Happy FRIYAY Friends!

It’s the last day of August and FALL will be upon us soon (praise God from whom all blessings flow), but as promised via instagram here I am attempting to provide some details of our extremely “extra” Horschig family vacation in memory of a great 2018 summer.  I am completely unashamed in saying that we went GLAMPING and y’all it was hands down one of the best experiences I’ve ever had camping in the primetime season of sun.  Any memories related to summer months tent camping propel my brain straight back to one billion degree Texas, suck the life out of you, heat summer upon summer at church camp (just thinking about it makes me clammy), and although there are times I would love to go back to the sweat drenched days at Camp Deer Run (send your kids to this camp, it will change their life, it did mine) with the most wonderful people in the world. . . I’ll pass on waking up in a pool of my own perspiration without a real shower in sight still smack dab in the piney woods of East Texas. . . for vacation.  In my mind the only way you can consider it true camping is if you pitch a tent and you are forced to use the bathroom somewhere other than a five step walk from your bed.  No offense to anyone who owns an RV, but parking a legitimate home on wheels at a campsite where you can cleanse yourself completely and relieve yourself all in the same place is not necessarily camping.  I mean, I support this tiny living movement, but if you call this camping we may need to have a gracious, kind, informative conversation.

Anywho, when we began the planning process for an awesome vacay, Justin found this incredible, absolutely random, glamping insta profile. What is glamping? According to Urban dictionary it’s luxury camping and by more proper definition Merriam-Webster says: outdoor camping with amenities and comforts (such as beds, electricity, and access to indoor plumbing) not usually used when camping.  Now the safe, cautious, dependent adventurer part of me does not usually respond this way, but I immediately said “LET’S DO IT!”  There are a number of perks to this glamorous camping situation.

1. LOCATION:  There are two different Florida State Parks that provide luxury camping.  We chose to stay at Grayton State Beach Park which is about 2 miles from Seaside, FL (now I could go on and on about one of the most adorable places on earth, but I’ll just tell you to read my precious insta friend, Emily’s, blogpost on that HERE) and this was HUGE to us, because being just outside of the tourist crazy and not having to spend every penny that we owned to stay IN Seaside right on the beach helped me sleep at night.
2. AIR CONDITIONED TENT:  Why in the world would I say NO to cold, refreshing air INSIDE of a tent over hot, sweaty, grimy, and humid air after a day in the sun at the sandy beach? The tent had a standing, portable AC unit that included a valve that helped suck out any hot air.  A tent in 90 degree weather in Florida with zero hot air?!  We didn’t have to pitch the tent, but it was still a tent.  In the words of JBiebs, IT’S A NO BRAINER.
3. AN ACTUAL BED: Forget an air mattress when you can have a QUEEN SIZE BED to lay in and may I add that we comfortably slept like rocks each night.  If I could have taken the bed with me I may have considered it.  Comfort counts when you’re vacationing with a toddler.
4.  THE UNIQUE COOL FACTOR: OKAY OKAY. I’ve believe it’s always been in me to do some things a little different, especially if I think it would be cool and I for sure thought this would be a cool experience and it definitely met the standards.  We had our own tent bedroom in the woods!! There were the cutest hanging lights outside, the back of our tent had a walkway directly to the bathhouse and with our Jeep parked out in front I thought to myself, “Yeah, this is so cool.”

Now outside of the luxury lodging scenario, we did want to share with McKinlee real elements of camping, so how did we do this?  We cooked meals at our campsite and made a fire each night!  J and I were so proud of ourselves, because for the first time we felt fully prepared by meal prepping for the week! What?!  Meal prepping outside of the home?!  It truly was the smartest thing we’ve ever done.  We thought about how long we would be gone, how many meals we’d be eating, what we could eat at the campsite, when and where we wanted to eat in town and it helped us tremendously with not completely busting a budget.  He and I went grocery shopping before we even left for Florida and we bought almost everything, filled the Yeti with ice, packed up the Jeep and we were ready.  J cooked on the fire and with the camping stove; it was perfection.  Oh and we mainly packed sandwiches and chips for lunch on the beach!  A lot of people may do this already, but we had not so we felt like champions doing it this time around.

Things we ate at home:

1. Breakfast: Eggs + Bacon – Cereal
2. Brinner: Like the above and some Pancakes
3. Turkey Quesadillas con Avocado
4. The Classic HOT DOG + Chips
5. And don’t forget the most important. . . YUMMY S’MORES FOR DESSERT

All of this to say that jumping on J’s adventure train by going glamping is one I don’t think I’ll ever regret.  Summers are supposed to be jam packed with memories and as parents J and I desire to have vacations that McKinlee, and any possible future children, will cherish forever.  McKinlee loved every second and there is no doubt in my mind we’ll do it again.  If you’re even the slightest bit curious as to what it would be like to glamp. Be extra!  Save your energy from setting up! Save your sweat!  DO IT!! Maybe we’ll see you a summer down the road and as we begin to say adios to pool days and hello to Pumpkin Spice everything, here are some pictures to have you dreaming of your own future family glamping experience!

 

Glamping Fancy Camps | Swimwear Kortni Jeane | Classic Seaside Tee