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Beach with 2 Kids: Day 1

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About a week ago, I posted about our drive down to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. We slept decently well (considering having two small children) and woke up ready to enjoy the beach. Sadly, the the first day was overcast with only a little bit of sun, but we were still able to go to the beach and pool twice. Our schedule for the day was beach, pool, lunch, naps, beach, pool, walk, early dinner, walk on the beach, bedtime.

Little Buddy loved the water, perhaps a bit too much. The single red flag prevented him from full-out swimming, but he loved standing by the shore with Daddy and letting the waves hit his legs. There was also a purple flag due to jellyfish. Yuck!

He seems to like the salt water more and more each year. He didn’t really care much about playing in the sand, even though we brought his big plastic shovel and dump truck. He dug for a few minutes but was more interested in being a daredevil at the edge of the water. 

Little Buddy’s reaction to the pool was even more interesting. Last summer, all he wanted to do at pools was sit on the stairs and splash. This time, he was eager for Daddy to take him in, and he could actually touch the bottom of the 3-foot section. Mr. Handsome took the opportunity to start teaching water safety and basic swimming skills.

I’m not a fan of flotation devices for toddlers because I think it gives them a false sense of safety. I’ve heard too many stories of kids having a blast jumping into the deep end over and over while wearing floaties and then taking them off to get a snack, forgetting that they can’t swim, and jumping in and either drowning or almost drowning. So my plan is to avoid any flotation aids until our kids are able to swim. Little Buddy is so tall that I don’t think it will be long before he is able to. Mr. Handsome plans to start teaching him in our neighbors’ pool this summer.

What are your views on teaching kids to swim?

Fishing the Emerald Coast

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Wow, there’s something about that picture of Mr. Handsome standing next to his ocean fishing rod that makes him look like a giant. During our weekend trip to the Florida Panhandle earlier this summer, he spent a couple hours fishing off the shore one evening. Mr. Handsome is an avid angler, but he has very little experience in saltwater. With waves and the tide to consider, it’s a whole different ballgame than fishing in lakes and rivers.

While we were on our trip, we made about half our meals in our tiny condo and ate the other half at restaurants. Fresh Emerald Coast grouper cannot be beat, so we indulged in that a few times without any ounce of regret. Sauteed grouper with a savory butter sauce is probably my favorite meal ever. Sadly, the fish found in Nashville doesn’t hold a candle to the stuff you can find on the coast. Nothing beats freshly caught, and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get it. Santa Rosa Beach is filled with locally owned, ocean-view eateries that serve incredible fish.

Our hope with Mr. Handsome’s fishing excursion was that it would yield a prize fish that we could cook in our condo, but sadly it did not. He caught one small trout that had to be thrown back, but that was the extend of his return. Boy did he make a good effort, though!

Little Buddy giggled as Daddy waded out into the choppy waves with his 10-foot fishing pole. He was less than 30 feet from the beach, but the water was so deep that he had to start swimming to make it to the sandbar. He stayed out there for a while and came back with blue lips.

Do you like eating fish? Have you tried freshly caught?

Santa Rosa Beach with a Toddler

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Earlier this summer, we took a long weekend vacation to the Florida Panhandle. Over our six years of marriage, we have fallen in love with Santa Rosa Beach. It’s just under seven hours from Nashville, and the drive isn’t bad. Traffic can get busy between Birmingham and Montgomery, but that depends on time of day. After passing through Montgomery, you jump off the interstate and begin a leisurely jaunt through the small towns of Southern Alabama and Northwest Florida. We stopped and bought fresh peaches from a family-owned roadside stand.

When you arrive at the coast, you are greeted by white sand beaches and blue water. Not quite as picturesque as the Caribbean or Hawaii, but I can’t imagine that anywhere in the continental United States could have a more beautiful shoreline than the Emerald Coast.

This time, we stayed for three full days, which was perfect. We spent the entire time “chilling” and enjoying a slower pace of life. Even with a toddler, we managed to leave feeling just as relaxed as we did after our trip to Hawaii three years ago.

We booked a tiny, one bedroom condo with a fully equipped (but very small) kitchen. It met our needs perfectly, and the best part was that it was within walking distance of the beach. With a toddler, that made all the difference in the world. We didn’t have to find parking, deal with a hot car and an unhappy child, or cover our seats in sand.

Each day, we enjoyed the beach for a few hour-long stretches, which worked great for all three of us. Neither Mr. Handsome nor I are “sit on the beach all day” type of folks, so we didn’t mind having to go inside for naps and snack breaks.

Aside from the beach, we indulged in fresh smoothies, short walks (it was pretty hot and humid, so we couldn’t go far), and that’s about the extent of it.

On the way home, we stopped in Destin so Mr. Handsome could rent a jet ski for an hour. I stayed on the beach with Little Buddy, and I honestly was not the least bit bummed. We went jet skiing together before having a child, and let’s just say that it wasn’t a pleasant experience for either of us. I was terrified the entire time and did not enjoy it one bit, and my poor husband almost lost his hearing from all the screaming. After that adventure, I decided that I prefer watching from the shore.

Rodney Scott’s BBQ: As-Seen-on Netflix

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Mr. Handsome recently got hooked on the Netflix show Chef’s Table. During the BBQ Series, he learned about chef Rodney Scott and was thrilled to find out that Rodney has a restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, which is only a couple hours from Nashville.

Rodney Scott grew up cooking hogs for his family’s store/restaurant in South Carolina, where they used the old-fashioned technique of smoking whole hogs over real wood coals. It’s a very labor-intensive technique that involved Rodney chopping wood, preparing hogs, and monitoring the huge smoker pits for hours in order to keep the temperature consistent and create a delicious smoky flavor. Rodney eventually started his own restaurant and continues to use the same techniques that his family has used for generations. He won the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast Award in 2018.

While driving through Birmingham recently, we had the opportunity to visit the restaurant. No, that’s not quite right. Here’s what really happened: We were looping around the outside of the city, on our way to the beach, when Mr. Handsome suddenly exited the interstate and parked at the nearest gas station. Taking out his phone, he announced that we absolutely had to eat at Rodney Scott’s, even though it was 3:00 in the afternoon.

Mr. Handsome was giddy with anticipation as we pulled into the restaurant. As soon as we opened the car door, we were hit with the smell of BBQ smoke wafting across the hot pavement. Little Buddy could sense the excitement and exclaimed, “I’m hungry like Daddy!”

The restaurant had a window where you could see the large BBQ pits and watch the chefs work. Little Buddy loved watching and proudly stated, “Look Mommy, there’s a fire.”

I enjoyed the BBQ, although it ended up not being my favorite style. They use a vinegar-based BBQ sauce, which is the traditional South Carolina style, while I like more of a sweet sauce (Kansas City style). Mr. Handsome, on the other hand, loved the meat, and Mommy and Little Buddy loved the fries, green beans, and coleslaw. So we all had a great experience.

Touring the Carter House

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Carter House Franklin TN

For several years, I have we wanted to tour the historic Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee, located about 20 minutes south of Nashville, and we finally go around to visiting for my birthday. It’s an incredible place, not because of the size or grandeur of the home, but because of what happened there almost 160 years ago.

The house was built by a man named Fountain Branch Carter, who was born in 1797. He and his wife, who passed away in 1852 at the age of 46, grew the farm from 19 acres to nearly 300 acres. They had 12 children, although only eight survived until adulthood. By the time the Civil War broke out, most of the kids had a moved away to start their own families.

On November 30, 1864, the Battle of Franklin (technically the Second Battle of Franklin) took place on the Carter Farm. By that point, the house was bursting at the seams, as some of the daughters whose husbands were fighting in the war had returned to the farm with their children temporarily. The Carter family, as well as their slaves and a family from across the street (whose house, the Lotz House, still stands today) took refuge in the Carters’ cellar for 17 hours, as the battle raged around them.

The battle that took place around Carter Farm resulted in nearly 9,000 casualties. The hand-to-hand fighting was some of the worst in the war and occurred right next to the house, within earshot of the civilians huddled in the cellar.

On the tour, you can see bullet holes in the sides of the house and other buildings on the property. There is also bullet damage to some of the furniture inside the house. One might wonder why the family didn’t repair the bullet holes after the war. The tour guide explained that when slavery ended, the Carters were nearly broke.

My favorite part of the tour was the view from inside the farm office. How incredible is it that this wooden building has survived 157 years?

My second favorite part of the tour may seem small and insignificant, but it really helped bring the story to life. These contraptions, which sit outside the house and all the outbuildings, were used to clean the mud off one’s boots before going inside. Through pictures, historians were able to confirm that they were there on the day of the battle. These tiny pieces of metal sure have been through a lot!

Garden of the Gods

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Garden of the Gods Colorado

Some of you know that we traveled to Denver, Colorado, last year for a small wedding. I already posted photos from the Royal Gorge, Red Rocks Amphitheater, and Manitou Cliff Dwellings, but I have just one more excursion to share. Have any of you been to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs?

We parked in the big parking lot and hiked on a stroller friendly trail through the main part of the park. The rocks were beautiful! There were quite a few people there, but everyone did a great job keeping away from each other. There was plenty of open space. It was a sunny day, and the temperature was absolutely perfect.

Garden of the Gods Colorado

We saw a few folks climbing with ropes and harnesses up some of the rock faces. I have climbed on an actual rock face, but it was exponentially shorter. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to do what these people were doing. Unfortunately, one of them was having a difficult time and looked sort of stuck. It gave me anxiety just to watch them.

We didn’t snap too many pictures during our hike, but I wanted to share the few that we took. This one is of the famous “kissing camels.”

Everywhere we turned, there was another beautiful view. Mr. Handsome wants to paint some of the scenes.

Royal Gorge

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Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

Last year, I posted about our quick trip to Colorado, but I didn’t quite get around to sharing all my pictures. Mr. Handsome spent a day fishing in the mountains with his friend who had just gotten married (Mr. Handsome was the best man). Little Buddy and I weren’t about to waste a day of vacation, so we went on an adventure of our own. Has anyone been to Royal Gorge Bridge?

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

Located about 90 minutes from Colorado Springs, it’s an expansive gorge with water and a train running along the bottom. The gorge is more than 1,200 feet deep in some places.

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

You can take a gondola across to the other side and walk back on a giant suspension bridge, built in 1929.

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

There is even a playground area on the other side. Every group got their own gondola, and there weren’t many people at the attraction in general.

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado
Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

Little Buddy wasn’t a huge fan of the bridge. He made me carry him the whole way across and didn’t even want to sit in the stroller. I think he was able to sense the danger.

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

You may have heard about the wildfire that impacted the area in June of 2013. While most of the other structures in the park were destroyed, the bridge itself only suffered damage to 100 of its boards.

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

We had a great time! Little Buddy loved having my undivided attention for the whole day. It felt very relaxing to not have anything that I had to accomplish. 

Royal Gorge Canon City Colorado

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

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The day after our friends’ wedding near Denver, we drove down to Colorado Springs to enjoy the beautiful scenery. We would have loved to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, but we had heard about how busy it was, and we didn’t want to throw ourselves into huge crowds of people and be exposed to a bunch of germs. 

We made a quick stop at the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, where we were able to walk into cliff homes that were inhabited by Native Americans 800 to 1,000 years ago.

The cliff dwellings were originally located in southwestern Colorado and were moved to Colorado Springs and reassembled between 1904 and 1907. The moving process included transport by oxen, horse, and railroad.

Red Rocks Amphitheater

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Red Rocks Amphitheater

It was still light outside when our friends’ wedding near Denver wrapped up, so we headed over to Red Rocks Amphitheater to stroll around. The park was just about to close, and there were very few people still there. We weren’t able to hike any of the trails, but we walked into the amphitheater and looked out over the seats. It was an amazing view!

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Have any of you ever seen a show at Red Rocks Amphitheater? I have heard that the sound quality is unbeatable. 

Red Rocks Amphitheater
Red Rocks Amphitheater

Denver, Colorado

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We recently returned from a weekend trip to Denver, Colorado. Mr. Handsome was the best man for his best friend’s wedding, which was planned about a month in advance. I was nervous about traveling with a toddler with everything that’s going on, but the trip was incredibly smooth, thanks to the wonderful airport and airline employees.

Southwest Airlines is not selling their middle seats, so the three of us were able to sit in our own row and bring the car seat on for free, even though Little Buddy is under age two and didn’t purchase a seat. Having him contained made the trip much simpler. When we flew to New York City last year with little Buddy as a lap child, it was pretty challenging to keep him from squirming. (Did you read our Baby’s 1st Plane Ride post?) This experience was exponentially better than our flight to NYC.

When we disembarked the airplane, we picked up our rental car and headed straight to the rehearsal dinner. There were about 25 people at the rehearsal and 40 at the wedding ceremony and reception. Most were family of the bride and groom. Little Buddy had four other young children to play with, so he was very happy.

The wedding took place in the hills outside Denver. While Mr. Handsome took photos with the wedding party, Little Buddy and I took a driving tour of the area. Rather, Little Buddy had his afternoon nap in his car seat while Mama silently marveled at the beautiful scenery.

I stumbled upon Red Rocks Amphitheater and enjoyed driving around the large park. Later, we visited with Mr. Handsome and were able to walk around. This was my first trip to Colorado, and I hope to have a chance to go back. Both Mr. Handsome and I were surprised at how desert-like Denver was. We stuck around for an extra two days to do some sight-seeing (more photos coming).