Our Best and Worst Vacations

I’m linking up today with Andrea to talk about my favorite vacations throughout the years.  Well friends, B and I have travelled a lot in our almost 14 years together, so grab a cup of coffee, kick up your feet, and settle in because this one is going to be a loooong one. 

I really could just kick myself for not starting to blog sooner, because it sure would be nice to have these memories already recorded on here.  Eventually I would love to recap some of my favorite old trips on the blog, but I haven’t quite gotten around to doing that, so today, I’m just going to list all of our major trips.  These do not include the countless short weekend trips that we’ve taken to places like Atlanta, Athens, Savannah, NOLA, Biloxi, Orlando, and all of the other little places we’ve been to over the years, but you can see several of those here.

Fortunately every single vacation that we have taken together has fallen into the amazing category except for one… our honeymoon to Hawaii.  Womp womp.  I can’t even begin to tell you all of the horrible things that happened on that trip – it seriously deserves a post all by itself – and one of these days I’ll regale you with our horrid tales.  Until that day, I’ll leave you with the only decent picture that we got of the two of us on the whole trip… right before the typhoon hit and Brian got food poisoning... and that was just the beginning, folks.

Now that we’ve covered the one bad trip we’ve been on, let’s talk about all of the fun, exciting, amazing, wonderful ones that we’ve been on!  Here’s the breakdown by year…

2003 – Girls’ Spring Break Trip to Panama City Beach, FL

I went with three of my girlfriends (Shelly, Lauren, and April) during our college spring break.  This was actually right before I started dating Brian, but it’s a trip worth mentioning because I love my girls and we always have so much fun together!  And oh to have those flat tummies again!

2003 – Our first trip to VEGAS, BABY!  And also Hoover Dam :o)

I went with B and one of his friends and we squeezed in as much as humanly possible in the five days that we were there.  We loved it so much we went back seven more times through 2010!  A highlight of the trip was touring Hoover Dam… it was incredible.  Just incredible.

2004 – Snowshoe, WV Ski Trip

B and I went with his two good friends, Casey and Robert on this trip.  I sucked at skiing and wasn’t a huge fan, but we still had a great time!  My favorite part was the hot tubbing after the skiing.  ;o)

2004 – Girls’ Spring Break Trip to Panama City Beach, FL

Another college spring break trip, this time with just Lauren and Shelly.  We had an absolute blast laying out on the beach by day and partying by night.  

2004 – Cruise to the Bahamas

One of my uncles on my mom’s side of the family surprised our entire extended family with a cruise to the Bahamas!  My grandparents, mom, dad, brothers, and all aunts, uncles, and cousins attended and it was an absolute blast... except for the first day when I was so seasick that I wanted to die.  Lol.  My favorite part was when we were on land... we got to visit the straw market, we went to a private island, and we went to the Atlantis Resort and Casino.  It was so beautiful!

2004 – Las Vegas

B and I loved it so much that we had to come back for more… this time during Christmas time.  Seeing all of the casinos decorated for the holidays was one of my favorite things.  They go all out!

2005 – Our first trip to New York City

B had already been at that point, so technically this was my first trip to NYC and it did not disappoint!  We saw tons of the tourist attractions, played on the big piano at FAO Shwarz, took pictures with some FDNY firefighters (very popular since it was just a few years after 9/11), had drinks at the Rainbow Room, and we were on TRL!  I still have the videotape of us in the crowd!  ;o) 

2005 – Las Vegas

Oops we did it again!  The picture below was taken on the observation deck at the Stratosphere Tower.  So incredible!

2006 – Snowshoe, WV Ski Trip

B and I went with two of his friends again.  This trip was better than the last ski trip because first off, it snowed a ton while we were there!  It was a total winter wonderland!  Also, I finally figured out that I could ski by standing behind Brian or one of his friends with my arms around their waists.  It helped me get the feel for skiing!

2006 – Las Vegas

B and I stayed at MGM Grand for this trip and it was a blast.  The most memorable moment was when I was called on stage by David Copperfield to assist him for one of his tricks.  You can see a post all about that here.

2007 – Snowshoe, WV Ski Trip

B and I went with three of his friends this time and I was the only girl yet again.  Haha.  I did a whole lot more skiing by standing behind one of the boys and holding on to their waists.  By the end of the trip I actually felt pretty comfortable on skis!

2007 – Los Angeles and Vegas

I have always wanted to go to LA, so B and I decided that on our next Vegas trip we would fly to LA first and then just drive to Vegas since it’s so close!  His cousin Erik lives in LA so he was our tour guide for the first day that we were there.  We hit up several touristy things like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he took us to the best Mexican restaurant that evening where we drank too many margaritas.  The next morning we stopped by Rodeo Drive and the Hollywood sign before heading off to our beloved Vegas for the rest of the trip.  The drive through the dessert to Vegas was cool because we were literally in the middle of nowhere… think The Hangover.  Haha.  One of my favorite things about that Vegas trip was the wax museum!  So much fun!

2007 – Hilton Head Island, SC

B and I joined most of my mom’s extended family for a family trip to my uncle’s beach house in HHI.  We stayed for the better part of a week taking in the sun and ocean by day and then cooking, drinking, and hanging out at the house together at night.  I sure do love my family!

2008 – Snowshoe, WV Ski Trip

B’s best friend and also one of our favorite couples joined us for this trip so I was finally not the only girl.  Another thing that happened that was amazing?  I finally skied a bunch by myself!!  Fourth time’s a charm!  Lol.

2008 – Las Vegas

B and I went alone again and we had an amazing time as always!  We saw new shoes, visited new attractions, and the highlight of the trip was finally getting a chance to take a picture at the Las Vegas sign!  Before this trip it was right in the middle of the highway with no pedestrian access, but they finally wised up and added a pedestrian walk way to get to it.  :o)

2008 – New York City

One of our best couple friends and B and I decided that it would be fun to take a trip to NYC together.  B and I were primarily going to see his favorite band’s (2 Skinnee J’s) reunion show and we thought it would be fun for Jed and Amanda to come along since her sister lived there at the time.  Highlights from this trip were visiting the Empire State Building observation deck, seeing the Statue of Liberty up close and personal, and having a private evening boat tour of the Hudson River for that concert.  It was beautiful.  Oh, and I also met the Naked Cowboy!

2009 – Panama City Beach, FL

At this point, I had been to PCB many times in my life, but B and I had never been together, so we went for a long weekend just to get away.  We had just sold our house and were in the process of starting to build our new one, so we needed a break from all the packing.  ;o)  We laid on the beach all day, ate delicious dinners every night, and even squeezed in a game of putt putt.  It was just the relaxing trip that we needed at that time.

2009 – Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, and Hoover Dam

This was probably my very favorite trip to Vegas.  By then we had been six times and we were looking to do something different, so we decided to take an entire day away from the city to drive to the Grand Canyon.  You guys, one day I will do an entire post about just our visit to the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  It is one of my favorite things that I have ever done in my entire life.  It was completely and utterly breathtaking.  We had already toured Hoover Dam back in 2003, but since we had to drive right by it on the way back to Vegas, we stopped to take pictures with the new bridge that they were building at the time.  Some Vegas highlights?  One of my favorite Bellagio Conservatory displays ever and a picture with the Chippendales dancers.  Haha. 

2010 – Our Last Trip to Vegas

This was the last time that we went to Vegas (and I miss it so much I could cry!) and we went with B’s best friend (that we always go skiing with) and his friend’s friend as well.  The main reason for our visit was to go to the 311 Day concert there, but in true Brian and Lindsay fashion we turned it into a week-long Vegas event!  They had a new cirque show – Viva Elvis – so we checked that out and it was great like all of the others!  We also visited the Las Vegas sign at night, which was a first.  It was so awesome!

2010 – Washington DC

For Christmas 2009, B got Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds tickets for me in… DC!  I was ecstatic because I had never been, and we turned it into a long weekend.  We saw pretty much every single touristy thing there is to see in DC and we were positively exhausted at the end of each day.  Unfortunately this was also the trip where I was pregnant with our first baby that we ended up losing, so I am always a little saddened when I think of that trip despite the fact that it was an amazing trip.

2012 – Panama City Beach, FL

Did you notice that we didn’t take any trips in 2011?  That was because that was Jacob’s birth year and we decided to take it easy.  :o)  This trip to PCB was our first vacation as a family of three and it was such a dream.  Jacob was actually sick with a fever at the beginning, but it didn’t stop us from having a great time.

2012 – New York City at Christmas

B and I decided to leave Jacob for the first time and take a little trip to NYC to fulfill my dream of going during Christmastime.  Since we had already been twice before (both times during the summer) we decided to focus all of our efforts on seeing and doing all of the Christmas tourist attractions – the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Wollman Rink in Central park, Serendipity, seeing The Nutcracker, and many other festive things!  This is the one old trip that I have actually recapped on the blog, so you can see the posts here.

2013 – Panama City Beach, FL

Another great trip as a family of three!  The weather was perfection the entire time and it was another dream of a trip.

2014 – Los Angeles, Malibu, and Ojai, CA

Where to even begin??  We took this trip to attend my cousin’s wedding and even though it was a whirlwind of a trip it. was. amazing.  We left Jacob and a six month old Olivia with my parents and jetted off to the land of In-N-Out, Rodeo Drive, and fame.  Some highlights from this trip were eating In-N-Out again (because we don’t have them on the east coast!), driving up the Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible, and meeting Matthew Freaking Perry… one of my favorite actors of all time!  While I wanted so badly to ask him to take a picture with me, I didn’t want to bombard him at his sister’s wedding and embarrass my family, so I settled for a picture of me… with him in the background.  Lol.  Can you spot him down below?  We loved this trip so much and it is one that I want to recap in its entirety soon!

2014 – Myrtle Beach, SC

For that year’s beach trip, we headed to Myrtle Beach for my step-sis-in-law’s wedding.  It was our first time on vacation as a family of four!

2015 – Panama City Beach, FL

One of my favorite family vacays to date!  You can see the entire recap here.

2016 – Panama City Beach, FL

Another one of my favorite family vacays to date!  You can see the recaps here.

2016 – Hayesville, NC Mountain Trip

Guys, I heart fall so much.  It’s my very favorite time of year (aside from Christmas) and this trip is in my top three as favorite trips since we’ve had kids.  We went gem grubbing, we went apple picking, we went wine tasting, and we spent lots of time in the gorgeous fall foliage.  It was truly a fall dream!  You can see the recaps here.

So… are you still here?  This may be the longest post in the history of the Lindsay’s Sweet World blog.  I hope to one day recap most of these trips in their entirety so we can have an entire journal of all of our adventures, and I hope to have many more new adventures to add to the list!

Thanks for hanging with me… that is, if you’re still here!

*Linking up with Momfessionals for Show and Tell Tuesday.

And now it's time for the Tuesday Talk Link Up!

Hosted by:

Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Crystal at Hall Around Texas | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Jessica at Sweet Little Ones | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam, & Dylan Too | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Justine at Full Hands, Full Heart
Christina at Waltzing In Beauty | Pinterest | Instagram
Meghan at The Adventure Starts Here | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Tina at Go Big or Go Home | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up