Honeymoon 2010

Since it's hard not to think about our wedding without also remembering our honeymoon, I figured it was only appropriate to talk about that trip next. Since we planned our whole trip ourselves, I thought I could share a few tips for other honeymooners (or general travelers). And if you have the means to go through a travel agent, well, then I guess you won't really have to worry about most of this stuff!

View from our Bed and Breakfast--Iron Mountain Inn--located in Butler, Tennessee (Cherokee National Forest area)

The most important thing I would say is make sure you select a location that you are both happy with. For us, it was a pretty easy decision. While we do love oceans and beaches, we are always more at home in the mountains. And while it would have been fun to travel to some international ranges or even the Rockies, outside circumstances limited us to staying in the Appalachian range. I was initially hesitant about this because Darrell has spent quite a bit of time in this area so I was afraid that it wouldn't be "special" for him, but we made an effort to stay in an area that he hadn't spent much, if any, time in. Plus, when it came time to get "out and about", it did help that Darrell had some familiarity with the region because we weren't terribly concerned with navigating and/or getting lost in the mountains.

The next most important thing I would suggest is make sure that the trip is a reflection on who you guys are as a couple--not what you feel like you "should" do on a honeymoon because it's what everyone else does. For Darrell and I, that meant staying active. Sure, we spent a little bit of time just laying around and recuperating, but we get bored with that fast (spending a week at an all-inclusive resort, while nice, would have gotten old really fast unless the resort offered excursions, but then those get expensive). A few of my favorite things that we did included touring a cave, multiple hikes, exploring some quaint small towns, and biking the Virginia Creeper Trail (definitely a must if you are in the area!).

Exploring the cave was definitely a neat experience!

Isn't there some quote about taking the path less traveled?? 

It's a shame we didn't have any fun biking

See those peaks way off in the distance? Yeah, we hiked to those. I about slugged Darrell when he told me that's far we were going, but it was totally worth it (and not near as bad as I thought it would be!)

I would also encourage you to remember that while the honeymoon is fun and a great trip to take as a newly married couple, it's also important to make sure you are not neglecting the marriage you have to return to. And returning to a bunch of debt due to a super extravagant honeymoon is not exactly the best way to start a marriage. So don't be afraid to look for ways to cut a few corners on your honeymoon. Maybe only splurge on that five-star hotel for two nights instead of four. Look into a vineyard escape in the less-popular Washington wine country instead of forking over the money for Napa. Consider traveling to tropical locations during off-peak times. For Darrell and I, that meant spending only a few nights at a nice bed and breakfast and then spending the last few days at a hotel and camping. 

Our awesome campsite. And since we were camping on a  Thursday night, the campground was pretty empty. It couldn't have been more perfect.

I totally realize that camping may not fit in with everyone's idea of an enjoyable honeymoon, but I'll be honest--the night we spent camping was just as, if not more, memorable for us than the nights we spent at the (significantly more) expensive bed and breakfast. And even the night we spent at the cheap economical hotel was memorable in its awfulness--it certainly gave us some entertaining inside jokes! 

And as long as we are talking about being "out of the box" a little bit, one of the other totally random things we did on our honeymoon was run a 5K.

Again, I am fully aware that this would not be everyone's cup of tea, but we enjoyed it. The race was in this super cute small town in North Carolina, and because it was a full-day celebration, we had all kinds of (free!) things to do to pass the afternoon--like watch a Civil War re-enactment!

Actually, it was just a bunch of guys marching around and firing their guns... But it was still pretty interesting. And they had lots of authentic memorabilia, which was cool to look at

One last picture then I promise I'm done. Remember how I mentioned that one of the drawbacks of our "off the beaten" path travels means that we always end up taking self-portraits or using the timer on our camera to get a shot with both of us in it? Well, that was certainly true for our honeymoon, but it totally worked out because we were able to get this awesome shot!

I may or may not have insisted that we get this image put onto a canvas to hang in our bedroom. Just sayin'.