Visiting the North Carolina coast on Father’s Day weekend has become one of our favorite family traditions. It helps that three years in, the weather has been pretty darn perfect each time (there must be something about that weekend in June!). Perfect weather or not, it’s a delight to discover new corners of this state we love in honor of our favorite dad. This year’s trip was to Bald Head Island – come take a peek, if you’d like! Longtime readers may remember that John and I have been to Bald Head Island just once before – almost 10 years ago, when I was pregnant with June! BHI is accessible only by ferry, and the only civilian vehicles on the island are golf carts, which makes it relatively inaccessible but delightfully relaxing. We left on Sunday afternoon after church and headed home around noon on Wednesday. It was the perfect amount of time to explore the island! The first order of business when planning our trip was deciding where to stay. While there are lovely homes on the island, most rentals are for a week. Since we were staying just a few days, we opted for the Marsh Harbor Inn, which is an easy walk from the ferry. We stayed in one of the Shipwatch Suites. While the free-flowing popcorn in the dining room, the Fruit Loops every morning (a continental breakfast was included with our room), and the golf cart (also included with our room) were all highlights, the kids were UTTERLY ENTRANCED by their accommodations: three built-in bunk beds in the tiniest nook of a room. This was Annie’s first time sleeping outside of a crib or pack and play, and she was in heaven. As for our itinerary, it was quite laidback. We arrived on the 4pm

An annual getaway to the mountains is a beloved tradition for our family, dating back to our first fall in North Carolina. These trips have looked different over the years, from low-budget affairs in our first few years to extended-family (on both sides!) meet-ups and now, adventures with kids in tow. Our trips often center around Asheville, though we’ve visited other mountain towns like Boone and Blowing Rock, too. This year, we booked our trip in February, a few weeks before the coronavirus appeared on the scene. I am so grateful that we were still able to take this trip even with all the intervening uncertainty, and wanted to share a few photos and details with y’all today! 2020 is John’s 10-year anniversary with his company (wow!) and one of the rewards is a few extra days of vacation in their tenth year. Because of this, we opted to take off both Thursday and Friday instead of just Friday. And with an extra day, we opted to go an extra hour southwest of Asheville, to the lovely town of Highlands. John and I had been to Highlands once before, in the winter of 2012. We very kindly got to stay one night at the glorious Old Edwards Inn on a press trip for my work, and cobbled together the rest of the trip on a meager budget. Our big dinner out consisted of $2 cheese slices at the pizza shop around the corner and a free Dove bar apiece back at the Inn :) What I LOVE about the mountains, though, is that you can have a magical trip on a big or small budget. From that visit to this one, the things we loved stayed very much the same – gorgeous waterfall hikes, breathtaking views, lovely fall leaves, and