Since my kids started school August 1st. . . we just enjoyed a week off for Fall Break. So many of our friends went to Disney, the beach, even cruises. We typically don't go away for Fall Break, other than a trip to vist Grandma or something similar. Add in Joe not having a job and we really weren't going anyway. But. . . I like an adventure, so the idea of staying at home for the week was kind of BORING!
I put my mind to thinking of something fun, yet inexpensive. My mom has taught me the ways of being frugal, so I knew I could do it.
OPERATION FRUGAL FUN
Idea: Chattanooga, TN
Execution: We have annual passes for the aquarium in Chattanooga. (We went there for the weekend in January to celebrate John and Owen's B-day. It was $110 for the 6 of us to buy tickets to the aquarium and another $5 to turn it into an annual pass. Seriously! Oh, and $75 is tax deductible.)
We had breakfast at home Tuesday morning and then I packed lunch in our cooler. We drove the two and a half hours to Chattanooga and went to a park near downtown for a picnic. A beautiful day and a fun place to run around!
After lunch, we went UP THERE and walked the Walnut Street Bridge. It was built in 1890 and now is one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the country. (Love me some history! Thankfully, Jackson always enjoys learning and listening to me talk about history!)
After our walk, we headed into downtown for a few hours at the aquarium.
Guess how much this guy weighs? 
He was HUGE! I guessed maybe 10 pounds, but he really only weighs 4 pounds. His wingspan is 5 feet across!
These little dwarf seahorses are an inch when they are full grown. So darn cute. . . weird looking, but cute. 
And these two just stared at us. . . a lot. . . creepy! 
After the aquarium, we headed back to the cool park across the river and happily plopped down our $5 for me and the kids to ride the carousel. 
Afterwards we went and checked in to our hotel. I had searched out a last minute hotel deal the day before. It had an indoor pool, a complimentary breakfast, was rated a 3-star place and had all indoor rooms (I don't feel safe in places that have doors that come right off the parking lot.) All of those attributes say nice hotel to me. Hhhmmm. . . not so much!
This became the funniest part of our adventure. Joe stopped at the main entrance and hopped out to go and check in. As I signed the check-in papers, I noticed that it said Maximum 5 people per room. Hhhhmmm. . . dilemma. Do I tell the man at the desk that there are actually 6 of us and then have to get another room? I had already paid online at a travel website, so would I call them and try to get switched or get my money reapplied? In a split second decision, I decided to just sign the paper and stick with our original plan. I got back to the car and told everyone that we were going to have fun and make up Teams for the next day! Joe just looked at me, but went along. So, Team #1 of me, Leah and Johnny walked into the front door (remember I mentioned the whole indoor room thing. . . it would have been easier to have the outside doors at this point!!) with some stuff and headed to the room. I told Team #2 to wait a few minutes and then come up. They did. We relaxed and then Team #2 went to the pool. Team #1 joined them 10 minutes later. We did the same when we left the pool and then again when we left to go to dinner. In the midst of our 30 minutes in the room, we saw 4 or 5 ants. Not good! Leah started complaining that it was a yucky hotel, but Joe and I just laughed about it.
Next plan on my frugal fun adventure was dinner. It costs a lot to take 6 people out for dinner. Even if we go somewhere simple like Wendy's or Chick-fil-a, it will cost us $40. However, there's a great place called Jason's Deli. We don't have one near us, but they are throughout Atlanta and the US. The food is really fresh, healthy and delicious! The best part. . . all 6 of us can eat delicious and healthy food and spend $31.
When we got back to our hotel, there was a cricket one of the beds. At this point, it became pretty funny. When we turned the lights out that night, we all started making jokes and got the giggles. Leah said, "Well mom, at least we made a good memory!"
Day 2 of our adventure took us to breakfast in Teams again. The kids had no idea why we were doing it, but thought it was fun nonetheless. Joe and I had a good laugh about it! We left there and went back to the aquarium. It is divided into two buildings -- Ocean and River. We spent the first day at the River and then the second day we went to the Ocean. 
After the aquarium, we hopped on the free electric shuttle that runs through downtown and went to the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel to have lunch. We ate (kids eat free) and then kids ran around the trains. 
We hopped the shuttle back to where we were parked and then drove back to Atlanta.
Here's the breakdown:
Gas $55
Dinner $31
Hotel $60
Lunch $30
Carousel $5
Parking $5
My goal was to have our 2 day/ 1 night adventure cost less than $200. I did it! It came to $186. I even came in under, despite the fact that we got a $11 parking ticket in downtown the first day. (I dug in the bottom of my purse to get enough change for our 2 hours at the meter only to realize that I put it in the meter for the car next to us. Ugh!)
The kids and Joe and I had a wonderful time and a lot of laughs. . thanks to the ants and crickets. Yucky!
