Ice, at Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN

This is a short post about our experience at the Ice exhibit at Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. Year after year, Opryland hotel offers a great Christmas experience. They have lots of activities and they decorate nicely. Every few years we visit the Ice exhibit and spend the evening walking around inside the hotel. One of our fist experiences at Ice was the Peanuts themed exhibit in 2017. We saw large ice sculptures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, and the rest of gang. 

This year (2022) was themed after the classic movie, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. The monstrous sized abominable snowman stood roughly 18 ft. tall and was probably the most impressive sculpture in my opinion. Another of my favorite sculptures depicted Santa in his sleigh, being drawn by his reindeer with Rudolf at the helm. In all, it takes about 30-45 minutes or so to walk through the exhibit at a leisurely pace. That includes taking time to go down the ice slides a couple times.

The best tip that anyone could give for this activity is, "don't forget your gloves". The entire exhibit is made of ice so the temperature is well below the freezing point. When you enter, you will receive a thick coat to wear, but they do not have pockets. At first I was surprised by the missing pockets but then I wondered how many sets of keys and cell phones would be left behind if the coats did have pockets. 

The Celadon, Panama City Beach Florida

Vacasa’s Celadon is a beautiful high-rise beach resort located on the white sands of Panama City Beach Florida. The location is outstanding; it is conveniently located just west of Pier Park. Being situated near the end of the main strip offers all the usual conveniences of a tourist town while avoiding the major crowds. This high rise stands an impressive twenty-two stories tall and offers amazing views. On our getaway, we were situated on the 16th floor of this massive building. The balcony was spacious and comfortable, it was beautifully decorated, and it was the perfect spot to enjoy my morning coffee. However, the 16th floor was on the cusp of being too high to fully enjoy the view. It is my experience that a beach-front balcony offers the best view when staying on the 7th-10th floor. 

The Celadon offers several amenities, heated indoor/outdoor pools, hot tubs, workout facility, and event space. During our visit, one of the two heated pools was closed for maintenance. This was unfortunate for us since it happened to be the indoor pool. We visited during the off-season and the indoor pool was a large part of our decision to stay at the Celadon. On the plus side, the larger of the two pools and the two hot tubs were still operational and we had perfect weather for most of our trip. 

The Celadon hosts a large number of privately owned beach-front condominiums. For this reason, making reservations can be done through Vacasa’s website or a third-party site such as Vrbo. We found this property on Vrbo and drawn to it due to the high number of outstanding reviews. Any property with over 100 positive reviews is a no-brainer. After staying here for the week, I can honestly say that the positive reviews are well deserved. The owner gave us a call during booking, she was friendly, knowledgeable, and stayed in touch throughout the trip. The condo was well stocked with the usual amenities and even had beach items such as chairs, umbrellas, beach towels, and sand buckets. This amazing vacation getaway is clean, comfortable, and nicely decorated with many inspirational items. It is noticeable that the owner has gone above and beyond to ensure you have an enjoyable stay. 

You can book Cynthia’s Condo through Vrbo by clicking here or searching for listing number 1011228.

Sleep Inn Review, Millbrook, AL, Overnight Stay, Great Experience!

While en route to our destination, we normally stay at chain hotels such as Choice Hotels, Best Western, Marriot, the usuals. I generally do not review overnight stays. However, going forward I will pick at least one outstanding experience to feature on the site.

For the first overnight stay post, I have chosen the Sleep Inn located in Millbrook, AL. When we checked in at the Sleep Inn, the front desk attendant was super nice, and our check-in went smoothly. We made it to our room which was clean and well stocked with all of the standard necessities.

Much to my surprise, our printer was out of toner on the day we departed so I still needed to print our parking pass for our condo. After a failed attempt at using the computer located in the business center, the front desk was happy to help. She printed my document for me, and I was back to my room in no time at all.

The next morning, I went downstairs for a complimentary hot breakfast. They offered the usual oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and a few pastries, but they also had biscuits. They had microwavable egg and cheese biscuits as well as chicken biscuits. I chose to combine the two and have a chicken egg and cheese. I also had a cup of hotel coffee. I am not sure if they use the same coffee as other choice hotels or if I really needed a cup of joe, but the coffee here was surprisingly good. I even took a cup to go.

We had been driving for around an hour when I realized that I had forgotten something important back in the room. It was something we could not leave behind, so we phoned the front desk and made our way back. The morning desk was just as nice and helpful as the night desk had been.

If I rated things on a star system, then this hotel would receive 5-stars. If I ranked from one to ten, then this experience would receive a ten. But I don’t, I simply share my experience and this experience was a good one. If you are in Millbrook Alabama, do not hesitate to stay at the Sleep Inn.

Elsa's, Beach Cove Resort, North Myrtle Beach Condo

Elsa’s, Beach Cove Resort, North Myrtle Beach Condo

Offered by Prista Vacation Rentals

Weeks away from our trip and we decided to add a few more days of fun and relaxation. We went back to the drawing board and that's when we found Elsa’s, at the lovely Beach Cove Resort, offered by Prista Vacation Rentals.  

The booking process is a bit cumbersome. After several emails and several signatures, it felt as if we were purchasing the beachfront condo rather than renting it. The agreements were so much that it made me a bit uncomfortable. I mean seriously, eleven emails and a ten-page contract are a bit much. 

This oceanfront condo is located on the third floor. The third-floor parking garage removes the need to use the elevator and makes loading and unloading a breeze. The condo was perfect, spacious, two TVs, a full kitchen, and Wi-Fi. What more could anyone need except for a beach and a pool? 

Well, this place has both. It is located steps from the sand and the resort offers three pools, three hot tubs, and a 350 ft. lazy river. At the time of our visit, the hot tub located in the kid's area was out of service, but we were spoiled by the remaining two. 

Everything within the scope of Prista Vacation Rentals was excellent. The condominium was just the right size for a family of three and is very conveniently located to many top tourist attractions in North Myrtle beach. We enjoyed this cozy condo so much that we may put this in our vacation rotation.