Great Road Trips – Share Your Ideas!
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I want to hear your favorite road trip ideas on this post! Inspire us in the comments!
As a child, I remember my grandmama telling me about the road trips they used to take as children. Her mama would cook up some chicken, pack it in a basket, and mix up a gallon of tea in a big old glass pickle jar to pack in the trunk, wrapped in blankets to keep it chilled and prevent the glass from breaking. They’d get in the car and head off to visit family, stopping along the way for picnics on the side of the road. There were no drive through restaurants back then and even roadside diners were a new concept so bringing your own food was a necessity. Sometimes, though, Grandmama said they’d stop at a local gas station that had a deli counter and buy some fresh sliced bologna and a loaf of “light bread” as they called it. This was considered a huge treat for them and made the road trips even more special.
My family has always loved impromptu road trip adventures. We hop in the car on a sunny day and head out to parts unknown just to see what we can get into. Early in our married life, Ricky and I tired of fast food on long road trips and I stopped at a local deli, picked up some roast beef, cheddar slices, and Hawaiian sweet rolls and our little family road trip sandwich was born. Some of our happiest memories and best conversations have taken place sitting beside each other while I make little sandwiches in my lap to hand him and now just the thought of a road trip sandwich brings all of those precious memories to mind. We sure have been blessed these past twenty years!
Another fun addition to our road trip menu is Southern Breeze Sweet Tea. I keep the little cold brew packets of it in my purse, all different flavors, and we can have guilt free Sweet Tea on the road anytime.
In fact, did you know:
- Southern Breeze is calorie free and guilt free so it can be enjoyed glass after glass.
- Cold brew Southern Breeze is single serve-take it on the go or enjoy at home.
- Southern Breeze cold brew is easy to make: pour 8oz of water over 1 tea bag, let steep for 5 minutes, toss out the tea bag and pour over ice!
- All of the zero calorie Southern Breeze products (cold brew and family size tea bags) are available by clicking here.
Southern Breeze Sweet Tea is just one of the things that make our road trips even more fun and don’t have to be planned or thought about earlier.
There is still plenty of time for more summer road trips so today I wanted to share some of my ideas with you but most importantly – I WANT YOUR IDEAS!
Be as general or as specific as you like but please chime in and know that your answer will help inspire friends and family to spend more time together.
Some ideas from the Jordan camp:
- Road trips don’t have to involve a lot of time on the road! Check out local attractions first – budget friendly memories are just as sweet.
- Pretend you are a tourist in your hometown:
- Check out the visitor’s bureaus of nearby towns and see what their most popular attractions are.
- Festivals are an easy find! This time of year there are so many fun festivals all around. You can also find these at visitor’s sites and all that is needed is saving the date on your calendar!
- Feed the ducks
- Watch the sunset
- Free outdoor concerts and movies
- Hikes at state and local parks (or national if you’re close to one!)
- Tailgate picnic! There are some gorgeous spots with amazing views of the valley where we live so some evenings we grab the fixings for our road trip sandwiches at a local deli and head on up to a pretty spot, sit on the tailgate, and enjoy the view.
- And one of my absolute favorites: Take a glass of iced tea out to your back porch.
What are some of your favorite ideas for summer road trips both near and far? Let’s talk about them in the comments!
While you’re here, you can head on over and see all of the zero calorie Southern Breeze products (cold brew and family size tea bags) by clicking here. It’s perfectly sweetened sweet tea with no calories and no carbs and if you place an order online by June 30th using code CHRISTYJORDAN you’ll get free shipping. But you can also get in on a chance to get a free sample sent directly to your home by clicking here.
Special thanks to my friends at Southern Breeze Sweet Tea for sponsoring this post and for making the tea that I drink all day long! All opinions contained in this post are my own. #ShareTheSweetness & #guiltfreesweettea
We are just coming home from a road trip to the Creation museum and also The Ark, both of which are in Kentucky. Both are fabulous! For people with young children, 5+, the Ark is great. The creation museum is a little more in depth, better for older children, 10+. Both were great and very well done.
For those who have never had Apple Dapple cake it is delicious. The first time I made it it was for a family reunion. I put it on the table where there were lots of desserts but when I went to get a slice there was only a smidgen left. Gone in less than ten minutes. Reminds me , I must make one for the fourth celebration.
It is a favorite for us as well Alice!! I am so glad to hear you and yours like it!!
Heading to Fort Hood, TX in July to visit son and family stationed there! 3rd time there and so many places to revisit, including a trip to Waco and the Magnolia Markets!
Besides having fun with my son, DIL and my grands, there are so many good places to eat!
I’m looking forward to going back to the local quilt shop to get fabric to make new quilts for my grands!
What a fun trip!! I love that you have added a quilt shop to your agenda!!
I will be 84 tomorrow and I still get car sick, air sick, train and bus. If nI am in a car in the back seat it does not go well. But now there are these patches you can put behind your ear that helps a lot.
And I love your site.
Thank you so much Anna, I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!!!
Love this post! My parents never liked road trips but my husband and I love them! My favorite one so far has been driving from where we live in Oregon to Montana for a family reunion and a trip to Glacier National Park. We stopped at all the small towns along the way and it was just so much fun. I love the old time stories about taking your own food with you. We eat a ketogenic diet, so we do pack most of our own food and not only does it save us money, but we don’t feel yucky after eating too much sugar while spending so much time in the car! LOL
Our favorite road trip in our own state is visiting all the covered bridges. We take my husband’s Jeep in the summertime with the top off and a picnic and just drive. Usually on a Sunday afternoon without any electronics…..very nice family time.
I LOVE the idea of visiting all the covered bridges!! They are getting to be such a lost piece of our history.
My dad was an amazing cook, so we always had a Coleman outdoor cook stove on road trips. We would leave early in the morning and then stop to cook breakfast. I can still smell that bacon and eggs!! Best breakfasts ever–cooked and eaten outdoors!
What a wonderful and fun memory!!
A few weeks ago we went with a group from our church to see the Ark Exhibit and the Creation Museum in Kentucky. They are not both in the same location but not that far from each other and are owned by the same folks. If you have never seen this, you should go! When you see the Ark in person, it is just mind blowing how BIG it is! I don’t know how one man and just his family managed to build it but it’s a work of art, or maybe I should say God. There are areas inside the ark showing how Noah might have housed and taken care of the animals – just amazing and very resourceful. This would be a good day trip if you live close to the area. We are in Georgia so it was a day’s drive for us to get there but well worth the trip! We also toured Cincinnati while we were in the area and it’s a beautiful city! We took a paddlewheel boat for a dinner cruise up the Ohio river out of Cincinnati as well. The food was delicious and the view was breathtaking! Great trip I would do again!
LaFern, we have been to both 🙂 . I am so glad you enjoyed the trip, it really is amazing at just how big it is!