Twenty years ago when we got married (yes I’m that old), we didn’t have the luxury of using the Internet to research and plan our honeymoon. My hubby-to-be didn’t like my idea of a Walt Disney World honeymoon (it took me 7 years to convert him into the Disney lover he is today). He wanted to plan a special surprise honeymoon, all I knew is that we were heading to north Georgia hmmm.
We were married on September 28, 1991 and spent our wedding night in a hotel in downtown Tampa where skateboarders were skating in the streets and through the parking garages while being chased by police with bullhorns…it was such a quiet, romantic night NOT! Sunday we headed to north Georgia, Helen to be exact. Now I came from a family that never drove on long distance vacations. Basically if it was more than a 6 hour drive-we flew. So now I am faced with a 10 hour drive in my Nissan Sentra with my new husband, this made for a long, interesting trip. We arrive in Helen and check in to a beautiful timeshare resort. I had never timeshared before-my husband’s family had been doing it for years. Our cabin was gorgeous! Nestled in the side of a mountain totally decorated in natural pine-a honeymooners dream. We bring in our bags and my husband suggests we run back down the mountain to the Piggly Wiggly to get some groceries. Groceries?!? I’m on my honeymoon-I expected to eat out 3 meals a day. Come to find out, when you timeshare you cook your own meals. At this point I only know how to cook macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and pancakes without a cookbook and no one told me to pack a cookbook for my honeymoon!
On our first full day in Helen we explore the quaint alpine village that the town is famous for. The shops are adorable but we quickly learn that the only restaurant still open, since tourist season is over, will be hosting Oktoberfest during the month of October…which started the next day. We are Christians so we do not drink alcohol and the smell of sauerkraut makes me nauseous. So this will be the only night we eat out in Helen.
Since tourist season was over most of the fun things to do were closed so by the end of the week we were venturing farther and farther out of Helen for entertainment. One highlight being the Cabbage Patch Kid Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia! When our time was up at the timeshare we headed to Atlanta. My best friend was in school there and she wasn’t able to be a part of our wedding due to her class schedule so instead she joined us on our honeymoon. As we drove through the part of Atlanta where her school was, all we could find were sleezy hotels that charged by the hour! We ended up at a hotel near the airport. Yes, it was noisy all night long and the shower in our room didn’t work so in the morning they gave us a key to another room so we could traipse down the hall to shower. We picked up Mel and spent the day at Six Flags, where we had a lot of fun. After returning Mel to school we began our journey south and ended up in Unadilla, GA is a hotel that had railroad tracks behind it!
The next day we made it home…with plenty of stories to tell! I also decided then and there never to let my husband make our travel plans again-and he didn’t until we started cruising a few years ago-it is hard to mess up booking an all-inclusive vacation
As I said at the beginning, we didn’t have access to all of the great travel tools that are available to us now. One of those travel tools is Jet Set Vacations. JetSetVacations.com is a travel wholesaler with 15 years of experience that can serve all of your travel booking needs whether you’re looking for a family adventure, quick weekend away, or romantic trip for two. Every one of their bookings provides you with white glove service which includes a vacation concierge to assist you with your needs while you are on vacation. They guarantee the lowest rates to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Costa Rica and specialize in helping families travel on a budget. You can learn more and enter to win $1,000 vacation credit and more by participating in the JetSetVacations.com Twitter Party this Wednesday night from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. ET. For more information visit: http://bit.ly/ijMbgq. If my husband had used a professional travel planner for our honeymoon I’m sure we wouldn’t have had all the crazy problems we had. so take it from me and call a professional.
Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign through Global Influence and I am being compensated for my time writing this post. This story is true and all opinions are 100% mine.
Well, that definitely sounds like an interesting honeymoon. I actually went to a wedding this weekend and I hope (fingers crossed) to have my own in the next couple of years. So, I will keep this site in mind for future planning.
What a great resource, thank you for sharing. Kelli
Even though your honeymoon wasn’t quite what you expected, you came back with a great story 🙂
What a neat logo they have. It reminds me of the Jetsons….
Cool company, too.
That’s one of the best honeymoon stories I’ve ever read. Hilarious that you took your friend on part of the trip and that instead of moving you to a new room when your shower didn’t work that you got to use the shower in another room!
My husband actually does most of our travel planning. What a story you have to share 🙂
@Crystal & Co I have to agree with you, the Jetsons was the first thing I thought of too 🙂
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