We just got back from our "Salute to Summer" family vacation. With football season just weeks away, we wanted to take some time to relax before we get incredibly busy. We packed up and headed south for a week in the mountains of Marble, NC, and it was exactly what we needed! Our first vacation, just the two of us, since our honey moon taught me a few do's and don't's of vacation:
Like I said, this vacation was just what we needed. And I am already looking forward to the next one!
- DO meet the locals. The best way we found this to happen was by attending a church service on the first day of our vacation. Not only did the style of the church bring back lots of memories for my husband, but the southern hospitality and friendliness made it easy to strike up conversation. We were able to ask about good places to hike, eat, and where to explorer. It was even great to see some of the people we met later that week at one of the parks that we decided to hike and swim at.
- DON'T schedule out your entire week. While some vacations do call for a day by day, hour by hour itinerary, take advantage of this time to go with the flow. Allowing flexibility in the schedule lets you not only work around bad weather, or strange local schedules, but it keeps your from being stressed or disappointed when not everything works out as you expect. We did have a few must have activities for our vacation, like white water rafting, which made it easy to schedule it into our week when we found out that it's only open Thursday - Sunday.
- DO stay comfortably. Comfort can be different for everyone. While my husband can be comfortable sleeping outside in a hammock or tent, I want to be in a bed with indoor plumbing. So stay somewhere that won't be stressful on your stress free vacation. For us this past week it meant renting a cabin in the mountains. We used Home Away and found the perfect place at the right price with a fantastic view. We even got to bring Thunder with us, which made our vacation that much more fun.
- DON'T always trust reviews. Sometimes the best places have not so great reviews, and sometimes the places with the best reviews will not be satisfactory. Lesson learned when it came to BBQ. This goes back to meeting the locals. They will usually give you the best suggestions that are better than online reviews.
- DO unplug and reconnect. While we didn't completely disconnect from the world, it was just the two of us (and the dog) we were definitely spending a lot of time together. J bought a short devotional book for us to read through during the week. This provided us questions and readings to strengthen our faith and marriage. It was great to take the time before football season gets here to talk about anything and everything. So next time you're on vacation with your spouse, or family, take the time to have dig deep and get to know each other even more.
- DON'T let a bad day ruin your week. Of our entire vacation, there is only one day that I would do over. We slept in too late, our hike was horribly (unmarked trails, and completely exhausting the dog), and dinner was way overrated (see #4). But having that one bad day, makes all the other days seem so much better. So thank you bad day, for letting me see just how great the rest of the week was.
- DO visit friends and family. We have friends and family who live in the Atlanta area, and being only 2 hours from them we thought it would be a lot of fun to go and visit during our vacation. When you don't know how often you'll get to see them, take advantage of being town to catch up! So thank you Shane and Michele for lunch, and Uncle Ed and Aunt Sheila for dinner. It was great to see you, and very much appreciated your hospitality!
Like I said, this vacation was just what we needed. And I am already looking forward to the next one!