Goslings Go West - Santa Cruz

We knew that where we were staying on the beach in Aptos was not very far away from Santa Cruz.  Growing up, we had the song by the Strokes about Santa Cruz, so it was one of the places we always wanted to visit. So on the wednesday we decided to take a little drive there.  We knew there was a board walk with rides and mini golf.

The Boardwalk operates on a ticket scheme.  You get a card from a machine, then pay money to load it up with tickets.  A lot of the fun fairs and carnival these days do it like this.  I like it.  We loaded the card up with $70, and off we went.

First stop, Buccaneer Bay Mini Golf.  My kids love mini golf.  I can't stand it.  This one was cool though.  It had a UV section.  We have worked hard getting the boys to play properly.  They are good.  They wait for each other to finish, and cheer each other on.  This was the first time I had kept score.  Paul and I don't play.  We supervise! Unsurprisingly, Oliver won, Isaac came second and Sebastian last.  But it was closer than we expected.

Then we entered the Boardwalk for real.  You could certainly tell it was spring break! It was busy.  I would not have enjoyed it in the height of summer. The boys spotted a ride called Speedway, with lots of Nascars.  It flew really fast around the corners! They loved it! 

Next up was a horse racing game, where you had to throw balls to make your horse move.  Luckily we were the only ones taking part.  Sebastian won, with a little help from daddy! He won a soft toy of a pickle, which has since been named Mr Pickle......

Then on to the Jet Copters for Isaac and Seb.  Paul and Oliver did Rock and Roll, a spiny ride.  and I got to sit them both out, phew! 

We did a couple more rides, the Cave Train springs to mind, before we ran out of money.  Setting a limit on what we spend is the best way for us to have these kind of days out.  It helps make the kids aware that they can't do everything!!! 

This boardwalk rocked.  It had a good variety of rides and attractions.  We could have spent a lot more time and money, so I am glad we put a limit on these things.  Santa Cruz looks like a beautiful place to visit.  Quite touristy, but given we had just done the Grand Canyon and Vegas, it was nice for us to be able to go back to our little house on the beach, sit on the balcony, and watch the sun go down behind the palm tree. 

Isaac is 7, in Key West!

Isaac had his birthday in key west. Nothing like spending your birthday, in November, in shorts and t shirt! I had planned for this well, and made sure all his presents were here. 

He had a great time opening them.  Isaac likes to not wear a top to bed A LOT of the time.  It's often like a bad audition for Twilight around here......

This is Isaac, so he typically loved everything.

We went for our usual breakfast in the Southernmost cafe.  After we went for a walk.  Right by the hotel is the marker for the Southern Most point in the continental USA.  This has huge queues next to it every time we went past it.  But not at 8.30am on a Wednesday morning.  A kind couple took some photos for us.

As it was Isaacs birthday, he got to decide what we would do.  Mini golf.  Amazingly, there is only one mini golf course in the whole of the keys!  We had to drive about 30 minutes to get to Boondocks.

But it was worth it.  The course is good, and they have a pub/restaurant next door where we had lunch.

We drove back to the hotel.  I picked up the cake from reception, and we returned to the hotel to find a gift for Isaac in the room for the hotel, with balloons and everything! 

We chilled at the hotel for an hour or so swore going of on our next adventure: Key Wests butterfly conservatory.  This place was busy! And not cheap either

But Isaac loves insects, and butterfly's fall into that category.  Oliver does not feel the same way

But the butterfly's liked him! 

And Paul.

There were many butterfly's here.  This place is quite small, and a little expensive.  If you didn't have loud impatient kids, you could probably spend more time in there.

We rounded off the day with a couple of games of fooseball and some cake.  I ordered the cake from Amazing Cakes and Creations.  We communicated completely by email.  I gave them ideas of what I wanted, they did the rest.  They did an awesome job.  The design was great, and it tasted even better than it looks!

I think Isaac enjoyed his birthday on the beach.  Not sure he will ever be able to do it again as a child.  With nearly all of us having winter birthdays, it was nice to be somewhere warm in November. 

Helen, Georgia

We wanted so badly to go away over Easter weekend, but alas, we left it too late for anywhere decent that we wanted to go.  Seeing as Oliver was still recuperating, and I was getting my sugars level on my insulin pump (more on that next time), we decided to try and do some day trips.

I had heard about Helen in Georgia.  Many of my friends had been there, and people had advised going to see it so on Good Friday we took a drive up.  It is about 100 miles from here, and took about 2 hours.

The thing that makes Helen such a must see is its styling.  In 1969 the town was failing as a logging town, so they  zoned all the buildings to become replicas of a Bavarian alpine town.  Even the chain stores that are in the town are in buildings that you would expect to find in the Alps, not north east Georgia!

Weird?

We parked up (good bye $5) and had a little walk around.  Most of the shops were typically aimed at tourists with your fudge place, old time photography and souvenir shops.  Very similar to Gaitlinburg.

We had lunch at the Castle Inn.  It may have been 11.30, but I had a beer.  Paul was more sensible with a soda, the same as the boys.  Paul ordered a German special wurst, I had a club sandwich.  Isaac and Sebastian had grilled cheese sandwiches, and Oliver had a burger.  The food wasn't great.  The service wasn't good either.  It really was a well oiled tourist restaurant.  The staff were constantly observing you, as soon as you were finished and paid, the table was clear.  It was more like a processing plant than a restaurant.  It wasn't even that busy!  Maybe they expected to get busy later in the day.  We were not very impressed.

We went for a walk around the town.  It was all very picturesque.

We headed up to the local park, so the boys couldhave a play.  Hooray, somewhere where you were not trying to be sold something or having to part with your money in one way, shape or form.  The kids enjoyed it too!

We headed back to the car. By now it was only about 1pm.  I had seen that there was a State Park nearby and a waterfall nearby, so we decided to head there.  To get to Anna Ruby Falls you had to drive through Unicoi State Park.  Very beautiful. Especially on a warm spring day.

We had to pay $3 each per person over 16 to enter the Anna Ruby Falls area, as it is run by the Cradle of Forestry in America (not an organization I had heard of!) And not the state parks.  This was a very reasonable price.  We parked, and headed up towards the falls.  There were quite a few people around, and they allow dogs.

This was one of the first signs we saw.....

We made it to the falls.

They are beautiful. 

They are twin falls, where two different streams join at the bottom of the falls to just one creek, Smith Creek.  This then leads into Smith Lake, the centerpiece of Unicoi State Park.  It was so pretty there, and nice and cool by the falls.  As we were descending back down, you  could notice the rise in temperature as you moved away from the falls itself.

And this delightful sign, reminding you that you are in the Deep South......

As we drove back to Helen, the boys mentioned that they had spotted a mini golf course on the way through.  I had seen more than one, but thought it best to keep my mouth shut.

That was the next stop.  With mini golf, the boys play while Paul and I spectate/ referee.  We were stuck behind another family, so Paul and I ended up potting a couple of balls.  Guess who got a hole in one?  ME!!!!  I really am not keen on mini golf, so this was a complete surprise.

Seb always gets a little confused when we get to the 18th hole, and the ball disappears forever.....We don't keep score, but I think we are near to playing a little bit more seriously.....

That will be interesting.........

Hilton Head - part two

The day dawned nice and sunny, and not too early for us.  We headed for the complimentary breakfast.  This was nothing special, no hot food, just toast, pop tarts, cereal muffins fruit etc.  didn't stop our boys from filling up on about 5 breakfasts each.  At least we got our monies worth....

Considering the weather report said it was going to be raining and thundering, we did not see any rain all day.  After breakfast we headed to walmart to stock up on beach essentials, you know, those things I stupidly forgot to pack cos I believed the weather forecast.

Once they were purchased, we headed back to Colligny Beach.  The facilities are good, so we parked in the same car park, and headed to the restrooms/changing facilities right on the beach.  It was still lovely and sunny....

The boys had great fun splashing in the little pool of seawater, before heading down to the waters edge.  The cold of the sea did not bother them at all, and they had great fun playing in the waves.  A group of kids were making their way along the beach. And stopped by the boys.  Here's why....

See the dolphin, no more than 20 meters from the boys?  Amazing.  By now it was rather cloudy, and the wind was starting to pick up.  Isaac was complaining of being cold, and so was I.  It was nearly lunch time so we headed back to the changing facilities.

We decided earlier in the day to pay the $5 entrance fee to get into the Sea Pines resort.  This was the first resort founded on Hilton Head back in 1956.  It is fairly large at 8 square miles, so takes up a good chunk of the island.  It consists of houses, golf courses, tennis courts, stables and shopping/leisure/dining areas, plus a few marinas thrown in for good measure.

In the whole time we have lived in South Carolina, I have never seen an alligator in the wild.  I was adamant this was going to happen in Hilton Head.  And I was right

After driving round Sea Pines, we spotted this little beauty, and her little beauties!  We stopped to take some photos then continued our drive.  Of course, once you have seen your first, you can't miss them.  We must have spotted at least another 10, of varying shapes and sizes.

We headed on to the Harbour Town area, Seb was determined he wanted to see the 'ight ouse'.  We parked up, right by a large playground and went for a stroll to find something to eat.  Harbour Town is a lovely little area.  It kinda reminded us of La Palmyre in France, a town we know very well.  This made us feel fairly comfortable.  Sebastian was estactic once he spotted the light house, and kept pointing it out to us.  We took a walk round the harbour wall and saw all the boat excursions.  There is even a boat done up like a pirate ship, and others with guaranteed dolphin watching.  Maybe next time.....

Of course, when you take 3 boys to a town two hours after they usually have lunch, you are going to get some stupidity

We eventually decided to eat at Harbourside Burgers and Brews, an out door, up market burger joint.  This was lovely.  Not too hot, and the boys ate their food quite well.  Isaac did fall off his chair, and throw a mini paddy.....

After lunch the boys had a play in the park before we decided to move on.  By now it was mid afternoon, and we were all starting to feel tired.  On the way out, we stopped at Lawton Stables.  They offer the opportunity for adults to go on trail rides through the resort, pony rides for kids under 7 and a free petting farm.  The kids loved seeing the animals, and it was really well laid out, lovely and shady and cool.  The sky had cleared again, and the day was really heating up.

Ever since the boys knew we were going away on holiday, they have been going on about playing crazy golf.  Hilton Head has two mini courses, and we went with Pirates Island Adventure Golf.  Seb doesn't normally play, but we decided to let him this time, and he was free!  The boys went so fast around the course. They skipped, a couple of people, and caught up to others right near the end.  They don't take it seriously, which I don't mind, but I think they are going to have to start soon.  Next time we play, I will be keeping score and we will be playing by the rules (I hate mini golf....)

As we had a late lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel, so the boys could try out the un heated pool.  Don't think anyone got in further than their knees.  Paul went in the hot tub with them, while I watched from the side in case anyone got brave enough to go in.

We had a snacky dinner, and settled down to watch Rio in the evening.  10 minutes into the film, Seb was asleep on the sofa.  We rearranged the furniture in our room to get his crib out, and away from the tv, and transferred him into in.  He didn't make a sound.  The boys were already in their pajamas, and thoroughly enjoyed the film.  This did mean that they ended up having lights out at the same time, never an easy feat.  Oliver feel asleep before Isaac, though he wasn't far behind.  It is actually quite nice to watch them sleep, it gives a real feeling of calmness and serenity.

The mountains (part 2)

Having gone to bed a lot earlier, and a lot less drunk than the night before, we awoke to a beautiful clear day on the saturday.  Had breakfast, and decided to head back into Gaitlinburg.


We had spotted a tram car the day before, that takes you to the top of the mountain, and wanted to give it a go.  It was the perfect day for it.  We bought our tickets, and were able to get in the car just about to leave.  It was packed. Seb freaked.  He pretty much cried all the way to the top of the mountain.  Nothing either of us could do would calm him down.  I really felt for the other 70+ people in the car with a screaming child....

Skiing at Ober Gaitlinburg

View from the tram car

Ober Gaitlinburg is amazing.  It is a proper ski resort with snow (partly artificial) and all the winter sports that go with it.  It was breathtaking.  We had a walk outside, watched some skiers, educated the boys on skiing with what little knowledge we have.  It was lovely and sunny, but very cold, temperatures below freezing, good skiing weather.  We could not believe how busy it was with skiers  at the top of the mountain.  We also did the wildlife encounter, which promised otters, bears, birds and other native creatures.  It was a bit of a concrete zoo, but very quiet.  The bears were hibernating, but the other animals we saw were ok.  We were lucky enough to see the otters being fed.  This was awesome, and totally justified the admission fee.  Seb loved this and was laughing away every time he saw the otters.  We decided to catch the next tram car down. Luckily there were only about 10 people in this car, and although Seb freaked, it was no way as bad as he did on the way up.  The views were out of this world, so amazing, it is hard to describe without sounding like I am repeating myself!!!

Otters being fed

We reached the bottom, the boys were wilting, so we decided to drive back to Pigeon Forge to grab some lunch.  The boys had seen so many attractions they wanted to do.  Seb fell asleep on the way, so we decided that I would try a few shops at the outlet mall while the boys occupied themselves with iPods, and Seb slept.  The boys woke Seb up just as we were parking, but I went ahead and shopped any way. Thanks mum for my birthday money, think I spent exactly what you sent me, and got tones of stuff!  The queues in all the shops were huge.  I did one, where I bought all that I wanted, then had a quick look in the Disney store.  Saw some things for the boys, then looked at the queue.  It was nearly out the door!!!!  So they got nothing (mean mummy).  We decided a fast food lunch was in order, so we headed to Burger King.


I have not done a restaurant blog on this, but they provided great service.  The guys behind the counter were awesome, Paul requested an angry whopper, and although it is not on their menu at the moment, because they had all the stuff, they made it for him anyway...


The boys decided they wanted to play mini golf, and had spotted an Old McDonalds Farm course near the mall, so off we headed.  They loved it.  We let just Oliver and Isaac play, and although they did not play by any rules, or hold the clubs at all properly, they really enjoyed it, and wanted to keep playing.  Seb enjoyed just the  freedom to run (with mummy following close behind...).  By now we were all very tired (again!!!)  and it was nearly the end of the day, so we headed back to the cabin, to enjoy a leisurely dinner of jam sandwiches (for the boys) and crisps for us, so healthy.....  After dinner, the boys all headed to the hot tub again. I sat this one out.  Nothing at all relaxing or enjoyable about being in a confined space with 3 wriggly, wriggly boys, especially a small one who just wants to swim, even though he can't....  The boys went to bed with no qualms again, and we had a quick dunk in the hot tub, before settling down to watch some films....

Three bears cabin

The boys decided that 6.15 was a good time to get up on the Sunday morning.  Don't know what it is about our boys, but they like to get up early on Sundays.  At least this gave us plenty of time to get packed up and ready to go.  We ended up leaving the cabin at about 10.45.  We did our usual typing home address into the sat nav, it gave us a route.  I spotted what looked like a quicker one.  Opps.  The boys were all asleep within 30 minutes of being in the car.  Good job too, as the roads we went on were hairy.  They started out ok, but went up and down the mountains with loads of switch backs. We also had to watch out for the wild turkeys.... Then when we were about 10 miles from the interstate, the tarmac stopped, and we were on a grave track.  Admittedly, the driving was awesome.  I am exceedingly grateful my husband has done advanced driver training through work.  He loved the roads, if a little scary at times, and soon we were back on tarmac.  Going the scenic route took us through beautiful moutain side, by gushing waterfalls at the edge of the road, to raging rivers.  The river housed the Walters hydro electric power plant.  Who says Americans aren't green???  Not far from here, we hit the interstate.

Thanks Sat-nav

We had already decide on the way up to stop in Hendersonville for some lunch.  Paul had been here before on one of his drives with work.  It looks like a lovely little city, not a high rise building in site.  The restaurant he took us to Mezzaluna, was lovely, somewhere we will definatly be back to.


From Hendersonville, it was only an hours drive home, through some more beautiful mountains, much nearer to home.  I look forward to exploring these in a few weeks time hopefully.


 Our little get away was awesome.  That part of Tennessee and the Smokey mountains is amazing.  We want to go back before we leave this beautiful country, hopefully sooner rather than later