Hi!

It's Bethany.  Elizabeth has asked me to take over blogging on Out of Edwards and I will do my best to keep up the great travel advice that you are used to here!

A little about me...
We were neighbors and travel buddies with Jeff and Elizabeth at Edwards until we both moved on to new assignments.  If you are a long-time reader, you might remember my posts about Mammoth, Orange County and Hawaii.  Dan and I spent the last 4 years in Oklahoma City, which is a nice place to live, but doesn't have quite the travel destinations of California.  We are headed back to California in July, and we are very excited!  This time we will be in Monterey, CA so hopefully this will round out the blog nicely with some Northern California destinations.  There is a lot to do right on the Monterey Peninsula, so I hope to review my soon-to-be favorite local places as well.  We also love to hike and camp, so we will likely incorporate some more outdoor activities, as well as possibly some gear reviews for camping and travel as well.

Looking forward to sharing our travels with you!


B

Out of Edwards Reboot!

As you probably know, I'm currently out of the country and blogging at Dutch, Dutch, Goose!.
Meanwhile, Out of Edwards continues to get quite a bit of traffic and e-mails about itineraries.

Luckily for you, one of my best friends and frequent guest bloggers, Bethany, will be taking over around here.  After a brief absence, Bethany and her husband are headed back to California and can't wait to start traveling the west coast again.

In the coming weeks we hope to give the blog a bit of a face lift so you can find those trip ideas and itineraries you have been looking for.

Bethany already has some great trips planned so stay tuned for more adventures!

So Long...Afscheid!

Well we are off on our next adventure to the Netherlands! I've lined up some guest bloggers to do a few posts, so the list of fun things to do will continue to grow.

We will still be blogging regularly, just at our new home. You can follow us on our Expat blog, Dutch Dutch Goose.

Searching for Proper Barbecue - Colorado to Georgia

Quite literally in the middle of Kansas, 600 feet below the surface of Hutchinson, a Strataca Salt Mine tour guide asked me if I enjoyed Roy's BBQ for lunch. Bemused, I learned that Roys has such a distinct smell and the salt mine is devoid of smells, so tour guides quickly learn this approach with tourists. Strataca and Roys, or odd sites and barbecue were the treats on this road trip but the underlying purpose was for a move.

Michael at the Strataca Salt Mine.

My father-in-law (Michael) and I were in Kansas because our calling was to relocate one of our cars from Monument, Colorado to Atlanta, Georgia. The four-day journey was punctuated with a handful of museums and a superb selection of barbecue joints.

We set out from the Denver airport in the late afternoon and drove four hours to our first waypoint in Colby, Kansas. En route, we enjoyed a picnic dinner at the surprisingly well appointed Limon Railroad Park (by donation).

Day two's first stop was the Fort Hays State Historic Park. The buildings and exhibits are very well done. For young visitors, there is a 'bison herd' across the street (with bison numbering just a few). Plan 1-2 hours at this attraction. From Fort Hays, we drove to Hutchinson, Kansas for the Strataca Salt Mine. This was a major waypoint during the trip planning: where else can you descend 600 feet into the crust of the Earth to view an active salt mine? It turns out that the salt vein stretches into New Mexico, but this is the best way to get up-close to the operation.

An industrial elevator carries both workers and tourists down under. The tourist portion of the mine is sectioned off for safety. Tourists get to see dioramas containing mining equipment and the blasting techniques used to excavate salt from the mine - the salt is used mainly for ice removal. The underground gift shop has free wifi and there are a couple of add-ons for your visit. Tourists can ride the mine train in a loop that shows more of the mine or you can book a seat on the tram tour, which also shows more of the mine.

BBQ is an American treasure.

The Strataca Salt Mine was such a great stop that Michael and I decided to check out the other local Hutchinson attraction: the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. We expected a couple of planes and some cheap displays but we were instead treated to a plethora of rare air and space artifacts. The museum's motto, "Out of this World. Right in the Heart of Kansas" is an appropriate saying. Aside from the Smithsonian collection, the Kansas Cosmosphere impressed me more than any air and space museum I have seen (including the National Museum of the USAF, Seattle's Museum of Flight and many others). To quantify my claim, know that the museum collection contains a spacecraft from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo (Liberty Bell 7, Gemini 10 and Apollo 13).

Ending a big second day of the trip in Wichita gave us the opportunity to ride the free downtown tram to Old Town where we enjoyed excellent pizza and local brews at Public.

Day three was a 450 mile push from Wichita to Little Rock but we found time for a few diversions. The first was Fort Smith National Historic Site where Michael was able to purchase his National Park System Senior Pass. Ten bucks gets you free access to all National Park properties for the rest of your life (seniors include those 62 and over). The Fort Smith prison, gallows and courtroom are all available for viewing. Kids love romping around the grounds to see the out-buildings and the neighboring Arkansas River. Tip: Pick up lunch at the Garrison Pointe Market, which is walking distance from Fort Smith (it is in a gas station, but those who know of the Whoa Nellie Deli know the deal). In Little Rock, we tried Sims BBQ but were thoroughly disappointed. 

Elvis's Birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Day four's drive was from Little Rock to Atlanta. The main diversion was Elvis's Birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi. Most fans visit Graceland but I found ticket prices there to be obscenely expensive. The Tupelo museum and home were small enough to visit in 1-2 hours and were right on our route to Atlanta. In Tupelo, we tried and liked BBQ by Jim. This joint was a meat and two sides type of place with excellent sauce and a family-focused orientation.

TripTips:

1. Stock the car with cold beverages and healthy snacks.

2. Plan activities in cities between your lodging locations. Most attractions do not open until 9am or 10am, so you will lose lots of drive time if you stick around in a city to do something there.

3. Picnic when you can to save costs.

4. A newspaper or magazines in the car give you something to chat about with your trip partner(s).

I'm Finally On BlogLovin!

Better Late Than Never ... I suppose.

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Rest & Relaxation at Amelia Island with Toddlers.

If you read this blog regularly you know we are not really "beach vacation" people. My parents invited us to go with them to the Ritz Carlton at Amelia Island and honestly we could not say no.

Our Picnic Lunch Location 

We did the six hour drive in almost exactly six hours. We stopped briefly for lunch, asking the friendly cashier at our bathroom stop to recommend a park in the area. We ended up by a river with a large picnic shelter and a playground. We were in and out so fast I did not catch the name of the park.

Pirate Scavenger Hunt 

Turns out the Ritz Carleton has a ton to offer for the little ones. Although our kids are too little for the Ritz Kids program, several things each day are available for all the kids when accompanied by their parents. Fish feeding, mid-morning story time, evening scavenger-hunts and pirate toasts filled our days. (The pirate toast even included drinks for the adults!)

Game Room 

The game room and movie-theater are open most of the day and offered a good diversion when we had some time to burn between other activities. The ritz kids room has a huge fish tank as well if you just need to kill a few minutes.

The beach on Amelia Island is lovely.. Its nice to be able to go to the beach first thing and play in the tide pools and look for shells and later come down and play in the shallow waves at high-tide, without dragging all our stuff down to and from the beach each time.

We saw dolphins almost every morning playing just off shore. The dune tortuous was easily spotted from the boardwalks and a few times we even saw them crossing the beach.  Early mornings meant seeing lots of birds catching fish and small crabs.

The pool has a great kids area. The water is only a few inches deep with a few splash items. The kids loved running around in this little pool. The larger pool was also a big hit, but required more adult supervision. Its 3-4ft deep all the way around with lots of space and stairs. The perfect place to tire out the kids!

The one thing the Ritz is missing is a playground, but they are plentiful on the island. We took the car out one afternoon and found three great playgrounds just on our drive across the island to Fernandina Beach. We got out to walk around a bit in Fernandina and find some postcards. There is a cute toy store the kids loved, along with several stores with bubble machines. The trains come into the port at this end of the island. The kiddos enjoyed seeing the giant cranes and all the rail cars.


We decided to upgrade to the club level. The club serves food and drinks, basically, all-day. This ended up being perfect for us. We did not have to worry about packing snacks for the kids or about meals. We mostly just grabbed food at the club when we were hungry. There was plenty to make small meals and ended up being a huge value.

Although we like to be on the go a few days relaxing at the beach were just what we needed the week before preparing for the cross country move.

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

Today we headed up to Blue Ridge, GA to hop onto the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. It is a trip we have been scouting since H was born. Now that he is train obsessed, and his little brother has followed suit, it was the perfect time.

Arrive on time, the train leaves promptly at 11:00. (Seriously. 11:00.) There is ample street parking on the non-boarding side of the train. If you arrive early there is a playground just a few blocks away.

The train ride is lovely. We chose to be in an open air car and loved that all the seats faced outwards. The climate-controlled cars have traditional train seating that all face forward. The breeze on the train was more then enough to keep us cool. They switch everyone's seats going back, so do not worry too much which side of the train you are on.

I found this great post from Never Enough Thyme about their 2010 Blue Ridge Mountain Railway trip. It takes you turn by turn up the highlights of the railway and is worth a read if you are wondering what to expect.

Fish Trap visible from the train 

Now on to the big question. What do you do with two hours in McCaysville/Copper Hill? First, pick a place you want to go for lunch and make a reservation. If your train is full the restaurants in town are going to be swamped. We chose to make a 12:30 reservation at El Rio, the Mexican restaurant in town. The food was good, not the best we have ever had, but very good. We were glad to have a reservation, which we made the night before, as places got crowded.

Standing on the GA/TN Line 

View from City Park

We walked across the bridges in town,  took pictures on the state line and walked to the City Park in Copper Hill. The train hands out maps and the park is clearly marked. There is a small playground, a totem pole and a dock. This was more then enough to entertain our kids for 30 min. On our way back to the train we hit the rock shop, which was a huge hit with the boys. The train gift shop had some postcards, a big draw to send to H's little pen-pals. Had we more time, we could have grabbed ice cream or watched them make fudge. There were also a few little stores that looked cute, although window shopping with kids is not always fun.

City Park Playground 

Two-hours seems like a lot, but the time went quickly. We were back to the train at 10'till. The train pulled out of station at 2pm, leaving at least one person from our car at the station. We inquired what would happen to the person and were told their family could drive up later to fetch them. The railroad will also come get you for a $25 fee.

The ride home seems to go by quickly. Most of our train car was in a daze or asleep on the way back. When we arrived back in Blue Ridge, it was hotter then Hades, so we didn't hang around for too long.

If your driving back to Atlanta consider stopping at one of the apple picking places. We stopped at the Panorama Farm Market. They have a plethora of treats - mostly apple themed. They do have ice cream, old fashioned candy, dried fruit, fried apple pies and apple slushies. We got a variety of treats to share on the way home.

Oh and we grabbed some post cards for H to send to his friends back home... that's how all good trips end.