Well, we had a WONDERFUL week of fun for our Spring Break getaway this year. We drove through 6 states (Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,& Louisiana). The weather was great for us the whole week. It was sunny & in the 70's & 80's the whole time. It was a little cloudy & cool one morning, but by lunch time it had cleared & warmed back up again.
We started out our trip on Saturday morning & drove to Memphis, TN (about 5 hours from Bentonville). We visited Elvis' Graceland, went on a tour of his mansion, saw his car collection, his personal airplanes, his gold records & awards, outfits he wore, watched some short videos about his life, had some dinner & then enjoyed some ice cream in an old-time ice cream shop that had Elvis songs playing. It was a really fun day. We spent the night there & then the next morning we got up, had some breakfast, and then headed on toward Gulf Shores, AL. It was about a 7-hour drive. The kids did great on the drive. They kept busy reading books, drawing, watching videos on the DVD player, & just talking.
We arrived in Gulf Shores around 4 p.m. and the kids wanted to go check out the beach for a little while before heading to dinner. So we got checked into our room & then walked out to the beach. We told the kids that we weren't going to go swimming or anything until the next day, but they could walk along the beach & put their feet in the waves. Well...you know what happens when kids start to wade in the waves...they get a lot more wet than expected! They were having a great time jumping over the waves & enjoying the beach, but ended up soaked up to their waists. So, after about an hour, we went & had them change & went out to dinner.
Monday morning we got up & had breakfast (our hotel had a hot breakfast bar each day with toast, eggs, bacon, biscuits & gravy, fruit, yogurt, waffles, etc., which made it really nice for us to not have to drive somewhere for breakfast each day). After breakfast we headed to the closest Walmart to buy a few things (beach towels, sunglasses, and some snacks, etc.) then went back to the hotel, changed into swimsuits, and headed back out to the beach. We hung out on the beach & let the kids play in the ocean & sand for a couple of hours then headed back to the hotel to get changed, have some lunch, and then go on a little Dolphin & Nature cruise.
The cruise was great. It guaranteed that you would see dolphins or they would refund your money. We were only out on the boat for about 10 minutes before we saw some dolphins. They came right up to the boat. There were several of them & we watched them for about an hour or so & then continued on to an inlet area where they pointed out different birds, plants, and we looked for alligators (although we never saw any). The bottom of the boat had a portion down the middle that was clear, so the kids could watch the waves & look for fish or anything else they could see down there. And the tour guides even let the kids each take a turn driving the boat for a few minutes. It was a lot of fun & the dolphins were awesome! :) After our 2-hour cruise, we headed back to the hotel, grabbed a snack & then headed back out to the pool to swim for a while. After that we went out for dinner, relaxed & watched some T.V. & then went to bed.
The next morning after breakfast we headed back out to the beach, just to walk along the water for a while & enjoy the morning. Then around 9 a.m. we headed to a little zoo that they have there in the area. It was quite small, but a lot of fun. They had a lot of animals & we got to feed some goats, donkeys, llamas, as well as see a whole bunch of wild animals. We were there for a couple of hours & then went to lunch & headed back to the hotel for more beach time & pool time. A little later we took the kids miniature golfing, went to dinner, followed by ice cream for dessert, and then back to the hotel to relax, watch some T.V. & get ready for bed.
Wednesday morning we got up & headed to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL. It was only about 20 minutes from our hotel. When we got there, it was packed & we realized that there was an air show going on by the Blue Angels. It was SO COOL! They were amazing! They were doing tricks, flying upside-down, flips, etc. We wish we would have known so we could have been there earlier & seen the whole show. After the show ended, we went to the museum & enjoyed seeing all the different planes, statues, exhibits, etc. We had lunch at the cafe there & then headed back to our hotel.
On Thursday we got up, had breakfast, & then spent most of the day on the beach & at the pool again. Later that afternoon, we went to see a movie, and then went out to dinner, headed back to our hotel room to get things all packed up & ready to drive back home.
Friday morning we got up early & started driving back home. It's about 12 hours from Gulf Shores to Bentonville, but with a couple stops for meals & gas/potty breaks, it was more like 14 hours. The kids did great again & kept entertained, but we were all very ready to be home after driving all day long.
It was a great trip & we had a blast just spending time together playing & relaxing. Neil did have to take several international phone calls during the week (one at 6 a.m. with China, and others with India & Mexico on other days during the day or evening), but at least they were only about a half-hour & it wasn't too big of a deal. And after all the fun we had this past week, we are looking forward to our next family vacation in June. We'll be heading to Mesa Verde in Colorado, the Grand Canyon (and other canyon lands in Southern Utah), heading up to see family in Northern Utah for a couple of days & then heading back home through Nebraska. We LOVE family vacations! :)
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