We stayed at the Key Lime Cottage about a mile from the beach

It was the start of a yearly tradition – a vacation with the Gath Family (Court’s sister Lindsay and Eisley’s cousins). We rented the “Key Lime Cottage” in Port Aransas, Texas for 4 days.

The trip started off with a 6 hour road trip, made extra long by 9 stops along the way. In addition to pausing for lunch, Finley (Eisley’s cousin) was in the middle of potty training and several bathroom stops were needed.

We arrived at the cottage around 4:00 and took a quick dip in the pool while Mike went to pick up the key. Then we loaded up and headed to the beach while the sun went down. The kids played in the sand and Eisley dipped her toes in the ocean for the first time.

We spent day 2 at the beach doing typical beach activities: playing in the waves, digging in the sand and building sand castles. After we grew tired of the sun and sand, Mike and I took Bryson to the bait shop to get some shrimp for fishing. Our plan was to take Bryson on his first fishing trip. With his Spiderman fishing pole in tow, Bryson helped us find a fishing spot on Mustang Island. We didn’t catch any fish — the sea turtles kept stealing our bait. At least they got fed well.

Day 3 was another trip to the beach for a repeat of day 2. This time we left a bit earlier because the plan was to eat dinner out. We chose a place called Fin’s, which turned out to be not so good. The seafood selection was limited and what we did choose was so overseasoned it was almost inedible.

On day 4 we packed up our stuff and left the beach. Lindsay and Mike headed back to Round Rock while Courtney, Patti and I made our way to Corpus Christi to the Texas State Aquarium. We spent a couple hours there then found a BBQ place for lunch. Then it was back to Austin and the end of our trip.

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A sick baby Eisley made the trip a little more difficult but didn’t dampen our spirits. We ate delicious food, marveled at breathtaking architecture and got caught up in a little of America’s history. We saw enough to decide that Philadelphia is an amazing city: a huge art scene, a green state-of-mind and very friendly people. We’re glad we booked this last-minute trip and hope to return some day.

• Day 1, Tuesday July 14th: The Liberty Bell
• Day 2, Wednesday July 15th: Society Hill and Rittenhouse Square
• Day 3, Thursday July 16th: The Olde City
• Day 4, Friday July 17th: The Franklin Institute and the Italian Market
• Day 5: Saturday July 18th: Home
• Photos

Day 1, Tuesday July 14th: The Liberty Bell

We stopped by the Liberty Bell and witnessed some American history

We flew Southwest and our plane left at 7:10 a.m. After a layover in Chicago, we made it to Philly at about 1:00 or so. We took the train from the airport right to our hotel, the Marriott. After settling in, we went looking for food. Our hotel was right across from the famous Reading Terminal Market. This indoor “farmers market” is a hodgepodge of local vendors selling anything from food, to coffee to clothing. It is here that one can find anything they want and we found cheese and sausage at an Italian stand.

After snacking, we took a walk and found ourselves near the Liberty Bell. We spent some time gazing at the famous artifact then hung out in the lawn outside Independence Hall. It’s here that we met up with my mom, who was in town for the same conference. She had to go eat with some of her coworkers, so we hung out long enough for her to say hi and hold Eisley some.

Our stomachs were rumbling so we decided to walk over to Chinatown and see what we could find. Philly’s Chinatown is small and clean, unlike most big Chinatown areas that I’ve been to. We found a pretty standard Chinese food establishment and ate sweet-and-sour chicken and beef and broccoli.

After dinner we went back to the hotel. My talk at the conference we very early the next morning (6:45 a.m.) and we needed rest.

Day 2, Wednesday July 15th: Society Hill and Rittenhouse Square

Real Philly cheese steak

After my early presentation at the conference, we hung around the hotel catching up on sleep. Then we went on a mission for cheese steak. Every person we asked said one of three restaurants had the best in town: Pat’s, Geno’s or Jim’s. We opted for Jim’s and looked it up on Google Maps. We ended up going 20 blocks in the wrong direction (Google Maps fail) but eventually made it to our destination in a neighborhood called Society Hill. The cheese steaks were good: made with seasoned beef and cheese whiz.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, tried to get Eisley to nap (to no avail) then decided to try the hotel swimming pool. By this point, Eisley was feeling a little under the weather and we thought the pool might clear her up. It did help some. After swimming, we got ready and then headed to the top rated Italian food restaurant in the city (according to Yelp). La Viola is located in Rittenhouse Square: an upscale neighborhood made up of tree-lined streets and uppity shops. Unbeknownst to us, the restaurant was cash-only and B.Y.O.B. We had the cash but needed the booze. After ordering appetizers, I headed to a place called Monk’s Beer Emporium across the street. I bought a bottle of Chimay that we enjoyed with spaghetti and lobster ravioli. The food was delicious: all homemade, prepared from scratch, and very authentic. Even the waiter had a heavy accent and was rude, just like in Italy.

It was past Eisley’s bedtime, so after dinner we went back to the hotel and tried our best to get her to sleep. We finally did around 10:30 (I know that sounds early but when you’re traveling with a sick kid, 10:30 is late).

Day 3, Thursday July 16th: The Olde City

Elferth's Alley is the oldest residential street in the country

On day 3 of our trip we ate breakfast at a place called Farmacia located in an area called the “Olde City“. Our plan for this day was to wander around this part of town, but our plans were quickly thwarted when we discovered that Eisley’s lovie (blanket) had gone missing. It must have fallen out of the stroller on our way to the restaurant. We retraced our steps only to find that the lovie must have been snagged by one of the city workers cleaning the street. It was nowhere to be found. In search of a replacement, we looked up childrens’ boutiques on my mobile phone and found a couple over in the Rittenhouse Square area. It was quite a trek over there, but the lovie is important. At one of the stores we managed to find a much inferior replacement (the original lovie was sewn by Granna, Courtney’s mom and Eisley grandmother).

With everything back to normal, we caught a subway back over to the Olde City where we strolled up and down Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest residential street in the country. It was here that we got a call from my mom (“Bella” to Eisley). She was still in town and offered to babysit that night so that Courtney and I could enjoy an adult dinner…alone. We accepted her offer and made our way back toward our hotel. On the way, we stopped at the Reading Terminal Market (again) to grab a light lunch. Back at the hotel we took a quick dip in the pool while we waited on Bella.

That night we decided to eat at a place in the Olde City called “Chloe”. It received 4 ½ stars and rave reviews on Yelp.com. This place lived up to the hype (although they also took only cash and it was B.Y.O.B.). We had oysters and salads for starters. I had a ribeye and Courtney had the halibut special for our main course. The dessert won us over though. We had banana bread pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was yummy.

After dinner we stopped by the hotel lobby for a quick drink before calling it a night. When we got back to the room, we learned that Bella had managed to put Eisley to sleep by 8:30 — a feat we had not been able to accomplish. Grandmas just have the magic touch.

Day 4, Friday July 17th: The Franklin Institute and the Italian Market

A moment at Love Park

Our breakfast place of choice was again located in the Reading Terminal Market across the street from our hotel. It was the Dutch Eating Place and they served up home cooking including gigantic pancakes, sausages and eggs. Courtney couldn’t finish all of her breakfast; she was feeling a bit under the weather. After eating, she went back to the hotel and I took Eisley walking.

We walked northwest along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a huge avenue that cuts diagonal across Philadelphia’s grid of streets. We found ourselves hanging out in Logan Square by a huge fountain and eventually wandered over to the Franklin Institute. Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the Institute is a science museum. I like science (and Eisley was along for the ride) so we decided to venture in. The museum was a bit disappointing. It was totally set up for children older than Eisley. So there wasn’t much for me to look at and there wasn’t much for Eisley to do. We walked around for a while then decided to attend a show in the planetarium. It kept me entertained and Eisley asleep, so it did serve a purpose.

After emerging into the sunlight we called Courtney and made plans to meet in Love Park. We loitered there for a while then made our way south to the Italian Market. About 10 blocks lined with merchants along 9th street make up the Italian Market. We walked to the end and back, stopping to get a sausage hoagie, slices of pizza, and espresso. Wondering what to do with the rest of our time in Philly, we read up on a museum called Mütter Museum and decided to head that way. Unfortunately by the time we made it there, it was closed. We hung out in a little garden near the museum and got some great pictures. Then we walked over to Schuylkill Park (along the Schuylkill River) to kill some time. We watched dogs playing at the dog park and let Eisley crawl around in the grass.

We kept dinner simple that evening and just ate in our hotel before calling it a night.

Day 5: Saturday July 18th: Home

We made one more trip to the Reading Terminal Market and ate crêpes for breakfast. Then we caught the light rail to the airport, then a Southwest flight home to Austin. We will miss Philadelphia but it sure felt good to get home.

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Elvis' living room. You can see a grand piano behind some custom-made stained glass.

Graceland, Little Rock, Texarkana

We got up nice and early to prepare ourselves for the visit to Graceland. We arrived right before 9:00, and found a parking spot right up front (who else is crazy enough to see this place right when it opens???). There are 3 different ticket options, and we chose the middle one which allowed us to tour the house, the car museum, another museum that housed several rhinestone laden outfits, and Elvis’ plane. Just so you don’t consider us total whackos for visiting this place, we opted not to purchase the VIP tickets for $68 per person (we do have a little integrity).

The house itself was the most interesting, and slightly eerie if you ask me. Only the two lower floors are available to be toured, as the upstairs is off limits to tourists. If there is one word that comes to mind from our visit to the house, it would have to be mirrors.

Elvis' grave. He was originally buried in a cemetery, but moved to Graceland for security reasons.

There were mirrored walls, stairways, a fireplace, really mirrors were just everywhere. Not sure what exactly that was all about (other than sheer vanity), but it was slightly unnerving. Oh – and just so you know, there are 24 karat seat belt buckles on the plane.

So after getting our fill of Graceland, we headed off to make the 2 hour trip to Little Rock so that we could stop somewhere to watch the #1 Texas vs. #6 Oklahoma State game. We stopped at a pseudo sports bar once we arrived in Little Rock, and watched the game in its entirety. After catching our breath from a very close game (Texas pulled it out, of course), we drove further west to Texarkana where we planned to stay for the night. The next day was a relatively short 5 hour trip that would lead us right into our garage, and more importantly, home.

« Day 6

The sixth day of our trip was spent mostly in the car. We packed up some on Thursday evening, and then finished getting ALL of our stuff together on Friday morning. We took off from our Cabin at Willow Winds just shortly before the required check-out time, and headed west towards Memphis. Nicholas and I both dreaded making Eisley sit in the car seat for another long stint, but she was amazing and made the trip very smooth. We traveled for about 4 hours, and then stopped off in Monterey, Tennessee for lunch at The Cup and Saucer Diner. The food was mediocre, but it was food, and the people there were very hospitable. After lunch we made the last part of the drive to Memphis and found a hotel.

We unpacked the car yet again, and rested for just a bit before doing some research on our dinner options. We found Leonard’s Pit Barbecue, a local restaurant that has been around since the 20’s. The food was pretty good, and we got our fill of the whole Memphis barbecue scene. After dinner we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night, arming ourselves with a 6:00 am wake-up call in order to make it to Graceland by 9:00 the next morning.

« Day 5 | Day 7 »

Eisley got to face outward for the first time on our morning hike.

So day 5 of our Asheville adventure started out with another hike on the Mountains to Sea Trail.  We hiked for a couple of hours, and this time Eisley faced outward in the carrier for awhile.  It may not sound like too big of a deal, but it was to us because this meant that she had grown big enough (and stable enough) to support herself a little bit, and she was quite happy being able to have the same view as her parents.  While on our hike we saw a rafter of wild turkeys (that’s a group in case you are curious – I googled) which was pretty exciting, and took a few more pictures.

After hiking, we got ready and made it down to the Tupelo Honey Cafe for lunch.  The food was great and lived up to the ratings we had seen online.  We finished eating and wandered around the downtown area just a little bit more before heading back to the Biltmore property to check out the winery.  We completed a short self-guided tour of the winery and did a tasting (but not before letting Eisley have her own bottle tasting).  There was quite a selection of wines and some of them were pretty tasty.

We posed in front of some flower gardens outside of the Biltmore Winery.

Once we made some purchases at the winery, we loaded up again and headed off to dinner.  We were able to go to the Native American restaurant that Nicholas had wanted to try for his birthday and we enjoyed a nice meal that completed a great day and our last night in Asheville.

Our plan for tomorrow is to head towards Memphis, spend the night, and make it to Graceland first thing Saturday morning.  From there we are moving on to Little Rock to eat somewhere and watch some of the Texas game.  It is certain that we will have lots to report after Saturday’s events.  I mean come on, Graceland AND Little Rock???  Keep your eyes peeled…

« Day 4 | Day 6 »

We enjoyed the view outside the Biltmore House. Those are the Blue Ridge mountains in the background.

The Biltmore Estate

Asheville is famous for the Biltmore Estate, which contains the largest home in the world: a 175,000 square foot castle built by George Washington Vanderbilt in 1895. It’s now open to the public. We had bought our tickets the day before and arrived at the Biltmore around 11:00 am. We spent a few hours touring the house, which contains 4 floors that include a library, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley and a 4-story chandelier. It was all very state of the art for the 19th century.

After touring the house we had a cranky baby on our hands. We stopped at a bench to feed her, then went walking. We toured the gardens, which were just a short distance from the mansion. The flowers probably weren’t as pretty as the are in the spring, but they were still beautiful. There was so much more to see on the estate, but we were getting hungry. We decided to save the rest of it for another day and went to find some lunch.

Eisley enjoyed the hammock near the pond outside our cabin.

We made our way to Biltmore Villiage, an area of Asheville constructed for the workers who helped build Mr. Vanderbilt’s house. Now the area is full of chic retail establishments and restaurants. We found a place called La Paz that looked child-friendly. It was standard Mexican fare and was surprisingly good for being so far from the border. After our late lunch, we walked around the villiage, venturing into some of the stores. As the sun started to set, we headed back to our cabin.

Back at Willow Winds, we decided to walk down to the pond behind our cabin. We got a few good pictures of Eisley as the sun was going down. It was chilly though, so we didn’t stay out long. We spent the rest of the evening indoors.

« Day 3 | Day 5 »

Courtney posing by the trail during our hike

We started the third day of our vacation by celebrating Nicholas’ 31st birthday.  What could be more fitting than a birthday hike?  Nicholas and I headed out with Eisley in tow in the Baby Bjorn carrier.  We started out on the Blue Ridge trail that connects up with the Mountains to the Sea trail, a 935 mile long trail that spans, well…you can probably guess the route.  Our hike lasted a couple of hours, long enough for Eisley to get in a bit of a nap, and for us to take some pictures and admire the landscape.  The entire hike was quiet with the exception of the wind blowing through the trees.  We only passed one other person on the trail.  Eisley did a great job and hung in for the duration of our walk, and we made it back to the cabin in time for lunch and a little bit of rest.

After regrouping we headed to a slightly different area downtown in Asheville and walked around to check out the shops.  At some point during our outing, we realized that we had left the diapers and

Eisley sacked out in the Baby Bjorn well into the hike

wipes in the hiking backpack.  It can be a scary feeling to be on the tightrope that is clean baby clothes without the safety net of diapering reinforcement.  Back to the cabin we went to get the necessary items, and then we planned to go to dinner.  Nicholas found a local restaurant that serves Native American food, and so for his birthday we were going to try it out.  The restaurant has some very strange hours and it turned out that they are only open on a few days out of the week, Tuesday not being one of them.  Luckily extra research had been done and we went to eat at an Italian/Greek place called Pommodoro’s.  Our meal was nice and Eisley once again was great.  We went back to the cabin and put Eisley to sleep (this took a couple of tries) and then Nicholas and I tried to use the hot tub.  The hot tub itself was great, but we could never get the temperature very hot, and we equated the experience to sitting in a lukewarm bath tub.  Not the best time when it is around 40 degrees outside.  We had a good laugh about it and called it a night.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

« Day 2 | Day 4 »

We posed for the camera at Havana, a Cuban restaurant we found in downtown Asheville

Nashville to Asheville

Day 2 of our vacation started with sleeping in at the hotel until the last possible minute until check out.  We packed up the car and headed off for the last 4 hours of our journey to Asheville.  Being super determined to get to our final destination, we made sandwiches and got a bottle ready before we took off so that we could eat on the go.

The drive east from Nashville got progressively more beautiful as we started to see the various colors of the landscape.  With each bend in the road we were able to see more mountainous terrain and all of the scenery made the drive pass by fairly quickly.  When we finally arrived at the cabin we were greeted by the nicest woman, who asked us if we had brought Eisley as payment for our stay.  We got all of the information needed and then anxiously unloaded our car.  The cabin structure itself is quite rustic, but we have modern day appliances and plumbing.  There is no central heat or air, but we have a big fireplace and plenty of gas heaters to stay warm.  We even have our very own hot tub on the back deck.

Bonnie showing Eisley off to other restaurant patrons. When did Eisley get to be this big!!!???

After getting settled, we decided to head to the downtown area to eat some dinner.  It seemed like there wasn’t a great deal open, but we did find a Cuban restaurant that seemed to be ‘child friendly’.  The whole ‘child friendly’ concept is a new one for us – one that we are learning about with each passing moment.  The restaurant was quite colorful, and the owner was quite gracious, and possibly a little obsessed with our child.  Bonnie (the owner) had some bright red glasses, and a thick Carolina accent.  She ended up being the one to seat us and take our order.  When our food was brought out, she asked if she could hold Eisley.  We let her, but kept a close eye on the location of our child.  Eisley made the rounds to all of the tables and it seemed as if all the patrons were really enjoying her company.  We did get her back (don’t worry) and all was well.

After dinner and coffee, we left the Cuban place and headed for the car.  We did pause for a minute to look at the wine bar across the street, but then realized that this was a vacation for three, and no longer a trip for two.  We arrived back at the cabin and tried to get a good night’s rest.

« Day 1 | Day 3 »