The Sewing Mom

This is a guest post.

New Year’s Eve

Contributed by Alec Bates

For new year’s eve I like to visit my brother’s vineyard in Napa Valley and enjoy some fine wine and cheeses while we ring in the new year. My brother and I have this little thing where his family comes to visit mine on Thanksgiving and we head over to his place during the new year. We usually pack on the morning of New Year’s Eve, set the adt home security and make the seven hour drive up to my brother’s ranch.

By the time we get there, we’re all famished. My brother’s wife makes it a point to have dinner ready just as we arrive. A few hours later she and I have an assortment of fondues ready to pair with the other cheeses along with some wafers and some of my brother’s wine. My husband can’t really hold his liquor so he usually only tastes the wine, but the rest of us down as much of the stuff as we can. We usually watch one of the standard New Year Eve festivities on television, but there are times when we forgo the television set to partake in a marathon of movies. The last few times we even managed to play a game of charades. This year will be another first as my daughter got married this summer and will be bringing her husband for the first time.

I’m feeling quite under the weather right now, so haven’t felt like sitting at the computer and uploading pictures from our trip to Kansas City last weekend.  My head is feeling like it is the size of a watermelon and everything from my neck up hurts.  My husband brought me some nighttime Theraflu this evening, so maybe tonight I will have more success at getting some sleep than I did last night.

Hope to be back here in the next day or so with some pics. 

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

I know, we just got back from Kansas City, but there is another location in Missouri that I’ve always wanted to go to and that’s Branson.  My sisters have been working on finding a time this summer when we could all meet in Branson and spend some time together.  I’m not sure we can make it due to my daughter’s softball schedule, but it doesn’t keep me from checking out all the activities in Branson just in case our schedule allows us to go.

I would love to stay at the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing because it’s located right in the middle of some great shopping and wonderful restaurants.  Easy access means less discussion as to what and where we want to go!  Branson Landing is actually a waterfront area that hosts the Hilton, plus over 100 stores and restaurants overlooking the Taneycomo lakefront.  Honestly, I’d probably be quite content to spend all my time right there!  Right across the street is the Branson Convention Center and the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel with all its full service amenities.  Both of these look to me to be beautiful hotels.  I’ve also heard that there is an amazing fireworks show over the water on July 4th.  My whole family would love that.  The photos below show the beautiful fountains at Branson Landing.

I think we would all enjoy visiting Historic Downtown Branson as well.  There are so many wonderful activities to choose from in Branson, it’s difficult to narrow it down.  We all enjoy outdoor activities, light hikes, maybe a boat tour on the lake.  My brother-in-laws enjoy fishing and there is plenty of opportunity to fish in Branson while us ladies go shopping!  The kids of course would want to go to an amusement park and there are several to choose from.

I think Branson is a great destination for a family vacation, don’t you?

WOW!  What a whirlwind of a weekend!  We had so much fun, although it went by way too fast!

I got up Friday am and ran our dog over to the puppy hotel.  They also do doggy daycare, so she was definitely not alone.  In fact, she is so spoiled, I think they must give her extra peanut butter treats, ’cause she is even fatter now than when we dropped her off and I didn’t think that was possible!

Anyway, we hit the road about 11:30 on Friday and drove to Joplin, Missouri where we spent the night.  We found a very good Japanese steakhouse where we ate a tasty New Year’s Eve dinner and then spent the night at a hotel.  New Year’s morning, we got back on the road about 10:30 and drove straight in to Kansas City.  My husband pulled off the highway just before we hit the city limits so that he could show our daughter where he had grown up and gone to school.  He doesn’t have family in the area anymore, so we could only look, no visiting.

We found our hotel next and I nonchalantly requested an upgraded room.  The night before, my husband and I struggled to sleep in a double bed.  We have a king at home and it was a rough night to say the least, we had to coordinate our roll overs!  To my relief, the hotel clerks came up with a wonderful upgrade to a 2 room suite with queen size beds!  So much nicer at the same price!

Saturday night we ate dinner at The Skies restaurant in downtown Kansas City.  It’s located on top of the Hyatt hotel and it revolves in a full circle.  It’s a beautiful view and we were there on a very clear night so enjoyed seeing the lights of the city.  Our hotel was located in Country Club Plaza, so we got to see all of those beautiful lights as well.

Sunday, after eating breakfast at the hotel, we headed to Arrowhead Stadium where we watched a pathetic Kansas City Chiefs football team get romped by the Oakland Raiders.  Seriously!  We paid a lot of money to see the Chiefs play, win or lose.  However, the least they could have done was show up and at least appear like they cared!  It was one of the worst games I’ve watched in years!  We did enjoy visiting the stadium and my husband was ecstatic to be in the company of so many other Chiefs fans.  Too bad they didn’t put on a better show.  Following the game, we had dinner at a famous local BBQ (who can pass up BBQ in KC!) restaurant known as Jack Stacks.  It was delicious!

We had to make the full 8 hour drive home today, so spent the day on the road.  I really need to get out and walk because I feel like I just spent the last 3 days doing nothing but eat!  Really, there is so much more to be done in KC than just eat, but we just couldn’t seem to fit much else in!

I have a few pictures to upload, although my camera was acting up.  Over the next few days I hope to post some pictures.  I do hope everyone is set to have a wonderful New Year!