Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Although Jeff and I try to avoid holiday travel, this year we hit the road to see both families for Christmas. Along with your typical holiday activities we also spent a bit of time exploring our hometowns.

Our first stop was the Newcamp house in Erie, PA. Lake Erie had quite a bit of snow earlier in the season so we were treated to beautiful views the shoreline blanketed in snow. With the whole family in town we headed to Peakn’Peak for some night time tubing – a Newcamp family tradition. On weeknights early in the season they do BOGO tickets – making it the perfect holiday activity for the whole family. Dressed in all the weather gear we had packed we headed out to the slopes. Peakn’Peak has 6 runs for tubing all equipped with scream inspiring moguls. The boys raced, the girls teamed up to try to bump each other on the way down and to end our night the whole family went down in one long chain. The best part – you don’t have to walk up the hill – they have a system to drag you and the tube to the top of the hill so you can sled all night without getting tired. We also had plans to visit the _ house to see the Christmas Decorations but they never picked up the phone to confirm the hours so we bagged the visit in favor or more family hanging out time.

A winter weather storm almost prevented us from getting to Atlanta but eventually we got there just in time to see the city (but not the roads) get covered with a thin blanket of white snow which lasted till we left the day before New Year’s Eve. This year we headed over to see the Carter Center and Presidential Library. My parents are presidential library aficionados and this is one of their least favorites. I, however, enjoyed it more than the Regan or Nixon libraries, which we all visited together in November. The library focuses mostly on Carters work toward peace and the work the Carter center is doing now. You also have a chance to see Carter’s Nobel Peace Prize, Grammy and Courage awards. There is also a large traveling exhibit space which featured an exhibit on “The Working White House” chronicling the many generations that have worked at the white house. After the tour we went over to Six Feet Under, one of our favorite casual restaurants in the city – My mom, dad and I all had the fish tacos, Jeff had the vegetable plate with soup and my sister ordered her traditional po-boy. If you ever get the chance this is a great place to stop and grab a bite.