Zombie Walk

I love Fayetteville

Darkside Haunted Estates

Okay people so look lively - well as lively as a haunted house can look. 

Welcome to DarkSide Haunted Estates

is one of the new ones we tried this year and OMG it was truly spectacular. 

First off - they had roaming characters at the front of the area which always makes the

experience more thrilling for me. For starters there was

One of boyfriends favorite guys - Jason.

And let me start off by saying OMG! He started the experience from the time

we pulled into the parking lot. He chased our car into the parking lot and then

tried to chase me around.

This particular picture was snapped right before he scared some poor girl in

the portapotty. She flew out the door and back to her car. Last time I saw

her it was tail lights out the parking lot. She left her friends behind.

And last I heard was refusing to come back for them.

I honestly thought this guy was a statue until I saw his hands twitching!

And that is the end of my pictures for this experience, but let me tell you about the rest of our night.

On site is a food truck - so you can get something to eat or drink while you wait.

And wait we did. (only downside to our experience really)

We waited in line for close to 3 hours to go on their newest attraction - Zombie Paintball!

But once we got in the wagon we had the time of our life!!

You are riding in a wagon pulled by a tractor (think hayride without the hay).

They stop once they get into the woods & you switch to the gunning seats

and away you go. There are various "stations" in which you shoot the zombies

(FYI the zombies are volunteers from the local JROTC)

The whole trip takes about 15-20 minutes and is truly a fun way to blow off some steam.

(This is a stock photo because I do not take photos while on the trail)

Because of the long delay at the Zombie Paintball - the staff was nice enough to keep

the haunted trail open for us.

I had an amazing time wandering the trail with the BF and interacting with the

actors all over the place. And I was truly astounded when I found out

that almost all of the actors are kids. 

For a kid powered house - this is truly AMAZING!!!! 

Much better than last night's debacle of a haunt.

Cost per person: $16 + depending on what packages you get/we did the combo for $30

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 ghosts (would have been 4.5 but the wait time for the hayride was horrendous)

International Folk Festival - Fayetteville NC

Us waiting for the parade to start

Start of the parade - stand up for the Flag!

After the parade we all headed into the festival grounds to eat

our way around the world. I totally love Fayetteville NC and our pride in

all of our varied cultural differences.

After a full day of festival fun - we are headed home!

Sycamore Lodge

So this is the official blurb about this campground.

Sycamore Lodge Resort is a luxury RV resort and private North Carolina RV campground located 70 miles south of Raleigh and 90 miles east of Charlotte close to many area attractions. Close to one of the nation's legendary and historic golf communities, this NC campground is just minutes from the famed Pinehurst Golf Courses that hosted the 2007 US Women's Open and the 1999 US Open at some of its most beautiful courses.

My parents have been since 1986 and we practically grew up camping here. I can honestly say that some of my very favorite memories came from times spent roaming the "streets" of this quiet little get away. But oh how times change, it is now a busy busy place with almost 10 times more spaces.

Here's a cute little map of the area

My only major complaint about the campground in general is that even though the campground is like completely spread out, there is only one actual bathhouse. There are some portapotties set up in other areas (but really who wants to use one of those things right). Its like they expect everyone to be in a rig and/or only need to have 1 person use the restroom at a time. However, the bathrooms are simply amazing (for campground bathrooms). Instead of a female/male split, these are arranged as individual bathrooms with toilet, sink & shower, roomy enough to actually spread out a little bit & be able to enjoy your shower without feeling like the walls are gonna cave in on you. And they are cleaned CONSTANTLY. Granted this was a busy weekend, but I know for a fact that on Saturday, they were cleaned at least 4 times, because they were cleaning other bathrooms, while we were there. 

• When we used the bathroom to get ready for the day (around 8:30am)
• When BF & went to change to go swimming they were cleaning the bathroom (around 2:30pm)
• After swimming when we went back to change into regular clothes (4:30pm)
• And again around 11:30pm when we got ready for bed.

And because of the set up, there is never a bathroom shortage for the males or the females, they can clean up individual bathrooms & leave the others available to use. IMO, this is amazing, because I can't tell you the number of times that my body has decided it must go literally 5 minutes after the bathroom as been closed for an hour while they are cleaned :)

The swimming pool was REALLY busy all weekend, but BF don't care.

Playing a quick game of cornhole before dinner

The Swashtones played on Saturday Night - I enjoyed sitting up there listening to the music, but the best

was when little man got out on the dance floor to show off his moves.

He don't care what no one says, just doing his own thing.

All in all, we had a magnificent weekend: full of family, fun & of course good food.

WNC Farmers Market

So on the way home, I was extremely excited to

stop at the farmers market & see

what type of yummies we could get for dinner this week.

All in all BF & I had a most amazing time walking the booths & seeing the sights

and we even took home some Amish Butter & Bacon, some fresh tomatoes & peaches,

and some dip mixes to try!

Dollywood

SMrs Lillian Getting Ready To Read Us Llama Llama Red Pajamas

ollywood has this plan in effect that if you go in on a single day

ticket after 3pm, you can return the next day on

the same ticket. So that is what we did!!

The reason we wanted to split the "day" up was because everyone really

wanted to see the fireworks, but we had reservations for

Dixie Stampede for Saturday night.

This is all of our family ready to see the sights and enjoy the afternoon!

I ended up riding the Tennessee Tornado with the riding group

(aka Theresa, Lucas, Emily, Sarah & Dad)

The Fireworks were amazing and I loved the musical component.

Day 2 - And it turned out to be a day for Bunny & Me!

Everyone else went out for breakfast, but we had a relaxing meal at the cabin

and then headed to the park early.

(I do so LOVE LOVE LOVE my one cup Bella coffee maker when we have electricity)

This is one of the signs at the entrance to the park.

I love Dolly's use of butterflies. (art journal inspiration)

Mrs Lillian getting ready to ready us Llama Llama Red Pajama

I must say Bunny looked totally appalled when I suggested we go listen

to Mrs Lillian & Cluckie tell a story,

but he ended up loving it

(even if Mrs Lillian did pick on him)

We spent an enjoyable morning combing through

the shops & demos of Craftsman Valley as

roller coasters & thrill rides just aren't Bunny's thing.

Just me and the Bunny goofing off with the selfie cam as we make our way

around the park.