© 2014 sarahfortune.
This past weekend Iris, Todd, and I took the three-hour journey over to Heber Springs. Todd’s dad and stepmom recently bought and renovated a home there on the river and it is just heaven. Nestled right next to the water, with a boat and a dock I truly didn’t want to leave. Iris ran up and down the little bridge to the dock (making me nervous, of course), baked cookies with Nana, and went for rides in Poppy’s John Deere trailer. I’m already dreaming and scheming about when we can go back.
I occasionally travel for work. Not too much, just a handful of trips scattered throughout the year. After five days in California, my longest trip of the year just came to an end. Not only is it a lot of work inside the office preparing for our big annual meeting, but it’s a lot of work outside of the office preparing to leave my family for that amount of time. I admit, it’s as much mental preparation for myself as it is running errands, stocking groceries, planning outfits for Iris, paying bills, etc. before I hit the road. While I know Todd can handle everything just fine without me, I always feel a little better about leaving if I can help out ahead of time. Same goes for Iris. Now that she’s older, she understands why I’m leaving and when I’m coming back (and that I’ll most certainly return with souvenirs).
Being a working mom is tough. Being a working mom that travels is even tougher. You miss your people and you miss out on things. I’ve missed a couple school photo days, missed my last two wedding anniversaries, and will never forget being away on Iris’ second birthday. This past week was School Spirit week where Iris was supposed to wear a different themed outfit each day. I didn’t have much time to help think of ideas before I left, but Todd and Iris rocked it without me. As she gets older, I know that I’ll start missing bigger things like school events, sports matches, and more. With a little help from FaceTime and a lot of help back home, I’ll manage just fine. At the end of the day it’s all worth it a million times over. Not only am I fortunate to have a job that I love, but I hope that I’m showing my daughter the importance of hard work, dedication, and being proud of what you do.
Before I left for Newport Beach last Sunday, I made a quick trip to the dollar store and picked up a prize for every day I’d be away. I surprised Iris with a little note explaining that I left clues in envelopes for her to follow each morning. I’m sure she had fun finding her way to a surprise each day, but I just felt good knowing that she knew I was thinking about her a thousand miles away.
Even though I was in California for the full work week, we only had one afternoon to explore. I wandered around Balboa Island with a couple of my co-workers. I want to go back one day and bring the whole fam. It was adorable and beautiful all at once.
I’ll leave you with a few of Iris’ School Spirit Week outfits:
Individuality Day (Iris chose pajamas.. that’s my girl)
Professional Day
School Spirit Day
And of course, Fancy Friday
I have to admit – I have a major travel bug in me lately. Maybe after a few trips I will get it out of my system, but Iris is at such a fun age to travel with, that all I want to do is go exploring. Recently inspired by Emma’s post over on A Beautiful Mess, I decided to make my own list of top destinations I want to visit with my family. While it may be a bit unrealistic to accomplish all of these trips in the near future (we only have so many days we can take off from our jobs after all), planning and daydreaming is one of my favorite parts about travel. So, here goes…
Disneyland
Iris has started the inevitable… asking to go to Disney. While she doesn’t yet know the difference between Disnleyland and Disneyworld, I’ve had the chance to visit both and really want to take her to California. I love the nostalgic (and less overwhelming) feel of Disneyland. Plus, I would love to make the trip about exploring Southern California and not solely centered around Mickey. Maybe we can surprise her for her fifth birthday (that’s THIS year, y’all!) or for Christmas, but just looking at these vintage photos makes me want to book a trip today.
30A – Florida
We’ve visited Rosemary Beach, Florida the past two summers in a row and we are making it a priority to get back to the 30A area again this year. Todd, Iris, and I all agree that this is one of our favorite getaways and I hope the annual tradition continues for years to come. For months, Iris has been asking when in the world we can go to the beach again. I hope my answer of “once the weather is warm” is accurate.
New York City
NYC is one of my places on earth. In fact, as a kid I always dreamed of graduating high-school and moving away to the Big Apple. I ended up in Washington D.C. instead for a couple of years, which I grew to love in its own way. And while I’m more than happy living in Arkansas, I now have dreams of visiting New York again and bringing Iris along. My last trip there I was pregnant with her and I went alone for work. The feeling of being by myself, almost for the last time, in such a crowded city was such a unique, lovely experience. I walked through Central Park, ate way too much Indian food, and brought home a pink snowglobe that still sits on Iris’ dresser today.
Hawaii
Maui is another place that my work has taken me (again, all by myself) and ever since then I’ve been dreaming about going back with my little family. The island was pure magic – the air seemed to smell like fruit and flowers everywhere I went. The ocean was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. And the Road to Hana was one of the best life experiences. However, flights from our airport are crazy expensive and, of course, so are the resorts, so this one might have to wait a little longer. One day, one day.
Nashville
We have several friends in Nashville and I severely need to make the time to pop over to see them and to hang out in such a cool city. Growing up in Memphis, I never made the trip to Nashville as often as I should. The city seems to have really grown over the last few years in such an awesome way. I took Iris a couple of years ago and we had a blast – it’s time we do it again.
Random Location
Iris has flown on an airplane a few times, but she was so little that she doesn’t remember it. For her, an exciting trip would just be the experience of flying in the air. Todd and I have talked about packing our bags and picking a cheap place to fly one weekend. We’d have fun wherever we go, making an adventure out of it.
While I’m not sure where all we’ll actually end up in 2016, I’m excited I already have a few trips planned this year, including a girls trip to Mexico this summer (CAN’T WAIT) and a work trip next month to Newport Beach, California. We also want to take some quick weekend trips too. On our list is:
+ Kansas City (to visit friends… and Ikea.)
+ Tulsa (to visit a brewery and perhaps see Peppa Pig live)
+ Wilson, Arkansas
+ Back to Memphis (Iris has requested to visit Elvis’ house)
Where else should we add to our list?
Things were pretty hectic leading up to Christmas, but it was all well worth it. We celebrated Todd’s birthday on the 23rd, had Christmas with both sides of our family, and then Iris and I went with my mom to Memphis for the last couple of days. Now I’m home and, as Iris would say, I just want to get myself settled. Here are a few photos from the last week.
Christmas!
This was our third year in a row to host at our home. While it was a little smaller this year, it was special and sweet. Among many other things, Iris got her big-girl bike with training wheels, about a million Shopkins, and of course a chocolate bunny. I’ll share what I got a little later!
Roadtrip to Memphis
Iris and I jumped in the car with my mom for a last-minute road trip to my hometown of Memphis. It was a short visit, but we got to see lots of friends and family that I miss so much. We ate food from some of the restaurants I miss most and even explored the pyramid downtown (Iris calls it a “pyra-mint”), which was recently turned into a huge Bass Pro Shop. It was… interesting! We also tried Airbnb for the very first time. While there were definitely a few quirks that wouldn’t happen with a hotel, overall we had a great experience and would totally do it again.
Hope your holidays were just as swell!
I’ve only been to St. Louis one other time, well over a decade ago, to see Death Cab For Cutie. I was only there for one night, so besides the music venue and the Arch, I’ve never really seen St. Louis. Until last weekend.
We were recently presented with an exciting opportunity – to go on a spontaneous road trip adventure to #ExploreStLouis! While we set our own itinerary, ExploreStLouis.com hooked us up with some awesome local businesses and at the end of this post is a chance for you to win your very own trip to explore the city!
Our Spontaneous Family Road Trip
We live a five and a half hour drive away from St. Louis. Since we were just going to be there for a long weekend, we decided to get a head start and drive a few hours after work on Thursday night. I’m glad we did because we were able to stop in Springfield, Missouri and enjoy a local dinner instead of a rushed, drive-through meal. Then on Friday, we had almost a full day in St. Louis. Arriving to town around 10:30 a.m., our first stop was the Delmar Loop. There were plenty of restaurants and little shops in the area to explore, with construction underway for a trolley line. After taking a stroll through a cute little candy shop, we were treated to lunch and drinks at Fitz’s .
Walking around The Delmar Loop
(and playing a little air guitar)
Cute little candy shop on The Loop.
Fitz’s Root Beer
Even though it’s a famous root beer company, Fitz’s is also a restaurant with a full, fun menu. We got right down to business and let Iris have dessert first (we were on vacation, after all).
While Iris opted for a MEGA root beer float, I jumped right into their adult drink menu with a Mexican Mule, made with Fitz’s ginger beer. After we got our drinks out of the way, we chowed down on burgers until we were stuffed. You can even stick around and watch them bottle the soda.
From Fitz’s we made our way over to our hotel, The Cheshire. I have to say that this boutique hotel accomplishes something most hotels do not – it’s just as wonderful for adults as it is for kids. Each guest room features a book written by the author the room is named after (we were in the A. A. Milne suite, who wrote Winnie the Pooh).
As far as the accommodations, I am a self-proclaimed hotel snob and this one passed every test. The entire hotel is unique, but being a four-diamond property the standards are also high – comfy beds, nice bath products, complimentary (and delicious) breakfast, Keurig coffee maker in the room, great pool area, and so on! And as for the front desk staff, I feel like I may have some new best friends. They were as friendly and helpful as could be.
As soon as we checked in we had to go off and explore the castle-like grounds.
For our first afternoon in St. Louis, we decided to each choose a location to explore. Iris was up first and she chose the St. Louis Zoo, which was conveniently less than a mile away from The Cheshire .
What’s the best thing about the St. Louis Zoo? It’s FREE! Because of this, we splurged the $15 for close parking, which was totally worth it. The zoo is pretty sizable, so after walking around for a couple hours we were happy to hop right into our car. This was Iris’ first zoo experience (that she could remember) and she was in HEAVEN. She really wanted to see an elephant in real life, so after a bit of searching we found ’em!
And what’s the second best thing about the St. Louis Zoo? They serve BEER!
After the zoo, we did something the whole family wanted to do – visit The Gateway Arch!
While the grounds are undergoing a massive renovation, we were still able to get our Arch on. We didn’t think we’d have enough time to go up inside, but Iris insisted. After checking at the ticket office, we found out there was no wait at all! Up we went and I’m so glad we did. It’s one of those bucket list things that just felt good to do at least once in your life.
Then it was my turn to choose our next spot! I had been dying to try the Three Sixty roof top bar, which is just a five minute walk from the Arch. Opening in the afternoons at 4 p.m., I read online that it was all-ages before 7 p.m. Located on the top of the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, Three Sixty has amazing views of downtown St. Louis – from the Arch and right into Busch Stadium. We enjoyed a few appetizers and drinks, which was a lovely break after our previous adventures.
Last, but not least, it was Todd’s turn to choose a spot to explore. Being the craft beer lover that he is, of course he chose one of the many local breweries St. Louis is home to – 4 Hands. While Todd stocked up on a case of beer to bring home, we stayed for dinner, making it our last stop of the day.
Back at The Cheshire, we read a little Winnie the Pooh before ending our very full, very fun day.
Good morning from The Cheshire!
On Saturday we woke up fairly early (thanks, Iris) and, after a quick bite to eat at the hotel, went straight to the City Museum.
This place is what we were looking forward to the most. We’ve heard from so many different people that it’s a pretty spectacular experience. In fact, almost everyone who I told about our trip said, “you have to go to the City Museum.”
Well, they were right. The pictures, the stories, the bruises I have – they don’t do it justice. It’s something you have to experience to really know how awesome it is.
Here’s just one example. You see that bus hanging off the top of that building?
Well here’s Iris in the driver’s seat.
Built in an old shoe factory, The City Museum is an art gallery and playground in one. Their “no maps” philosophy forces you to explore and see where the adventure takes you, which can often be through pitch dark mazes or down a 10-story slide. I highly recommend paying the extra $5 to go up to the roof, where you can find the bus, a ferris wheel, and other adventures.
And did I mention that there was a bar on almost level? I love this town!
Once you have your City Museum arm band, you can come and go as much as you want that day (they are open until midnight on the weekends). Even though there are plenty of spots to grab food there, we decided to walk around the corner to try out Hiro Asian Kitchen.
Boy were we glad we did. This was on of our favorite meal stops of the trip! Not only was each of our entrees delish, but the chef surprised us with a steamed bun appetizer that was AMAZING. And since Iris is definitely in a picky eating stage, I was thrilled to see that they offered a kid-friendly menu too (corn dog and tater tots for the win!). The atmosphere was fresh and modern (almost spa like), so it was a nice retreat from the hectic-ness of the museum.
While we had every intention of heading back to the City Museum, it was becoming clear that nap time was approaching quickly for Little Miss Iris. But being the awesome parents that we are, we of course had to stop off for dessert.
We found our way to The Fountain on Locust, which is an adorable, retro-style restaurant and ice cream bar. I even read on their website that it’s “the most photographed restaurant in St. Louis” which I don’t doubt at all! Iris had her heart set on a chocolate malt, while I just couldn’t choose. They are famous for their ice cream martinis, but then I spotted a champagne float. So what’s a girl to do? Order both!
Oh. My. Goodness. I had the chocolate covered almond martini and the champagne float with sherbert and raspberries. I’m going to be craving both for a very long time. I have no idea what Todd ordered because, well, I was swimming in two delicious cocktails. Have I mentioned how much I love this town?
After the short drive back to the hotel (we were amazed how easy and quick it was to get around the city), we all took a much needed nap. We woke up with time to enjoy the pool, where there were plenty of (free!) cabanas and a nice happy hour.
For our last night in St. Louis we had reservations at one of the two restaurants at the hotel, Basso at The Cheshire. We were lucky to have an extra guest at this meal! My dad, who lives in Jonesboro, Arkansas, just happened to be in town. If you follow my blog, you may have read what he’s been going through recently, so it was really special to be able to meet up with him, if only for dinner. He hadn’t been to St. Louis in a very long time, so it was kind of crazy that the stars aligned and we were there at the same time. And want to know something even crazier? After I invited my dad to dinner at Basso at The Cheshire, he told me that back in the 1970s he actually got MARRIED at that very hotel! Whoa.
Dinner was served family-style, so I took authority to order for our table. I think I may have over-ordered, but I’m glad we did. It was a lovely finale dinner for our trip and I wanted to go all out.
After dinner, we said goodbye to my dad, and took off on one last adventure: a hotel-wide scavenger hunt, which is part of The Cheshire Royal Kids Club. At check-in each kid gets a fun little packet, which includes a scavenger hunt map. If you complete it correctly and turn it into the front desk, you get a prize. Now, if you’r planning on cheating off of my map, I wouldn’t recommend it. I didn’t realize until a few in that there were actual clues that you had to find. D’oh!
After another good night’s rest, it was sadly time to hit the road… but not before one last stop on the way out of town – Strange Donuts! They had so many unique flavors that it was hard to choose, so we opted for a dozen and there were still flavors that we didn’t get to try. Maple Bacon, Campfire, Cookie Crumble, Gooey Butter Donut™, and so many more. We stuffed our faces at a park around the corner, which was truly a perfect way to end our trip: Strange, delicious, and a lot of fun.
All in all, we loved St. Louis and can’t wait to come back.
Contest is now closed. See who the winner is here!
Ready to take your own spontaneous family road trip to St. Louis?
Visit ExploreStLouis.com to start planning! Or… let me help!
Just leave a comment below about one place in St. Louis you’d like to visit for a chance to win a 2-night stay and family fun package featuring gift cards, vouchers to local attractions and more, valued at over $500. Make sure to include your real email address in the comment form, so that you can be contacted if you’re the winner. Contest ends on August 31. The email addresses will be sent to ExploreStLouis.com, who will select and notify one single collective winner during the first week of September (other websites are also collecting entries for this same contest).
Want more chances to win? Snag your own trip to STL through Explore St. Louis’ Funnest Family and Ultimate Tourist contests!
Good luck, my friends!
This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own.