Fort Wilderness

The primary reason we participate in Scouting would have to be the opportunity to go camping with friends. I'm sure that statement surprises some of you. You probably thought I would say something about the Pinewood Derby! As much as all the boys enjoy the Derby, camping is definitely the best part of being a Scout, and our Pack's Disney camping trip has to be the highlight of the year. Fort Wilderness is great, but honestly, Disney excels at just about everything they offer.

While most of our Pack was "roughing it" in tents on the manicured grounds of Fort Wilderness, we were spending our weekend in a cabin. Anh says I can't call it camping when we're staying in a cabin, but I beg to differ. Four adults and 3 children in a 1-bedroom cabin is far from luxury. It's as close to camping as I'm getting with a 1-year old in tow! Grandfather & Grandma joined us as well, and I know for a fact they much preferred the cabin to roughing it in tents as they had done a year before when they escorted the boys alone.

While there's only 1 bedroom, the cabin is set up to hold a large group. The bedroom has both a double bed and bunk beds, and the living room has a murphy bed that folds down from the wall. Throw in a portable crib and we were all quite comfy.

Forget the beds, it's the luxury of having a private bathroom that really makes the camping experience luxurious!

Grant's attempt to claim the murphy bed! Not happening, kid!

It wouldn't be Disney if there wasn't an awesome pool, and Fort Wilderness does not disappoint. There's an elaborate playground complete and a waterslide!

And, there's always Dad!

And campfires for roasting s'mores! S'mores!!!

I was a little worried about how Grant would handle the experience, but he really enjoyed himself immensely. Not only did he score new Chip & Dale Chipmunk babies...

He met the real deal!!! He liked them, but didn't want them to touch him.

Even without a visit to the parks, Disney magic was in full effect!

Bern's

Vacationing as a family is always fun and results in so many wonderful memories, but occasionally, it's nice to have an adult getaway. Of course, parents love their children, but man oh man, kids are a lot of work! That work results in so much joy, but a strategically planned getaway every now and then really does help insure that the family time remains appreciated. When our friends shared their past stories from Tampa's Bern's Steakhouse Wine Festival, we knew we wanted to join them on a future trip. Well, you know what they say, there's no time like the present!

Our first night was spent at Bern's sister restaurant, SideBern's. The multi-course dinner was the perfect kickoff to a weekend of pure gluttony. As we sampled each course, we stated with absolute certainty that the dish just couldn't be topped. Wrong! Each and every dish blew the previous round away. The combination of flavors and textures was top-notch, and when paired with the wines, it was like a symphony. Culinary art at it's best!

On our second night, we dined at Bern's Steakhouse. I would describe it as fine dining with a whimsical twist. We started with champagne and caviar in the lounge which really was an experience. The caviar was served with toast points and flavored foams. Wow! Off the creativity charts!

Bern's is known by true wine lovers for it's wine bible. They call it a list, but it's so much more. Bern's has it's own warehouse for it's wine. It's the largest privately owned wine collection in the world! The WORLD! The "wine list" is more like a novel!

Here, the sommelier is opening the bottle we selected by candlelight. The candle isn't to add to the ambience. The sommelier uses the candlelight to avoid pouring the debris that collects in the ancient looking bottle into the wine decanter.

After dinner, we were treated to a tour of the kitchen and wine cellar. Wow! They've got the experience completely choreographed. The result is pure magic!

We closed out our evening in the dessert room upstairs. I'm not sure whether we enjoyed the dessert sampler or port wine sampler more. Okay...the wine wins again!

All of our indulgence from days 1 & 2 were simply the "warm-up" for the main event on Sunday, the Grand Tasting! There were tasting seminars and cooking demonstrations, but the real entertainment was roaming from tasting station to tasting station to tasting station. We spent hours tasting & didn't even scratch the surface. We approached the overwhelming offerings with a plan. We targeted the expensive bottles, obviously! If it retailed for less than $100, we weren't interested. Ha!

Sorry, kids, if you want the truth, Mom & Dad didn't miss you!