When we moved to Okinawa in 2016, tensions with North Korea were high. Over the next year, every time I turned on the news it was talking about a potential war. That same year, I would attend several emergency evacuation briefs in case they had to evacuate the families off this island. All I could picture in my head was a scene out of Titanic. All the women and children would be evacuated, but we had to leave our husbands behind. Even my older boys knew what was happening, and Braydon wanted to go home. I told him that at any time Daddy thinks we need to leave he will tell us. And I told Brandon the same thing…if you think we need to go home tell me before any evacuation might happen.

During all of this, I told Brandon I would never visit South Korea. I did not want to take my boys over there if anything were to happen. Fast forward three years later and there I was planning our next vacation to see the cherry blossoms in Korea. I am so thankful that the tensions with the North have calmed down so that we had the opportunity to visit this amazing country.

Brandon travels to Korea all the time, usually a few times a month. A few years ago, he saw all the beautiful cherry blossoms. He knows how much I love cherry blossoms and he couldn’t wait to bring me to see them. Korea is only a quick fight from Okinawa. We flew Peach airlines to Incheon Airport. The airport had robots that would meet you and help you with any questions you might have. The boys had the best time questioning the robot.

We decided to rent a car and take a road trip through Korea to see the cherry blossoms. Brandon also signed up to run the Cherry Blossom Marathon so our first stop would be to Gyeongju. It was late by the time we got to Gyeongju, but we were able to see all the cherry blossoms lit up at night.

We stayed at the Gyeongju Hilton, and I highly recommend it. The view from our room was absolutely magical. The hotel sits right on Lake Bomun, which is one of the best places to view the cherry blossoms. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance and even a Starbucks right next door to get all your cherry blossom drinks and snacks.

The next morning we took a short road trip up to the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. It’s held every year around the first week in April. It’s the biggest cherry blossom festival in Korea. The two main areas to view the cherry blossoms are Yeojwacheon Stream and Gyeonghwa Station. We really needed a full day to see all the cherry blossoms, and it does get very crowded in the afternoon so I recommend getting there as early as possible. We were only able to visit Gyeonghwa Station because of our limited time. It was absolutely beautiful to see the trees lined on the side of the train. There were lots of vendors selling all kinds of amazing street food and cherry blossom snacks and souvenirs.

It was late afternoon by the time we got back to the hotel from the festival. The boys just wanted to relax in their rooms so Brandon and I headed up to the lounge to watch the sunset over the lake. We had to get to sleep early so Brandon could be ready for the Cherry Blossom Marathon the next day!

While the boys were getting ready for bed, I headed down to take a walk around the lake to see the trees all lit up at night! It was such a magical sight!

The best time to have the cherry blossoms all to yourself is early in the morning. The boys and I got up early and took a walk around the lake while Brandon started his marathon. We had so much fun taking pictures and stopping at Starbucks for warm drinks and muffins.

After Starbucks, we met Brandon at the finish line! I was so proud of him! He amazes me more every day. I can’t even imagine running that far. He had an awesome time for this marathon. We headed back to the hotel through the cherry blossoms that were starting to fall off. It looked like it was snowing cherry blossoms. It was a magical experience!

Before we moved to Okinawa, Brandon attended USMC Command and Staff College in Quantico and there were several international students at the school. While working in Korea, he met his new counterpart from the ROK Marines that he would be working with. It just so happens that he was one of the international students at the school with Brandon. He invited us to meet his family and set up a beautiful lunch for us. He had an entire room reserved for us in a hotel that overlooked the cherry blossoms. He has two boys that love beyblades and so do my boys. They were able to battle each other while we ate lunch. It was such a neat experience!

We finally said goodbye to our new friends, and headed to Daegu to visit E-world and see the starlight cherry blossom festival. It ended up being a little bit of a disaster. I never imagined so many people would come to see the starlight festival and it took us hours just to go a few miles. I would recommend going on a weekday for this festival and to get there early. We did stay for a little while and I was able to get a few pictures!

After several wonderful days of adventures, we headed up to Seoul to see the cherry blossoms and have a few more adventures along the way!