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Henderson Park Inn from the wonderful beach.
We just spent a lovely few days at the Henderson Park Inn in Destin, Florida. A LOVELY few days. This is absolutely one of my favorite hotels in the whole world. The last time we stayed here, way back in 2011, we enjoyed every second of our stay. Our wonderful hosts insisted on us staying in the Presidential Suite and ohmygod was this an experience.
We didn’t want to make the long drive to Destin in one day and arrive exhausted, so I checked back with the Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa where we had stayed several years before about another press visit for a night or two. The hotel is one of several listed on the Robert T. Jones Golf Trail and is an absolutely fabulous place to stay. All the hotels have top-notch golf courses along with fabulous hotels, restaurants, and gorgeous views of the grounds. With a Scottish influence in the decorations and decor along the a bagpiper who pipes every evening on the grounds, you might think you have actually been transported to Scotland.
Entering Graceland
We had big plans for our few days in the birthplace of Rock N Roll – Memphis – but two of those plans included tours of Graceland and the area of Beale Street. My husband was the instigator of this trip after indicating he would love to see Graceland, so that was one of the few things I arranged tickets for in the planning stages. Since I was there with girlfriends years ago, it has been renovated and enlarged and it was pretty impressive. I was just amazed that I didn’t remember how large it was and how long it took to stand in line for everything but then I found out later it had been completely remodeled and it all made sense then. I’m sure everyone has their own memories of Elvis’s death but it just happened that he died during our honeymoom. We were not huge fans but big enough that it was a shock when the news came on the radio and it just didn’t seem right that he died so long. We have been married for over 40 years now and it was amazing to us that there were still huge crowds seeing his home and all his memories this long after his death. But we were part of the crowd, so how can we judge?
Read the rest of this post on Epicurean Traveler HERE.
Welcome to Memphis!
I was aware of how hot it was going to be in Memphis and had prepared myself accordingly when I visited the first time. I had visited a few years previously with two girlfriends and when we stepped out of our car, I was shocked at the thick, hot, damp weather that greeted us. But we soon adjusted to the weather and settled in to enjoy ourselves in this lovely city, so my husband and I did the same thing on this trip. I had no idea that Memphis was so large and scenic and had plenty of things to do and to see.
Read the rest of this article here: Memphis!
Well, it’s now Memorial Day weekend and summer has officially begun! My sister offered her annual Memorial Day party and opened her lovely backyard pool for our enjoyment. As many of the family members that could make it came and we relaxed and enjoyed one of our first lovely, hot days.
Some of the lovely cousins!
We are planning on some trips this summer and I’ll be doing some writing about them here on the blog as well as other travel ideas. We are going to check out some local activities here in Lexington and the surrounding town and also plan to take a longer trip up to Wisconsin and Michigan in August, so watch for those articles. Later in the fall I may plan a girlfriends getaway to a beach somewhere, anywhere! My husband is a good traveler but he doesn’t like the beach so I’ll gather up some family members for that trip. We have stayed several places in Destin so will probably try to get a beach house for a few days. Like this one.
Fabulous beach house in Destin.
We always have a great time in this lovely beach town, lying on the beach and eating the freshly caught local seafood. I have worked with Sterling Resorts who have beautiful properties all along the coast and who always come through with a great stay in exchange for writing about them. I’ll keep you updated. Have a great summer and check back with me.
I sighed in happiness, rolled over, and luxuriated in my wonderful, comfortable bed. When I had requested a press stay in a beach house in Destin, I expected a large resort with dozens of condos, lots of pools, and room to stroll around and enjoy the area.
Instead we had ended up in the comfortable two condo unit right on the beach in Grayton Beach in the back of a quiet neighborhood.
We had pulled into the quiet neighborhood a couple of days ago after dark, exhausted after a long drive and just staggered in with all our luggage and sundries. We could tell it was quiet and we knew the beach was just a short walk but it was dark and we just found our place and fell into bed.
It wasn’t until the next morning that we realized what a treasure we had found.
Our condo photo from the web site.
Here’s another photo I took with my camera and our van to give you an idea how large and comfy it was.
Photo from my camera
I had no hesitation in planning a stop in Asheville, North Carolina on our recent girlfriends getaway to Destin, Florida in the fall. I had been there to visit a couple of times before but was impressed with the wonderful hotels, great restaurants and lots of things to see and do in the area I couldn’t wait to share it with my sister and sister-in-law.
We were on our way to the lovely Destin coast of Florida but it was quite a drive so we decided to stop for a couple of nights on our way. I had been to Asheville before with my husband Tom and we spent an entire day at the Biltmore Estate checking out the fabulous clothes and other items from the television show, Downtown Abbey we both enjoyed, so we decided to skip seeing the beautiful Biltmore Estate on this trip and take one of the trolley tours they offer of the town.
Trolley for tours of the town
Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know my life has been a little upside down and sideways for a while. My mom was sick and passed away a few weeks ago and, although we were all sad, we knew at her age that it was inevitable. Because she had been ill for a while, our travel plans were placed on the back burner and we knew we would plan a getaway with the girls when she finally slipped away. Now that has happened, so I have been busily working out a trip for me, my SIL, and my sister for the end of September. It’s been a little crazy as we were all three pretty open about where we go, where we stay, and what we do so I have been emailing people I have worked with in the past and arranging our stays at different locales.
Since I was also sick myself for a while (but recovered now!), many of the people I had worked with in the past have changed jobs or just disappeared into the night, never to be heard from again. But I have been lucky to stay in contact with several people in the business and am waiting on emails from others. I have learned over the years not to be impatient with hotels, etc. and even though it will be right up to when we are ready to leave, I just wait and it has always worked out.
First, we will be heading to Asheville, North Carolina for a couple of nights. We visited the Biltmore Estate a few years ago and really enjoyed it, especially the great display of clothes and other items they had from the show Downton Abbey. We wandered through the whole mansion and then drove around the estate seeing everything we had not enjoyed in the past. The people we worked with on that visit were very helpful, arranging our stay at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park and other things to do throughout the charming village. The hotel was perfect in every way from the food to the spa included right off the lobby.
Fabulous breakfast buffet!
We are pretty open about the rest of the week so I’m waiting to hear from the various people I have contacted. I will let you know when I hear from the and get the rest of the week arranged. Can’t wait!
OK, it’s almost July here in Lexington, Kentucky and the heat has moved in to begin making us miserable – or make us glad summer is here! We do eventually get tired of the heat in the late summer and are always glad to see the cool days of fall move in for us. But, in the meantime, what do we do about the heat? Well, there are lots of answers to that question but as a water baby who loves swimming, it’s always important to me to have a pool or some other body of water wherever we travel. One of the first things I check out when beginning to make travel plans is whether there is a place to swim nearby. We have stayed at some wonderful locations with water access, so here’s some suggestions for you.
Beach View from our Condo
We love Florida for the many different kinds of beaches that are available for swimming or just relaxing on the warm sand with the sun baking our skin. We have several favorite destinations in Florida and each one is unique and different from the others. One of our favorites in Panama City Beach where there are plenty of condos and beach houses to rent for however long you want to stay.We stayed in a magnificent resort called the Ocean Ritz and with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms and a great view of the beach from our balcony, we were all happy campers. http://www.wanderlustwonder.com/2014/11/24/family-getaway-ocean-ritz-panama-city-beach/
Beach in of the many parks
We discovered the beach in Door County, Wisconsin a few years ago and love to head there when the heat moves in for the summer. There are tons of beaches in the area and each one is unique in it’s own way. http://www.wanderlustwonder.com/2015/02/10/open-door-perfect-girlfriends-getaway-door-county-wisconsin/
Great lake views from your balcony
Check out your state for cabins, houses, or condos that are right on the water with great views and some cool lake breezes. Cool, fresh water and lovely breezes make these getaways just as enjoyable as the beach getaways.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
Check out hotels that include amazing view from your room.
Lunch on a tropical beach
Many of the big cruise ships have pools right on the ship and they are a great place to relax and enjoy your cruise to your next destination. Relax, have some lunch at that fabulous destination, then head back to the ship to cruise on to your next port of call! You can’t go wrong if you carefully include some water fun in your next getaway. Have fun!
After piling into our car, stuffing in our suitcases and other precious belongings for our long drive down to the opposite coast of Florida, we finally headed out early in the morning for our first visit to the other Florida coast. We had often spent time in Destin and the surrounding area but had never spent any amount of time on the other coast. Our visit would culminate at the Casa Marina Hotel and Restaurant in Jacksonville Beach across Florida from where we had been visiting for years. We had not been to this area before and didn’t know what to expect. We were used to the milky white sand and beautiful blue water of the other coast and wondered if this side of the Florida would be just as pretty. I had invited my sister-in-law along on this trip instead of Tom, who was more of a mountain lover than a beach lover and this was the best idea I had for this trip because she is as much of a beach lover as I am.
We honestly didn’t realize how close to the beach we were when we arrived the night before and were amazed at the beauty of this lovely hotel.
Beautiful night view of the hotel.
Order my ebook about Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia!
