Our Family Vacation - Captain George's

    Admit it, you play that morbid game "What would your last meal be"?  "If you could have one last meal, what would it be? "  We all play it.  My last meal would be a never ending icy glass of Coke, and Crab, and Crab, and Crab and more Crab for dessert!  Did you figure it out yet?  I LOVE crab!

The entrance to Captain George's

    My birthday just happened to fall during our vacation stay.  My theory about my own personal birthday is that it's no big deal.... unless that is, no one properly acknowledges it!  I don't care what I do, as long as someone acknowledges that is indeed my birthday.  Christopher knows that the way to my heart is through sea food (and chocolate).  Quite often my birthday gift will be a dinner out at Red Lobster.  It's the closest place crab.

  

    This year's birthday I was at the ocean!  We asked the front desk at the hotel where they would recommend to get sea food.  Then we asked them "the telling", all important question ..."Do you eat there?"  To me the best way to find a great spot is to ask the locals.  They suggested Captain George's.  We were told the directions, but that we will find it right away because of the big ship going through the middle of it.

    I was a little cautious about "all you can eat".  In theory an all you can eat buffet is heaven.  The reality unfortunately is usually quantity over quality.  Too often the food is dry or over cooked, or just not that great.  I generally prefer to order off the menu and get something that has been made specifically for me.  I can assure you that Captain George's does not substitute quantity over quality.

Our AMAZING waiter!

    The first thing that I noticed was how stunningly beautiful the restaurant was.  It was so elegant.  The next thing that I noticed was how amazing their staff was.  I am accustomed to buffets where the waiter / waitress bring you a drink and then you don't see them again until it's time for the bill.  We had two waiters.  They kept our glasses full, and removed all of the dishes before I even knew it.  I was thoroughly impressed.  Our waiter(s) were not only amazing at their proficiency, but they were so nice and helpful.  It was impressive to see all of the waiters in the same sharp uniform also.

    We approached our dinner with the idea that it was my birthday.  Having said that, the prices were extremely reasonable.  When we went it was $30.00 an adult, children were half price and children under 4 were free.  If I had gone to local sea food restaurant it would have cost me $30.00 for a fraction of what was offered at Captain George's.  My crab portion would have been one portion of legs.

    I was amazed at the food selection that they offered.  We dined like royalty that night.  Christopher had Oysters Rockefeller (that's the only fancy thing that stands out because at that point I was in an every man for himself mode), I had maple glazed salmon, mahi mahi with a mango sauce, broccoli that was cooked to perfection, oh and my weight in crab legs.  They had big pots of your choice of melted butter or melted margarine to dip the crab in (being a purist, I chose the melted butter).  The kids loved being able to go up and pick anything that they wanted to try.  I always encourage the kids to push their comfort boundaries, and it's easier to do that with food when you know that if they don't like it, they don't have to finish it, and you don't have to pay for their chance at food exploration.

The stunning ceiling

    The food was amazing, the service was extraordinary.  There were so many items to choose from that it was difficult to try everything that you wanted to try and still have room for the things that you love.  The price was reasonable, I have only good things to say about Captain George's.

    Every single detail had been looked at in the planning of this restaurant.  Everything was immaculate, everything was beautiful.

The bathroom which is nicer than my house.

    A few years ago I went to a seminar through the school for people who helped in the school breakfast programs.  It was hosted by the local health inspector.  He discussed the best food handling procedures, everything that we would need to know to keep the children safe from food contamination. When we had finished, I asked him if there were any local restaurants that I should steer clear of.  I was only half joking.  My half joke yielded me some very interesting, very important information.  He told me that before I ordered my food to go and check out their bathrooms.  If the bathrooms weren't clean, then their kitchen would not be clean.  I am here to tell you that Captain George's washrooms were so stunning that I felt like I needed to take a picture... enough said.

    I would highly recommend Captain George's to anyone.  If I had one negative comment about it, it had nothing to do with the food, the atmosphere, or the staff.  The only negative was when we left the restaurant.  At the end of the restaurant were two gentlemen sitting surrounded by brochures.  One of them rushed to open the door for us as we were leaving.  Turns out they were selling time shares.  They were not unpleasant, as a matter of fact the one guy reminded me very much of Chris Pratt from The Office.  He was extremely pleasant and enjoyable to talk to.  There was no hard sell, but I would have rather been able to leave the restaurant still floating on air, and not having anyone try to sell me anything.

http://www.captaingeorges.com/

Our Family Vacation - Virginia Beach

    Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was "The original Lindsay's" vacation destination.  Christopher's parents had purchased a time share and would escape to the beauty of the South Carolina ocean twice a year.  I say the "Original Lindsay's" meaning Christopher's nuclear family unit from childhood.  It was a rite of passage into the family to be invited to accompany the family to Myrtle Beach.  All of us in-laws received this initiation process.  For me Myrtle Beach signaled being welcomed into to the Lindsay family.
    We continued that family tradition after we had kids.  Our last trip to Myrtle Beach was when Christopher's Dad was loosing his strength.  It is a bitter-sweet memory.  Those were some of the last days that I saw that strong man who looked after his family, who helped all of the neighbourhood seniors and widows  when he was mobile.  It was not long after that trip that the ALS really began to claim him.  I have memories of the three older kids running back and forth along the carpeted hallway to visit Grandma and Grandpa's condo unit.  They loved having that closeness that the miles normally separate.  Christopher and I have not taken the kids back since.  Elly has never seen Myrtle Beach.

    Every two years our family takes a big vacation.  This year we discussed for many hours where and when we should go.  I really felt like we should be going on the March Break.  I don't have a big problem pulling the kids out of school for a few days, but I really didn't want to take them out for a week.  Christopher conceded to my wisdom (or he realized that it may be just easier).  We discussed Myrtle Beach.  It was familiar, it was comfortable.  We wanted an escape from the cold snap that we had suffered through this winter.  It has been the coldest, longest, snowiest winter that I can remember.  I wanted warmth and I wanted the ocean.  Myrtle Beach is about a 15 hour drive for us.  Did we want to travel that far?  In the end we decided on Virginia Beach, Virginia.  It was closer than Myrtle Beach, it was warmer than home.  We knew it would not be shorts and sandals weather that awaited us, but we also knew that it would not be -20 which was the weather we were being subjected to.  We had never been to Virginia Beach and that was part of the adventure.

    Once we had made our decision on Virginia Beach, I began to investigate.  I discovered that their average temperature for that time of year that we would be there was 70 degrees (21 degrees).  I love spring weather, I was sold.  

    We arrived to Virginia Beach in a storm.  It was windy, it was raining, but there was no snow!  Over our vacation, the weather became more beautiful.  We began our vacation wearing our spring jackets and ended it in t-shirts (they had me at no snow).  We loved Virginia Beach, and I know that we have barely even scratched the surface of everything that there is to do.

    There is this beautiful board walk that travels along the beach, it's miles of boardwalk.  Every morning people took full advantage of the board walk, either biking, walking or jogging.  It was always in use.

   One of the days we rented a "family bike" to travel the boardwalk.  Like Myrtle Beach, there are coupon booklets around Virginia Beach.  There are some really great coupons to be had.  We found one that allowed us to rent a family bike for two hours for $20.00.  In my head I envisioned us cycling the path, our heads thrown back laughing not unlike a Disney Channel family.  Oh in my fantasy the kids were squealing with laugher and thanking their father and I for allowing them this amazing experience.  The reality was kind of different.
    The reality of our bike adventure began with the kids all fighting (what's new).  The family bike had this adorable little basket on the front for toddlers and four sets of peddles.  The kids all wanted to push the peddles, but only two at a time could.  There were tears and raised voices, and that was just from me.  In the end we put Elly in the front basket, and shockingly she was happy with that.  The other three we told them would each get a turn to pedal the bike.  There were whines of "He's not letting me peddle", and "I'm being squished".  I made my usual threats of "If we weren't in public you would all be sorry" through gritted teeth.  It was returned with "What did I do?" from all of them.  I almost had a nervous breakdown right then and there on the boardwalk!  For some reason someone in their infinite wisdom decided that it would be a hilarious idea to put "two" steering wheels in the front of the bike, but only have one of them actually steered.  Christopher would get distracted and be turned around to talk to one of the kids, all the while our golf cart sized bike would be headed for a bench, curb, fellow cyclist, oh put any number of objects here.  I looked like a crazed idiot, frantically grabbing my childlike toy of a steering wheel and trying to avoid the oncoming objects.  It was like when you see little toddlers in the front of those adorable shopping carts with the steering wheels, they actually think they are driving.  You might think that an intelligent person would realize after the first time that her steering wheel was there for either decoration or put there by the devil himself, but oh no.  Every single stinking time I would yank on that stupid child's plaything.
    Did I mention that the "family bike" was the size and I would guess weight of a golf cart?  Did I mention that I have zero physical fitness?  Did I mention that for optimal effectiveness everyone should pedal at the same time?  Christopher was just a cranking it out like he though he was in the Tour de France.  The pedals would smack me in the shins as my feet flew off.  From the back the kids would shout up "Why are we going so slow?  Is Mom slowing us down?"  Eventually we got a rhythm.  I stopped gleefully picturing murdering my entire family with the pedals of the bike that I had torn off in a fit of Incredible Hulk like rage.  By the time we finally found our rhythm, and the kids were sufficiently frightened enough of their lunatic mother, it was time to return the bike.  Two hours go by quickly when you are plotting the murder of your entire family.

    Had you asked me if I enjoyed the bike at the time, you would still be looking for your teeth.  Now I look back and smile a little.  It was not funny at the time, but in retrospect it was pretty funny.  It's the funny story that you tell to everyone who asks about your vacation.  It also allowed us to cover more ground than we would have walking.

    The boardwalk in and of itself is quite amazing, but every few hotels there are sculptural works of art.  It was a fun adventure to see what would come next.  There were giant fish, crabs, dolphins, any number of creatures from the sea.  The best sculpture of all was King Neptune.  It dwarfed the kids.

    Virginia Beach may very well become our "Myrtle Beach".  It was small enough to not be overwhelming, but large enough to be captivating.  We went at the exact right time.  It was quiet and lovely when we went.  I think Virginia Beach may very well become our "Myrtle Beach".

Our Family Vacation - Holiday Inn and Suites Virginia Beach

The Entrance to The Holiday Inn and Suites, Virginia Beach

    A lot of thought and research goes into the planning of our family vacations.  Some may argue that this steals away all of the spontaneity, I would argue that it allows for spontaneity and enjoyment when all of the important big things are taken care of.  Too many times I have decided to play it by ear and been bitten in the butt.  Now I research everything.  Having said all of that there are some variables to this.  I am going by photos that are online.  I look at trip advisors, but sometimes they are just written by people who like to complain, and are therefore not always accurate.  In the end I trust.  I trust that business are being honest and accurate, and then I cross my fingers and toes.

    After a lot of online research I decided to go with "Holiday Inn and Suites North Beach" in Virginia Beach for our vacation.  It had a lot to offer.  For most vacations I really like to go, go, go.  I like to explore and learn new things.  The problem with that is that we come home from vacation exhausted.  This year we decided to combine my ideal vacation (go, go, go) and Christopher's (relax).  We decided that we would like to do some exploring, and some relaxing.  The Holiday Inn offered us everything that we were looking for and then some!  

The Greenery Restaurant

     Traveling with a family of 6 is an expensive proposition (as I have shared with you in the past).  We are not able to comfortably fit everyone into one room with two beds anymore.  We now require either two rooms (which we have not yet made the jump to) or a suite.  We go with the suites as a rule because they offer us the room that we need, and a price (although usually heftier than I would care for), it is still less than two separate rooms.   I am really picky about where I will stay (just ask Christopher).  For me to stay at a hotel it has to be immaculate.  That may sound a little funny because I am a self proclaimed horrid housekeeper.  If I am paying $100.00 and more to spend the night in a hotel, it had better be immaculate.  More than a few times I have walked into a hotel and we have turned around and walked back our with our money back.  It drives Christopher crazy when I do this, but that is one of my many quirks.

       We had planned our vacation for March Break.  This time when I booked our hotel I asked the person at the reservations desk when "their" March Break was.  When we went to Disney a few years ago, we made the unfortunate mistake of not asking the right questions.  Foolishly we had assumed that everyone had "March Break", but in the States they have "Spring Break".  "Spring Break"in the States varies from the last week of March to the end of April.  We unfortunately chose American Spring Break to visit Disney... I will never repeat that mistake again.  I was assured that we were visiting in the off season.  This got us a good deal for our room.  I added the breakfast package for something like $10.00 for all of us.

Splash Kamp

    On our second day of our vacation we decided to The Crayola Experience in Easton, Pennsylvania.  The kids had an amazing day (as did we) and we ate to die for food for our dinner... BUT... it also delayed us arriving in Virginia Beach.  We drove through the darkness, arriving in Virginia Beach at 1:30 in the morning.  We pulled up to the sliding glass doors with a car full of sleeping children.  Groggily they stumbled out of the van and into the lobby.

Splash Kamp

    I entered the lobby and was delighted.  It was bright, beautifully decorated and immaculate!  The lady at the front desk greeted us warmly as we staggered through the lobby.  I knew already that I had made a wise choice in our accommodations.

Either Tinka or Tonka

    Here is what made our stay at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Virginia Beach so amazing.  It was bright and spotlessly clean, not only did it look clean, it smelled great.  There is something to be said for the fabled Southern Hospitality.  Every single person who worked there always greeted us with a big smile and a "How you doing?"  In particular there was this adorable guy who worked days who greeted us every morning with "Good Morning Room 305!"  He had this big welcoming smile that started our day off fantastic.  If we asked stupid questions, they were not treated like they were.  I encourage my children to ask questions, approach everything in life as a learning opportunity.  Riley was at one point quizzing me about the palm trees.  I told her that I didn't think that they were native to Virginia, but we should ask someone who lives there.  Riley of course was shy, so I walked up to the friendly girl behind the counter and asked about the palm trees.  She didn't know, but the grounds keeper just happened to be standing there.  Without a minute of hesitation he told us all about the palm trees, they were not native to Virginia.  Their trees were brought in from Florida.  He told us how they grew, how they wintered them.  It was wonderful.  We walked away knowing more about both palm trees and the amazing Southern hospitality.

    In addition to the amazing staff and spotless accommodations the resort offered some great amenities that had originally attracted me to the hotel in the first place.  They offer a "Splash Kamp" during their busy times (for us that was the week-end).  Parents can drop off their kids to be entertained by the staff, for ready for it ...FREE.  The girls went down twice and loved it.  They got to meet and pet the resident pet African turtles Tinka and Tonka.  They made bracelets and over all just had a blast.

The Exercise Room

    For those health conscious individuals, there is a mini gym.  The treadmills all sport mini televisions.  I am pretty sure I would consider hitting the treadmill if it had a t.v..

The Front Lobby

    The reason that I chose this hotel above all others was the movie theatre that it boasted.  On the busy times they set family movies, but at other times you can go and select one of their over 400 titles (many Disney).  It was great.  The kids LOVED it!!!!  That's right, you did not misread this, the hotel we stayed in had a mini-movie theatre.

Our Bedroom

    Our suite had two balconies.  One off of the living area, and one off of the bedroom.  We were lulled to sleep by the crash of the ocean.  It was beautiful.  Every morning I stood out on the balcony and watched what I suspect were schools of dolphins dancing along the coastline.  They were only mere feet from the shoreline.

This picture was taken from our balcony

The view from our balcony

    In the mornings we went out the back of the hotel to play at the ocean.  The temperature was spring like and glorious.  Instead of our bulky winter jackets we were playing in spring jackets.

The view of the hotel from the ocean

    The kids loved the indoor lazy river and Christopher loved the hot tub.  In the warmer weather there is also an outdoor pool.

    Over the next few days as you read my vacation blogs and scroll through my almost endless pictures, you will notice that we appear to always be wearing the same outfits.  Your eyes do not deceive you, we are.  The other wonderful thing about this hotel is the laundry room.  It allowed me the freedom to pack lightly.  Did I mention that it was FREE?  I just had to supply my own detergent, sweet deal.

Elly photo bombed the shot of the computer room.

    So here it is the reasons why I would highly recommend staying at the Holiday Inn and Suites at the Virginia Beach, North Beach.  

#1.  The Staff.  The staff were amazing.  They were friendly and helpful and everything that you could want in a vacation staff.

#2.  The ocean.  The hotel sat on the shore of the ocean.  We went to sleep to the sound of crashing waves, we awoke to see schools of dolphins frolicking.

#3.  The movie theatre.  Fun entertainment for the kids, included in the accommodations.

#4.  Splash Kamp.  This is a great "free" program for the hotel guests.  We did not use it as a free baby sitting service (although I'm sure you could), we used it to enhance our children's vacation fun.

#5.  Free laundry room.  This allowed me to pack lightly and have the kids still always clean.

#6.  The hotel boasts three restaurants.  There is a fancy one, an extremely informal one and then the breakfast restaurant.  Our breakfast on the busy days was an all you can eat breakfast buffet.  On the slower days we were able to order from the menu.  Basically the three restaurants allowed you to never have to leave the hotel unless you wanted to.

#7.  The amazing indoor pool.  It was beautiful to look at and the kids had a blast playing.

#8.  Location!  It is at a great location.  It's minutes from everything, and yet at the far end of the beach which means that it is also quiet.  It's right on the boardwalk and the boardwalk allows you to walk the length of the beach.

#9.  Free Computer usage.  There was a room full of computers for the guests to use, with a printer.  That allowed me to check my email without having to pack my laptop.

#10.  Price.  Because we stayed in their off season we were able to secure an amazing price!  For the week days we paid $170.00 a night.  This included our breakfasts and our stay in a large suite.  It included the use of all of the amazing amenities.  

The view from our balcony

    It is by unanimous family vote that we will most definitely be returning to Virginia Beach for March Break.  It was quiet and beautiful, it was everything that we could desire in a vacation destination.  We also have agreed that we will most definitely be staying at the Holiday Inn and Suites!

http://www.vboceanfrontnorth.com/