2015 Vacation: The Beach with Kids

Several people have asked me about our beach experience with a baby and toddler. Was it worth it? How did we manage? That kind of thing. So I thought I would share a bit about how we made it work and whether we would do it again.

 

When it was just Daniel and I, we would occasionally vacation at the beach but we rarely got in the water. We were content to bike and take long walks on the beach. And we typically went to the beach in the winter to avoid crowds (you won't see us at Disney World any time soon).

With kids, we have discovered that vacations are easier if we actually embrace the beach and take advantage of the water and sand (though we still try to go right after peak season –late summer/early fall– to avoid crowds). Most kids are content to splash in the water and dig all day. Jack (age 3.5) is no exception and would spend every day digging if he could. The beach offers endless sand for this purpose.

Here are some ways we have found that make vacations to the beach with children a little easier:
Our best tip for planning vacations is to decide on a budget before you get started. We have learned that this saves us a lot of frustration (this is a good idea whether or not you have kids). When Daniel and I start on the same page regarding how much we are willing to spend, we don't spend valuable vacation time fighting over the cost of restaurants or outings. Plus with a cap, I don't think we have ever spent the entire amount we have allocated. With kids we spend less money because we spend the majority of our time on the actual beach playing.

One thing we have relied on (for the last 10+ years) is the website vrbo.com (Vacation Rental By Owner). We always book last minute to get the best deals. Daniel is great at calling potential rentals and negotiating a cheaper rate. We have discovered that you have more negotiation power when 1) you are not set on a specific location, and 2) you are willing to go last minute. With kids we think that being right on the beach, with quick access to the water, is ideal (more on that below).

Besides negotiating price, we also ask about the flexibility of check-in and check-out times. On vrbo.com you can see the booking calendar and if you know that no one is checking out the day you are checking in, you can generally ask to arrive early. It's the same with leaving. If you can ask to check out a little later, it makes a world of difference. This year we had a noon check-out instead of 10am. With kids, the extra two hours made a big difference. We had time to go down to the beach one last time. Time to walk Sophie. Time for everyone to get cleaned up without having to rush out the door.

Another way we take advantage of the beach is to book lodging right on the water. On our first trip to Destin with Jack, we were in a condo that was across the street from the beach. This meant lugging all of our gear down to the water, and having to lug it back. We had to plan more and pack more items (like lunch and lots of snacks) so we could take full advantage of the beach. The last two years we stayed right on the beach and it made a world of difference. We could run in and out of our house or condo at our leisure. We could easily take Isaac back inside if he was getting fussy while the other parent stayed with Jack. We found that we were in and out at the beach all day long instead of making one big, arduous trip to and from the beach each day.

For gear we used a small float with sunshade for Isaac and a puddle jumper for Jack. Jack really just needed shovels and buckets to be happy. Having a mat to sit on was nice and we figured with the outdoor shower at our condo, we didn't have to drag towels down to the water with us. 

We do wish we had a large pop-up tent (or umbrella) and chairs. My sister had these things in her arsenal last summer when we went to Mexico Beach and it made sitting on the beach more enjoyable (we are learning!).

With Isaac being 4 months old, there were definitely some challenges – Isaac would get hot and we were always trying to keep him shaded so he wouldn't burn. But overall, we are glad we went. The beach is a great place for young kids and worth the challenge of a baby.

Our days went like this: 
Sleep in. Eat breakfast. Go to the beach for a couple of hours. Get cleaned up. Go somewhere for lunch. Go back to the beach (Daniel and I took turns taking Isaac back inside and playing with Jack). Get cleaned up for dinner. Take a walk on the beach as a family after dark. Go to bed. Repeat. 

Besides having a laid-back schedule that didn't wear everyone out, breaking up our day like this meant that we had lots of built-in potty breaks for Jack.

The biggest things we have embraced are 1) you need a budget, 2) lodging on the beach is ideal, 3) you don't need a lot of stuff (swimsuits and sunblock, check) and you don't have to do a lot of activities to have happy kids, and 4) we need to invest in some beach specific gear like a tent and chairs.

I think my best advice would just be to keep it simple, and if you forget anything, I'm sure you can find a Walmart or Target (we did!).

The Great North Woods

Daniel and I have been discussing taking a trip for a while, our babymoon I guess. I really wanted to travel internationally, but Daniel would prefer to stay closer to home. His idea of a vacation would be to stay at home and work {play} in the garage. But he married me and my idea of vacation is to go far, far away to somewhere I have never been before.

So after much research, we decided to stay in the US and drive to our destination. We started with a long list of options, mostly in Colorado {we wanted to be near mountains}, but we also considered New England {both areas of the country are around 1,300 miles from where we live}. Other considerations were that we wanted to take Sophie with us. 

Commence research central. We looked into the possibility of using some of Daniel's family's Disney Vacation points. Disney is very family friendly but not dog friendly AT ALL. They have reciprocity with resorts throughout the US but none in Colorado allowed dogs and only a couple of resorts in New England did. After talking to family and realizing it was going to eat a lot of points, we looked into other alternatives.

VRBO has been our friend for many years. There are always dog-friendly options and renting a house is much more appealing than being stuck in a condo or hotel room with people on the other side of the wall. We were getting low on time so we found our best options in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and contacted a variety of places. We looked at places that were ocean front and lake front and in the mountains. We finally settled on a quaint house in Quechee, Vermont, close to the White Mountains. 

Now we just have to finalize plans of what we will do when we get there as well as pack and prepare for the trip north. We are really excited about this trip. My main concern was not waiting until I was really pregnant – I want to be able to enjoy our trip. One of the reasons we ultimately ruled out Colorado was concern about altitude. It would suck to get all the way out there and then have an adverse reaction to altitude {we live at 600 feet and I have no idea how 7,000 feet plus would affect me}.

I am also hoping that while hiking, we can bag several high points in New England.

Gatlinburg Recommendations

If you plan on visiting Gatlinburg in the near future, I thought I would toss out a couple of recommendations based on Daniel's birthday weekend.

First of all, we got a smoking deal on a cabin through www.vrbo.com. We have been using Vacation Rental By Owner {VRBO} for the last 5+ years and always manage to find excellent places to stay. This year we discovered that you can get some good deals by waiting until the last minute and then requesting a discount. Another reason we like VRBO is that you can search for pet friendly places to stay.

This past weekend we stayed at the Apple Tree House in the Arts and Crafts area of Gatlinburg. It was $75/night plus a cleaning fee which brought our total to $206 for two nights. This is a one bedroom cabin that sleeps six {there is a king size bed, a futon and a pull out couch}. This cabin also boasts a game room, kitchen, hot tub and two full bathrooms {more than we needed}. It is a kid and pet friendly cabin. We would definitely recommend it. Our only negatives are no wifi {you can plug your lap top into the wall}, the TVs are small and no washer/dryer. But for the price, we give this cabin a thumbs up.

I already wrote about Bluff Mountain Adventures, but if you are looking to ride four wheelers, this is a great deal. Good price and a fun, guided ride. Definite thumbs up.

As for restaurants...

Friday we ate at the River's End Restaurant in the Nantahala River Gorge at NOC. It is a favorite for the views. We are fans of the food and stop whenever we get a chance.
 

Saturday we ate breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House. Daniel has been coming here his entire life and we have been coming together for the last 10 years. It is one of our favorite breakfast spots.
 

Saturday night, we tried Big Daddy's Pizzeria in Pigeon Forge. They are a brick oven pizzeria with fresh-made artisan doughs. This was the first time we had eaten here and we give it a thumbs up.

 

If you are in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, we would recommend all of these places.