1st of many trips to Mad Beach
Home → Cartersville, GA → Madeira Beach, FL → Monteagle, TN → Home
Lodging
Around Town
What We Did
We left after work at 4:50pm CDT. The estimated arrival time was 2:48am on June 3rd. Our first leg was to a wedding in central Georgia. The first inflight movie was Trolls. We didn't make may stops on this first leg, except for bathroom and food, boys did great in the car.
We arrived at our first hotel at 3:04am EDT. We unpacked enough to get some sleep before the boys were awake again at 8am. We went to get breakfast at Chick-fil-A, because when in GA you have to get Chick-fil-A, or real reasoning, we don't have it at home, and those are the only types of chains we eat at on vacation. We then went on the search to find a mall to buy some wedding shoes for O & T. Until T outgrew his shoes and clothes, he would refer to these as his wedding clothes/shoes any time he would wear them. We headed back to the room for naps for a long night ahead. T never fell asleep, and the older two boys went and hung out in their aunt and uncle's room. We got ready for the wedding and got on a shuttle at 3:20pm for the 30-minute ride to the wedding venue. T fell asleep on the way to the venue. The venue was beautiful, near a large pond, with the reception in the same area. And of course the bride and her mother were just as equally beautiful, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect, especially for early June in Central Georgia. The boys couldn't wait to get on the dance floor and dance the night away. A caught the garter at the garter toss, and we partied until the last shuttle was picking us up to take us back to our hotel; he fell asleep on the way. C and the littles headed back early when the littles were getting too tired.
The next morning, we all got up, repacked our bags, and said goodbye to Memaw and Papa and were on the road to head down to Madeira Beach, Florida. We left around 10am and stopped at the Buc-ee's we saw when we got into town the night before, and we should have stopped at 3am rather than around 1pm; it took us 30 minutes just to get out of the parking lot. It was very overwhelming for all of us! Just before 5pm we arrived in Florida at the visitor center, which we came to find out closed at 5pm. Who knew? We got the boys orange juice, and back on the road we went. We finally arrived at the hotel at 10pm. Outside of the Florida Welcome Center, we only stopped for food and bathrooms. Again, the boys did great.
After one night, we decided we needed a larger room or suite for 5 people, with T no longer in a travel crib. All 3 boys shared the pull-out couch, but it was very tight. We woke up and headed down to the beach for the first time. At Archibald Park, you are able to rent an umbrella and/or chairs. At lunch, we walked to the Lucky Lizard, which was within walking distance of the beach and hotel. I had the ahi tuna tacos, and C had the Cuban. Both were very delicious. After lunch, we walked back to the hotel for naps, then went to Winn-Dixie, which was within walking distance, for groceries for the week for making sandwiches, breakfast, and snacks. There was also a dollar store next door, and we bought a couple of beach toys for the boys. That night we ordered pizza and had it delivered and had a movie night in after a few long days/late nights of celebrating and traveling.
Woke up and ate breakfast in the room and got ready for the beach. Putting on sunscreen with a makeup brush on faces is a lifesaver; it is so easy to apply to the boys' faces. We walked down to the beach around 10am and stayed for about 2 hours again until lunchtime. We had ham and cheese back in the hotel room, then naps. After naps, we spent the evening walking John's Pass and had Crabby's on the Pass for dinner. We decided on an evening at the beach, so after dinner we walked back down to the beach, and then for evening entertainment, we had popcorn and a movie in the room.
We woke up and took to the beach again; we had donuts in the room beforehand and went to the beach until lunchtime. After lunch, it was naps and then getting ready to go to Smugglers Cove for mini golf. O got a hole-in-one! We had Daqeri Shak for dinner. Both were within walking distance. Nobody was very hungry, so we just ordered appetizers for dinner.
We got up for our last day on the beach, and that day the boys made a friend and worked on building a sandcastle. We ate at the Shake Shak for lunch; it is right on the beach, then back to the room for naps. I went and walked the shops that were near the hotel for some quiet alone time. After naps, we went to John's Pass for ice cream and were on the lookout for shell necklaces. We ate at Sea Dog Brewery in Largo/Treasure Island Cove. Again, we just ordered appetizers. We went back to the beach for one last time. O loved the ocean from the beginning, and T was getting braver and braver each time we went. We had an apprehension of T touching the sand, so we got him water shoes, but he would insist on taking them off as soon as he got to the sand each time. ***Update: September and October 2024, two hurricanes hit this area. These shops have since closed, and a large sign says a large hotel is being built in this location. The Shake Shak is also currently closed at the time of this update. ***
We woke up, had a quick breakfast, and packed up to leave. We stopped at Waffle House for lunch. After lunch we were in stop/go traffic. With 48 miles to our last hotel stop, we got in more stop/go traffic. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for dinner, took it to the hotel, and went to sleep.
On our last day on the road, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel before getting on the road. We stopped in South Pittsburg, TN, at Big Bad Breakfast at the Lodge Cast Iron factory outlet store and museum. We then stopped at a liquor store before leaving to get some beer we couldn't get back at home and had left the back hatch open, and we ended up losing two suitcases out the back in the parking lot; the boys thought this was hilarious. We drove to Metropolis, IL, but a Superman festival was going on, and we were ready to get home, so we decided to not stop. So for a photo op/leg stretch, we went to Fort Massac, then to C's hunting spot, which his family has hunted at for many, many years.
Planned vs. What Happened
If We Did It Again
"Fell in love with the small beach town with walking distance of the beach."
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