Oh the places we go...Spring Break 2013

As the oldest of three, my spring breaks consisted of me playing babysitter to my brother and sister while my parents worked. I always vowed that once a parent myself, that I would plan and take my  kids places. I've done pretty well so far, we've taken spring break vacations since 2009.

This year's spring break was a two parter: 1st part of the week we spent in Pine Mountain, Georgia at Callaway Gardens. 2nd part of the week we spent in Pensacola.

I'll bet most of you are like "where the heck is a Pine Mountain, Georgia"? It's a tiny little town about 70 miles south of Atlanta. The major "thing" there is Callaway Gardens. Callaway is a lavish outlay of nature. It's the beautiful outdoors with a variety of blooms. There's wildlife and man made lakes. You can rent or bring your own bikes and ride the different trails. You can canoe or take in the Birds of Prey show. We rented a one bedroom cottage and wow, it was great! Our cute lil cottage came with a full kitchen, stocked with all of the dishware, pots/pans you could ever need. It had a living room, screened in back porch, BBQ grill, a deck that led from the bedroom. The bedroom had two queen sized bed and a TV. 

The kids loved it! We had access to the pool area as well. The weather was kind of weird still, even for early spring. Still too cold to go swimming. But that didn't stop us from getting outside. 

We visited the Butterfly House:

Of course, Hummingbird loved this place. Yogli, on the other hand, not so much. This kid can't stand nature. 

Callaway was still fresh from Easter Sunday, cute huh?

 

Those were from the Horticulture Center, a giant greenhouse with all types of plants and blooms. This turned out to be an educational spring break as well. 

Our cottage package included a breakfast buffet each morning. We would venture out for dinners and MonkeyMan discovered this cozy lil deli called Bon Vivant:

The food was magnificent! I had the chicken salad sandwich with this wonderful broccoli/cauliflower salad, yum yum. 

So quaint, they serve the sodas in the real bottles!

After dinner, we stumbled upon this wonderful shop in downtown Pine Mountain, Pine Mountain Loft and Gallery. 

The shop owner was a true delight. The shop was so personable, and really took a liking to Hummingbird. Turns out, the shop owner is the mom to a local radio sportscaster that MonkeyMan listens every day. She even went to her office and emailed her daughter, told her that one of her everyday listeners was there in the shop. How about that? 

I could go on an on...we had a great time at Callaway Gardens and in Pine Mountain, Georgia. 

Ok, so, this is gonna sound bad but I don't have any pics from Pensacola! The weather was still kinda cool there, so no beach.  MonkeyMan's parents welcomed us with open arms. Whenever we visit, we stay at their home and that is always a good time. His mom loves to cook so there's always something good to eat. We watch movies and we really enjoy our time there. Education played a key part in Pensacola. I am enrolled in classes this spring and I have an observation paper due April 24. My paper has to be written on archaeological artifacts from a museum and I was able to find such a place in Pensacola for free, the TT Wentworth museum. 

Whew! Needless to say, spring break 2013 was a good one. Wish we could have made it to a beach but the time together made the trip worthwhile. How was your spring break?