Southern California Girls Trip

If you know MEH, you know that we love to travel. We always take at least one trip that we call our 'Girls Trip' every summer, just the three of us. This year was year number four of our annual girls trip and we decided on Southern Cali.

(Our first year we cruised from New Orleans on Carnival Triumph to Progresso and Cozumel, our second year we cruised from Charleston on Carnival Ecstasy to Nassau and Half Moon Cay, and our third year we went to Key West.)

We flew in early Friday morning and dropped our luggage off at our hotel, Anaheim Portofino Inn & Suites. The first stop on our list was the Hollywood sign! We took an uber from our hotel to the closest drop off point near the sign. (PS: No matter what your uber driver says, there is NOT a bathroom at the entrance to the hike. At least not at the entrance he took us to!) We walked up just far enough to get a good picture and then found the nearest bathroom! From the Hollywood sign, we checked off the rest of the tourist must-do's. We went to In-and-Out Burger and had a delicious cheeseburger before going to Hollywood Boulevard. We walked around and found all of the stars that we wanted to take pictures with and then hopped on a bus tour. The tour took us to all the major sight seeing areas, but we ditched the tour halfway through in Beverly Hills. We walked around Rodeo drive for a little bit window shopping and then took an uber to the Santa Monica Pier. We walked around Pacific Pier and then ate dinner at Mariasol Cocina Mexicana at the very end of the pier while the sun set.

The next two days were Disney days!!! YAY!! We went to Disneyland the first day and the first ride we hit up was Splash Mountain which was a bad idea. The ride was great, however getting soaking wet first thing in the morning was not great. The rest of the day was spent riding all the rides and eating all of the Mickey shaped foods. The second day we went to California Adventure. Our favorite ride was the spinning ferris wheel!! (At least it was mine and Emily's favorite, Heather's not so much.) We finished most of the park rides by lunch time, so we went to Downtown Disney to shop for a little while and had supper. Before the night ended, we made our way back into California Adventure park to see the World of Color light and water show. I never thought anything could top Disney World's firework show, but the World of Color light and water show was AMAZING!!! It is definitely a close second to the firework show at Disney World. (Watch the video below to hear just how much we loved it...Emily loved it the most! LOL)

On our last full day, we rented a car from Enterprise and drove to San Diego to the zoo. We walked around the zoo until lunch and then drove to La Jolla beach to see the seals on the beach. We had a late lunch at Beach House and then went to Hammond's for a flight of ice cream. Before we headed back towards our hotel, we wanted to see the border. We drove to a part of the beach where we could see Mexico from the beach, but we wanted to get a little bit closer. You see, in our minds, we thought the border would look similar to the border that was in the movie "We're the Millers". Well, we were wrong! We were driving along and all of a sudden we see a sign that the last US exit was on the right in 500 feet. We were over seven lanes of traffic in the far left lane. So Heather handled things in true Heather form and completely panicked...almost wrecking into a car less than 500 feet from the border of Mexico. We made it over to the 'last US exit', that was quite sketchy because it was spray painted in orange paint on a piece of plywood. (insert wide eyed emoji here) We were still not completely convinced we hadn't accidentally crossed into Mexico, but after asking a few questions, we determined that we were in fact still in the US. Luckily, I captured all of this on video, so scroll to the bottom and watch for your own amusement.

New York City // Adventures with MEH

New York City is so much fun! We flew in on Southwest Tuesday morning. We were on the same flight as LoCash, so we snagged a picture with them before we started our adventures. We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott New York Downtown Manhattan, and it did not disappoint. We had two queen beds, a living area with a sofa sleeper, a kitchen, and one large bathroom. It was so cute and cozy for the five of us.

After checking in to our hotel, our first stop was Starbucks, as always! On day 1, we visited China Town and Little Italy. In Little Italy, we had lunch at Caffe Napoli where we had some delicious alfredo and cannolis. After lunch, we took and uber to the 9/11 museum and memorial. On Tuesdays, admission is free after 5:00 p.m., so I definitely recommend working this into your day to save money. You cannot come to New York and not see the 9/11 museum. We did a self guided tour through the museum and memorial and it is one of the most humbling experiences of my life. After our tour, we went to the Empire State Building to see the sunset on the skyline, had dinner at Heartland Brewery, then took a limo to see the Statue of Liberty from the water and back to the hotel.

On Wednesday, we ate breakfast at the hotel, then made the morning trip to Starbucks. We walked to see the Bull and then on to Battery Park. From there, we hopped on a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We bought pedestal tickets in advance, which was really cool. We spent several hours exploring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had lunch at Shake Shack, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, visited Grand Central Station, and then St. Patricks Cathedral. We did some shopping at, literally, the biggest Victorias Secret I have ever seen. While we were there, one of the sweet workers showed us the dressing room where all the angels try on their outfits. After exploring all three floors of VS, we stopped at Bill's Bar & Burgers for milkshakes. Then, it was on to Radio City and Rockefeller Center before ending our night.

Thursday morning came early! We woke up before the sun to hit up Starbucks before going to the live recording of Good Morning America. We applied for tickets weeks in advance and landed general admission tickets. The night before the show, our tickets were upgraded to priority!! We were front and center for most of the recording, and then we got to meet Robin Roberts. When our time on GMA ended, we stopped for breakfast at Brooklyn Diner. After breakfast, we picked up our rental car and drove to Hoboken, New Jersey. We spent the day walking around the area of Hoboken, seeing Carlo's Bake Shop, and munching on Insomnia Cookies. We had lunch at Grimaldi's, then went to explore Times Square. We spent awhile shopping around before seeing Aladdin on Broadway. And ya'll...Aladdin was AMAZING!!! I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a broadway show. After the show, we stopped for dinner at Carmine's where we all split the biggest bowl of lasagna.

Friday was our road trip day! We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel before heading to New Haven, Connecticut. New Haven was about a two hour drive from our hotel. While in New Haven, we visited the Yale University campus which was historically beautiful. After spending about an hour touring the campus, we drove about two hours to Newport, Rhode Island where we had lunch at Anthony's Seafood. We walked along the (very chilly) beach for a little while and then spent the rest of out time in Newport driving around seeing all of the beautiful mansions. Our next stop was Salem, Massachusetts, the home of Hocus Pocus, which was another hour and forty five minute drive. We spent an hour driving around finding all of the houses from Hocus Pocus. We used a list that we found on Pinterest to find all of the houses and the cemetery. Then it was on to Boston, Massachusetts for dinner at the Cheers restaurant. We tried the clam chowder, which we did not love, and the Boston cream pie! Then we had a long four hour drive back to our hotel, which was an adventure in itself with Heather driving in NYC! (see video below)

On our last day in NYC, we had breakfast at Sarabeths. After breakfast, we rode in a cart and bike tour around Central Park. The weather was absolutely perfect!! Inside Central Park, we saw the fountain from Friends, the tunnel where Chuck and Blair got married in Gossip Girl, and Bethesda fountain. When our bike tour was over, we walked to the MET to sit on the steps and pretend to be Blair and Serena. We had lunch at Serendipity, then took the tram to Roosevelt Island. The tram ride over to Roosevelt Island had some of the most beautiful views of the city. After seeing Aladdin, we bought tickets to see Frozen on broadway, too! Our Disney-loving hearts enjoyed every minute of it!! (But Aladdin still is at the top of the list.) We ended our night having cheesecake at Juniors before heading to the hotel to pack up for our early flight home.

Our trip was one for the books! We got to see everything that we wanted to see and more, but mostly we enjoyed our time together making memories! Watch the video recap of our whole trip to get the full experience. If you have been to NYC, what are some of your favorite places to go, things to do, places to eat?

Cruising Carnival Ecstasy // Adventures with MEH

Ya'll... I have said it once and I will say it again. Cruising is THE LIFE! I love travelling and vacations but I think cruising is definitely the best way to just get away and actually relax. You know, when you get home from some vacations, you feel like you need another vacation just to recoop...well that is so not the case on cruises. We were seriously treated like princesses on this cruise. The staff on Ecstasy was SO nice and friendly. They made us feel just like we were at home.

Last year, we cruised on Carnival Triumph. We had several things we didn't like about that particular ship and wanted to try a different one this year. Ecstasy was still a smaller ship compared to some of the other ships owned by Carnival, but it was definitely way better than Triumph. The pools on this ship were pretty large and they had a huge kiddie area with lots of water slides. (Yes, we played on the water slides just like we were kids. ;)) This ship was definitely more kid friendly compared to Triumph. 

This ship had a serenity deck, which was where we spent most of our time. On the serenity deck, its  21 and over, there are cushioned chairs, and big umbrellas. There are also two hot tubs on the serenity deck, but it was too hot to get in a hot tub. The serenity deck was located on the back of the ship so it was a perfect view. And it was way less crowded than any other area on the ship. It was SO peaceful!

This year, we had 'your time' dining, so we could go to dinner at anytime we wanted. We requested the same waiter every night because he was just awesome. Of course, we got to pick from a huge menu every single night and we could eat as much as we wanted. One night, our waiters literally brought us every single dessert they were serving that night. And we ate every bit of it. 

Our waiter and all of the hostesses were wonderful. They were so friendly and would sit around and talk to us every night. 

I love getting dressed up for dinner every night. We had a very specific strategy on getting ready. Three girls getting ready in one tiny bathroom is definitely a struggle. Oh and on top of that there was only one available outlet. But we managed and actually got ready in a very timely manner every night.

We could not get a decent picture before dinner to save our life. It was so windy on the deck and not good lighting inside...so here is what we ended up with. :)

And if you know Emily, she is obsessed with globes and there was this...

This cruise definitely did not disappoint. I had the best travel companions. We all enjoy naps pretty equally, so no one complains about napping real quick before dinner :) It was such a relaxing and much needed getaway.

We will be planning another cruise for the next year, so what is your favorite cruise line? Where is your favorite place to go? When is your favorite time to cruise?

Charleston, South Carolina // Adventures with MEH

Emily, Heather, and I chose to cruise out of Charleston so that we could go a few days early and explore the beautiful city. We had about a total of 48 hours to adventure, which was not enough time to do everything on our list, but it was long enough to see a lot of great things.

On the first night in Charleston, we arrived at our first hotel and it was gross. The room smelled like smoke, the sheets looked nasty, and we checked out just about as quick as we checked in. Thankfully we got a full refund. So we did what we should have done in the first place and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn Charleston / Mt. Pleasant. Since we had already had a rough day, the concierge gave us a pretty great discount. I don't know why we didn't just book a Hilton hotel in the first place? (You can never go wrong with Hilton!)  

That night, we went to eat at Marina Variety Store and Restaurant. It was a cute little restaurant by the marina and it even over looked the water and the boats. The food was great and the prices were decent. 

After dinner we drove around for awhile before making our way back to the hotel. We absolutely loved the Charleston bridge. It is so pretty and I love the way it is all lit up at night.

The next day, we ate breakfast at Callie's Hot Little Biscuit. Ya'll...it was so good. Callie's is a little hole in the wall restaurant on King Street. After breakfast, we stopped across the road for donuts at Glazed. YUM!! They were heavenly.

After breakfast, we made our way to Rainbow Row. This was the cutest little strip of real estate I have ever seen. It would be perfect to live on the end and have a house overlooking the park and the ocean.

After Rainbow Row, we had to have a picture by the beautiful and historic Pineapple fountain. We took a break there for awhile and put our feet in the water and watched all the little kids swimming around.

Next on our agenda was to see the Angel Oak Tree. This tree was so cool! We stopped for lunch at the Angel Oak Restaurant just a few minutes away. The food was pretty good, but I really loved the atmosphere of the restaurant. It had a very unique southern charm to it.

Folly Island was next to see the light house and chill on the beach for a little while. It was so cute! If you know me, you know that I love graffiti and wall murals and all the things like that. Well on the walk to the light house, there was different things spray painted along the road and I just loved it. It made my heart smile.

We had dinner in Sullivan's Island at Mex1. OMG YA'LL...this was the best Mexican food I think I have ever had. We all need to gather together and open one of these in Alabama. Preferably in Moulton so I don't have to drive too far to get there. ;) But seriously, if you are ever in Charleston, you HAVE to go to Mex1. It was delicious!

Before we got on the ship, we ate a quick breakfast at Sunrise Bistro Xpress. This was another little hole in the wall restaurant. It had a total of about 4 tables inside the restaurant and about 5 more outside between the buildings. I think this restaurant mainly does take out orders, but the food was great and the service was really good.

We stopped by Starbucks real quick before calling our Uber and hopping on the ship. Stay tuned for more post about the cruise and the islands! :)

Two days was definitely not enough time to do everything we wanted to do. We mainly did the typical touristy things and made a list of things we wanted to do next time. But Charleston is definitely a great place for a girls weekend getaway!

If you have ever been to Charleston, what did you enjoy most?

New Orleans // Adventures with MEH

For Spring Break, we decided at the last minute to take a quick trip by train to New Orleans. We left out of Birmingham on the Amtrak Monday afternoon and arrived in New Orleans around 7:00 that night. With this trip, we had absolutely no agenda. Our main goal was to simply enjoy our time together and explore New Orleans and that is exactly what we did.

Monday night, we checked into Astor Crown Plaza Hotel, which was located on the corner of Bourbon Street. Our room itself was wonderful, too! I personally give this hotel 5 stars. The only downfall was that where our room was located, we kind of had a crappy view out of our window...but we were very rarely in the room so we didn't care.

On the ride to our hotel, our Uber driver suggested we go to Oceana Grill for dinner, so we took his advice. Oceana's served authentic New Orleans cuisine and it was delicious. We had snacked all day long and we weren't very hungry so we all order different dishes to share. We had fried gator tail bites as an appetizer, the taste of New Orleans as a meal (creole jambalaya, crawfish ettouffee, red beans and rice with smoked sausage), and New Orleans bread pudding and La Boheme Creme Brulee for dessert. It was all amazing!

Tuesday morning, we hit up Cafe Beignet for breakfast and hopped on a street car for awhile. We got off the street car at Jackson Square and found the famous Cafe Du Monde for some of their delicious beignets. 

Before stopping at the Gumbo Shop for dinner, we walked around Jackson Square and Royal Street stopping in at all of the cute stores and boutiques. We were all so intrigued by all of the street shows, too. I even got pulled into one, which was pretty fun.

After dinner, we decided to take one of the Ghost Tours around the city. It lasted about two hours and it was really cool hearing about all the history of New Orleans. My favorite story was about a guy named Zach Bowen and his girlfriend, Addie Hall. 

Wednesday morning we decided on Starbucks for a quick breakfast. We stopped at a few of the shops along the street and then made the walk down to Armstrong Park. Along the way, there were the most colorful houses, so of course we had to stop for a photo shoot. Armstrong Park was a quiet, beautiful place to rest by the water.

After relaxing for awhile, we walked back to Dreamy Weenies for a quick lunch, then we took the street car to Ogden Museum of Southern Art. My main purpose of wanting to go to the museum was to write on the "Before I Die" wall that was located on the side of the building. But when we got there, a new mural was in its place. (PS: I am obsessed with huge murals and graffiti...I think it is amazing!)

We ate dinner at Olde N'awlins Cookery, and like every other place we ate, it did not disappoint. Seriously though...the food in New Orleans is delicious!

My favorite part of New Orleans (besides the food, of course) was seeing and hearing all the street shows and musicians. Ya'll, there are some seriously talented people there. I love being able to hear the jazz music pouring out of all the shops along the street and on every street corner. Except there was one thing I didn't like...

Talk about scary!!!

On top of that, I got to spend all of that time with some of the best company. We laughed until we cried and we all enjoyed taking naps before dinner time! It was great! :)

What are some of your favorite things to do/places to eat in NOLA? 

Cozumel and Progresso // Adventures with MEH

Okay, so in my last post, I said that cruising was the life and it definitely is. However, I do wish we could have had a longer period of time to stay at our destinations. Especially Cozumel! I am the type of person who wants to see all the things and eat all the foods. But, to have had just a few hours at each place, I think we had a pretty good experience at both destinations.

Cozumel:

OH MY IT IS BEAUTIFUL! We had not booked an excursion for this island, so when we got off the ship we talked to a few of the tourist guides and found our destination for the day. We went to Buccanos Beach Club and ya'll...it was what I imagine paradise to look like. We walked in the entrance to the private beach and literally all you could see was sand, crystal blue waters, and palm trees. There was a restaurant, a beach with enough layout chairs to hold the army, a pool, a massage and spa center, a rock climbing wall, a snorkeling adventure, tequila tours, and lots lots more. For $30, we paid for our transportation to and from, snorkeling, and access to the private beach and pool.

While we were at the beach club, we laid on the beach, swam in the ocean, swam in the pool, ate at the restaurant (which was amazing!), and tried out the snorkeling adventure. And an adventure it was! A little advice...if you plan on snorkeling, you first need to make sure you are okay with/capable of: a.) having fish and other sea creatures swim right up next to you, b.) breathing out of your mouth, c.) swimming. You see, we did not think this through very well. Emily hates animals of all kinds. I cannot breathe out of my mouth to save my life. Heather cannot swim. I am sure we looked like dumb, dumb, and dumber out there. I imagine it was quite hilarious for anyone who was watching.

Progreso:

Okay, so this destination did not have the same beauty that Cozumel had. However, it was beautiful in a different way. We booked an excursion while we were in Progreso and ya'll...it was a snorkeling excursion! Again, we did not think this whole excursion through when we booked it...We were slightly distraught at the thought of snorkeling all day after our previous days experience. We rode a bus for two hours to the caverns where we were going to be snorkeling in at a little Mayan village. Our guide took us to the first spot where we were to snorkel and I almost backed out. To get into the cavern, we had to walk down steep steps into this hole in the ground. Looking from the outside, I had no idea what to expect to find on the other side of that hole. But it was beautiful! The water was shallow and crystal clear and there were no fish! This was the perfect snorkeling conditions for us.

We went to two different caverns to snorkel and explore. After snorkeling, we had homemade Mexican food waiting for us. We were able to watch the ladies hand-make the tortillas. The food was delicious!

We had a great time at both of our destinations! We are already planning our next getaway. What are some of your favorite excursions that you have been on?