Cloudland Canyon State Park - Rising Fawn, GA

Georgia seems to have missed the memo that it's supposed to be winter. And what does that mean? Hiking!

It was a little chilly, hence Bibby's mildly unamused expression, but we really did have a good time.

Cloudland Canyon is in the Northwesternmost corner of Georgia. It is part of the Georgia State Park System. The feature of the park is its rugged, yet absolutely breathtaking, geology on the western edge of Lookout Mountain.

Looking over the Canyon is as simple as parking near the Interpretive Center (open seasonally, NOT in winter, even if it's not cold and there's a bazillion people there) and walking the easy paved trail.

Amazing vistas can be found anywhere along the trail. If you walk all the way down the hill, you come to a viewing platform that offers a canyon view with less tree obstruction.

If you're up for going down, 600 stairs to be exact, and back up again, with a total round trip hike of 2 miles, there are two waterfalls that, according to other people's photos, look quite stunning. We didn't do the falls on this trip, but I'd certainly like to at some point.

My mom has been wanting to camp in a Yurt. They seem to be the latest trend in camping, and Cloudland Canyon has quite a few. They also have cabins, campgrounds, and walk-in tent sites.

With plenty of hiking opportunities, picnic areas, the Interpretive Center, playground facilities, and the simple glory of Mother Nature herself, your family is sure to find something amazing here at Cloudland Canyon! Whether you come for the day, or make a camping trip out of it, bring your camera! It's beautiful!

 

French Broad Chocolate Lounge - Asheville, NC

Oh, my!

If you love chocolate, your mothership has landed!

I've read a few reviews that call this place expensive and refer to the staff as being pretentious. While it isn't exactly cheap, it isn't overwhelming. Although, anything adds up quickly when you have 4 kiddos.

Most importantly to note, though, the staff was PHENOMENAL. One young guy in particular, was probably the friendliest, most enthusiastic, most attentive service employee I've seen in years. I wish I would have caught his name, and I could kick myself for not having given him a bigger tip!

All in all, we ordered:

Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa
Salted Caramel Drinking Chocolate
Triple Layered Chocolate Ganache Cake
Cookies and Milk Ice Cream
10 truffles, with a few duplicates

The hot cocoa was our safety net in a comfortable flavor. Heavy on the milk, but still plenty of chocolate. I thought $4.50 for a hot cocoa was a little much, but you're talking to someone who has never been to Starbucks. They have tons of custom flavors and options available, so I guess if you go for something more exotic, the price tag isn't terrible.

The Salted Caramel Drinking Chocolate was the hit of the evening. I've never experienced drinking chocolate, and none of us had any idea what to expect. Oh. My. Heaven in a cup. It's a little hard to explain. It pretty much is melted chocolate with a bit of steamed milk. Heavier in substance than cocoa, but it still flows perfectly when gently sipped. They refer to it as a Melted Truffle, and it wears this honor well. Again, you have tons of flavor options, so have a little fun with this one! You'll be oh-so-glad you did! $4.50 for a cup of the drinking chocolate felt like a smart investment. And one I definitely hope to make again as soon as possible!

The Ganache Cake was yummy, too. The outside layer felt like it could have used a touch of freshness, but the inside ganache was perfect...  They had several options of cake slices, but this one was a definite winner for our collective palates. Next time, I'd like to try the Olive Oil Chocolate Cake, as it also looked amazing and sounded unique. Most of the cake slices ran around $5-$7 each. They weren't as generous as, say, slices from the Cheesecake Factory, but they were definitely larger than you'd get in the average casual dining restaurant.

Ogie is a little less brave, so the Cookies and Milk ice cream was his selection for the occasion. The lady who waited on him was quite patient as he sampled a few choices, and then she loaded him up with a generous double scoop that kept him quite happy. The kids portion was $2 and change, but the double scoop was more our speed at $5.25.

Ogie tried three of the truffles, but they were a bit too exotic for an 8 year old; so we divvied them up amongst the ladies instead. The girls aren't quite as brave as I wish they were, so we didn't get anything vastly avant-garde from the truffle selection, but we each got to try Peppermint, Hazelnut, Turtle, and Sorghum. The kids all gravitated towards the Peppermint and the Turtle. Mama Bear loved them all, and one day will definitely try some of the more unique flavors from their Signature or World Collections, like the Indian Kulfi, Masala Chai, Mole Negro, Earl Grey, and the Canela Picante...

Oh. My. Mothership, take me away!  

I'd love to list all your options. From truffle flavors, to cakes, to ice cream, to other cookies and desserts, to all the hot drink choices...  But, you'd be better off visiting www.frenchbroadchocolates.com

Or, you'd be even better suited to go there. Now. Literally. Don't even get dressed. Just jump in your car and drive. To Chocolate Heaven.


PS... Happy 12th Birthday, Bibby!

The Biltmore Estate - Asheville, NC

Welcome to Biltmore!

The largest private home in America!

At 175,000 square feet, Biltmore, located in Asheville, North Carolina, boasts over 250 rooms, including 43 bathrooms!

We were looking for something special for Bibby's 12th Birthday. It's always been a bit of a challenge to have 4 winter birthdays within 3 weeks of Christmas. Between weather, finances, schedules, and everything else that life throws at you, it isn't always easy to navigate so many holidays at one time. Historically, it was always our goal to give all the "stuff" at Christmas, and save birthdays for going special places or doing unique things. Some years we've done service projects, other years we've taken day trips or overnighters to places like St. Louis, Indianapolis, Georgia, Legoland, Disney World...  It doesn't always work out that way for all 4 kids, but on this particular day, it did. ;)

This year, we decided a day in Asheville would hit the spot. We've had several annual passes to Biltmore over the years, but Bibby was pretty young the last time we went, so we knew she would be excited to visit again. I'm a huge admirer of the Vanderbilt family. We've visited multiple Vanderbilt homes over the years. This past year, I've also decided that The Men Who Built America is my favorite documentary ever, as it highlights several of my personal idols, including Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford.

As are many of our trips, this one was a surprise. We left early enough that the kids slept all the way to Asheville. Upon waking, it didn't take Bibby long to figure out where we were. And, yes, she was pretty excited.

Upon entering, I was super stoked to get a much better deal on our new annual pass than the price that was listed on the internet. I have no idea why. She didn't explain it to me, but, hey, who am I to question? :)

The beauty of visiting Biltmore the first week of January is the perfect timing of it. The home is still fully decorated in its Christmas splendor, but all the crowds are long gone. You pretty much have the place to yourself.

We grabbed lunch at the Stable Cafe, which I will review in a separate post, then we continued on to the house tour. Luckily Ribby is a good kid as far as her behavior. I can't imagine taking a tour through a historic home, especially through 4 of 6 levels of a 175,000 square foot home, with a child that isn't prepared to behave. Everything in Biltmore is original and painstakingly preserved. They DO have alarms. They WILL go off. So, if you are a parent of a small child, definitely know what you are getting involved with before spending the money to see the home.

With that being said, though, Ribby still doesn't have the longest attention span in the world before getting antsy, so the home tour goes a little more quickly when you're trying to keep the Mommy ride moving. Mommies with small babies don't necessarily get to appreciate and absorb as many of the breathtakingly intricate details of each room. When Bibby and Bear were younger, I would keep them interested in the house by challenging them to enter each room and look at the floor, the ceiling, and then find an animal. Between paintings, decor, and other accessories, they can usually find one.

During the holiday season, you can also keep younger kids occupied with counting the Christmas Trees. Biltmore offers a "Scavenger Hunt" booklet full of rhyming clues that correspond with most of the main rooms in the house. It doesn't require any writing, but it keeps the mental wheels turning.

When visiting Biltmore, allow yourself plenty of TIME. If you just go for the house tour, you're really missing out on the full experience. Walk the grounds. Make a wish in the fountains. Stroll through the gardens. Enjoy the greenhouse. Maybe you'd like horseback riding? Be sure to tour the farm and the equestrian center. The winery tour is fascinating, and offers tastings for grown-ups, and grape juice for the kids. Obviously, there are many gift shops, offering everything from kitschy souvenirs, to boutique toys, to Victorian-era decor. You can even hike, walk, jog, or bring your bikes and partake of the many miles of hiking trails, and riverside riding pathways that traverse the property.

Our favorite outdoor activity at Biltmore? Just letting the kids run across the expansive front lawn! (see picture above!)

There are several restaurants and cafes throughout the property that offer everything from counter service and outdooor seating, to spirited Bistros with live music, to fine dining where you need to know which fork is which.  Choosing a restaurant onsite definitely enhances the Biltmore experience, but there are an absolute plethora of exciting meal choices anywhere in the Asheville area.

At the end of the day, even though it was a bit chilly outside, we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. If you visit Biltmore, we hope you have a great time as well!

Ice on the Landing - Chattanooga, TN

It's not every day you get to go ice skating when you live in the South, so this was definitely an extra special treat. The downside is, when you don't go ice skating every day, you tend to stink at.

This wasn't exactly the most fruitful investment we've ever made, but it's one of those things that you have to try, at least to know you tried!

Gearing Up!

Ice Princesses

Are You Brave Enough, Bibby?

As for the critique, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume there are probably better places to try your hand at ice torture, um, I mean, ice skating, than a temporary rink set up and ran by iphone-wielding teenagers who were also NOT raised in an icy biome. Everyone was friendly, but not super helpful. The cashier knew how to take your $10, but not much else.  The rest of the staff seemed more interested in coordinating a group pizza order.

After struggling for a while, we decided to rent "Ice Buddies" for $4 each. The blue plastic units that resembled handicapped walking devices looked super-useful in helping the little kids learn to position themselves on the ice. But apparently, if you're over 5 feet tall, you get an actual handicapped walking device.

If you are concerned about looking socially awkward, I'd already discourage the use of an Ice Buddy. Since I'm not the slightest bit concerned about social awkwardness (if I were I'd never leave the house and this blog would simply be toys.blogspot.com) we attempted to give these gizmos a try.

All awkwardness aside, they were still pretty useless. They didn't slide at all. If you're over 5 feet tall, suck it up and learn to skate without an Ice Buddy. Instead, spend your $4 on hot cocoa. Or butt padding.

If you have experience skating, this might be fun. But, then again, if you have experience skating, is it fun to dodge the dozens of people around you that don't know what the heck they are doing?

$10 per person seems a little expensive for Ice Bumper Cars, whether you are the car or the bump.

But, even with our egos bruised as badly as our derrieres, it's still an afternoon spent with friends.

And THAT is what it's all about!

Pickett State Park Christmas Party - Jamestown, TN

Hosted by the Friends of Pickett State Park in Pickett County, Tennessee, this Christmas Party was a great deal of fun!

Luckily, the weather this winter was pretty mild temperature-wise, so that helped make the outdoor activities more bearable. But inside the recreation lodge where a bulk of the activities were held, it was nice and toasty warm with multiple fires burning bright.

Refreshments were available; from veggies, to sugar cookies and gingerbread men. Hot cocoa and hot cider were plentiful.

Several craft stations were set up, including making owls out of pinecones and felt; rubber stamping on hand-cut log slices; jingle bell fingerpainting; birdfeeder pinecones; and cinnamon tree ornaments.

Tractor-pulled hayrides were offered throughout the afternoon that circled both sides of the lake.

The highlight of the afternoon was the guest of honor, Kris Kringle himself. The kids were all fascinated as rangers directed their attention to the lake. And who should appear, but Santa Claus, crossing the lake on a canoe! Once ashore, Santa joined the kids in the lodge and gave out candy canes to the children as they shared their Christmas wishes.

Pickett State Park is a great destination for families wanting a natural getaway in Central Tennessee. We've visited countless times over the years. Around holidays, the campgrounds and cabin areas are usually at capacity; but at most other times, the pace is pretty relaxed. There are multiple playgrounds throughout the park, including a brand new one for younger kids that has been installed within the past few months. There is a tennis court, and plenty of lakeside picnic tables. A swinging bridge spans the lake and leads to some great forest hiking.

Bear and beaver sightings are quite common. Visit during spring to witness amphibian activity in the shallow shore areas. During summer, they have ranger-led educational activities almost every day of the week. Canoe programs are available. You can even hike down to Hazard Cave at night to see the glow worms! How cool is that?