2021 Family Adventures | Wanderlust » Kristin Lorraine Photography

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – June | Vero Beach & Sarasota, Florida – September | New York, New York – December

Michael and I have always loved to travel. So much so that we would do whatever to get there. Stay only for a few hours, a day, a weekend, or if we were lucky a week. Hotels, campgrounds, rooming with family, planes, trains and, automobiles; we would figure out how to get there to see a new place or a place that holds a special place in our hearts even when we were young and money was tight.

One night while I was pregnant with Arielle in 2020, Michael and I were talking about how we want to see all 50 states together before we die. And how we want to gift our children with experiences and show them God’s great Earth. We made the conscious decision in 2019 & 2020 to only use our phones for photos and at downtime on vacations. I also only bring out my camera at certain times too, mostly because we care about spending quality time and life experience with each other. We traveled quite a bit in 2021, but I only brought my camera on these three trips.They were also all out of state trips. I don’t usually do photography like this and share it. But, I thought it would be a nice little change. Plus it’s a fun way to recap the year! This blog is going to be LONG but there’s pretty pictures.

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee | June

For those of you who don’t know Michael is a Commercial HVAC technician. June is obviously a VERY busy time in the trade. Michael came home one day super stressed and burned out. I knew we had to get away. So, I surprised him! I booked a cabin at the KOA in Pigeon Forge, TN. The cabin had a full bed and a set of bunk beds, a mini fridge and a counter top. Outside there was a patio with chairs, a table and a fire pit. We could only stay for a weekend (again busy season) so we drove through the night Friday. We got to our cabin at like Midnight, got a couple hours of sleep and then got up bright and early Saturday and got breakfast at a diner. Michael LOVES Diners so whenever we go somewhere, we always find a Diner to try! Sunliner Diner was the one we went to, conveniently across the street from the Hollywood Wax Museum. Which is exactly where we went after breakfast. After the wax museum we went to a place called Parrot Mountain, which is a parrot sanctuary and rescue! We could get up close and personal with the birds. They loved people. We got to hold some! We took some pictures with my camera there. Sunday we got up checked out of our cabin, went to the Ripley’s Aquarium and then the Gatlinburg Sky Bridge. I took some pictures of the Smokey Mountains up there. Below are my favorites from our Tennessee Weekend Get Away:

Vero Beach, Clearwater Beach, & Sarasota, Florida | September

Every year we plan to visit our family member that live in Florida. This is usually our week long trip each year. September is after busy season for Michael and right before my busy season in October. We always drive through the night Friday and stay until mid morning the following Sunday. Michael’s sister Christine and her family live on the east coast of Florida in the Vero Beach area. My uncle, aunt and occasionally my grandma live in Sarasota and that is on the west side of Florida. We started our trip in Vero. We went through the Jungle trail, Waterpark, The Sebastian Inlet, we caught the sunrise on Wabasso Beach one day. Then on our way across Florida we stopped in Orlando briefly in Disney Springs to eat at Rainforest Cafe, which has not changed AT ALL since my childhood. We hadn’t really seen the West coast of Florida so when we visited my uncle, aunt and grandma in Sarasota, we decided to drive to Clearwater for the day to see Winter may she Rest In Peace now….we got so lucky we got to see her before she passed. And we LOVE Ron Jons Surf Shop and we are trying to hit every location at least once. If you ever see my Jeep at a shoot, you’ll see the ones we’ve visited so far! The East Side of Florida is know for their EPIC sunrise. But, on the West Side they are know for their EPIC sunsets. It was so cool to show Arielle both sides this trip. Michael got behind the camera this trip. Some of the ones I’ve decided to share are some of his too! Here are some favorites from our Florida Vacation:

New York City, New York | December

For Arielle’s 1st birthday Michael had the idea to take her to FAO Schwartz Toy Store and let her pick out a toy for her birthday! We were planning to drive but my parents wanted to gift us a Train Ride instead (thank you again!!). We arrived in NYC right around 9 AM. We went just for the day on her actual birthday. So at 9 AM on a Wednesday in NYC all we had in the morning was mostly commuter hustle and bustle, Times Square was pretty empty. No stores we wanted to visit opened till 11, so we walked from the Amtrak Station to Central Park. We played on the playground and the swings. Arielle got to walk around and also see all the dogs playing and running around. We went sightseeing, shopping and had to stop for Ray’s Pizza!!!!!! Arielle picked a stuffed Tigger for herself at FAO and right after we went to Santaland at Macy’s and she got to meet Santa. After mapping out everywhere we walked not including all the steps we took inside the stores, we walked 12 MILES! Needless to say we were exhausted but we left the city with just a little NYC spark in us. We CANNOT WAIT to come back! Since we were walking and to be honest, we carried Arielle a lot, we had a stroller but we ended up carrying her so I only really got photos from Central Park. But, here are my favorites: