Posted in Pensacola, Uncategorized on April 29, 2010
I had a Disney post ready to go for this Photo Friday. Then, I drove past this today…
The Gulf Coast is preparing, watching, waiting…
Stop by DeliciousBaby to see other Photo Friday participants.
Posted in Mobile, Theodore, Uncategorized on April 22, 2010
A few weeks ago, we went to Bellingrath Gardens. I wrote about our experience here, but wanted to share this photo with you in honor of Photo Friday! These beautiful Southern Belles wear these dresses, petticoats and all, in the ridiculous humidity and heat of the spring and summer. You can read about the standards of the Azalea Trail Maid dresses. I wish the gentleman in the front hadn’t been in my perfect shot, but I think it shows a little bit of new and old charm! These girls represent true Southern charm and hospitality! Those are the azaleas blooming all over the background. It was an amazing sight to see.
Posted in Guest Posts, Sharing on April 22, 2010
Be sure to stop by Traveling Mom to read my interview with Amy from The Q Family Adventures. I consider Amy a good friend and I haven’t even met her yet (hubs calls her one of my imaginary friends!)! It was great to get to know her more and learn more about her family travel.
Also, I am looking for advice on our trip to Orlando. Big S broke his collar bone on Monday so the waterpark theme park tickets are out. We are looking for your family friendly free and cheap things to do in Orlando! Stop by and leave a comment with your suggestions!
Posted in Orlando, Saving, Uncategorized on April 21, 2010
So much for the House of Mouse. We are all geared up to make a trip to Orlando and Big S has to go break his collar bone!!! This week, my little man fell and broke his collar bone. We are still making the trip to Orlando for other reasons, but we have to significantly change our itinerary for this trip. No amusement parks, no wild and crazy running around, no fun as far as he is concerned.
So I am asking for my readers’ help. Leave a comment in this blog with all of your free and cheap Orlando activity favorites!
Posted in Panama City, Uncategorized on April 16, 2010
When my husband and I were still dating, he took me to Panama City to see his stomping grounds. One of the things that I remember most about that trip was running through the Gran Maze at Coconut Creek Family Fun Center like teenagers…heck…we were barely in our twenties at this point! Now that our kids are old enough to enjoy exploring the maze, we took them out there during our Easter visit.
A little fun fact about Big and Little S — they love mazes. They can complete a maze quicker than you would imagine, like a little mouse sniffing out the cheese at the end of the maze! We have been to several corn mazes and ran around for hours. They are ecstatic when we go on a road trip and I bring out a new maze book and when we go to out to eat they are hugely disappointed if the children’s menu doesn’t have a maze on it. We knew they would love this and it did not disappoint!
The Gran Maze at Coconut Creek is about the size of a football field. They change the maze around on a regular basis so even if you go often, it is different!
The object is to enter the maze at the starting point and then work your way to four different stations, punch your card and then find your way out of the maze.
The quickest completion time on the board was either 9 or 15 minutes (I am sorry…I can’t remember!). We completed it in 54 minutes. We did pretty well but got stuck in one section and seemed to be going around in circles. And circles. And more circles. Eventually we found our way to the next station but only after Daddy S did some reconnoitering.
Throughout the maze are these funny little signs that also help to tell you if you are still going in circles!
At the very end, Little S gave up. Luckily all around the outside walls of the maze, you will find doors so we made our escape through there and headed up to the observation tower to watch Big S, dad and grandpa finish the maze.
I believe the maze is open at night as well making it a little bit more difficult and spooky. We liked the fact that the maze walls do not go all the way to the ground making it less claustrophobic than a corn maze. At Gran Maze, children under 6 play free so this was ideal for us. We got to explore a Panama City attraction and only purchase adult tickets. I advise you to have water, sunglasses and a hat with you if you are completing the maze. It gets HOT in there. We were there the first weekend in April and by the time we were finished we were all sweating! I can’t imagine what it is like in July or August.
This post is part of DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday. Be sure to stop by and see where everyone is traveling.
Posted in Tips, Uncategorized on April 14, 2010
Over at Traveling Mom, I am talking about traveling without my kids. As you know, the husband and I have a trip to Hawaii planned for our ten year anniversary SANS kids! We are nervous, excited, and feeling unprepared all at the same time. Besides making sure our wills are in order and leaving our insurance cards and a schedule, what sorts of things do you recommend we do to prepare for our trip? I would love a comment on my article at Traveling Mom with your advice on preparing for the trip.
Posted in St. Augustine, Uncategorized on April 12, 2010
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of St Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, Florida. All opinions are 100% mine.
The last time we were in St. Augustine , my husband and I had only been married for a few years and we were sans kids. Since then, we have been to Jacksonville many times but haven’t made that extra thirty or forty minute drive to St. Augustine. My husband and I will be celebrating our ten year anniversary this summer and while our big anniversary trip is planned for October, we are heading to St. Augustine in July for a quick weekend to celebrate. It is perfect for us because we can be there in less than six hours and we can drop the kids off with family in Panama City on the way there!
Because we are not the Bed and Breakfast type couple (but there are some amazing ones right in the middle of the historic district), we would love to stay in an oceanfront room at the Ponte Vedra Beach Resorts.
After a morning walk on the beach with our coffee in hand, we would get ready to explore the sites. For my history buff husband, we would first head to the Castillo de San Marcos and the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the USA. After exploring this area, I would want to find somewhere to eat lunch. One thing I remember most about my trip is that we had the best bread pudding at this amazing restaurant. The BEST bread pudding. Ever. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but can vaguely remember a bit about it. We were seated on the second floor and it was off of a main square. I hope to locate this restaurant and engorge myself on the bread pudding.
After lunch, we will head to Flagler College to wander the campus and take pictures. I have been reading about architecture photography and I would like to put some of my newly acquired skills to use. Before nightfall, I would want to head to the St. Augustine Lighthouse to take some pictures of the sun setting around it!
(photo by Dave in the Triad)
Have you been to St. Augustine? Please leave a comment in this post if you have because I would love any recommendations of things that we should do or see! Plan your own St. Augustine romantic weekend away.
Posted in Sharing on April 12, 2010
I have a confession to make. I love travel books. I don’t just love them. I am probably obsessed with travel books. Well, I am obsessed with books period. Any book and all books but I especially love travel books. Travel stories and memoirs allow me to take a walk in someone else’s shoes and experience a place that I may not see in my lifetime. If I have seen the place, it gives me the opportunity to view it from someone else’s eyes. The guidebooks help me plan a basic outline for my trip and discover attractions and places that I might have missed otherwise. When I bring home a new guidebook, my husband will joke about the fact that I am planning a trip we haven’t even planned yet!
As you can see from a small portion of my collection you will see that while I am not particular about brand, I go through phases when it comes to choosing a type of travel book! For awhile, I had to buy the DK Top 10 books for every city we were visiting (they are still some of my favorite books!). When I discovered Bill Bryson I finished his entire collection of books in less than two weeks. Right now, I am reading through Paul Theroux with as much tenacity. Currently, this is what I have on my bedside table…
Bet you could never imagine where we are going next!! And we don’t even leave for this trip until October!
I have read some articles recently (I wish I could find them now to reference) that said travel guidebooks are a dying breed due to blogs and other outlets, but I will forever want to smell the new travel book, crack that binding at first open, and dream of near and far off places.
You will have to please excuse me. I have some reading to do…and dreaming…
Stop by Mother of All Trips to see what everyone else is dreaming of today.
Posted in Sharing on April 10, 2010
Since I started blogging a few years ago, I have had such a great time getting to know some of the coolest, most fun mamas and dads out there. I have met several travelers online that I truly call friend and hope to meet someday…my husband calls you all my imaginary friends! 
Because both of my blogs are travel centered, I have stuck mostly to the travel world. Lately, I have been trying to expand my blogs and in doing that have been exploring some other areas of the bloggy universe. I have really enjoyed “meeting” so many new people! I am also registered for the Type A Mom Conference and can’t wait to attend! Last week I read about the Ultimate Blog Party but totally forgot about it until today so even though we are a day late, we are going to be partying here on Two Kids and a Map!
Let me introduce myself! I am Jen and am the crazy mom to two kids and the wife to the crazy dad! We love to travel and do so as often as we possibly can! I blog about our travels here at Two Kids and a Map. Exploring the city I live in is just as important to me as exploring the world. I blog about these adventures at Pensacola with Kids. When I have spare time (HAHAHAHA!!!) I love to craft. My sister and a few friends and family just recently started a craft blog, Threaded Together. You can also find me at Traveling Mom blogging as Southern Traveling Mom.
I have already peeked at some of the blogs that have joined the party and can’t wait to get to know many of you…it will take awhile though…there are over 1000! WOW!
A few of my favorite posts:
A Review of Our Travel in 2009 and What Is To Come…
2008: A Year of Travel in Review
Zermatt, Switzerland and the Matterhorn: Living out #4 of my Bucket List
Celebrating Two Kids and a Map’s One Year Anniversary!
Thanks for stopping by!
Jen
Posted in Pensacola, Uncategorized on April 8, 2010
Most of you are just trying to find signs of spring right now, but down here in the South we are already seeing signs of summer. Today I actually turned my air conditioner on because it was so humid in the house. When we drive to Panama City on Highway 98, there is a small bridge that you cross to get into Destin, Florida. From that bridge you can see Crab Island, a small underwater island where boats congregate. The island ranges from two to ten feet deep and during the summer there are boat vendors and a small barge that sell ice cream, hamburgers, and other food. We make this drive to Panama City at least once a season and I love looking for the boats. In the dead of winter, sometimes you won’t see a single boat. In the fall and spring, you will see a handful of boats. But you know when summer is knocking on our door just trying to push her way through because the island area is full of boats. In the heat of summer, it is usually packed out with hundreds of boats. To me, when I see this many boats at Crab Island it is a sure sign that summer is on her way!
Stop by DeliciousBaby for Photo Friday.
