This story includes affiliate links for which we receive a small commission at no extra cost to consumers. Even though my youngest is now 7 – as I’m planning trips, I still consider whether or not to bring her car seat when we travel. Are the car seat laws different in the city we’re traveling…
As a former high school English teacher and now a writer and mother with three girls, books play heavily in my past and in my present. I love that between trips, I can travel anywhere I want through books, no passport required. All you need is a library card or a favorite bookstore! Great books…
Several weeks ago, my family of 5 took a spontaneous day trip from Nashville to Cummins Falls State Park where we hiked, swam and explored and it reminded us that we need to take more similarly spontaneous trips. Here’s why it was perfect for our family: 1. The Drive from Nashville The drive is about…
Our most recent road trip to our family farm in East Tennessee brought on a whole new experience in this magical place – farming! The land has not been used for farming (with the exception of my moms flourishing vegetable gardens) since we’ve enjoyed the property for over 20 years, but due to some invasive…
Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville, TN is one of my all-time favorite places in Nashville – with or without kids. We’ve been for family events, date nights, after school to do homework outside, and I even go to walk and read in the gardens solo every once in a while. We frequently bring visiting friends…
Chattanooga, Tennessee is one of my family’s favorite southern towns. It is just a couple hours from our hometown of Nashville – but also a short drive from Atlanta, Birmingham, and Knoxville and combines small-town amenities, such as walkability, a vibrant art scene and easy navigation with big-city attractions like the incredible Tennessee Aquarium and…
This summer my husband and I hosted a family reunion at our family farm in East Tennessee with his extended family. My husband’s family gets together every summer at various alternating locations, but this was the first time we hosted the family reunion in Tennessee. Previously, we’ve gone to the beach, to Disney in Orlando,…
My friend Regine does this incredible thing with her family where she takes them to a Spanish speaking country every summer for a month to vacation, travel and attend Spanish school to work on their language skills. Regine works remotely most of the month and when her husband joins them for at least a week,…
I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and it was somewhat of a right of passage to visit the Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, at the base of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park growing up. Country Legend, Dolly Parton put her name on the theme park in the late eighties (previously it was called Silver…
My friend Allyson recently traveled around Portugal with her husband (while there 3 girls stayed home with their grandparents) and they fell in love with Porto. Porto is the second largest city in Portugal (after Lisbon where my family briefly visited last January) and the city is situated along the coast in northwest Portugal. Porto, Portugal…