Happy Birthday to sister # 2!

Happy Birthday to you!

wierd fact: our mom & dad had 6 kids (no, that's not the wierd part!)

~ of the 6, 1/2 were born in the month of September
~ of the 6, 1/2 were born on minor holidays (St. Patricks, Labor & Columbus days)

That's all...wierd, no?

Oh...and 2 of the 6 have birthdays 1 day apart...well, actually 2 years and 1 day apart!

Anything wierdly interesting about your family make up?

Games

One of the things we love to do when we get together on our family vacations is to play games. The oldest sister taught us Bunco a number of years ago...it's now a must-play for the family vacations. The kids love it! They love to roll those dice as fast as they can. They love to win little prizes. They hate losing! We play it nearly every night.

Do you know how to play? If not, check out the rules here. This is a great game for a larger gathering. http://www.worldbunco.com/rules.html

Helen GA: West Family Restaurant

Food...it plays a large part of a great vacation, doesn't it? We've been to some wonderful restaurants...and some lousy ones! I remember one in/near Helen, GA. It was/is a family-style restaurant called West Family Restaurant. The 5 of us sisters went. They had a buffet but I think we all decided to order off the menu. Granted, they were busy...but our waitress was simply lousy! It took forever to get our order taken. When she brought out our food, She no idea who ordered waht. She didn't even notice that one of us had NOTHING! No food at all! We had to call her back over and ask where the order was...and she didn't know.

Now, several of us sisters have worked in the restaurant business...waitressing, hostessing, fast food...we know what it's like. We know when someone is trying their best but are just too busy to do it all. We know when someone just doesn't care.

In the end, guess what tip another sister left her?

A TIP: FIND ANOTHER LINE OF WORK!!!

Helen, GA 1999

How did we decide to go to Helen? One of us sisters had heard about it from some co-workers. They loved it! A nice little Alpine village in northern GA. We checked it out on the internet and it looked good...things to do, places to eat, and places to shop...yup, that's our criteria!

I booked the hotel room through my Entertainment book...seemed like a good deal. Small room. With a roll-a-way. Remember, there are 5 of us...so a room with 2 beds is not enough! We barely fit the roll away in it. Four drawers in the dresser. One sink - but at least that was no in the same tiny room as the shower & toilet. We made it work. NOTE: always remember to bring air freshener on vacations!!!

Somewhere around day 3, we discovered that our peep hole in the door was turned around! Think about it...that means that someone outside the door could look into the room...and we wouldn't be teeny tiny! Yikes...yup, we covered that baby up!

The best place we ate at was the Edelweiss Restaurant...absolutely delicious! Both the food & the coffee!

We made special t-shirts for this, our 2nd SOV (sisters on vacation) trip. On the back they said "sisters on vacation". And people would read this and still ask "Are you all sisters?" Yup, here's your sign!

Overall, we had a good time. More later about Helen GA.

Umbrella Dance in Dillsburo, NC 2001

I haven't blogged yet about Dillburo, have I? It was one of our destinations a few years ago. I believe that the 3 of us Michigan gals passed through it on our drive home from Helen, GA. We thought it looked like a really nice little town. And it is!! We convinced the others that we should go here. We did a number of things this trip...but at nights, there was very little to do - all the shops closed! So, one night, we were taking a walk in the drizzle...we stopped near the train station and did the Umbrella Dance...

What else did we do this trip? We went to Maggie Valley and did dinner and a show - "Sweet Carolina Nights". This was promoted as a buffet dinner...but was really more cafeteria style. You carried a plate and they asked what you wanted...you did not serve yourself. But it was still good food. The show was fine.... I remember that there was this one gal who gave all of us the impression that she was the star of all her high school musicals...but that doesn't mean that she was great! She just thought she was. However, the piano player was fantastic! We bought a cassette of his.

We wanted to do a mystery dinner ride on the Great Smokey Mountain train...but it wasn't happening the week end we were there.

We wanted to go white water rafting...but it was too cold & rainy.

We really enjoyed our Bed & Breakfast. We stayed at the Old Towne Inn where we had the Dogwood Suite. Lena, our hostess, made us some wonderful breakfasts and kept the coffee coming. Remember girls, "it's for my sister"!

On the front porch of the Olde Town Inn in Dillsburo, NC
The Olde Town Inn Bed & Breakfast - we give it a thumbs up!

Branson MO or San Antonio TX for 2009?

So, it's almost time for us sisters to start planning our next SOV trip. (That SOV stands for "sisters on vacation.) I know one sister has mentioned us all going to Texas to see her house...and then seeing San Antonio. I'm kind of wondering if we shouldn't go to Branson...and check it out before we all go there in 2010. We can check out accomodations in person! After the last couple of experiences, I'd love the chance to do this!