

Read.

We all read a lot at the beach. I love reading anyway and I think at the beach, it just relaxes you even more.

You can’t go wrong with Pat Conroy for beach reading. I read Beach Music while there and loved it. Also, picking up a plastic South Carolina cup at the local grocery store and filling it up with a margarita is a must. 😉

Charleston

It’s just about a thirty minute drive into Charleston from the Isle of Palms. If you’ve never been to Charleston before, then you must try and go one day. It’s another favorite city of mine and one of these days I’ll have a post on just it. For now though, don’t miss:

• City Market (has been around since the early 1800’s)

• King Street (lots of shopping)

• The Battery (right along the rivers with beautiful jaw dropping homes)

• Carriage Rides (you can really get a good quick history of the city and see lots of things by doing one of the carriage ride tours)

Mt. Pleasant

Mt. Pleasant is just about 15 – 20 minutes outside of the Isle of Palms and is a fun little town. My family could stay at the beach all day every day, but this girl has to get out and go exploring at least one day. I often go to Mt. Pleasant and Charleston to do just that. I’ve found a few little great little shops I hit up on each visit…

Mt. Pleasant Mall

Mt. Pleasant Mall is an antique mall with many different vendors. This mall doesn’t seem to have those really old “stuffy” pieces if you know what I mean. Expect to find lots of bamboo, rattan, some lucite, brass – the good stuff as I call it – here.

Indigo Market

I just discovered the Indigo Market in Charleston in the spring. They also have multiple different vendors with a mix of new and vintage pieces. Again, you’ll see mid-century pieces, bamboo, rattan, leopard prints and bright colors.

And as I said earlier, if you stay at Wild Dunes, you can rent bikes and ride all over the resort, which is really fun to do. There are also playgrounds and pools for the kids too.

Have you ever been to the Isle of Palms? If so, please add any suggestions you have for where to stay, eat and what to do in the comments!

Need more great Southern cities to explore?

The Must Do’s of New Orleans – (Also, the time I went in a whorehouse).

Things To Do In Nashville – in my top three favorite southern cities.

Things to Do in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – it’s where Dolly’s from!

A Fried Green Tomatoes Road Trip – Yes, you can visit the Whistle Stop Cafe!

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July 7, 2016
Don’t forget to tip your hat to Hank.

I remember being about four or five years old, in the kitchen with my Grannie one day, when we heard country music and line dancing start playing on TNN.

All biscuit making halted.

She swept me into her arms.

Carried me into the den.

And we did our own version of line dancing right then and there in front of that tv.

She knew the song.

She knew the steps.

And she held me as we danced.

And in those moments, my love affair with country music began.

From Loretta & Conway to Garth & Trisha, I love them all.

Furthermore, I firmly believe that every single situation in life has an accompanying country song and I’ll be happy to tell you what it is.

Grunt Labor and I decided to take a quick trip for our five year anniversary back in June. As we pondered our options, one city seemed to be clear – Nashville.

Music City U.S.A.

We only had a couple of days to spend in the city, so we opted to stay downtown on Broadway within easy walking distance to just about everything besides The Opry.

I’m sure there are hundreds of things that locals love to do in their great city, but these are always our favorite things to do in Nashville…

1. Visit The Grand Ole Opry

We didn’t get to see a performance at the Opry, but we did make it a point to stop by the sacred ground before heading into downtown. In other words, I insisted on going to the Opry gift shop to get an updated version of my Grand Ole Opry Member Book. The Opry is simply the heartbeat of country music.

2. Peruse Broadway and Downtown

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Broadway is like the epicenter of downtown Nashville. This is where Tootsie’s is, lots of honky tonks and other things you won’t want to miss. Put your phone down and take it all in. See how many different songs you hear being played at once.

Hit up the Paradise Park Trailer Resort for lunch.

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They make a mean BLT.

At some point, we usually hit up The Big Bang off Broadway where they have dueling pianos. It also happens to be where Grunt Labor first told me he loved me…but he was drunk so it didn’t count. 😉

3. Visit The Country Music Hall of Fame

If you are a country music fan and have never been to The Country Music Hall of Fame, you must make it a point to go. This is not the same hall of fame from 15 years ago. They moved locations a while back and the new one is huge. Its filled to the brim with artists’ sacred outfits, guitars, even cars.

I loved the Hee Haw exhibit.

One of my favorite things were these, which were the handwritten original pieces of paper where Eric Church wrote Carolina and K.T. Oslin wrote 80’s Ladies.

I have to say though, I was a little disappointed with the lack of Conway Twitty items. I did take this quick picture of him and Loretta.

4. And the Ryman.

God bless the Ryman. The Mother Church of Country Music. The Ryman is where the Grand Ole Opry originally started broadcasting. Its where Minnie Pearl stood on the stage for countless years.

Don’t miss the display of her shoes and hat. Sit in a pew. Take it all in. If you listen closely, you’ll probably hear her announce, “Howdy! I’m just so proud to be here!”

5. Have drinks at Acme Feed & Seed.

Acme Feed and Seed has been many things over the years including a feed store at one time. Now, it is home to a restaurant, gift shop, event space and a rooftop bar with amazing views of downtown and the river.

6. Head over to Merchants for dinner.

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We opted to treat ourselves our last night in town at Merchants. Merchants was once a hotel where the one and only Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Hank Williams stayed among other country music royalty. The first floor is home to Merchants Bistro, but we opted for dinner on the second floor and just let me tell you, the steak was phenomenal. I had a whiskey with it and waved to Patsy in the booth across from us.

7. Go down a side street off Broadway and find good live music.

While Broadway is hopping with live music and most definitely a sight to behold, I find that the best music and the best bars are off Broadway on the side streets. We ended up at Benchmark.

The band played everything from George Strait to Eric Church and a little bit of 70’s rock.

And shots were served in medicine cups. Brilliance.

8. Hit up Loveless Cafe for breakfast on your way out of town.

In the fifties, the Loveless’ started serving biscuits out of their front door. Eventually the little house became a full-blown restaurant and motel. The motel is no longer open, but Loveless Cafe still serves the best biscuits, and chicken and waffles according to Grunt Labor, for miles around.

The one thing that we really wanted to do, but just couldn’t was visit The Bluebird Cafe. Its definitely on the list for the next time around though…

And on the way out of town, be sure to tip your hat to Hank…

Do you have any favorite spots in Nashville?

Do tell so I can add them to my list for our next trip!

You might also want to read about one of my other favorite cities…and the time I visited a whorehouse…

The Must Do’s of New Orleans

If you love the south and reading, you’re also going to want to see these….

The Best Southern Books

More Favorite Southern Books

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July 21, 2015
That time I went in the whorehouse… (Must Do’s in New Orleans)

Everyone should have a great love affair with a city.

A love affair that rivals Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak’s in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – its passionate and crazy and always leaves you guessing.

Mine is with New Orleans.

A city full of debauchery, excitement, and thrill.

And let’s be honest, booze – lots of booze.

I hate to put a cliche to it, but you truly never know what’s going to happen when you’re there.

My love affair with New Orleans began when I was 13.

My father took my brother and I to the French Quarter.

We went in the daytime, otherwise, I too, like you probably are now, would be questioning his parenting skills for taking a 13 year old and an 8 year old to the quarter.

One look at all that architecture and I was hooked.

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

There is a spirit in New Orleans that you just can’t quite describe.

You either love it or you hate it.

There can be no gray area with this city.

I am madly in love with it – and not just with the architecture anymore.

No, no.

I am madly in love with the lore of Marie Laveau and her voodoo, the legends of Storyville and Norma Wallace, The Last Madam, the cities of the dead, the sound of jazz in the air and the ghostly whispers of great writers that once walked the quarter.

When I drug Grunt Labor there for the first time, he balked at me as I left pennies on Marie’s grave, followed by a visit to the voodoo temple to buy vesta powder, sage, and brick dust.

The day he came home and found me scattering the brick dust across our threshold and waving burning sage through our beloved foreclosure, I’m pretty sure he was ready to call the psychiatric ward.

We haven’t had any evil spirits here yet. Just sayin’.

Grunt Labor and I had to cash in some unused plane tickets before the new year. We had one weekend to jet away and only one place made sense: NOLA.

We left on a Friday at noon and were enjoying drinks and BBQ shrimp (a messy, but must-have dish) in the quarter by 7pm.

We spent too much money, ate too many beignets, drank too much bourbon, and walked it all off perusing the quarter.

And the best absolute my-life-is-now-complete thing about this trip?

I got to go in a whorehouse.

One of the most fascinating things to me about New Orleans is its history of vice.

I devour books on Storyville (New Orlean’s Red Light District in the early 1900’s).

My absolute favorite tale of prostitution in New Orleans in the one of The Last Madam, Norma Wallace. I have read the book three times now. I will read it at least 100 more times before I die.

Norma Wallace was, as the title of the book states, The Last Madam of New Orleans. She ran her upscale house of prostitution until the mid 60’s. She entertained movie stars, gangsters, and high political officials. There wasn’t a better house than The Queen’s.

Armed with my book in hand, Grunt Labor and I set out to see her last residence in the quarter where she entertained: 1026 Conti Street, coincidentally (or not?), also once the house of E.J. Bellocq, the famed photographer of Storyville. As we walked down Conti, I was worried the house may no longer be standing while I was frantically scoping out house numbers.

But it was still standing.

I snapped a few pictures of the front of the house, the sign hanging on it, and then realized someone was coming out of the door. I apologized for being that corny tourist and started to walk away.

But then something amazing happened.

One of the men coming out of the house was Mark Boline.

A broker who just so happened to be the broker for the apartments which 1026 Conti have become.

A ridiculously nice man that asked if we would like a tour.

I nearly wet myself.

As Grunt Labor gives me the look of, Are you crazy?! Should we really be going into a house with a man we don’t know in a city that’s crazy as hell?!, I followed the man inside the house.

I may die in the whorehouse, but damn it, I’ll die crossing something off the bucket list.

Mr. Mark Boline was completely harmless – and totally made this girl’s ~~day~~ year. Thank you, sir.

The entryway is lined with paintings and photographs remembering the past owners of the residence, Norma Wallace and E.J. Bellocq.

The painting on the left was done from one of the famed photographs E.J. Bellocq took in Storyville. The top right picture is of two paintings that grace the wall – one of Norma Wallace and one of E.J. Bellocq. The bottom right picture is a series of photographs of Norma and the residence.

The courtyard was nothing short of stunning.

The area of the courtyard photographed above is actually much longer – I just couldn’t get a good shot. If I remember correctly, Mr. Boline said that area was where Ms. Wallace’s girls would perform their “shows.” I’ll let you read the book to learn more about those shows.

Mr. Boline showed us one of the units available to rent. In that certain unit was the place, Norma would stash her cash:

I was thrilled to see they had preserved it. Of course in her day, a brick would have covered the hiding spot.

In this same apartment was the side door of the house where Norma would pay off the police.

She would hand it right through the door and carry on with business.

This is the kitchen of that apartment.

I was taking photos with my phone, thus the blurriness – I had left my camera at home as I had promised I wouldn’t do any photography for work, but ya know, when duty calls… Anyway, these apartments are small, but have beautiful high end finishes.

Upon leaving the whorehouse, Grunt Labor put his arm around me, laughed and said, “Well, I guess nothing else we ever do in New Orleans will top this.”

Nope.

But I’ll still go back to my beloved city. I just can’t get enough.

Here are our favorite things to do in the city, photos and commentaries included. 🙂

Must Do’s in New Orleans:

1. Peruse the quarter, preferably with coffee from Cafe du Monde or booze in hand. Bask in the architecture.

And then bask a little more.

2. Have a breakfast of cafe au lait and beignets (french doughnuts) at Cafe du Monde.

And then go back a couple hours later for more.

3. Dance to a jazz band in the street.

And then leave them a few dollars.

4. Walk down Bourbon Street at least once in the daytime and once in the nighttime.

This should also be done drink-in-hand. People watch – you won’t believe the stuff you’ll see at night.

5. Visit Faulkner House Books where, yes, William Faulkner once lived.

Take in all the fine literature here, buy a book or two – I suggest a Faulkner or New Orleans one as a souvenir.

6. Visit a City of the Dead

New Orleans cemeteries are known as cities of the dead. I think you can see why from the photo. If you have never been to NOLA before, I highly suggest taking a cemetery tour. Going alone on your first visit isn’t the best idea. Some of the cemeteries are not safe.

If you visit St. Louis #1, leave some pennies or gifts on Mrs. Laveau’s tomb. It can’t hurt.

7. Take the St. Charles Street Car to the Garden District

Peruse the garden district. Take in all the beautiful mansions.

If you have read any of the Anne Rice Mayfair Witches books, many of the places in those books are in this district.

8. Visit the Roosevelt Hotel, preferably at Christmas time.

This was suggested to me by Kim from O is for Organize, and boy was she right on. This hotel is stunning at Christmas.

I also couldn’t resist this old letter box in the hotel.

9. Stop in at NOLA Couture.

This is a new favorite shop Grunt Labor and I discovered on our recent trip. Pick up a classy bow tie for your man and an out-of-this-world good smelling candle inspired by none other than the city of sin itself.

10. Visit the address where Marie Laveau once lived.

Her house is no longer standing, another one is in its place, but its still worth the walk.

11. Have a cigar in the quarter.

According to Grunt Labor, the cigar shops in NOLA are pretty good. This visit, we stopped in at the Cigar Factory on Bourbon Street.

12. Drive out to River Road and visit an old Plantation.

Grunt Labor and I didn’t have time to do this on our recent visit, but the time before we drove out to River Road (I think it was about a 45 minute drive out of the city) to tour a plantation. The one pictured above is Oak Alley Plantation (you’ve probably seen it in movies before). We just stopped at it and looked around, but didn’t tour the inside. However, we did tour a creole plantation, Laura, and we throughly enjoyed it.

Books I Love about New Orleans & Their Characters:

The Last Madam by Christine Wiltz – hands down, my favorite book.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches Series

Voodoo in New Orleans, Robert Tallant

Storyville, New Orleans, Al Rose – This book contains many of the famed Storyville photographs taken by E.J. Bellocq.

Empire of Sin, Gary Krist- Just got my hands on this one, but I think its going to be great.

See more of my favorite southern books here.

If you have any suggestions on things to see in New Orleans or books to read, please leave them in the comments!

More posts about Southern travel:

Things to Do in Nashville – probably my 2nd favorite southern city!

Isle of Palms Beach Vacation – no traffic like in Florida!

Fried Green Tomatoes Road Trip – visit the place where the movie was filmed!

Jimmy Carter Sunday school in Plains, Georgia – attend a Sunday school class taught by former President Carter.

You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.

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January 8, 2015