Events

  • Family Friendly Bowling Alley (Easley, SC)

    Over the past few months we have gone to Rock Springs Impact Center Bowling Alley several times. We have gone for part of a date night, when my parents were in town visiting and when the kids were home for Spring Break. The bowling alley is open throughout the week. There are days when it is only $3 per person / game, including rental shoes. If you need some munchies when you are there they have a concession stand that serves a variety of snacks and drinks.

    We typically go in the evenings after dinner on a week night because it fits easier into our schedule. It is a nice family activity for a reasonable price. I can’t say that I will win a bowling game any time soon, but I do have fun. If you are looking for a good activity in Easley you should check it out.

  • Charleston Tea Garden (Wadmalaw Island, SC)

    We were able visit the Charleston Tea Garden on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina when we were in the area visiting one of the kids. It was during the off season so we did not get to see as much of the farm activities during our visit but it was still interesting to see the gardens.

    The visitor center and gift shop was out of some of their standard items like a sampler tea gift, key chains but they did have a good number of other fun items for people to purchase. They had a variety of both hot and cold tea for visitors to try during their time on the farm. Since it was a cooler day I went for some samples of the hot tea. My favorite were the Carolina Mint and Cinnamon Spice Tea. Another favorite hot tea in our party was the Charleston Breakfast Tea. Some of the other people in our party tried the sweet cold teas and said that they were great too. If you are there go ahead and try some of their tea!

    We took a farm tour which was informative and interesting. We rode on the big red trolley. Since it was off season there was only about ten of us on the tour. The guide did a good job on the tour. We saw the tea fields, learned about the history of the farm, visited the green house, took some photos and more fun. Their harvester was in the shop for repairs so we did not get to see the “Green Monster” that cuts the tea leaves.

    Tea fields in the winter and dormant stage. The leaves typically grow seasonally in Spring in late April or May through late September or October. They say when the flowers bloom and it looks like white popcorn all over the fields. It would be neat to see the flowers blooming and the harvester in action.

    Interesting sign showing how many miles to various tea plantations around the world. It was neat to see the distance to different locations.

    If you enjoy tea or learning about the process of making tea it is worth at least checking it out if you are in the area.

  • Old Post 1940 Coffee Shop & Wedding Venue (Easley, SC)

    We visited the Old Post 1940 Coffee Shop & Wedding Venue in Easley, South Carolina. It is a 1940s United States Post Office that was renovated into a pretty wedding venue and coffee shop. It was a neat wedding venue near downtown Easley.

    They had a small coffee shop serving organic coffee. We each had a coffee and looked around the venue. The coffee was good, the building and location were nice. If you are looking for a venue near the Easley area you should check this place out. If you have a large event there is not a lot of parking at the building but there is a decent size parking about a block or so away at Old Market Square.

  • Marshes & Campground at Huntington Beach (Murrells Inlet, SC)

    Peaceful

    We had nice walks along the boardwalks near the marshes at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. The boardwalks went out over the marshes where you could see a variety of wildlife and enjoy the beautiful weather. There was at one point a nature center, but it was currently being rebuilt when we were there.  It will be another great addition to the park once it is complete. There were not a lot of bugs in the evenings when we went for walks which was really nice.  It was a good place to visit, explore, and spend time together with the family.

    The Huntington Beach campgrounds were nice. We had electricity and water hookups at our campsite.  There was only one trash dumpster in the whole campground and it is near the visitor center / gift store so depending on where your site is located you may have a good hike to get rid of your trash. The bathrooms only had 2 showers and there were not a lot of bathhouses on the campground. We went after school started so it was not the busiest season but there were still lines to get into the showers most days.  Overall it was a great park and we enjoyed it.  The biggest improvement would be in the bathhouses, they could have been a little cleaner and larger.

    Sunsets were beautiful

    We stayed at campsite 111. It was gravel and level

    Nice walk at dusk through the marshlands

    Awesome boardwalk that takes you through a good bit of the marshes

    Sun is going down

    The clouds looked pretty neat

    Enjoying the last few rays

    Sunset reflecting off the clouds

    Quiet day at the marshes

    Last rays of the sun going over the horizon

    Huntington Beach State Park Chairs

    Love this sign!

  • Beach Fun at Huntington Beach State Park (Murrells Inlet, SC)

    Enjoying the rain on the beach!

    We had a wonderful time on the beach at Huntington Beach State Park.  It was a mix of sun and rain!  The rain didn’t stop us from heading to the beach for some fun in the sand and water.  We stayed at the Huntington Beach Campgrounds, it was a nice walk to the beach.  Access to the beach wasn’t too far from our campground and it was pretty quiet.  Only a few families were on the beach near us.  If you walk further down the beach it got a little bit more crowded especially on the nicer days.  Thankful for an opportunity to get away together and enjoy some time at the beach.

    Digging in the sand and watching the little critters

    On the run

    Fun on the beach

    Birds, Sand and the Atlantic Ocean

    Sand art

    My crew

    All smiles

    On the move

    Atlantic Ocean

    Dusk walk on the beach

    Sun is going down and the rain clouds are moving in now.

    Enjoyed our time at Huntington Beach

  • Kit Carson County Carousel (Burlington, CO)

    Kit Carson County Carousel Wooden Token

    This is the second time we have visited the Kit Carson Carousel. It sits on the edge of the Kit Carson County fairgrounds in the small town of Burlington, Colorado. The first time we visited the carousel we were driving Interstate 70 from Colorado to Kansas to visit family.  We were looking for a good place to stop for a little bit and stretch our legs.  It was such a neat place to visit we told other family members about it and the next time we were driving through we stopped to share the experience with them!

    The carousel was #6 of the 74 carousels made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company.  It was made in 1905 for the Elitch Gardens amusement park and was used until 1927.  In 1928 Kit Carson County purchased the carousel for $1,200 (the price included shipping).

    The carousel animals are stationary with three animals per row.  The original Wurlitzer band organ has been restored and plays music when the carousel is in motion. The carousel is inside a 12 sided framed building on the edge of the fair grounds with a museum and small gift shop beside it.  It is the only antique carousel that still has the original paint on both the panels and animals. Most modern carousel go approximately 8 mph, however, the Kit Carson one goes a whopping 12 mph.

    The carousel has quite an interesting history. During the Great Depression the carousel spent several years in storage. They local town stored grain inside the building that housed the carousel. At one point 3 of the animals were stolen and later found in another state. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1978 and National Historic Landmark in 1987.

    If you are in the area or driving through on I70 we would encourage you to stop and explore this neat carousel. It only costs 25 cents to ride the carousel and $1 to visit the museum.

    Riding the Kit Carson County Carousel

    Flowers at the Kit Carson Carousel

    Going for another ride on the carousel!

    All smiles!

    Kit Carson Carousel building

    Other side of the wooden token!

  • Wild Animal Adventures (Stanton, MO)

    The 2 tigers were together in the pen, we got to see them interact, swim, play, and relax.

    After the girls got out of Cub Creek camp in Missouri we went visited Wild Animal Adventures.  It is outside of St. Louis in Stanton, Missouri.  It was a smaller establishment, but the animals were well cared for.  We went at busy time and their parking lot was full (they had a trailer blocking part of the parking lot which made it a little inconvenient) but after a few minutes we got a spot.

    They have an indoor section with aquariums, touch tanks, birds, reptiles and more.  Outside the have both farm and wild animals in different sections.  The workers seemed to enjoy being there, interacted well with the animals and were happy to share stories about the animals.

    Our girls did two extra interactions, playing with the foxes and the dingos. The dingos also known as “singing dogs” were tired so they were laying down and let the kids pet them. I was hoping to hear them “sing” but they were not into that while we were there. The workers allowed 4 people in at one time with the dingos.  For the foxes they gave the kids “treats” aka cat food to feed to the foxes.  Our two girls were the only ones other than the worker in the pen with the foxes.  The foxes loved munching on the treats and were more energetic.  The website lists the extra activities with a price range, however, at least one of the activities was more than their list price. They need to update their website if they are not still charging those rates.

    Overall it was a fun stop for our family.  The animals were fairly active and the employees were nice. If you are driving through the area it is a nice place to stop especially if you  have kids that enjoy animals. We have included a sprinkling of photos from our trip to Wild Animal Adventures.

    The llama had some personality.

    Gorgeous colors

    The kids were not interested in the pretty flowers, but I enjoyed them!

    Their 3 legged white fox. He can still move quickly and nibbled up treats from the girls.

    This one liked to interact and have conversations with you!

    The llama was more interested in you if you had food!

    Glad this one was in a cage and behind a window.

    Beautiful white tiger!

    Wild Animal Adventures

  • TrackRock Stable (Blairsville, GA)

    We specifically picked Trackrock Campground as one of the places to stay so we could go to their stables.  Our girls love horses.  When we booked our campsite we also booked a 2 hour trail ride. They have about 65 horses on the ranch, 45 are owned by Trackrock and the other 20 are ones that people are boarding at their location.

    The horses each had their own individual personalities. The trail was a little tight and steep in some places (bushes would brush up against you) and my horse, Tango, enjoyed bouncing from tree to tree.  They had a lot of different trails you could ride on depending on the weather and wildlife in the area. There were bear tracks on one section of the trail and our horses were a little skittish in that area so we took another path.

    We had 9 guests and 2 guides on our trail ride. We walked, trotted, and cantered with our horses. The trail went through the woods, meadows, streams and more. It was a hot day, but the majority of the ride was in the shade. At one point it started raining, however, it didn’t last very long so we didn’t get too wet.  The horses were well trained yet had a lot of spunk.  Thankful for the opportunity to go for our ride at Trackrock Stables.  The kids LOVED it!

    Karlie riding Chef

    Jake on Carlos and Brina on Felipe

    Enjoying the trail ride!

    Our crew in one of the meadows.

    Are we having fun yet!?

    Trackrock Stables

  • Oasis Cedar Creek Cabin (Cleveland, GA)

    Beautiful with the wood, large windows, and open floor plan!

    My husband and I recently had a weekend away in Cleveland, Georgia while the girls were on a school field trip to Charleston, SC. The Oasis Cabin we stayed in was beautiful!  It was in a great location with the peacefulness of the woods and mountains while conveniently located near Helen, Georgia if you wanted to go out to dinner or exploring.  We ate at the Cowboys & Angels restaurant while in Helen which was very good.  It was a much needed weekend away together.

    The cabin was perfect and furnished with a lot of fun extras.  It had simple yet beautiful decorations, not the typical “bears, fish, and other cabin decor”.  The bath robes were very comfortable and we enjoyed playing several rounds of pool together.  We played board games, ate out on the deck, and relaxed together.  We could occasionally hear the construction workers who were building a couple of the surrounding cabins, but nothing too distracting.

    There were some cleaning issues that we had with the cabin, but after emailing Cedar Creek Cabins with the information we originally felt like it was worth visiting Cedar Creek Cabins again to see if the experience is better.  Now we are not sure if we will visit any of their cabins in the future.

    We are still very thankful for a special weekend together.  We went home refreshed and relaxed!  Just wish the people taking care of the cabins followed through with their promises and that the cabins were cleaned better.

    View from the pool table – looking towards the kitchen and bedroom areas

    PROS:

    • Gorgeous cabin with a spacious floor plan, huge windows and a lot of nice features
    • Pool Table & Board Games
    • Fairly Private Back Deck
    • Charcoal Grill
    • Keurig Coffee Machine was really nice + they left a few coffee K-Cups to use as well as a re-usable one if you brought your own ground coffee
    • Washer & Dryer
    • Blender – wasn’t aware of this one prior to arriving, but we love smoothies
    • Plenty of Storage for Food & Snacks in the cupboards
    • Comfortable King Size Bed
    • Super Soft Bath Robes
    • Automatic Recliners in the Couch
    • Fireplace
    • Jacuzzi Bathtub the huge tub that was really comfortable, does take awhile to fill up though!
    • Large Walk-in Dual Shower
    • Hot Tub on Deck nice, but needed more chlorine had a mildew growing in it by the second night so we did not get into it again after that night
    • 2 TV’s – one over the fireplace and the other by the bed & jacuzzi tub
    • Nest Thermometer was easy to use
    • Landscaping looked freshly done and really nice (new mulch)
    • Nice Loveseat Wicker Furniture on the Deck could sit or lay down on it.  We played games on the deck, ate snacks, and relaxed
    • Small Community Playground – it was small and a little faded, but was a nice touch for any families coming to visit with small kids.
    • Nice neighborhood – We felt safe enough to walk through the neighborhood and found several other families doing the same as well.

    Super soft bathrobes!

    CONS:

    • Check the Dishes prior to using!  We found a lot of dirty dishes that had been put away, possibly from the previous renters, but most of them should have been noticed by the cleaning staff.  For example – Several of the knives in the knife rack on the counter were very dirty with chunks of food on them.  Multiple items (plates and cups) in the cupboards had food chunks on them and the bowls had liquid in them.  If you opened the silverware drawer it was obvious by just looking that the silverware was not cleaned prior to being put back into the drawer.  After pulling out several dirty items we ended up washing everything before using it.  Thankfully we brought extra dishwasher soap and a bunch of disposable items because we ended up running all the silverware and a bunch of dishes through the dishwasher prior to leaving.  If you are going to require guests to wash the dishes prior to checking out then the housekeeping staff really should do a quality inspection of the dishes when cleaning the cabin to make sure that they are actually clean prior to the next guests arrival.  Honestly, it was gross and would have been an easy thing to correct while housekeeping was already in the cabin cleaning.  We realize that it was most likely the previous guests that put dirty utensils, pots & pans, and serving items back in the cupboard, however, it was pretty obvious just by glancing that the dishes were put away dirty especially when opening the silverware drawer or pulling a plate out of the cupboard or a bowl with standing water in it.  No one wants to wash dirty dishes from the previous guests in a cabin while on their vacation.
    • Top rack of the dishwasher was missing the right end cap causing the rack to come off the roller or get stuck in place.  Wasn’t a big deal other than it made using the top rack of the dishwasher more difficult to use.
    • Bring extra toilet paper! We had 2 partial rolls of toilet paper that was supposed to last for 4 days for 2 people (the one on the roller was almost gone and the one on the back of the toilet was already half used).  We ended up getting more toilet paper to get us through the weekend.
    • Fireplace thongs would be very helpful when maintaining the fire.  Not a huge problem just would make it more convenient for the guests staying in the cabin.
    • Basic Cooking Supplies especially if you plan to cook.  Maybe we cook more than the average guests or have stayed in cabins with a lot of “extras”.  There was no cooking spray, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or pyrex dish or pie plate to cook in.  One jelly roll pan and a set of pots & pans was it for baking.
    • Ability to be a Gated Community, however, the gate was never locked (even though we were given a gate code) and we were in and out multiple times every day
    • Rough Road with a lot of large pot holes the last half mile or so to the entry of the entrance.  This is probably more of a county maintenance issue, but visitors need to be aware of the road condition as it is one you’ll want to the cabins so take it slow to avoid potholes.
    • Some construction noise. This cabin community was obviously still being built.  Several cabins next to us were still being built, overall the noise from construction was minimal (mostly hammers, saws, and normal construction noises).  We could hear one of the workers radios playing if we were outside, there were several port-a-potties near our cabin, and they did work on both Saturday and Sunday so there was construction activity even on the weekend.
    • No Cabin Signage. Had to call them to figure out which cabin it was because there were no signs and we drove around the entire complex twice.  They told us where it was located and said that the construction workers had knocked over the sign and one was on order.
    • Need updated directions. Followed the directions exactly, but it appears that they have added more cabins and roads since writing the instructions because they did not lead to the correct cabin.
    • High Speed Internet – while they did have internet it did drop a few times or was really slow.  It may have been from all the construction around us because we noticed it most on Friday of our stay.
    • Landline Phone – while it was nice having the phone in the cabin we got multiple phones call from people trying to solicit money and/or services.  After a day we ended up unplugging the phone because the only time it rang was when someone was trying to advertise their services and we had our cell phones that worked decently while at the cabin.

    Overall we had a refreshing and relaxing time together.  The cabin itself was gorgeous and other than the kitchen the rest of the cabin was fairly clean.  The housekeeping not checking the dishes and the property managers failure to follow through with their promises were our biggest disappointments, really all else was minor and expected with a new community.

    We contacted the property managers and they were apologetic regarding the dirty items in the cabin.  They also offered to give us a discount on our next stay in any of their cabins.  We let them know that we were staying at another one of their cabins again in April with our kids.  Gave them the dates, the cabin we were staying in and everything, but never heard back from them again regarding the discount.

    We held off posting the review because we wanted to give them a second chance prior to posting it.  We feel like they dropped the ball in a few ways and not convinced that it would be a company we would use again which is sad because they are within a reasonable driving distance from home making it a convenient weekend place to visit.  Plus the cabins could really be a wonderful relaxing and enjoyable place to stay especially if you don’t have to clean up the previous guests messes!

    PLEASE for the sake of your future guests make sure that the cabins are cleaned better no one wants to pull out dishes with the last guests food on them AND don’t offer to fix issues or offer a discount on future stays if you do not intend to honor that promise.

    View from the kitchen & dining area bedroom, jacuzzi tub, and shower

    Relaxing on the deck lounge.  Comfortable and relaxing!

    Decorations were simple and elegant.  Not the typical “cabin” decor which was really nice!

    Loved hanging out with my man for the weekend!

    Relaxing on the couch in front of the toasty fire!