Memorial Day Lake Trip - Hayward, Wisconsin

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Hayward, Wisconsin. It's a small town in Northwoods country with lots of lakes and hiking trails. The weekend was cloudy and raining, which meant that we did no fishing or hiking. We did, however, get a lot of reading and napping done. I see that as a successful vacation.

We got some sun on Sunday, so I got to take some pretty pictures.

We stayed in Great Pines, a vacation lodge with rental cabins. It's a great place with tons of lakeside charm and I recommend it wholeheartedly This was our cabin (chainsaw art included).

Here's a close-up.

This is the inside of the cabin. It's very cute and lodged. We stayed here last year and our place inspired Sebastian's cabin in Snowbound with Ghost.

More cabin decor. The stairs lead up to the loft master bedroom.

Here's the second floor master bedroom.

It has a fireplace.

Another bedroom.

And another.

I even had a writing desk (that's where I'm writing this post!). Isn't it adorable?

Bookshelves.

Another view of the living room.

 Kitchen table.

Kitchen.

 Antique-looking stove. I love this thing!

We didn't do much cooking on it, though. We got most of our meals in town. Our favorite places include the Norske Nook (fabulous breakfasts!).

Piller's Poor Boys' in Spooner (fabulous sandwiches!)

And Old Southern BBQ in Hayward.

We had a great time!

Movie Review: Hallmark's Stranded in Paradise (Plus Puerto Rico Vacation Tips!)

I loved this movie! Seriously, what's not to love? It's cute and funny, and it's set in Puerto Rico. Perfection.

The plot is pretty basic. Type-A career gal Tess gets fired from her human resources job so she goes to a conference in Puerto Rico to see if she can land a new one. When she gets to the island she meets a handsome travel journalist, Carter, who gets her to relax and have fun. They get hit by a hurricane (and a hotel fire, and a whole bunch of unfortunate incidents) and kind of fall in love.

The movie makes Puerto Rico look fabulous. Whoever ran this movie shot did a great job making it look authentic. They got everything right. The only detail they got wrong was the use of a vintage Ford truck. Puerto Rico was actually much poorer than Cuba in the fifties, so there aren't any vintage 50s and 60s automobiles in the island. Our vintage rides are VW Beetles and Datsuns from the 70s. That was the only oopsie, though. Everything else, down to the weather broadcasts and coffee urns looked perfect. There's majestic beach shots, and plena dancing, and piraguas. Veteran telenovela actress, Gladys Rodriguez, plays the friendly local lady who gives them a place to stay after their hotel catches fire.

The actors are adorable together and Gladys (I can call her by her first name, because I practically grew up watching her on TV. Her Rebecca-inspired novela, La Sombra de Belinda, is one of my favorite telenovelas of all time.) was hilarious and sweet. I loved this movie. Highly recommended.

PS. Did you love this movie too? Do you want to recreate Tess' gorgeous Puerto Rico vacation? Check out the Isla Verde Marriott Courtyard hotel (similar to the hotel she stays in, except for the fact that it's never caught fire), Old San Juan's El Convento (they dance in front of this gorgeous but rather pricey hotel) or Numero Uno Guest House (or the Tres Palmas Inn) in Ocean Park (similar to Stella's house). Go to Old San Juan for piraguas and Piñones for the beach experience. Have breakfast at Kasalta in Ocean Park (cortadito and mallorca), have lunch at Raíces in Old San Juan or Soleil in Piñones, and dine at Pamela's in Ocean Park (it's part of the Numero Uno Guest House). Enjoy!

Vacation Pics - Loch Ness Monster Rollercoaster

This summer we spent a couple of days in Williamsburg, Virginia. We visited the Busch Gardens theme parks, which are really nice. We went to Water Country, U.S.A. to cool down and then hit the roller coasters in the main park.

Busch Gardens is fairly old, but is well maintained and attractive. Unlike other parks, they don't have many 'branded' attractions. The different sections are designed around country themes, there's England, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. We entered through England and the first roller coaster we hit was the Loch Ness Monster.

I was struck by how well the designers excited the theme. They created a faux society of Nessie enthusiasts and placed expedition materials around the entrance of the ride. Here's the sign for the expedition's main 'camp.' The society (I think it's meant to be an 18th century theme. It's very steampunky) is called the "Club of Underwater Phenomena Undiscovered, Ltd." Very cool.

This is the back of the research sub. I love the details. Someone had a lot of fun designing this.

This is one of the diving suits.

A map of the sightings.

There's even warning signs telling visitors to take cover if they hear the "Nessie" siren.

I guess Nessie likes her nibbles. I wonder what's in the "Loch Lure"? Maybe haggis?

The fake sponsors are awesome. I want to belong to the Scottish Society for Freshwater Phenomena.

More sponsors. "Royal Academy of Applied Scientific Study of Historical Nautical Rarities"? I wonder if Prince Harry is in charge of that? Sounds like it's right up his alley.

This sign gives visitors the history of the monster. I didn't know Nessie was first sighted in the 7th century. Wow, that's a long time ago.

The ride opened in 1978 and won an award in 2003. I'm not surprised about the award. The ride has aged very well.

I think this proves that good, thoughtful, design is timeless. I'm not sure the new 'branded' rides (Superman this, Harry Potter that) will endure. But the classic ones (I'm looking at you, Disney Haunted Mansion) will last for a long time.

Vacation Pics - Virginia Beach

Summer's almost over (at least for those of us who follow the school calendars) so it's a good time for a retrospective. Our fave vacation spot this year was definitely Virginia Beach. Great beaches with nice waves (we even saw a surfing competition), easy access, and great food (Abbey Road and Doughboys rock) all made for a great vacation. It's a great spot.

Vacation Pictures - Palomino Island, Puerto Rico

We went to Puerto Rico for Christmas vacation. Today, in Virginia, it's 13 degrees outside and there's six feet of snow on the ground. The kids have had three snow days in a row (plus a three-day weekend). There's no food left in the house and I'm two days behind on my edits. I want to go back to the Caribbean.

Vacation - Rehoboth Beach DE

We went to Rehoboth Beach for vacation, and it was wonderful. The beach is fabulous, with a distinctive vintage flavor. It has an old-fashioned boardwalk, ice cream shops, and an amusement park. We ate french fries (sans ketchup) at Thrasher's and spent a lot of time at Funland. We had a blast.

Vacation - Treasure Island, Florida

Beach pictures! This is Treasure Island, Florida. We visited family in Tampa and took a few days to hit the beach. It was fabulous.

I really want to go back.

Snowy Spring Break

Most people go to the beach for spring break. We do things differently.

We look for snow.

We went to the Shenandoah National Park for spring break. They still had snow. We stayed at the Skyline Resort and it was fabulous.

We got the cutest little cabin.

It's name was Byrd's Nest.

The cabin had a gas fireplace.

And an adorable writing desk.

To go with the adorable bedroom.

The iron and ironing board confuse me, though. Who irons during a rustic getaway?

We didn't do any ironing. Instead, we went hiking in the snow.

We saw waterfalls.

And we made snow angels.

There was a lending library.

Where we found lots of uplifting reading choices.

There was not TV and no Wi-Fi. Luckily, I had lots of romance novels in my Kindle App.  I was staying in a lodge, so I read a lot of Shannon Stacey books. A lot.

We had a great time.

Next time, though, I want this cabin.