Every year my family rents a house and goes on vacation. This year I found a house in Myrtle Beach. The house was on the water about a block away from the beach and had the most amazing views. The house literally had everything we needed…jacuzzi, paddle boards, kayaks, fishing poles, golf carts, fuze ball, ping pong, bikes, air hockey, tiki bar, grills, fire pits, etc. We didn’t do a bunch of activities this year. I was so pressed for a break, it was nice to just be away with family for a few days. We always have such a good time together.

Here’s a link to the house: https://abnb.me/ADt0klMphjb

The girls and I recently went to Lake Norman, NC for an extended weekend getaway. This trip was so fun and relaxing! Lake Norman is about 20 minutes outside of Charlotte. We were supposed to drive down, but because of my crazy work schedule, we found cheap round trip flights to Charlotte. From DCA to Charlotte, tickets were about $130.

The house:
We rented a dope 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom lake house on Airb&b that was perfect for our group. There are some beautiful homes on Airb&b but we picked this one because it was affordable and had a lot of amenities. Because of Covid, we knew we would spend more time in the house than usual, so we were looking for something that was comfy but also had things to do. The pictures do it no justice. The house was beautifully decorated and had everything we could have needed. The hot tub, fire pit and view were my favorite features, but they also offered paddle boards, kayaks and grills. Brenell and Milo were awesome hosts. The provided a guide for the house as well as things to do, places to shop and eat in Lake Norman. You can check out the lake house here: abnb.me/XYOf33rwRfb

Things to do:
​Rent a chartered boat. A family friend is a member of the yacht club but you can find options on www.getmyboat.com
Hang out in downtown Davidson - cute little shops and restaurants
Day trip to Charlotte
Hike Grandfather Mountain
Visit a winery (Raylen, Childress or Shadowline)

Places to eat:
Eddies on the Lake - American seafood - good food and drinks
131 Main - American- delicious food
Havana 33 - Cuban - amazing food and mojitos
Davidson Wine Co. - Urban Winery - decent brunch
Table 31
Hello Sailor
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Tulum was a hidden gem until recently.  My friend, an ICU nurse and I decided that once the Covid rates dropped, we were going on vacation. We worked hard and deserved it.  Mexico was reopening with no travel restrictions so Tulum seemed like the perfect choice. This was my 2nd trip to Tulum. My one rule for going to a destination again is to not do the same things I did the first time. My goal for this trip was to find all the insta-worthy backgrounds I could find and I think I did a good job. 

Ok so here's the Tea.  Tulum is about 2 hours from Cancun.  Catch a cheap flight into Cancun and pre-arrange for airport transportation to Tulum.  It should cost you less than $100 roundtrip.  

The condo zone is called Aldea Zama.  If you are renting an Airb&b, I would recommend staying here. It's a short cab ride to the hotel zone and downtown.  If you are staying in a hotel, you are in the midst of restaurants, shops and beach clubs, you don't really need to venture far unless you want to experience downtown.  Both times I traveled to Tulum, I stayed in an Airb&b so I can't really recommend a hotel.

Restaurants

• Kitchen Table - dope vibe, delicious food.
• Rosa Negra - upscale, dope vibe, craft cocktails, amazing food, $$$
• Casa Malca (Pablo Escobar's Mansion) - artsy, super dope, decent food and drinks
• Burrito Amor - good for quick food and drinks
• Kin Toh - the nest restaurant in Azulik, amazing views and atmosphere, $$$
• Delcielo - breakfast, super fresh and organic
• Raw Love - smoothie spot where the giant tree man statue is (Ahua Resort)

Beach Clubs

• Coco Beach Club or Coco Limited - one of my faves, cute, great service, chill
  
• Ziggy's -make sure you get the Sangria, super chill, lots of families
• Nomade - bougie but has lots of photo ops, food was decent
• Selina - stopped here for photos and drinks, excess seaweed on the beach

You can also grab food from the beach clubs which was convenient because that's where we spent most of our time during the day.

Excursions

• Go zip-lining and ATVing in the jungle.  
• Visit the ruins.
• Swim in a Cenote.  Cenote de Ojos or Casa de Tortugas are pretty close to downtown.  Some of them are pretty far out and can turn into an all day trip.

I usually book excursions through Trip Advisor.  I don't know, I just feel like my payment is more secure and people are usually brutally honest about their experience in the reviews.

Also, I've been asked about our Airb&b. It was cute condo over looking the jungle of Tulum, within walking distance of downtown. You can book directly www.nocturnatulum.com or follow them on IG @nocturnatulum. Our host was great! She arranged for airport transportation, bike rentals, taxi services and a private chef @richy.zapata.

Every year, my family tries to go on a vacation together. Last year, we were looking for something domestic because of Covid. I could only imagine trying to travel internationally with 16 people and the nightmare it would be. I found this beach house in Ocean Isles on Airb&b and instantly fell in love. We spent a few nights there last August and it was the perfect house for a large group.

The house is humongous, beautifully decorated and clean. It's also beach front which made for amazing sunrises and sunsets on the deck. The house has 9 rooms and 9.5 bathrooms, an elevator, 3 stoves, 3 refrigerators, 3 dishwashers, a pool, outdoor bar and gas grills. The house literally had everything we needed, so we barely left. We went to the grocery store and liquor store to stock up and cooked most of our meals in the house which was perfect because going out with such a large group would have been a hassle.

Ocean Isles is about 30 minutes from Myrtle Beach so we ventured out to the outlets. We also went to the go kart track one day and rented jet skis another. We literally had a ball and I can't wait for our next trip. I found a house in Myrtle Beach for this summer that I'm pretty excited about.

So many people have asked me about this house. You can book on Airb&b https://www.airbnb.com or book directly and possibly avoid some fees by calling Farag Hospitality Group @ 843-408-1073.