Category : Travel

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on the runway at the Detroit airport waiting to take off back to Arkansas. I made the trip north with a few coworkers for the annual ASAE Annual Meeting. This is my second year in a row attending and, I have to say, it’s by far one of the most fun work conferences I’ve ever been to. Inspiring sessions (Alex Sheen from Because I Said I Would was hands down my favorite speaker), an extensive trade show where you can win prizes and drink booze, plus it’s always exciting to explore a new city – what’s not to love?

While I travel fairly often, I had never been to Detroit or even Michigan for that matter. Here are a few photos from my trip!

Layover in Chicago

Meeting Detroit for the first time
(and wondering if Eminem is out there somewhere).

Checking in at the meeting!

Kickoff event at The Henry Ford Museum
This place was pretty incredible. I think I was there for a full hour before I actually saw a car. There’s so much interesting history there beyond the automotive world. We went on Rosa Park’s bus, saw Abe Lincoln’s assassination chair, and the limo JFK was in when he was shot. And for a vintage lover such as myself, there’s a ton of stuff to explore from furniture, to an experimental 1950s home.

Our crew representin’!

After the meetings were over we decided to explore.

There are SO many killer walls in Detroit that I want to go back and bring Iris just to take her picture in front of them. That’s a legit reason to return, right?

No shortage of food or drinks on the trip.

Oh, and while we were in town, why not just pop over to CANADA?!
I already had my passport, so after just a little bit of research, we discovered that you can take a $4.50 tunnel bus from Detroit to Windsor (it’s less than a mile away!). This was actually my very first trip to Canada and only my second trip ever out of the USA. We were only there for about an hour, which was long enough to lose $20 at Caesars Windsor (or $25 in Canadian money) and to raid a souvenir shop that evidently hadn’t received new merchandise since at least 1986.

Greek Town
Fire eater, eating pizza outside in the 70 degree weather, and WINNING $400!
This night was alright.

Oh, Detroit.
Thanks for the good times! Hope to see you and your amazing walls again one day. Up next, Todd, Iris, and myself leave for a spontaneous road trip to St. Louis and will be posting about our adventures along the way!

Last week Todd, Iris, and I took a two-hour road trip to good ‘ol Branson, Missouri. Our recent visit to Silver Dollar City was apparently just not enough, so we decided to go back and stay overnight. This time we met up with Todd’s sister and her little family. Iris’ cousin, Cole, is five months to the day older than Iris and they straight up love each other. Seeing those two have so much fun together made our trip extra sweet.

Here’s our trip in photos:

We’re baaaaack!

I have to admit. Every time I go to SDC, I’m surprised at how impressive it is… It’s almost as good as Disneyland, but with shorter lines and a slightly odd theme (1880s Ozark frontier town theme, anyone?). One thing I don’t understand is why they make the poor employees dress like it’s winter in the the humid, hot summer! I get it’s part of the time period, but as a customer, I’d be more than okay if the person cooking my burger over a hot grill in a non-airconditioned hut could ditch the long sleeves and thick black tights.

I did learn a few things since my last trip oh so long ago…

Like to invest in a good fanny pack.

And to find the rides that kids can ride all by themselves (while I stand under the misting fan).

And that there’s no such thing as too many photo-ops.

Or too much junk food.

That night we checked into a pretty classy hotel. I found a deal on Groupon for our room that included one (yes, just one) coupon to eat at the Golden Corral. I also splurged and paid the extra dollar for the “premier” room. Still not sure what that got us, but you know it’s a quality hotel when instead of shampoo and conditioner, they just give you “conditioning shampoo.” But hey, look at the entertainment that is attached!

We decided to go crazy and pass up Golden Corral (I know, what were we thinking? And NO, I did not tell Iris about the chocolate fountain. Are you kidding me?). Instead, we went down to the Branson Landing which is a strip of shops, restaurants, and fountains by the river. I feel confident that we made the right dining option, as the pizza place we found had 100+ beers available. Take that, chocolate fountain!

As we headed back to our hotel I took in the scenery…

And Iris sat on a gorilla.

Iris also went kind of crazy. See… She most definitely did not need a fountain of chocolate.

All day at a theme park in 95 degree weather + no nap means Iris has gone off the deep end. #watchIRIS

A video posted by Sarah Fortune (@sarahfortune) on Jul 26, 2015 at 6:18pm PDT

Even though we were all exhausted from our day in the sun, we found the energy for one more round of fun at The Track – Family Fun Parks. Thanks to ExploreBranson.com and the kind folks at The Track, we were hooked up with more games and rides that we could handle.

Iris had her very first go-cart experience and LOVED IT. She rode with Todd on The Heavy Metal Highrise. Just look at that thing!

We also rode bumper cars and plays tons of games. Iris definitely is allllll about the tickets.

We woke up early the next morning and got to White Water right at opening. We actually went on a Monday in hopes of it being a little less crazy. It was still pretty packed (and stupid hot), but I think we made the right choice. Iris and myself experienced our very first water slide. For two girls who hate getting water in their eyes, we had an awesome time.

Iris’ cousin Cole wouldn’t take a picture with her and apparently it broke her heart.

Five seconds later they were best friends again.

That’s a wrap, Branson! You are a different kind of fun and we love you for it.