Happy Anniversary - the Living Social way

    

Remember this song from the Flintstones? Well, some of you young'uns may not, I'll be 40 this year, so of course I remember it! It's a catchy tune and is the perfect opening for me to outline how you can have an awesome anniversary weekend using the deal of the day site, Living Social. 

                                                                                                                                                                                               

Man, can't believe it's been a year already! MonkeyMan and I got married last year, April 28.

Knew I wouldn't make it through this post without posting a wedding pic.

Ok, on to what you came to find out about how to save some mula, change, cheddar, paper, ok, money on an anniversary weekend or simply a weekend getaway for you and the hubs (geez, what's with all these urban dictionary words I'm using). 

MonkeyMan found this deal a few months prior to our anniversary. We knew we wanted to stay kinda close to home, so that helped narrow things down a bit. That's important because, as parents, we have to manage our time carefully. Trips should be planned out, except for those last minute road trips. If you work outside the home, have you scheduled the time off from work? Once that's established, plan out the trip details with your spouse. Determine how far you want to travel. Will you be traveling on a day when the kids are in school? Who's gonna pick them up? When you guys return after a blissful weekend,   have you allowed enough time to prepare for the next day if you are heading back to work? 

Alright, so you've figured all of that out and ready to hit the road. For this trip, Helen is only 1 hour away. Remember all that planning I just told you about? Well, add in travel time during rush hour traffic. We hit the road at 5 pm, which is a huge NO NO in Atlanta. Neither of us had work on this particular Friday but were exhausted from the work week that we neglected small details that would have a huge impact. It nearly took us 3 hours to get to our destination, check in closed at 8 pm. Most places will have some type of system that allows you to check in after hours. Be sure to contact the hotel/resort if you are running late. 

This was our hangout for the weekend! This cabin is nestled deep into the woods, the driveway was so steep. Total seclusion, total peace, total serenity, total anniversary weekend. 

Before booking, does your spot have amenities that make the trip worthwhile? This spot had a hot tub, a  balcony that led from the bedroom, bbq grill and an awesome living room area with bar and fireplace. We had more space than we knew what to do with. And nature added it's own twist, it rained most of the time we were there, made it more romantic. 

Saturday the rain stopped long enough for us to venture out and see the sites. 

Helen is this quaint little town in the northern Georgia mountains. According to Wikipedia, the town adopted a Bavarian look, all of the buildings there are replicas of an Alpine village.

With every deal of the day site, there is fine print. Be sure to read it. Most of the getaway deals have black out dates (dates when the deal cannot be used). The fine print will also list any additional fees, like resort fees or taxes. Read this, if you aren't clear contact the vendor directly for clarification. Don't show up and be surprised when there's a balance due and you know you already paid through Living Social. 

It proved to be an awesome weekend. It's a great feeling when you make no plans, other than the trip, and get to lounge around with your best friend. 

Need a spot for your anniversary? Or just looking to get away, check out any of the deal of the day sites and get to booking!

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?