family vacation - Stuff Parents Need

The Best Vacation Spot for Families on the Emerald Coast: Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort

March 9, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

Thanks to Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort for having my family as their guests. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

When your day starts like this, you know it’s going to be a good one:

This was my view last weekend from Luau Tower 1 in the resort community of Sandestin, Florida. Sandestin is the type of place where you can park your car when you arrive, and not touch it again until it is time to head back home. It is a place with countless things available for you to do (some of the best golfing and tennis courts are there, for example). Or you can just head to the beach, which has sand so white that my oldest truly thought it was snow!

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort was such a breath of fresh air for our family. We stayed 3 nights as the guests of the resort, and got a real feel for what a vacation there with young children would look like. And let me tell you, it was GREAT! And I say that being fully aware that not every vacation destination is a good choice for those of us with little ones. Let me tell you why I would recommend Sandestin after staying there with my crew:

First, there are SO many housing options. There are over 1,200 accommodations in 30 neighborhoods available for rent in the Sandestin community. They range from studios to 3 bedroom villas, some with beach views, and others with gorgeous views of the bay or super close proximity to the spectacular golf courses. We stayed in a 2 bedroom unit. Here’s what it looked like:

Being able to have a full-size kitchen and to also have a living area (which means room for running around) was SO AWESOME. I’m not one to suggest spending money wildly, but honestly, I think these features are totally worth spending a little bit more on. You’ll save a ton of money by not having to eat out all of the time, and you’ll feel more comfortable just dwelling in your rental unit, which sometimes is all the kids want to do, anyway. If they are going to be watching Spongebob, at least you can be watching the waves from your great view, and perhaps even get to sprawl out on the couch with a good book, or hang out in the kitchen snacking on some yummy treats you grabbed at the Publix right outside of the resort. No need to feel cramped and no need for your kids to feel over-extended.

But when the kids are ready to get out and do some exploring, there’s always something fun happening over at the Village of Baytowne Wharf, which is on the Bay side of the resort.

We rode the carousel, watched the 11th annual Mardi Gras Dog Parade, did a little kayaking in the bay, and enjoyed the abundant sunshine.

My in-laws met us at the beach and stayed with us, and that even gave Tim and I the opportunity to go on a date! We treated ourselves to some delicious seafood at Elephant Walk, which was just a 3 minute walk from our condo (how’s that for convenient?!).

Then we headed over to Baytowne Wharf and enjoyed a drink at Rum Runners. This place is home of dualing piano players, which reminded me a bit of Silky O’Sullivans on Beale Street in Memphis. Only Rum Runners had a much more laid-back, tropical vibe!

Finally, we headed over to Blast Arcade and Laser Maze and had so much fun playing some games, and just getting to be kids ourselves for a little while.

We had such a nice time together, and for this reason among many others, were so glad that we vacationed with other members of our family. Sandestin can definitely accommodate larger groups!

But if traveling with other folks isn’t an option for you and you’d still like to have one-on-one time with your spouse, or even just be by yourself, Sandestin offers Club KZ, which is for kids 4-12. At a cost of $55 for resort guests, your kids can enjoy excellent programming with highly qualified supervision from 9am-2pm (lunch included), and you can go relax or play!

When the family is ready to reconvene, definitely head to Hartell’s for one of your meals. I thought this was the most family-friendly restaurant on property. It has a cute, ’50s throwback vibe, and the menu is perfect for kids who might be a little bit picky. Lots of yummy American fare (I had a BLT with tater tots) and of course, a nice selection of milkshakes!

As a resort guest, you also have access to all of the pools on site. It wasn’t quite warm enough to get into the pool at Luau, but if it had been, I would have wanted to spend lots of time hanging out by this awesome waterfall! I heard a rumor that a different outdoor pool in the area was actually heated, but I didn’t go investigate.

But perhaps the activity (other than the beach, of course) that I recommend the very most is bike riding. At the marina, you can rent a bike, and guests of the resort receive 4 hours of complimentary bike riding each day. Sandestin is FULL of great trails designed for bike riders and walkers (most of them paved), and much to my surprise and delight, they even have trailers available so you can take your kiddos for a ride with ease!

I’m such an infrequent bike rider, that I don’t personally even own one, so I was taken a bit off guard by just how much I loved riding the bikes with the kids. We went for a ride every single day, and those are some of the memories I’ll hold on to the most from our visit. That and the spectacular shows that the sun put on every day with its entrance, as well as with its exit.

After experiencing Sandestin for myself, it doesn’t surprise me in the least to hear that it made the U.S. New & World Report 2014 list of Best Hotels in the USA, as well as Redbook Magazine’s Best Travel Finds list. We had such a good time there as a family, and it is a place that I would highly recommend to folks who are looking for some beach time on the Emerald Coast. I would absolutely book a vacation there again!

Callaway Gardens: Perfect Outdoor Adventures for Families

June 25, 2011 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Callaway Gardens, a sprawling resort complex located about an hour Southwest of Atlanta. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive from Chattanooga, and to be honest with you, I had never even heard of it before the opportunity for a visit came my way! It was totally not on my radar as a vacation destination within reasonable driving distance.

I’m so glad I went, and I’m excited to tell you about what I think makes Callaway Gardens such a great vacation option.

First, there are COUNTLESS things to do. They have everything from hiking and biking trails to a “beach” to laser tag to an impeccable golf course. I’ve barely scratched the surface of activities, by the way! If you and your family value getting to spend time together outside, then this place is not-to-miss.

Second, Callaway Gardens is reasonably priced. If you are going for the day, just pay $18/adult and $9/child, and you have access to everything at Callaway Gardens that doesn’t require extra equipment. If equipment is needed (such as a golf cart, a bike, a beach umbrella, etc.) then extra fees do apply. I really like that if you don’t need or want to use those things, then you don’t have to pay for them. This can make for a VERY affordable day out!

AND, if you want to stay the night in one of their lodging options, the admissions fee is included with your room stay for the day you check in, and however many days you stay, including the day you check out. That’s an incredible value!

We spent a full day at Callway Gardens, and here’s what we did:
I went on the TreeTop Adventure. I’m so sorry that I don’t have any pictures…I was too busy walking across obstacle courses 40 feet above the ground! 🙂 It’s definitely an activity to do with other people, as you bond together and cheer each other on to get past each stage.

While I was swinging from the trees, Tim and Darah went on a bike ride. If you have your own bike and want to bring it, you are welcome to do so and there is no extra charge for using their trails. We don’t have a bike rack, so it was really nice to be able to easily get a bike. Plus, this one had a special seat for Darah! Look how serious she is about it. She makes that face when she is beyond excited, believe it or not!

After we both finished our respective adventures, we met up and had a yummy lunch at the Discovery Center, an area that is sort of a home base for several different activities at Callaway Gardens.

Then we loaded up in the car and headed over to Robin Lake Beach. This is a man-made lake complete with plenty of sand for building sandcastles. This is also the area where you can sign up to play on the blaster boats (which we did and loved!), and to have some fun on Aqua Island, which is a floating obstacle course. Believe it or not, we did that, too! It was so much fun, but I can’t say it made me feel like a kid again. On the contrary…it showed me just how old I really am! 😉 You’ll also find laser tag in this same general area, though we did not play during our visit.

Robin Lake Beach was our very favorite. You see, Darah has never really spent time in a body of water bigger than a bathtub! When we waded out with her into the water and she started floating (she had on a life vest) she was completely overcome with joy. Seriously, you guys. That’s a memory I will carry with me for the rest of my life. She was absolutely beside herself, and just kept screaming, “I SWIMMING!” What we also learned is that this kid is FEARLESS of the water. That’s a good thing, except for the fact that she doesn’t yet know how to swim. Even though we stayed right next to her the entire time, I probably pulled her up from under the water no less than 5 times. She’d just throw herself under the water and the look up at me like, “This is ok, right?” So I had 5 miniature heart attacks that afternoon, but they were offset by how much fun Darah had. It really blew my mind.

After we wore ourselves out at the beach, we headed back to the Mountain Creek Inn for a nap. Or so we thought. Darah wasn’t having that AT ALL. But she was totally into bouncing on the bed. Oh well! We had an early dinner at the hotel and turned in early. Darah crashed around 7pm and we followed right behind her! Don’t judge!

The next morning, we got up and had a wonderful buffet breakfast at the hotel. They had omelets and fresh fruit and just about everything you can think of for breakfast. Delicious!

Once we had our bodies fueled, we headed out to Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden to have a look around. It was HUGE and also very lovely! We saw so many bees pollinating various plants. It was a busy day for them, so it seemed! While much of what is to admire in this garden was lost on me (I have a black thumb), it was a very pretty place to take a stroll and to let little ones run around in for a while.

Before heading back home, we went to the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center. We took our time in this gorgeous indoor setting, mostly because Darah is scared of butterflies (I know, right?!). She did warm up to them after a while, and that was part of the reason we wanted to go. We were there to talk with her about what she was seeing, and to introduce the butterflies who were fluttering over to meet her. By the end of the visit there, she seemed at least tolerant of them. That’s progress!

All in all, we had an excellent weekend at Callaway Gardens and will most definitely be keeping it in mind when we think about vacation options next year. It is good to know that there’s a place like this within driving distance that offers a ton of things to do for a reasonable price.

So what’s not to love? Well, there are a few things that need to be improved, although none of them have to do with the fun attractions, themselves. As a newbie to Callaway Gardens, I found myself to be easily overwhelmed at the number of options. What I found to be even more overwhelming, though, was trying to keep track of which activities cost what. Even though I liked knowing that a guest wouldn’t have to pay for more than s/he wanted to enjoy (that saves money!) I also found it confusing to try to keep up with what fees were associated with what, and how you get signed up. From a customer’s perspective, navigating this is very cumbersome! Unfortunately, the Callaway Gardens website is just as difficult to navigate as the grounds would be without a map. It is very difficult, no doubt, to have to fit so much information into one site, but again, from the perspective of a potential customer, it is also easy to get discouraged when trying to see if the resort is a good fit for your family and just look for something else. So yeah, my one big piece of advice is to streamline the attraction pricing and overhaul the website so that someone who has never heard of Callaway Gardens can understand what it is and the basics of how it works in about 5 minutes.

Disclosure: Callaway Gardens provided complimentary admission to their attractions, an overnight stay and meals for my family in exchange for my honest review, which I have provided.

My Top Five Picks for Kid-Friendly Summer Fun Getaways

May 23, 2011 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Do you remember how awesome summer was when you were a kid? No school, no homework, long days to play outside with friends, lots of slumber parties (even on weeknights!) and of course, family vacations.

My family wasn’t very big on taking major vacations, although we did often go to the beach and to water parks. The beach was only 2 hours from where I lived, so day trips were very doable. I do wish we had been able to do more in the way of vacations.

I think if you don’t plan ahead, the time just escapes you (and the funds, too!). Tim and I have made a list of 5 vacation experiences that we think Darah should get at some point in her childhood. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Time at an amusement park of some sort. When my youth group would take trips to Six Flags over Georgia, I would always sign up to go, even if it meant that I had to sell candy at school as a fundraiser for months. I LOVE roller coasters and cheesy boat rides and even the live entertainment that they have at these places. I love water parks even more than places like Six Flags, and I will most definitely be taking Darah to Shipwreck Island in Panama City Beach when she is a bit older. The lazy river ride calls my name every single summer! And Disney World….I had been 6 times by the time I left for college! I really do have a “Disney fund” for Darah, and I put $25 into it every single month!

2. Camping/hiking. Ok, so I’ll admit that I’m not necessarily thrilled about this future vacation. I’ve NEVER camped overnight anywhere. I just don’t have the interest. But Tim’s family would do these kind of trips and do lots of hiking on them. He has some of his best memories of his family happened on hikes, and talks about how shared crisis really brings families together. I can see his point. This would most definitely be a bonding experience!

3. Time with family. I went on a few vacations as a child with one of my cousins, and I had a BLAST! Tim would go on a vacation with his cousins every single summer. Darah has so many cousins (all girls so far, but a little boy is on its way!), and I want them to know each other as they grow up, even though they don’t live near each other. Planning some vacation with family is the best way to make sure this happens.

4. Beach trip. Oh heck yes you need to take your kids to the beach! The time in front of the ocean is relaxing for mom and dad, and there’s endless entertainment at the world’s biggest sandbox and swimming pool! Just be sure that you keep everyone slathered in sunscreen and get one of those sun tents for extra protection. I say this as someone who has suffered from MANY sunburns over the years. The beach is fun, but the sunburn is NOT. There are ways to prevent it and make sure that your beach memories are awesome ones!

5. A cross-cultural experience. Taking your child to another country is ideal if you have the means to do it. If that is out of the question, just get outside of the norm. If you live in a rural area, pick a big city to explore, and stay downtown, right in the middle of all those skyscrapers. I’ll never forget my first trip to Atlanta in the second grade, seeing all those tall buildings. I totally fell in love with the city right then and there! If you already live in an urban environment, find a quiet place to go to and explore. I have always wanted to go out West and go horseback riding and stay at a dude ranch (isn’t that funny, since I am not really interested in “roughing” it, otherwise?). Those areas that are known for great skiing in the winter months have their own charm during the summer (and vacationing there is likely a bargain since it is out of season!).

What about you? What kinds of experiences do you think all gets should have during their summers. What are your plans with the kiddos this summer? Do tell!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Alamo blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.