Miracle on the Hudson and NASCAR Hall of Fame

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, our niece Holly is visiting from Louisiana for the next several weeks.

She's staying with my parents while in between jobs and we are trying to make the most of her visit showing her all the wonderful things the Carolina's have to offer.

To be real honest, the one thing I don't like about Charlotte is that I feel that there's nothing very special to take visitors/tourists to do.

We don't have a Liberty Bell, historic waterfront or anything much to see.

It's just a big city with a bunch of banks in it.

Granted, the tourism and convention bureau is trying to change that.

So, while here we decided that Holly would probably enjoy the NASCAR Hall of Fame the most.

It's been open for a couple of years now and I'm embarrassed to say I haven't been.

Still haven't been.....

My parents kept Shelby home from school on Friday and took her and Holly.

I laughed when I saw the pictures because I noticed my Mom actually took Shelby to the museum in what are pajamas!

LOL!

Thank goodness she got something on them and got changed into a REAL outfit.

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Moving on...

Apparently, she was a huge fan of sitting in the race car.

They all really enjoyed it, especially my Dad, since he's a race fan.

By the smile on Shelby's face in all the pictures, she seemed to enjoy it too.

We are so proud of my niece Holly.

She has lost a total of 200-pounds over the last 5 or 6 years.

She's finally hit her goal weight and it's truly remarkable.

Click here for a refresher on her weight loss journey.

I had big plans for all of us on Saturday but the weather was brutally HOT!

I'm talking, a heat index into the triple digits.

So, instead of going to the US National White Water Center, we went to the Carolina's Aviation Museum, that happened to be free that day.

 I mentioned earlier this week in a previous post how hot it was in there and shared a few pictures, but I forgot to mention that the big attraction inside the museum is the plane that landed on the Hudson a couple of years ago.

 It's pretty crazy to see the damage that the aircraft sustained.

 There were also a couple of the survivors there talking to visitors.

A few interesting notes:

* there were no pets on board

* there was one passenger who stood on the wing when they were being rescued and was on the phone with US Air trying to get on the next flight home.

* Bank of America sent a private jet down to get all of their employees home that night.

 I don't know about y'all, but there's no way I would have gotten back on a plane that evening after something so scary and dramatic!

 They had different items on display from the plane and its passengers.

Overall, it was very neat to see and read about, even after seeing it all happen firsthand that day.

 The museum was full of all types of aircraft and there were things fun for kids and families to do.

Such as sit in different types of planes.

 Check out a life boat.

 A meltdown ensued when I attempted to get her off of this and give the life vest back.

 Some things are getting challenging.

 When it came time to get her out of this, my Mom talked the docent into bribing her.

UGH...

 Overall, pretty cool museum for something fun to do here in Charlotte.

I still would have chosen the White Water Center, but now there's something for me to take Holly to do when she comes back to town in a few weeks.

So, that's it for these two attractions here in the Queen City!

Check them out for yourself!

Charlotte's SEC Kickoff Party 2014

It's one of my favorite times of the year!!!

The kickoff to college football week!!

The LSU Tigers take on Wisconsin this weekend in the season opener and Shelby and I will be decked out in our purple and gold!

In anticipation of football season the alumni groups for all the SEC teams here in Charlotte get together and throw a big tailgate kickoff party.

Aside from the LSU crawfish boil, it has turned into one of our favorite events to attend every year.

This year we had planned to take Shelby again but it just so happened that my parents were in town with my niece and offered to babysit and let us go sans kid.

It worked out well because it was super hot and the party is outside.

Despite the heat we had a pre-party cocktail at one of Charlotte's hottest new rooftop restaurants, Fahrenheit.

Super cool and we can't wait to go back for dinner.

The view is amazing!!

 Afterwards we made our way over to the Montford area and Park Lanes for the SEC Kickoff.

The LSU group had everything decked out.

This is such a great event because we see all sorts of friends from other schools.

Including Jr. League friend and morning anchor at WBTV, Christine Nelson and weather woman, Ashley Beatty.

 We also ran into Brad's cousin and VOL fan and alumni, Katie.

Remember, we went to her wedding back in May up in Virginia.

 We spent a majority of our night with our favs, Sara and her husband Thom and our friends Katie and Josh(not pictured).

Giving we rarely go out sans Shelby we made the most out of it and even took Uber home.

Good times for all, I'm ready for some football!!!

 Are you?

Geaux Tigers!!

Blogging Issues and Weekend in the Queen City

Hi again!

It's getting harder to blog because, to be honest, I'm not able to access blogger or blogs at work anymore.

I know.

WAH!

But, I'm 'tinkering' with the thought of just stopping.

I love blogging though and documenting our family, I just find it's getting harder.

Even so, I'm going to document this past weekend with our niece in town.

We went to the SEC kickoff party.

(All those pictures are on my phone, and I'll recap that tomorrow)

Saturday we went to the NC Aviation Museum.

It was free but super HOT!

Shelby was able to pose as if she was flying a plane.

 In the 2nd hanger we went to we were able to put our handprints on a plane.

Shelby has been teething all weekend and not having it.

I did it thought.

 We had a great time but it was hot as hell.

No A/C at this place and it was in the mid-90's.

 Last night we went to my cousin Katie and Lloyd's for dinner.

Shelby always loves playing with the toys over there.

 I'll try my best to be back tomorrow with more pics and deets of our life but this is all I have time or energy now for.

CHEERS!

Our Niece is in Town!

Happy Friday!

Quick post today because I'm having to do this from my phone.

Our niece Holly flew in from Louisiana and it is the first time she's been here since our wedding!

We have a bunch of fun things planned as she is going to be here in North Carolina for a month or so.

She turns 22 on Tuesday and I turn 39 on Friday, so birthday celebrations are in order.

I'll be back next week with all the fun details!

Cheers and have a fabulous weekend!

Camping at Myrtle Beach Lakewood Resort

After our trip to the beach last month we knew we had to go back again before the Summer was over.

Shelby enjoyed it immensley and we still had it on our Summer bucket list to camp at the beach in our RV.

So, we penciled in a weekend and decided to stay at Lakewood Resort in South Myrtle Beach.

Last year, we had planned to camp at the resort right down the street, Ocean Lakes, but decided on this one instead because it looked more family friendly and they just added a brand new waterpark this year.

 

Get ready for picture post overload.

I want to detail everything because this was our first time here, but definitely, not our last.

 

We arrived around 12:30pm on Friday and checked in.

We quickly set up camp.

We were super close to the beach, pool and waterpark.

Walking distance.

Most people rent golf carts while there for $60 a day, but we decide we really didn't need one.

A few things to keep in mind about staying/camping at Lakewood.

First off, it's a Christian campground and alcohol is prohibited.

(of course most people there were just putting their booze in Tervis Tumblers. Which is what we did).

They did have a sign up though that said they would fine you $100 if they caught you with open container.

 

The second thing to keep in mind is that most of the sites don't have concrete pads.

I didn't think that was a big deal until it rained.

Uh....it makes a big difference.

The ocean front spots to have the concrete pads, but there is no shade at all.

We wanted shade.

Once we set up we hit the beach!

Super close and super easy but also more crowded than our trip to Holden.

That was to be expected.

Shelby fell right back into her beach bum status and really enjoyed playing in the sand more this time.



We didn't bring the baby pool this trip because we knew we had the waterpark and pool right behind us.

Not to mention a really nice playground that she couldn't get enough of!

This place is truly a kid's paradise.

The new water park added this year doesn't just have a lazy river, big slides, but also a toddler splash pad area that is to die for.



I didn't get good pictures because we were too busy playing, but you can see on the other side, that they had toddler water slides.

Shelby was obsessed!!!!!!

She would literally throw an all out tantrum when it was time to leave.

Aside from that there is a zero entry pool, baby pool and a big pool with a smaller slide that Brad was able to take Shelby on.

She was obsessed with this slide too.

Threw a fit when Brad was like no, we're taking a break.

At our age, we get worn out trying to do all this kid stuff!

HAAA!!

After a long day at the beach and pool we headed back to camp to clean up, eat dinner and take in the rest of the campground that evening.

This trip we took Shelby to the bathhouse and bathed her because I was not about to have sand and dirt all over the place in the RV.

The bathhouses are super nice and clean.

Individual suites instead of a men and women's section.

Then we went for a night cruise.

We were amazed at all the things to do.

Bocci ball area and shuffle board.

Corn hole and horshoe pits.

They do stage shows every night in the ampitheater, along with fireworks on the beach at 10pm ever night.

They even had a DJ set up along the beach for a dance party that Saturday.

Aside from that, in the front of the campground there are paddle boats, mini golf and bike rentals.

Wait for it, all of this is free with your wrist bands you get for staying in the campground.



The only thing you have to pay for after you check in is a golf cart rental(if you want one) and food(if you don't bring your own).



They have beachside restaurants and carts where you can order food and sit outside and enjoy the ocean waves.

Oh, I forgot to mention that there is an indoor pool in case it rains while you're there.

Shelby could not have had more fun!

She's turning into a little camper.

Even when it rains for 2-hours and your forced to color inside.

Lakewood will be a regular trip for us each Summer, I think we plan to stay longer in the future though.

Most people stay at week.

There's just too much to do to only stay 2-nights and as she gets older she's going to love it even more.



I know we love it!!

In my opinion, it's the best way to go to the beach if you're not staying at some big resort.

We paid $88 a night for our site and that included water, electric, cable, wifi and all the amenities of the campground.

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We had planned to pack up and head home early Sunday morning since check out time is 11am, but at the last minute my in-laws decided to bring our niece and nephew down and spend 3-nights in our RV.

 

That allowed us to spend another 1/2 day playing in the campground and not having to pack up and tow the RV back to Charlotte.

SCORE!!

From what I hear our 8-year old nephew and 6-year old niece are having their time of their lives!

Not only is it their first time camping, but their first trip to a water park!

They're there again tonight, then they'll pack up and bring our camper back to North Carolina.

 

Sorry for the mega post, but we enjoyed this trip so very much.

We can't wait to go back!!

That's despite both Brad and I being stung by jellyfish that very last day!

Lakewood or BUST!