I’ve been spending a lot of time researching vacation getaways - I’m trying to put together an anniversary getaway for the wife and I and am considering all options. She has not so subtly hinted that she wants to go somewhere where she can use her passport. I’ve been checking out the deals online and like what I see - like this all inclusive family resort. Of course, I haven’t made up my mind yet what or if we will go away, there are still too many variables like work and child care…but all inclusive sounds good to me…especially if it includes a few days on a beach in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, or Mexico. Just reading about the countries there makes me want to go and soak up some culture….and the prices are right!

A city I would really like to visit is Boston. I was there about 15 years ago for a friend’s wedding, however, I only had two nights. We we able to hit some of the highlights, like Chestnut hill and the Cheers bar but not nearly as much as I would like. I’ll make it back there one day, I don’t know if it will be a family trip or just a trip with the wife.

Boston seems like a great place to live too. It’s so full of history and things to see and do. I think the kids would like to go because it is such a historic city and would tie in to their school stuff. Boston would probably be great in the fall when it’s not too hot and you could tour the leaf changing then, too. I found a site listing Boston condos for sale or rent. You can bypass the middleman there to contact the condo owner directly. The listings are not just from owners also - realtors and condo developers have access to it as well. You’ll also find building specialists - that’s a real estate agent who specializes in a specific condo building in Boston.

Wife and I have family in New Jersey, so it’s been a frequent vacation destination. Lucky for us, we were able to combine a little pleasure on a few visits to the Garden State, by stopping in Atlantic City. And of course, why visit Atlantic City, if you’re not going to stop by the Atlantic City Casinos? You can fly from Tampa into Atlantic City on Spirit, and their fares are usually cheap, and they have great sales. Not to mention, the AC airport is a lot nicer than Newark! We usually made day trips to AC, but we did stay overnight once. Not knowing anything about hotels on the strip, we just picked one, and it was average. Next time we go, I’ll be sure to read reviews on my sponsors, site, Cruzino.com, so that I can get the downlow on the hotels to avoid. I could even add my own review on the hotel we stayed at.

Saturday morning we went to Linville Caverns, which was about 45 minutes from our cabin. It was pretty kewl and it was the kids first time in a cave. I thought it was my first time in a cave as well, but Wife reminded me when we were engaged we went in some caves in Seiverville, TN, near Gatlinburg. The kids loved the caves, and rooms in the caves were backlit. The guide pointed out the bats on the ceiling, stalagtites, stalagmites and other mineral formations. Pretty good family activity and it only cost $24 for the five of us. By far, the cheapest activity on our vacation.

Saturday night our friends left the cabin and it was our family by ourselves We busied ourselves with preparing to leave on Sunday morning and the kids had a good time playing outside and going in the hot tub that evening. Later, it was mommy and daddy time in the hot tub!

Thursday we went horseback riding and the kids had a blast. I enjoyed it too, although my body did not. The combination of skiing on Wednesday and riding on Thursday has my entire body in pain from my knees to my chin. The pain is a sign of a good time!

Friday was a rainy lazy day. Due to the rain, we could not do any “fun” activities so the clan took a quiet day and walked around Boone and we ate lunch at the Boone Saloon. Wife has a friend who is a bartender there and he hooked us up on some good beer. The kids played pool and had lunch there and we played some kewl songs from back in the day, Dead Milkmen, L.L. Cool J., Violent Femmes. Plus, the place was clean! No smoking before 10 pm. and we were the only ones in there except for one businessman having lunch. It was a nice quiet afternoon. Plus, the beer was good.

And then our big adventure. Ooops. Wife and I decided we would go look at some properties while we were here. Just some lots - we got print outs for from a realtor. The first and only lot we looked at on Friday, I got the new truck stuck when I was backing off the property. Had to call roadside assistance to get pulled out. Talk about embarrassing!

We are trying to figure out what we are going to do on Thursday. We are kicking around a few activities such as horse back riding or trout fishing. The kids really liked the idea of horse back riding so I think I will try to book us an outing on Thursday. I would love to go skiing again, but I think the weather is going to turn rainy on Friday. We’ll have to stick to indoor activities such as shopping and beer drinking!

We went skiing on Wednesday at Hawksnest. What a blast. We put the kids in ski school where they received instruction and the bunny slope for two hours. Meanwhile, the Wife and I did two laps on the bunny slope and then headed off to the intermediate slope. This is only my second time skiing and I had a blast. I suck at skiing but still enjoy it. The wife gave me some tips and I kind of took it from there. My third run down the intermediate slope included a spectacular wipe out by yours truly. I was barreling down the slope at a break neck speed and hit a patch of ice as I was turning and totally lost it. I hit the deck HARD on the ice. Tumbled head over heels, skiis and poles went in four different directions. I laid in the fetal position, trying to figure out if I was injured, the wind was knocked out of me, I was in pain but had this shit eating grin on my face from the exhiliration of racing down the slope. After I caught my breath, I was laying there laughing, replaying in my head how rediculous I must have looked. Incredible, it was a blast.

We’re in North Carolina right now, and the overnight low is supposed to be down in the 30’s, if not the 20’s. Now that’s some snow making weather! We’re so not used to temps like this. On our last trip, it was snowing while we were in the hot tub, and our wet hair got all icy on top from the cold air.

We arrived at the cabin on Tuesday after an short easy drive on Tuesday morning. The cabin is all that we hoped and is a great location. It is 5 miles from downtown Boone and only 4 miles to the closest gas station and grocery store. Easy refilling the beer supply! Hawksnest ski resort is only 10 miles away. Tuesday was spent stocking the cabin with groceries, taking the kids down the mountain to the playground, and then going in the hot tub at night. All in all a good first day at the cabin.

We are on the road driving to our cabin in North Carolina. We left New Years Day around noon and had a hotel reservation in Rock Hill, SC. We decided to break up the drive. Man, I’m glad we did. That was the first time I’ve been on the interstate on a major holiday. Traffic sucked! I’ve never seen so many troopers in Florida as we did New Years Day. We drove just over 650 miles and it took us 11 hours to get to the hotel. In fairness, we did stop a lot, our total drive time was only 8 hours. Still, it seemed like we just never made progress. Most of the way we could barely do the posted speed limit, and I only hit triple digits once for about 30 seconds(wife would have freaked if she saw that!!)

We have a three hour drive left to Boone and we can’t wait to get there. I’m hoping the weather forecast changes and the conditions become more favorable for snow. The kids would love to see some of the white stuff. I’ve been up since six am, I just couldn’t sleep well in the hotel. Continental breakfast is over at 9 am, so I better go try and wake the wife, wish me luck!

We have Disney World tickets for our family, which allow us to go to all four theme parks for a year, with the exception of a few blackout periods. The wife and kids love going to Disney, which means I love going to Disney, too! Even though we’ve been more times than I can count, everyone always has a good time and enjoys the parks. Now, with the kids getting older and more adventuresome, some of the “big” rides can be enjoyed by the whole family. My oldest girl has always been a roller coaster kid. My middle one is catching on too. My son is still getting his feet wet, but slowly. As for Dad, Dad doesn’t do circles. If it goes in circles, count me out. Even the Carousel is rough for me.