Our Top Five Footprints in 2016~ A Review of the Blog’s First Year

Last year at this time, I was both recovering from surgery and working on a fresh start for 2016.  Since I was somewhat forced to relax and recuperate, it was the perfect time for me to start doing something I love to do, write, and turn it into something that perhaps could inspire, encourage, motivate or educate others.  It’s been an exciting year in blogging and taking inventory has been humbling.

When I began this journey, I intended to simply focus on sharing some of our family experiences, but, to be honest, I really wasn’t even sure what those experiences were going to be.  Over the course of the last twelve months or so, I have found myself writing about our various traveling adventures, reviewing restaurants and movies, sharing opportunities to raise food allergy awareness and, of course, detailing our multiple trips to Walt Disney World (which, in all honesty, I’m even surprised we were able to take!).  I’m still working on honing that in that focus, but I am enjoying the process and I hope you have enjoyed it, as well.  It has given me such an opportunity to sharpen a skill I have always wanted to employ. Heck, even our middle son caught the writing bug and has contributed at times by adding his point of view to the mix, most particularly when it comes to our trips to Walt Disney World.  I love going back to reread his thoughts and realize how much fun he had.

Well, in the process of reflection and introspection, I decided to take a closer look at the posts that did well this past year and see which five drew most of the attention.  I was surprised at some and not so much with others. While 60% of them involved Walt Disney World in some way, form or fashion and 80% involved food, I noticed that all five involved travel of some kind…whether it was to Atlanta, Cape Cod or Orlando.

So – without further ado, here are the Top 5 Footprints in Pixie Dust blog posts from 2016 (drum roll please)

#5. Adventures in Relocating: The Move That Almost Happened

We were all excited ~ we were moving to Georgia last summer!!  We had been waiting for this moment for some time and it was finally happening…until…things went “south” in a hurry.  This story talks about what happened and why the decision to move was simply just not timed well enough for our family this go round.

#4. Morimoto Asia: A Bucket List Must for the Foodie in You

I cannot wait to go back here!  I hope you enjoyed this review detailing our experience at Disney Spring’s Morimoto Asia this past September.  My hubby, his brother, our sister-in-law and I had a fabulous experience and the food was full of flavor and delicious.  Find out what we ate, what we thought of the service and price, and what on the menu I could eat over and over and over again.  Yum!

#3. An Early Morning Royal Feast: Breakfast in Cinderella Castle

This piece allowed me to cross off a Disney bucket list item last May and all because my wonderful teenage son wanted to make his mom smile (I have three amazing boys, but this trip was a special one for the middle one).  I cannot say enough about the food and our server was genuine, personal and extremely welcoming.  If you have ever wondered what it was like to eat in Cinderella Castle, you do not want to miss reading this post.

#2. Epcot International Food & Wine Festival: Taking it One Bite (And Sip) at a Time

This is one of my favorite times of the year to visit Epcot!  World Showcase turns into a one mile feeding frenzy with a plethora of cultural cuisines and beverage options to enjoy.  It certainly takes a well thought out plan to master this event ~ which we did not have this trip ~ but take a gander at this piece to find out what plates we did enjoy, what were our favorites and what we thought of the overall experience.  Get ready to be hungry!

#1. Fathom’s Bar & Grille: One Traveling Family’s Review

This one shocked me as the #1 post this past year!  We had decided to venture out to Cape Cod for a quick little weekend getaway as summer was coming to a close.  Just before we headed over the bridge, we stopped for the night in a coastal MA town.  One has to eat, right?  Well, as is our routine, hubby called around to find a restaurant willing and able to accommodate our son’s food allergies and we found this great seafood place in New Bedford.  The manager had everything under control and our server was beyond fantastic and accommodating!  In fact, we still chat to this day!  This piece picked up some traffic from various Cape Cod papers and social media outlets, giving it the rank of the #1 viewed post on Footprints in 2016.  Find out why I wrote about this establishment and why we hope to visit there again this coming summer!

Now that 2016 is done and Footprints’ maiden year has come to an end, it’s time to look forward to 2017 ~ new goals, new experiences and new opportunities. What adventures will we take as a family?  What movies will we see and at what unique restaurants will we dine?  What will my reviews of those entail?  What new experiences will we encounter at Walt Disney World this year?  How will our family fare with our son’s food allergies?  Whom will we educate and what establishments will we be able to recommend as food allergy friendly?  I’m excited about the possibilities.  I think it’s going to be a good year.

But I know that the year won’t go anywhere if I don’t have you.  Without you, the readers, those who share, like and comment on my blog pieces ~ without you, I wouldn’t have the opportunity or outlet to share great news when it happens, provide you with insight on a restaurant, movie or Disney attraction that you may be considering, or even give credit where credit is due for great service.  So – I hope you continue to follow our “Footprints” as we journey into another year together.  Share the blog with family, friends and groups who may find our experiences relative to their own lives. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and share your own positive and encouraging thoughts on experiences or journeys you have that may be relative to the post you read.

So, with all my heart and soul, I thank you for a great start in 2016 and…..thank you in advance for sticking with us in 2017!

Until the next set of footprints are made ~ T.M. Brown