art smith macaroni and cheese

Disney’s Most Comforting Dish: Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Mac & Cheese

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A psychologist once told me that we don’t really reach adulthood until about 27 years old. That exactly coincides with the time that you’re expected to have absolutely perfected a few soul-healing dishes. Well, at least that’s how we do it in the south. These are the chicken casseroles, the cakes, and the deviled eggs you take to church homecomings, reunions and funerals.  But mac and cheese is such an important part of such gatherings that you can’t afford to be meh. I mean you wouldn’t want a 2-star mac and cheese showing up at your funeral, would you? How distressing and tacky. Continue reading “Disney’s Most Comforting Dish: Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Mac & Cheese” →

Great Wolf Lodge LaGrange

Wild Weekends at Great Wolf Lodge: How to Save, Splurge, and Splash

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When I first learned a Great Wolf Lodge was coming to Lagrange, a rural town about an hour from Atlanta, I was initially underwhelmed. As one who needs mega overdoses of sunshine and foliage, I figured this would be just a cheesy (think Chuck E.) version of another steamy,  packed indoor-water park. I finally agreed to go when one of my most beloved young relatives was celebrating a 7th birthday.  Let’s just say that I had such a howling good time that I’ve returned twice in the months since. Continue reading “Wild Weekends at Great Wolf Lodge: How to Save, Splurge, and Splash” →

Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue

Oh My Darlin’ – Here’s the Real Dish on Hoop Dee Doo

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Cover Photo Courtesy Disney

Before Space Mountain, Epcot and even ol’ River Country, a “temporary” wild west dinner show made its debut at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground. With a vaudeville-style, slapstick comedy hour and buckets of fried chicken, the show became a surprise hit with guests way back in 1974.  Now among the longest-running dinner shows in America, it still has many of the same corny puns – yet sells out well in advance. But with a price tag of up to $ 60.51 per guest, knowledge is good. Here’s a few essential things to know (along with a smattering of the trite and trivial). Continue reading “Oh My Darlin’ – Here’s the Real Dish on Hoop Dee Doo” →

best tent sites at fort wilderness

“You Want Me to Sleep Where?” – Nine Tips for Tent Camping at Fort Wilderness

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(Cover Photo Courtesy Disney)

Let’s start off with a confession. Tent camping at Fort Wilderness or anywhere else was my vacation of choice in my 20s and 30s. My career gave me more than enough chances to sleep in even the nicest of hoteled boxes.  Yet, many of those comfortable stays are only vaguely memorable. Continue reading ““You Want Me to Sleep Where?” – Nine Tips for Tent Camping at Fort Wilderness” →

Loaded Baked Potato Soup Disneyland

January Blues Cure: Disneyland’s Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Caramelized Leeks

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Word has it that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year, and we’ve surely gotten off to a blue start in 2020. With 5:30 sunsets, freezing nights, and news of bigly foreign conflicts, Fantasyland seems farther away than ever. I think that weeks like this may be why God created soup sometime back in 18th-century France. And of all the soup that Disney has made, this Baked Potato Soup one ranks right up there with Boma’s Oxtail Stew and Le Cellier’s Cheddar Soup as the most comforting. Continue reading “January Blues Cure: Disneyland’s Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Caramelized Leeks” →

Geyser Point

Where to Eat for a Special Occasion at WDW Resorts: Take this Quiz (Updated for 2020)

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Last year, some of our readers reported that our quiz really did help them make that arduous choice as to where to celebrate that upcoming birthday or anniversary. With Valentine’s Day just weeks away, decision time has already arrived. Note that I did not include any park restaurants in this particular quiz – only those at the resorts or in Disney Springs. Continue reading “Where to Eat for a Special Occasion at WDW Resorts: Take this Quiz (Updated for 2020)” →

new years fort resolutions

Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions at Fort Wilderness (Parody)

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Just thinking about a trip to Disney’s Fort Wilderness likely makes us wonder how we’ll ever stick to those New Year’s Resolutions. But before you give up, just think of the hidden opportunities to lose weight, eat healthier, stop swearing, or just be a better person. Indeed, if you are serious about being a better you in 2020, there’s no better place to be than Fort Wilderness. Continue reading “Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions at Fort Wilderness (Parody)” →

Fort Wilderness Pavilion 2010s

One Rootin’ Tootin’ Decade: Looking Back at the 2010s at Fort Wilderness

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As the 2010 New Year rang in, President Obama was completing his first year in office, and the economy was beginning to recover from that hellacious Great Recession. Lady Gaga’s Poker Face was among the top hits, and Instagram did not yet exist. A one-day park pass was about $75, and partial hook-up campsites at Fort Wilderness were under $50 a night. Here’s a look at some defining or news-worthy moments at the Fort since January 1, 2010. Continue reading “One Rootin’ Tootin’ Decade: Looking Back at the 2010s at Fort Wilderness” →

pine cone cheese ball

Retro Campground Christmas: Pineapple Pine Cone Cheeseball

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Let’s just go ahead and admit that back in the day we never had the pine cone shape cheese concoction. My aunts and grandmothers always showed up to soirees and funerals with the round kind – almost always covered in tiny pieces of chopped pecans. By the late 1990s, cheese balls had nearly disappeared from the tablescape, replaced by the block of cream cheese covered with hot pepper jelly.  But like deviled eggs and retro Disney tees, (affiliate link) the cheeseball is making an old-school comeback. And for a campground festive spread, these pine cones are easy and beg to be photographed. Continue reading “Retro Campground Christmas: Pineapple Pine Cone Cheeseball” →

January Glamping

January Blues: Five Fab Places to Glamp in the Southeast After New Year’s

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All the merriment and celebration of December suddenly give way to the cold, lifeless reality of January. It’s time to pay the bills, fully engage at the office, and lose 10 or more pounds. According to PsychCentral (2018), January 24 is the most depressing day of the year. For me, getting through these very-real January Blues requires more than knowing that sunshine and daffodils are just a few weeks away. A healing weekend in the woods is clearly in order. Here are five fabulous places for a January glamp in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. Continue reading “January Blues: Five Fab Places to Glamp in the Southeast After New Year’s” →