Hometown Tourists

One of our favorite things to do is to explore the place where we live. Why not? It's a lot cheaper than going somewhere for vacation. So yesterday we went out and about to take Christmas pictures and see the sites.

The Gaylord hotel is all decorated for Christmas already and GREAT for photo ops. Aside from $10 parking, the rest is free. And a very friendly security guard took our picture, and also told us alllllll about his miniature Schnauzers. I am holding off on the photos, though; in case we actually do get Christmas cards sent out this year, I don't want to spoil it for you.

Then we went to Great Wolf Lodge, which was not decorated but we scouted it out anyway. And hey, free parking! If you are looking for a Disney-esque experience close to home, this is it! A giant indoor waterpark, lots of cool things for kids to do, restaurants, a spa, etc... it is really amazing. I can't wait for Finn to get big enough to enjoy it!

The biggest surprise of the day, for me at least, was the Christmas extravaganza at Bass Pro Shop. They have Santa's workshop and a Christmas village set up, and although we were not there at the right time to see Santa, it was cool in a really fun, vintage kind of way. There was lots of fun stuff for kids - shooting arcade, remote control cars, coloring and letters to Santa... and everything is free! Plus the usual Bass Pro stuff like the big fish tank and rattlesnakes and stuffed game animals. They also have a restaurant and snack bar. It was very impressive and if you are looking for a place to see Santa before Thanksgiving, this is it! The 4x6 picture is free (and the package of photos is just $20) and everyone there was super nice. Plus, the gift shopping is a lot like Cracker Barrel, with old-fashioned toys & candies and such.

So that was our big day out. It was fun, cheap and close to home. What more could you want? Sorry but you'll have to wait on pictures, just in case we actually do manage to send out the aforementioned Christmas cards.