Author: TLC Postcards

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Independence Day at Lake of the Ozarks–Part 2

We are all set!  Yes, we are headed to the Lake of the Ozarks for the 4th of July!  After receiving an email from Home Away, that there was no response from the homeowner so after our 24-hour wait our reservation was being released, we were heartbroken.  Resolved to cram into any hotel we could still find available, we made one more attempt at a condo, but we were no longer optimistic.  Minutes after I submitted our request, I get a text from a number I didn’t recognize saying “Hi Tracey, I am following up with you regarding rental of our Land’s End condo.  I am worried that my emails through VRBO may not be getting through.”  Can this be true?
I asked if the condo was still available, and it was!  Wendy at Atlas Enterprises (who owns the condo) said yes, we could still rent it and even let us have an additional day for 1/2 price.  We can also use the pool a couple of hours before the condo will actually be ready.  I don’t think Wendy truly knows how much she made our day!
Now back to packing.  Things to take to a rental condo:

  • beach towels–not all condos provide them
  • groceries–since we’ll have a full kitchen, we plan to eat in more than out
  • a couple of coolers–one for transporting the food items that will need to be kept cold on the way there, and one for adult beverages in case we go coving
  • inflatable mattress in case anyone sharing a room decides they can no longer share a room
  • pool/lake floaties
  • basketball in case there’s a court
  • sunblock

And that’s really it.  Everything else we’ll need should already be there.  We’ve already gotten a round-p of friends that will be down there at the same time, so we can hopefully hang out a bit together.  And, by the way, we still have 2-3 extra pillows in case anyone else wants to come along (you will not get your own room, but you WILL get your own pillow.)  Happy 4th of July Everybody!
 
 

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Planning for Independence Day at Lake of the Ozarks, MO

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This weekend finds us celebrating Independence Day, which means it’s a long weekend!  Since our original plans to go to Arkansas have fallen through due to high water levels on Bull Shoals Lake, we’ll have to make due with an almost-staycation at Lake of the Ozarks, which is only an hour away.  Since we’re taking the kids, which brings our family total to 5, and we hope to have some friends join us, we’ll be renting a condo to stay in in the hopes that we can keep costs controlled, while still having enough beds and pillows for all.
Renting a condo creates some packing challenges of its own, but provides a lot of perks as well.  If you have never booked a place to stay using a site like Home Away or VRBO, I can vouch for their value.  Homeowners can place their properties up for short-term rent at fair prices. They are entitled to require a certain length minimum, but a lot don’t.  You search through the properties located where you want to be, for the size of your group, the amenities you want, and plug in your dates.  From there, you can look through photos of the abode, review comments about the place, and book the one you want.  Most charge a refundable security deposit of sorts, that you get back as long as you clean up after your stay.
We went with a 3-bedroom condo that sleeps 11, on a part of the lake where we should be able to see the fireworks show.  Additionally, it was important to find a place with a pool.  Since we don’t have a boat to tool around the lake, a pool is good back up.  And a BBQ grill is always a must for easy convenient cooking.  The place we found is called the Palisades, and will easily accommodate our bunch for less than the cost of crowded hotel rooms.
Oops, scratch that. We are apparently still on the search…drat!  The condo we thought WE rented, apparently was already rented by someone else.  This morning we had an email that said they were not able to confirm, try again.  The condo still came up in our search, making us think it was still available, but nope, not so.  When we still didn’t have a response 12 hours later, we called Home Away only to be told the condo was already rented, but the owner hadn’t updated the calendar, which is apparently a big no-no.  The rep from Home Away, asked if we wanted to file a complaint–no we did not– still on the hunt for a condo for the weekend.  Maybe we’re having difficulties because we are close to the holiday weekend?   This is giving me a headache!
We were turned down within 20 minutes for our next choice, and are now 17 hours in on a 24 hour response time for our 3rd choice.  I guess by this evening we’ll know if we are headed to Lake of the Ozarks or not.  This is a great example of why planning ahead is a good practice.  To be continued…
 

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Honeymooning in St. Lucia


Sonny and I were married on the beach in Jamaica. 6 months later, we honeymooned in St. Lucia. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime! We tossed around the idea of different places and different resorts and settled on St. Lucia, staying at Sandals Grande St. Lucian. St. Lucia is a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles, just north of South America. We liked that 1) we’d never been there before, 2) it’s in the Caribbean, and 3) it looked like an exotic place to visit. Why Sandals? We had never stayed at a Sandals and we were curious if it could live up to the reputation. Sandals also includes scuba diving in its “all inclusiveness”, and we decided we would dive, A LOT. These decisions led to a very memorable trip.
Disclaimer: this is not an advertisement, it’s my personal opinion. If you’re a fan of all-inclusive resorts, and have never been to a Sandals, all I can say is GO! If all-inclusive resorts aren’t your thing, GO ANYWAY! It is worth the higher cost. They run an incredible operation of making you the happiest person on vacay–whatever your heart desires. Their rooms were excellently decorated, beds were the comfiest, and you could even get 24/7 butler service if you wanted. The food was of a higher standard, you never had to make a reservation, and if you wanted to have a lobster dinner at the steakhouse and then a little sushi later, you could. Late night chocolate bar or mimosas with breakfast? You got it!
Beyond the basics, we had a romantic candlelight dinner on the beach. One evening we were treated to a performance by Teddyson John, who is a very talented soca singer.  You tube his videos, he’s incredible.
We went scuba diving nearly every day. Thanks to the patience and diligence of our dive instructor, Marcus Joseph, Sonny completed his advanced open-water certification and I acquired my digital underwater photographer specialty.

And we toured the island. The island of St. Lucia was indeed exotic, lush, and beautiful. It’s a volcanic island, so think lots of hills, that can get nerve-wracking when driving in small vehicle. We took a catamaran ride to see the Pitons (our guide called them “big boob and little boob”) which was followed by a grilled chicken and rice lunch.
We also went shopping in St. Vincent and took a mud bath at the sulphur springs of La Soufriere, which is a live volcano. The mud bath left our skin feeling silky soft, but due to the rotten egg “scent” of the springs, I do not recommend going after drinking an entire bottle of champagne at the Sandals beach party the night before. Lesson learned.
Sandals and St. Lucia were certainly the honeymoon of a lifetime. If you ever get the chance, take the trip to St. Lucia. And if you don’t go to St. Lucia, at least check out a Sandals resort, you won’t regret it!

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Everyone Should Meet a Paul

 
Everyone should be so lucky as to meet a Paul.  I originally met Paul a few years ago in Jamaica.  He was the lifeguard manager at a resort. I was there with my friend Sara and Paul had told us that if we needed a driver to take us anywhere, we could hire him.  From past experience, I knew that having a friend to drive us in Jamaica is really the way to go.  With a driver, you get to experience a little more authentic interaction of the culture, you don’t pay exorbitant rates just to run to the craft market, you have someone who will help keep you safe, and if you’re lucky, you end up with a Paul!
We hired Paul to take us over to Rick’s Café to watch the divers and catch the sunset.  If you’ve never been to Rick’s Café you HAVE to go.  It’s one of my favorite places in the world and the best place to view sunset in Jamaica and enjoy a cocktail.

Paul advised us not to order dinner there.  He said since it’s a tourist attraction, they charge high prices for the food and he would take us somewhere else for dinner.  After the sun set over the sea, we left Rick’s and Paul took us to a local restaurant called Sweet Spice.
IMG_0710Talk about one of the best meals I have ever had!  I had a bowl of seafood (fish and shrimp) in broth with a side of rice and peas.  It was a huge amount of food for the $10 US I think it cost.  If you stick with the local foods in Jamaica instead of stuff that has to be imported, the prices are very reasonable.  After leaving Jamaica that trip, I kept in touch with Paul via WhatsApp which is a free way to text, talk, and video talk for free.  Actually, it’s more fair to say Paul kept in touch with me.  I’m a little slow on some of the technology.  But, all you need is an internet connection and you can forget about paying those international fees ever again.
My next trip to Jamaica was a year later with my hubby, who was still my boyfriend at the time.  We stayed at the Grand Palladium again (I do love this resort and highly recommend it) where we got to see Paul a little bit while he was at work.

Later, I asked Paul to take us over to Rick’s for the evening and he said he was nervous about meeting my boyfriend.  What if he didn’t like Paul?  Well, what if he did?  AND HE DID.  Those two guys hit it off and we had a blast at Rick’s Café.  We partook in a few Red Stripes (I prefer Light) and watched the divers followed by another incredible sunset.  Paul got us back to the Palladium just in time to get to the beach party and he headed for home which is right next to a small town called Lucea.

Fast forward a couple of years and my boyfriend was now my fiancé.  We had decided that we wanted to get married on the beach in Jamaica.  Since Paul is not supposed to fraternize at the Grand Palladium because he works there, we decided the wedding would be at the RIU Negril so Paul could join us.  Upon our arrival, Paul was waiting for us at the RIU Negril lobby.  He had brought gifts for some of the wedding party and knew I had some shopping errands to run.  He drove us all over Negril to get the local items that I still needed for the guest’s gift bags and even negotiated a good price on some pints of Appleton Rum for us.  Paul was able to take off work for 3 days to attend the wedding and stay at the resort with us.

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He also arranged for a bus to take our entire group of 30 to where else?  Rick’s Café.  Have I mentioned that I really like that place?

On one afternoon that it rained, Paul drove us over to see his house.  We were amazed at his house–it looks just like a Jamaican beach house should.  Paul was also building a villa across the road and wanted us to see.  It’s going to be beautiful when it’s complete!  Of course, building anything in Jamaica takes a lot longer than here, so it will be a while.  It will have 4 suites that Paul hopes to rent out to vacationers.
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Fast forward a couple more years to this past winter and Paul got to come visit us for a few days!  In Missouri, right in the middle of the US, right after Thanksgiving while it was drab, dreary, and cold.  Paul’s not used to this kind of cold and thankfully, he had a big, winter coat with him.

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Paul and Kathy

We picked him up from the airport, and went straight to the St. Louis Galleria so he could do some black friday shopping.  From there we headed out to the Trainwreck Saloon where a number of our friends from the wedding trip came out for a welcoming Happy Hour.  We stayed in St. Louis overnight, and left for our home in Columbia, Mo, the next morning.  That afternoon we had fun hanging in the kitchen with Paul and our neighbors and friends.  He made a delicious curry shrimp dish to go along with the turkey our neighbor had deep-fried, and we had a huge meal and excellent conversation.  It was real eye-opener to hear about all the hoops Paul had to jump through to get his passport and visa to come visit and how much of his salary he had to save for his travels.  Our process and travel from here are so much easier I think we take our options for granted.  After dinner, the conversation turned to Jamaican music, patois, and politics.  Carlie learned some patois words and thought that was really cool!  She can now ask you Wah Gwaan (What’s going on)?  But you’d better answer Mi deh yah (I’m here)!
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The next morning, Paul got to have two new experiences of his own.  It began snowing here which is the first time he’s ever seen snow other than in movies.  He said that the snow is much colder than it looks in the movies.  Later, my husband took him out to the shooting range where he and Paul had some fun shooting targets.

Being able to share experiences and friendship with Paul have been life changing.  He’s planning to come visit us again in November if we don’t get to Jamaica first.  He’s better than our friend now.  We consider him family.

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To AI or not AI? That is the question

I’m a huge fan of all-inclusive vacations, which are common if you travel to a non-US locale.  Even more specifically, I love all-inclusive resorts!  I know there’s a large segment of dissenters who would argue that all-inclusive vacations aren’t “authentic”.  Don’t get me wrong–I have vacationed a la carte as well as the rest.  But I do think the all-inclusive vacation has created a niche that simplifies vacationing and make it more relaxing.  As far as “authenticity” goes, any trip can be as “authentic” as you want.  It’s your own opinion that matters anyway.
Here’s what I like about the AI vacation:

  • You can make all of your arrangements–airfare, resort, transportation between airport and resort–in advance, usually in one place if you’re using a travel agent or booking yourself with AppleVacations, FunJet, Cheap Caribbean,etc., and for one price.
  • You can choose flights that accommodate your time frames.
    • I like to fly non-stop when possible (I don’t want to waste vacation time on travelling), so I shop for charters and typically have to fly certain days.
    • I prefer non red-eye flights since our nearest international airport is 2 hours away.
  • You can shop your resort. 
    • Do you prefer a 5 star with a view of the ocean, gourmet meals, and decked out rooms or are you just looking for a place to lay your head for a few hours at the end of the day?
    • Do you have to have your usual top-shelf drink or can you make do with the local beverages?
    • Do you want to vacation with children (or without, and don’t want to share the pool with any)?
  • You can choose your transportation between the resort and airport.
    • Do you need a quiet limo ride for only your group?
    • Do you have a small group who all want to share a van or mini-bus?
    • Do you want a fun-filled bus ride that you share with all others going to your resort and others nearby?
  • Once at your resort, your AI includes:
    • your room–always ask for the upgrade at check-in.
    • all food, beverages, and cocktails while you are there.
    • non-motorized sports like kayaking, snorkeling, tennis, gym facilities.
    • daily and evening entertainment which can be anything from games, sports, aerobics/yoga classes poolside to fun-filled evening shows that may be audience participated or musical/dance shows.
  • If you choose a Super Inclusive, or Luxury Inclusive you may even get:
    • gourmet dinners, 24-hour room service
    • American beverages and top shelf cocktails
    • Scuba diving, golf, jet-skis
    • evening performances by local celebrities
    • sunset catamaran cruises, candlelight dinners on the beach
  • The AI eliminates the needs for:
    • carrying cash on the resort.
    • trying to compute the resort’s foreign conversion rate when paying for anything.
    • accruing foreign transaction fees later after charging everything on your credit card.
    • tipping.  Be aware, some resorts don’t allow it.
    • leaving the resort while you are there.
  • Things that cost extra:
    • you can book any extra sight-seeing trips or excursions as you wish through your resort.
    • most resorts have a spa that will offer massage packages.
    • tipping–if you choose to.
    • gaming in the casino and souvenir shopping

Basically, you can schedule a ton of activities (free and otherwise) if you want, or you can schedule nothing and sit at the swim-up bar all day.  At an AI resort, it’s your vacation, your choice to do as much or little as you’d like.

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Fun Things to Do While Visiting the Great Smoky Mountains

While visiting the Great Smoky Mountains in May, we found a lot of really fun things to do.  While most of our activities were centered in Pigeon Forge, TN because that’s where we stayed, there are other surrounding areas that demand visits as well.  Here’s a quick list of some highlights:

  • Hike the trails and see nature, wildlife, and waterfalls

  • Check out the fishing or kayaking in the mountains

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There’s tons of things to do in this area! This list will just occupy you for about 4 days, or you can do a little homework and find many other activities to make your own list.  We plan to go back again someday to experience some more fun.  Happy travels to the Smoky Mountains!

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I Didn't Get to Meet Paula Deen

For those who know me, I’m not a very good TV watcher, however, I used to love watching Paula Deen’s cooking shows over and over.  Not really watching, watching but I’d have her show on all day on the weekends and occasionally something she was cooking would catch my eye.  One afternoon I remember her whipping up something called Lady’s Fried Mac.  First, she made Lady’s Cheesy Mac, which I remember thinking,  “just macaroni and cheese with a couple extra ingredients.”  But after baking it she put it in the fridge overnight–which caught my attention.  Why did she do that?  When she pulled it out of the fridge, she sliced the Cheesy Mac into 15 squares, wrapped each square with a slice of bacon, dredged it in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs AND DEEP FRIED IT.  Obviously, this was before she starting lightening up her recipes.  Even though it wasn’t a recipe I would ever make, I thought it was absolutely delish looking!

Fast forward a few years, and Paula Deen has opened numerous restaurants, put out tons of cookbooks, written some autobiographical books, now has another cooking show and can even be found on ROKU.  At the height of her popularity, I read her autobiography,” Paula Deen: It Ain’t All About the Cookin’.” Talk about an interesting story.

Needless to say, I’ve always thought the food she cooked looked amazing.  While in Pigeon Forge, TN, I finally got to try some.  Her restaurant, Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen was located right across the way from our hotel.

Family KitchenBoy, we didn’t know what we were in for, which was quite a feast.  Going in, we knew that all meals here are served family style, including breakfast, and we knew it was only $15 per person which was right on target for us.  We didn’t have to wait for a table, which was surprising.  Every day we could see a lot of people waiting for a table, but I think we timed our visit right–close to the end of breakfast.

Our server promptly came over and greeted us.  She apologetically explained that they had run out of complimentary biscuits, but another batch was cooking.  She said she would bring ours out as soon as it was ready, along with some orange juice.  In the meantime, we looked over the menu to try to decide what breakfast would be.PD menu

We had a lot of options to choose from.  We went with the Sweet Piggies in a Blanket, Alrighty Then Scrambled Eggs, Everyday Breakfast Casserole, Applewood Smoked Center Cut Bacon, Creamy Hashbrown Casserole, and Biscuits and Sausage.  It didn’t really sound like a lot at the time.

When our server returned to take our order.  She had our biscuit and juice.  Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think about biscuits, what comes to mind are the crumbly, white bread biscuits, with a golden brown top, like the kind that comes with your gravy.  This is what Paula Deen’s complimentary biscuits are:

PD biscuitThat’s one ginormous Cinnamon Roll!  The picture doesn’t do it justice, it was almost the size of my head!  Well, starting with that, who really needs the rest of breakfast?  We couldn’t even finish it even though it was absolutely delish!  Paula sure does know how to do biscuits!

After that little starter, the rest of our food was served.  Talk about a spread!  Like I’ve said before, I’m more of a bacon  and eggs kind of girl.  My favorite?  Surprisingly, it wasn’t the eggs.  And while the bacon was incredible, that wasn’t even it either.  PD breakfastMy favorite was the Creamy Hashbrown Casserole–it almost melted in my mouth.  The Everyday Breakfast Casserole was a close second.  This rest of this feast was so unbelievably good, it should be against the law.  Even though I didn’t get to meet Paula Deen, I believe I had a pretty good sampling of her cooking and it is just as innovative as that Lady’s Fried Mac looked on TV that one afternoon.  If you get the chance to check out one of her places, don’t pass it up!

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Hitting the Trails

Don’t fool yourself, I’m not a great hiker.  As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t necessary to hike in order to see some pretty neat stuff, I can assure you, I likely wouldn’t hike.  Now, when I talk about hiking, I don’t mean walking–I’m a great walker.  I can walk for miles!  On flat ground, slight hills.  When I want to.  Hiking?  Hiking to me combines walking with large hills or mountains.  I’m not a fan of walking large hills and mountains. But that’s where you find the neat stuff.  While in the Great Smoky Mountains, we HIKED!  Not far, but up big hills and steep inclines.  AND we saw some neat stuff!

We started our long weekend by working our way through my list of places I HAD to see.  First up, Clingman’s Dome. Even though it was only 27 miles from our hotel, the drive took us over an hour (we stopped frequently).  Driving into the mountains yields incredible views, pull-offs for you to snap a shot, and lots of small waterfalls.We made numerous stops while driving higher and higher up.  At one point, the road went upwards like a corkscrew.  The first thing I noticed when we got out of the car in the parking lot was that it was windy.  And a lot colder.  With Clingman’s Dome being the highest point in the Smoky Mountains at 6,642 feet, it tends to be 10-20 degrees cooler than the lowlands.  It’s a good thing I had my down jacket.  Although the trail up to the observation tower is only a half mile long, it’s a long, steep half mile.DomeOnce you are at the top, you have a 360 degree view of the Smoky Mountains.  Supposedly, on a clear day, you can see 200 miles in any direction and yes, we were up above some of the clouds.

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View from Clingman’s Dome

The next trail we hiked was called Laurel Falls.  All I knew going in was that this trail was known for the abundance of laurels growing along it, May is the season for laurels to be in full bloom, and that the trail ended at a waterfall.  It sounded like a good one for us to tackle.LF signSince I didn’t know what a laurel flower looked like, we were able to pop into the Sugarlands Visitor Center, which, in addition to having a gift shop and National Parks info, had a museum that contained a branch of laurels. (You could also watch a short film about the Smoky Mountains while there, but we skipped that.)  Once on the trail, I found the laurels! They were everywhere and beautiful.LaurelsThe distance to the waterfall was 1.3 miles and the trail was considered moderate in difficulty.  It was a paved trail though, which made it seem a little easier.  Once at the falls, I was overwhelmed at the beauty. It was absolutely gorgeous and the sound of the water falling was so relaxing.

Laurel Falls
Laurel Falls

The next day we set off for Grotto Falls.  This was another HAD to see because there was a waterfall that we could walk behind.  There were actually a few waterfalls along the way, which was even better.  We knew this trail was 1.4 mile to the falls, but we missed the part about it being “moderate” in difficulty.Grotto Falls signI wouldn’t even rate it as moderate–this trail was the roughest one we hiked and we were walking on tree roots and rocks for the majority of it.  The climb seemed to go on forever, and in my “in my head voice” I kept asking myself, “why?” along with murmuring the occasional curse word under my breath (I was trying not to poke my bear of a husband into using his “outloud” voice.)  We knew we were close when we could hear thunder of running water.

bottom Grotto fall

Once we arrived at the top fall, easy conclusion, the work to get there was all worth the effort.  There were large rocks to sit on and rest a bit, and the cold water of the falls made the air seem like it was air-conditioned.  The only thing missing was a picnic lunch and a cocktail.  The really neat part of the Grotto Falls was that we could actually walk behind the waterfall without being IN the waterfall.  (That water is COLD!)

Behind the falls
Behind Grotto Falls

In hindsight, while I’ll never be a great hiker, there IS a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow–or hike–and hard work usually has a payoff in the end. The hike was well worth the waterfall and if you get the chance to go to the Smoky Mountains and hike some of the trails, do it!

 

 

 

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Margaritaville Island

For four days in the Smoky Mountains, Margaritaville Island in Pigeon Forge, TN was our home.  More specifically, the Margaritaville Island Hotel–you know, one of Jimmy Buffett‘s places.  If you’ve never checked out a Jimmy Buffett place:  Margaritaville Cafe, Margaritaville Hotel, Margaritaville Casino, or Cheeseburger in Paradise, you should.  He can really put you in that 5 o’clock-somewhere-frame-of-mind.  My husband has even bought a pair of Margaritaville Boat Shoes and I hear Jimmy Buffett may be opening retirement homes next.  I’ll need to check that out!

The Margaritaville Island Hotel was awesome.  Our room was tastefully decorated and had a comfy king-sized bed, fireplace, hot tub, and frozen concoction maker.  The front desk actually had concoction mixes and recipes available for sale .  We didn’t actually get around to making any concoctions, but the recipes looked good, like the Blackberry Moonshine Margarita.  Each room also has a copy of Jimmy Buffett’s book, “Tales From Margaritaville“, which I made a dent in reading while relaxing in our hot tub.  Our balcony overlooked the Little Pigeon River and came complete with a blue heron who hung out there every evening.Outside of the hotel, there were a lot of options for eating, shopping and entertainment. We really didn’t need to leave the Island for anything.  Aside from Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, we stopped in at Dick’s Last Resort which is where your food is served with an attitude and they are known for their “crappy hour”.  The atmosphere was hilarious, and came with free, insulting hats made by the servers.

Other restaurants that we didn’t have time to try but will be a priority on our next visit there include Timberwood Grill, and Paula Deen’s The Bag Lady.

We ventured in to Bootleggers Winery because of the sign below the bar that says,  “High Class My Ass”.  They were hosting tastings of their wines which had names like Mountain Muscat and Scuppernong.  It sounded like a place with a sense of humor.  After sampling 10 varieties, we took a bottle of tasty Strawberry Wine back to our room.  If you are a fan of sweet wines, this one is for you.

Right next door was the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery which is where we then sampled the shines.  The first flavor was Ole Smoky White Lightnin’ Moonshine which almost convinced me I could grow hair on my chest.  I know where they get the name White Lightnin’–it was burning hot on the way down.  We had other flavors like Blackberry and Raspberry (this is about the time I decided the Island was a really fun place!), and my favorite wound up being Snow Cream Moonshine which would have been incredible poured over vanilla ice cream or in coffee.  Our server also gave us some pretty novel ideas of how to incorporate shine into our everyday life!

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Whew!  After all that moonshine, we intended to take a break from the sampling and do some shopping around for a while.  We came across a store called the Village Idiot which was a MUST SEE on my list just because of the name.  They had really unique gift ideas (did a little Christmas shopping) and some cute clothing.  Next, we discovered what would become our favorite shop on the Island, The Beef Jerky Outlet.

If you have ever met my husband, you know he LOVES beef jerky.  This shop let us sample any flavor we wanted to try, which was right on time after all the wine and moonshine samples.  We tried some Slap Ya Mama, Teriyaki Smoked Beef, Blazin’ Cajun (which WAS Blazin’), and Prime Rib.  We ended up buying 2 lbs of the Prime Rib and getting another 1/2 lb free of Blazin’ Cajun, which we took hiking with us the next day.  We also picked up a Wild Game Sample Pack which has jerky made from 9 different animals including Alligator, Ostrich, and Kangaroo.  I wonder what special occasion we’ll break those out for?

Beyond the eating, shopping, and sampling, there are other activities too.  You can take a ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel, which is an incredibly large ferris wheel with gondola seats, or there’s the Island Ropes Course, which had ziplines.  You could also go in a Mirror Maze, Bungee Jump, or pan for Gems at the Island Miner’s Gems, which really looked pretty fun.  The Miner’s Gems hostess assured us EVERYONE finds a gem, so I’ll be giving that a whirl next trip.

We also spent a few hours at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum, which was very entertaining and educational.  We did the VIP tour, which gained us access to the interactive exhibits, audio tour, and participation in “The Heist” (which we solved). The museum features a tour through American crime history beginning in the pirate days, includes mobster times, and continues through modern day crime and crime scene investigation.  They had a huge collection of crime related artifacts (think OJ Simpson’s white bronco and Ted Bundy’s VW Beetle) and lots of other fun, interactive activities.  I learned there that I am a very accurate aim with a machine gun.

After all the activity of the Island, you can always find a rocking chair to sit in to watch the Dancing Fountains, or you can find a chair, poolside and have a frozen concoction.  Regardless of your age or idea of fun, there’s a little something of everything for everyone at Margaritaville Island!