I recently read about Bloggers Coast to Coast and thought it's a cool idea so decided to spread the word. Shane at Whispering Sweet Nothings is putting together a geographic blog directory. All you have to do is fill out some basic info about you and your blog and she'll add you to a Google Map. You can use it to find other bloggers in your area. Cool idea.
This would have been really helpful when I was planning our road trip last year, could have contacted bloggers for tips about their home turf.
I have her button on my sidebar so you can check it out there too.
Showing posts with label roadtrip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roadtrip. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Roadtrip Day 8-10 - Atlanta, GA
We hit the road bright and early knowing that Atlanta traffic is notoriously bad. Our friend lives in the middle of downtown, so at his recommendation we wanted to arrive by 3 pm. We gave the kids a quick breakfast and then said our goodbyes.
We stopped for lunch at a barbecue place in Tifton Georgia. I think it was called the Pit Stop. My husband found it on line, and when we arrived realized it was a popular place with the locals - always a plus. Lunch was good, and after seeing all the signs for pecans, we stopped and picked up a few bags of those as well. Can't visit Georgia without getting some pecans.
We made it to Atlanta in good time and pulled up to his building shortly before 3pm. He lives in a high rise condo - one bedroom unit. It's loft style so the walls to the bedroom don't go all the way up to the ceiling - this was going to be a challenge for bedtime. We went to the pool for a bit to let the kids burn off some energy and then went to the Mellow Mushroom for pizza. Before heading home, we stopped in Piedmont Park to let the kids run some more.
We decided the best sleeping arrangements were for our whole little family to sleep in the bedroom, and our friend offered to sleep on the couch. We set up the pack n play, and two air mattresses in a horseshoe around the bed. Knowing that the kids wouldn't fall asleep if we stayed in the apartment, we set up the cell phone monitor and went downstairs for a beer. Once we were sure the kids were asleep we headed up to bed.
The next morning we headed to Stone Mountain. Our friend wasn't feeling well so stayed home, but we had a fun day. I didn't really know what to expect with Stone Mountain, and while it was more expensive than I had thought it would be, there was a lot yo do. We parked near the base of the gondola, and took that to the top of the mountain. As you ride up you are able to get a view of the carving on the mountain, which is great as it makes it easier to appreciate how big it really is. There is a small restaurant on top and a viewing platform on one side but most of the summit us wide open for people to walk around on. The rest of the surrounding area is flat and you can see pretty far.
We had read before going up to the top that it's a mile and a third walk down, with some steep spots tgat have handrails. Seemed doable. In hindsight, shouldn't have done it with the kids. It was pretty hot at the top, and while we should have bought drinks for the walk down we didn't. There were a few trees here and there towards the top but for the most part we were under the blazing hot sun for a most of the walk down. The steep parts are slippery as they have worn down over the years from people walking down. The handrails are pretty slick too. Add to that that I wore flipflops that day, and the kids were wearing sandals. Not the best idea since we all had sneakers with us. My son was going pretty slowly and soon started asking me to carry him. I held off as long as i could but did finally end up carrying him the last third of a mile or so.
At the base is a exhibit hall with water fountain and bathrooms as well as a geologic exhibit detailing how the continents formed and explaining why there is a mountain in the middle of flat Georgia. There was a short movie on how the carving was made, but at that point our kids were thirsty and hungry and we didn't stop to watch it. We caught a shuttle to a different area of the mountain for lunch. The shuttles don't run very often but there is a schedule. Try to get one when you arrive so you can plan ahead.
We stopped for lunch at a barbecue place in Tifton Georgia. I think it was called the Pit Stop. My husband found it on line, and when we arrived realized it was a popular place with the locals - always a plus. Lunch was good, and after seeing all the signs for pecans, we stopped and picked up a few bags of those as well. Can't visit Georgia without getting some pecans.
We made it to Atlanta in good time and pulled up to his building shortly before 3pm. He lives in a high rise condo - one bedroom unit. It's loft style so the walls to the bedroom don't go all the way up to the ceiling - this was going to be a challenge for bedtime. We went to the pool for a bit to let the kids burn off some energy and then went to the Mellow Mushroom for pizza. Before heading home, we stopped in Piedmont Park to let the kids run some more.
We decided the best sleeping arrangements were for our whole little family to sleep in the bedroom, and our friend offered to sleep on the couch. We set up the pack n play, and two air mattresses in a horseshoe around the bed. Knowing that the kids wouldn't fall asleep if we stayed in the apartment, we set up the cell phone monitor and went downstairs for a beer. Once we were sure the kids were asleep we headed up to bed.
The next morning we headed to Stone Mountain. Our friend wasn't feeling well so stayed home, but we had a fun day. I didn't really know what to expect with Stone Mountain, and while it was more expensive than I had thought it would be, there was a lot yo do. We parked near the base of the gondola, and took that to the top of the mountain. As you ride up you are able to get a view of the carving on the mountain, which is great as it makes it easier to appreciate how big it really is. There is a small restaurant on top and a viewing platform on one side but most of the summit us wide open for people to walk around on. The rest of the surrounding area is flat and you can see pretty far.
We had read before going up to the top that it's a mile and a third walk down, with some steep spots tgat have handrails. Seemed doable. In hindsight, shouldn't have done it with the kids. It was pretty hot at the top, and while we should have bought drinks for the walk down we didn't. There were a few trees here and there towards the top but for the most part we were under the blazing hot sun for a most of the walk down. The steep parts are slippery as they have worn down over the years from people walking down. The handrails are pretty slick too. Add to that that I wore flipflops that day, and the kids were wearing sandals. Not the best idea since we all had sneakers with us. My son was going pretty slowly and soon started asking me to carry him. I held off as long as i could but did finally end up carrying him the last third of a mile or so.
At the base is a exhibit hall with water fountain and bathrooms as well as a geologic exhibit detailing how the continents formed and explaining why there is a mountain in the middle of flat Georgia. There was a short movie on how the carving was made, but at that point our kids were thirsty and hungry and we didn't stop to watch it. We caught a shuttle to a different area of the mountain for lunch. The shuttles don't run very often but there is a schedule. Try to get one when you arrive so you can plan ahead.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Roadtrip Day 5-8 - Jacksonville, FL
Our next stop was one where I knew the kids would have the most fun. We went to Jacksonville to see my husband's uncle. He has 4 daughters, 3 our age, one older and 9 grandkids. Two of the grandkids were 8 year old girls who the aunt and uncle sit for. We were all excited for some to relax and go to the beach and just let the kids play. Living in Chicago, we do go to the beach along Lake Michigan, but there's a world of difference between a lake front beach and an ocean beach.
As we crossed the stateline into the sunshine state we were greeted with a torrential downpour. I would have taken a picture of the sign welcoming us to the "Sunshine State" but I couldn't see it. When we arrived the two girls were still there and apparently had been eagerly awaiting my kids arrival. They quickly became friends and ran off to play as we unloaded the car.
That night the two girls Moms came over for dinner along with their other kids. Honey Baked Ham with all te great sides. Yum. When it was time for my little guy, I asked him what he wanted, and he said, "a buffet". One of the cousins overheard that and laughed. I explained that a while back when I was trying to get him to eat some of his leftovers, I lined up 4 different flavors on his tray and called it a buffet.
We quickly learned that in this house the door is never locked when they are home as someone is always stopping by. While I'm sure that can be hectic, we are so far from extended family that plans are made months in advance, I thought it was great. There was the typical joking that comes with being family, and everyone gave as good as they got.
The one thing that I knew would be different for my kids though is that pretty much everyone in that family had been divorced (most remarried), some had kids very young, one of the granddaughters is mixed race, and her mother is now married to a different black man.
These days our little family is pretty unique in that everyone is still married to their first spouse and no kids out of wedlock. Ok, that last one is pretty outdated but most kids believe that first you get married then you have kids. I haven't had the talk yet with my kids, so they think pregnancy is always a planned and happy event between two married people. We knew there would be some questions, but also saw no reason to bring up questions that really were irrelevant. Family's family in my mind. Doesn't really matter what connection got you there in the first place.
The next day a bunch of us went to the beach. Our oldest daughter wanted to play in the water (although needed a little encouragement once she saw the waves). My younger daughter was very excited to look for shells. We had told her you could find shark's teeth but we never found any. But we found plenty of scallops, a couple of broken sand dollars, sea urchins, and tons of clams in different sizes and colors. My little guy still prefers to play in the sand but is slowly getting more comfortable in the water. My husband took the kids out to the water to play in the waves. It didn't take long before our oldest was splashing around with her cousins. Our younger daughter spent some time in the water bit really for her a day at the beach is all about finding shells. Little man split his time in the water and the sand. We saw dolphins a bit off shore jumping out of the water. My younger daughter thought they were sharks and though I tried to explain to her the difference between the tail fins of a dolphin v shark, I don't think she ever really bought it. So back to collecting shells.
At one point the kids decided to dig out a little ditch and fill it with water. My son though this was the greatest thing ever and declared it his pool and would stand on the highest part of the ledge, jump into about 3 inches of water yelling "cannonball". He did it over and over until finally the tide came in and washed away his pool. He tried to go to a different kids pool when they weren't using it, but they didn't like that, so I led him away.
That night we took the uncle and aunt out for dinner while one of their daughters watched our kids. I had told her a few things in advance but didn't need to give too much of a download since she has kids of her own. When we came back from dinner everyone was sleeping soundly and she told us that our little guy had gotten really tired really fast, and actually asked to be put to bed (unusual for him), she changed his diaper and was ready to put him to bed, and my oldest tried to insist that he needed his teeth brushed a story and pajamas. They couldn't find the toothbrush and from the sounds of it, the poor guy was pretty tired so I would have skipped the pjs and story as well. But that's my little rule follower. If we usually make a point of doing all those things, then we must always do all those things. No exceptions.
The next day we went to St Augustine for the morning. We wandered around the fort but it was pretty hot. The kids thought it was interesting but we still went through it pretty quickly. We headed to the walking streets and had lunch at a Cuban restaurant called Columbia. It's a chain in Florida but the original location in Tampa opened in 1905. The food was good, but the decor was what made the place really nice. We were seated in the main room which had really tall ceilings (maybe two stories) and were right by the fountain. I've never been to Cuba, so don't know how authentic it is, but it felt very Spanish to me.
After lunch we went to the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse in the US. It's right on St George Street and a real quick but interesting place to stop. Our kids liked seeing it, and got a little diploma at the end (just a xeroxed piece of paper with room to put the kids name in). It would have been nicer if one of the staff had actually written the kid's name since they weren't really busy, but they didn't.
We stopped in a couple of gift shops, my oldest daughter bought a little ship in a bottle as a souvenir. I wanted to check out the gift shop at Columbia as they had a lot of nice pottery, but at that point the kids were wilting, and close to meltdowns. It was the hottest day of our trip, and not the time to go shopping.
That night everyone came over for dinner - good Southern barbecue. Everyone got a kick out of our little guy. He wanted his "buffet" again. Then when he was finished eating, he and I were sitting at the table with one of the cousin's husbands and his son. Littleman looks at them and says, "I like sports". They laughed but at the same time, it started a conversation about the kind of sports everyone liked. Very funny.
All in all a great couple of days, reconnecting with people we hadn't seen in 13 years, and some of whom I hadn't met before.
As we crossed the stateline into the sunshine state we were greeted with a torrential downpour. I would have taken a picture of the sign welcoming us to the "Sunshine State" but I couldn't see it. When we arrived the two girls were still there and apparently had been eagerly awaiting my kids arrival. They quickly became friends and ran off to play as we unloaded the car.
That night the two girls Moms came over for dinner along with their other kids. Honey Baked Ham with all te great sides. Yum. When it was time for my little guy, I asked him what he wanted, and he said, "a buffet". One of the cousins overheard that and laughed. I explained that a while back when I was trying to get him to eat some of his leftovers, I lined up 4 different flavors on his tray and called it a buffet.
We quickly learned that in this house the door is never locked when they are home as someone is always stopping by. While I'm sure that can be hectic, we are so far from extended family that plans are made months in advance, I thought it was great. There was the typical joking that comes with being family, and everyone gave as good as they got.
The one thing that I knew would be different for my kids though is that pretty much everyone in that family had been divorced (most remarried), some had kids very young, one of the granddaughters is mixed race, and her mother is now married to a different black man.
These days our little family is pretty unique in that everyone is still married to their first spouse and no kids out of wedlock. Ok, that last one is pretty outdated but most kids believe that first you get married then you have kids. I haven't had the talk yet with my kids, so they think pregnancy is always a planned and happy event between two married people. We knew there would be some questions, but also saw no reason to bring up questions that really were irrelevant. Family's family in my mind. Doesn't really matter what connection got you there in the first place.
The next day a bunch of us went to the beach. Our oldest daughter wanted to play in the water (although needed a little encouragement once she saw the waves). My younger daughter was very excited to look for shells. We had told her you could find shark's teeth but we never found any. But we found plenty of scallops, a couple of broken sand dollars, sea urchins, and tons of clams in different sizes and colors. My little guy still prefers to play in the sand but is slowly getting more comfortable in the water. My husband took the kids out to the water to play in the waves. It didn't take long before our oldest was splashing around with her cousins. Our younger daughter spent some time in the water bit really for her a day at the beach is all about finding shells. Little man split his time in the water and the sand. We saw dolphins a bit off shore jumping out of the water. My younger daughter thought they were sharks and though I tried to explain to her the difference between the tail fins of a dolphin v shark, I don't think she ever really bought it. So back to collecting shells.
At one point the kids decided to dig out a little ditch and fill it with water. My son though this was the greatest thing ever and declared it his pool and would stand on the highest part of the ledge, jump into about 3 inches of water yelling "cannonball". He did it over and over until finally the tide came in and washed away his pool. He tried to go to a different kids pool when they weren't using it, but they didn't like that, so I led him away.
That night we took the uncle and aunt out for dinner while one of their daughters watched our kids. I had told her a few things in advance but didn't need to give too much of a download since she has kids of her own. When we came back from dinner everyone was sleeping soundly and she told us that our little guy had gotten really tired really fast, and actually asked to be put to bed (unusual for him), she changed his diaper and was ready to put him to bed, and my oldest tried to insist that he needed his teeth brushed a story and pajamas. They couldn't find the toothbrush and from the sounds of it, the poor guy was pretty tired so I would have skipped the pjs and story as well. But that's my little rule follower. If we usually make a point of doing all those things, then we must always do all those things. No exceptions.
The next day we went to St Augustine for the morning. We wandered around the fort but it was pretty hot. The kids thought it was interesting but we still went through it pretty quickly. We headed to the walking streets and had lunch at a Cuban restaurant called Columbia. It's a chain in Florida but the original location in Tampa opened in 1905. The food was good, but the decor was what made the place really nice. We were seated in the main room which had really tall ceilings (maybe two stories) and were right by the fountain. I've never been to Cuba, so don't know how authentic it is, but it felt very Spanish to me.
After lunch we went to the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse in the US. It's right on St George Street and a real quick but interesting place to stop. Our kids liked seeing it, and got a little diploma at the end (just a xeroxed piece of paper with room to put the kids name in). It would have been nicer if one of the staff had actually written the kid's name since they weren't really busy, but they didn't.
We stopped in a couple of gift shops, my oldest daughter bought a little ship in a bottle as a souvenir. I wanted to check out the gift shop at Columbia as they had a lot of nice pottery, but at that point the kids were wilting, and close to meltdowns. It was the hottest day of our trip, and not the time to go shopping.
That night everyone came over for dinner - good Southern barbecue. Everyone got a kick out of our little guy. He wanted his "buffet" again. Then when he was finished eating, he and I were sitting at the table with one of the cousin's husbands and his son. Littleman looks at them and says, "I like sports". They laughed but at the same time, it started a conversation about the kind of sports everyone liked. Very funny.
All in all a great couple of days, reconnecting with people we hadn't seen in 13 years, and some of whom I hadn't met before.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Roadtrip Day 5 - Savannah, GA
On day 5 we drove from Columbia to Jacksonville. Pretty much half way is Savannah. I had never been but had always heard it was beautiful. Even though we wouldn't want to spend a ton of time, it seemed like the perfect spot for lunch. Yes, I managed to convince my husband to take a detour. But to be fair, I also thought it was right off of 95. In reality we had to get on another highway to take us to the coast, but still not too far. For lunch we stopped at The Pirates House based on a recommendation from a bloggy mom.
It was perfect. We made a reservation (just because I like to earn Open Table points whenever I can) but on a Tuesday afternoon I don't think we needed them. My husband and I got the buffet and my oldest duaghter ordered a grilled cheese off the kids menu. The buffet had probably 10 items so not huge, but covered everything we expected from a "Southern Luncheon buffet". My husband loves Southern food, so he was in heaven, even I went up for seconds of the barbecue pork and rice. My daughter was happy because we were able to get her mac and cheese from the buffet.
We were seated in one of the rooms that was connecting the two main buildings. The whole place is a maze of various size rooms and has been around since 1753. They do have "pirates" who come by your table and pose for pictures. Usually that kind of stuff bugs me, but they're not trying to sell you photos, you use your own camera if you want a shot. My kids I think were a little put off by it though cause they were hungry and didn't want to stop for a picture, so we didn't get a really good shot. Oh well.
I had read some reviews by people saying that they were disappointed because they were expecting something more like "Pirates of the Caribbean" but honestly that's what I liked about it. It was old, but maintained, there were little signs posted around telling the history of the house and what the rooms were used for in the past. In the room we were in, there was a sign over a tunnel that had been discovered maybe 30 years before that had never been on any plans and they're not quite sure what it was used for. Makes for good lunch conversation, was it where they hid their treasures? a dungeon?
There is a gift shop upstairs which has some cute things but a lot of it is typical kitschy gift shop stuff but pretty reasonable prices. My daughters each bought a necklace and bracelet set, and we got them each a "gold pirate coin" - the coins were only 50 cents each. We didn't spend a lot of time exploring the other rooms, but still the kids liked it and I would definitely recommend it to others.
After lunch we decided to take a short walk along the water and back towards our car. It was really hot so they kids didn't have much patience for it, but I still enjoyed our brief stroll. I love the trees in this area with the spanish moss growing on them. So pretty. My daughter was fascinated with the streets that were paved with brick or ones paved with seashells. All in all a great stop. I would have liked to linger a little longer but it was just too hot, so after our walk we filled up our water bottles at the cooler that the Pirates House very nicely has for public use in their courtyard and headed down to Jax.
It was perfect. We made a reservation (just because I like to earn Open Table points whenever I can) but on a Tuesday afternoon I don't think we needed them. My husband and I got the buffet and my oldest duaghter ordered a grilled cheese off the kids menu. The buffet had probably 10 items so not huge, but covered everything we expected from a "Southern Luncheon buffet". My husband loves Southern food, so he was in heaven, even I went up for seconds of the barbecue pork and rice. My daughter was happy because we were able to get her mac and cheese from the buffet.
We were seated in one of the rooms that was connecting the two main buildings. The whole place is a maze of various size rooms and has been around since 1753. They do have "pirates" who come by your table and pose for pictures. Usually that kind of stuff bugs me, but they're not trying to sell you photos, you use your own camera if you want a shot. My kids I think were a little put off by it though cause they were hungry and didn't want to stop for a picture, so we didn't get a really good shot. Oh well.
I had read some reviews by people saying that they were disappointed because they were expecting something more like "Pirates of the Caribbean" but honestly that's what I liked about it. It was old, but maintained, there were little signs posted around telling the history of the house and what the rooms were used for in the past. In the room we were in, there was a sign over a tunnel that had been discovered maybe 30 years before that had never been on any plans and they're not quite sure what it was used for. Makes for good lunch conversation, was it where they hid their treasures? a dungeon?
There is a gift shop upstairs which has some cute things but a lot of it is typical kitschy gift shop stuff but pretty reasonable prices. My daughters each bought a necklace and bracelet set, and we got them each a "gold pirate coin" - the coins were only 50 cents each. We didn't spend a lot of time exploring the other rooms, but still the kids liked it and I would definitely recommend it to others.
After lunch we decided to take a short walk along the water and back towards our car. It was really hot so they kids didn't have much patience for it, but I still enjoyed our brief stroll. I love the trees in this area with the spanish moss growing on them. So pretty. My daughter was fascinated with the streets that were paved with brick or ones paved with seashells. All in all a great stop. I would have liked to linger a little longer but it was just too hot, so after our walk we filled up our water bottles at the cooler that the Pirates House very nicely has for public use in their courtyard and headed down to Jax.
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This is the fence of a private home next door to the Pirates House. I just thought it was really creative instead of the standard old fence where all the posts are the same. I don't know if they were left over from another project, salvaged from somewhere, or purposely made this way for the fence, but whatever the case, it caught my eye, especially the way it played off the blue house.
Roadtrip Day 3-5 - Columbia, SC
Day 3 was our shortest drive. Only 180 miles. Easy peasy. I was hoping to do a drive by of the Biltmore on the way, but apparently that wouldn't really work with the direction we were going in. (My husband is not a fan of detours). Oh well, maybe our next trip whenever that may be. That's one thing about traveling you're never going to be able to see everything you want, so always good to leave something for the next time. Our next stop was outside Columbia, SC to stay with a golf buddy of my husband's and his family. This was the stop I was most nervous about as I had never met these people. All my husband really told me was that the husband was a cool guy, he and his wife were both doctors, and they have two kids, a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy. Oh and they have a nice house with a pool and it's only for 2 nights.
We got there around lunch time so went to a restaurant for lunch as they had just gotten back from their own one week vacation the night before and had no food in the house. I have to admit I was surprised to learn this and then really appreciated that they agreed to have us stay. I know I wouldn't be ready to have people stay after being gone for a week. I'm still getting my house back in order, and we've been home for 5 days.
When we sat down for lunch the kids were all looking at the menu and one of the kids asked what Michael was going to eat. Before I could say anything, he responded, "I don't eat cheerios".
Yep, my stubborn little two year old is still just eating purees and I've basically given up trying to get him to eat table food or even the stage 3 foods with the chunks in them. He's healthy and growing well, and the doctor doesn't seem concerned, so neither am I. But I am looking forward to the day I don't have to bring food for him anytime I think we may be stopping for a meal somewhere. I brought 100 containers of food on our trip and he went through most of them over the course of 10 days. I know it's purely a control thing for him, and one day he'll just decide he wants to try something of ours food. Occasionally he will make chewing motions with his jaw when he's eating so I think he's getting close but then he's been doing that for a while and nothing seems to change.
Ok, back to our story. After a nice lunch we went back to their house and everyone got in the pool. SC was the hottest of all our stops topping out at over 100 degrees. The kids all got along well, and my little man loved being in a house that had a boy as there were tons of cars, trains, etc to play with. We barbecued for dinner and the kids went to bed, and then we all settled in pretty early too. Monday the parents had to work but their nanny came and we all took the kids to the Edventure Children's Museum in Columbia. It's a really cool museum and in many ways better than the one we have here in Chicago. They have this big two story model of a boy in the foyer that you can climb through and see the different organs and how they work. Really cool. They have a full size fire engine and outfits for the kids to wear. My son loved that. They have a construction section with a mini bulldozer that the kids can pedal and move padded "bricks". There was a farm section with a tractor to climb on, and a TV studio where kids can pretend to do the news and weather. They all had fun doing that.
At this point the kids were hungry so we left to go to lunch as the museum didn't really have much in terms of food. Why is it that children's museums have such lousy food options? Don't they realize people would stay longer if they had good food? So where did we go? Chick-fil-A. Ok, maybe not the best option, but since I'd never had it, and it's what the locals wanted we went. We pulled in right around lunch time, and couldn't get a parking spot. There was a long line for the double barrel drive thru. We ended up parking in the tractor supply store next door. The funniest part though was that the McDonalds across the street was practically deserted. Anyway, we had our lunch which was better than I had expected. The kids got kids meals and each got a book with their meal. My daughter received Wind in the Willows which she has already read. Somehow she found out that she could trade in her book for ice cream, well that was a no-brainer. And of course once she did that her sister did the same.
We headed home and my kids wanted to get in the pool and the local kids thought they were nuts. Why? Because it was too hot. Too hot for the pool? Didn't make sense to me at first until I dipped my toes in the water and realized it was like a nice warm bath, not a refreshing place to cool off. So the little man took a nap and the girls all played school while we waited for the sun to go down behind the trees and the pool could cool off. In the time my son napped they had spelling, math, Italian, and art. Finally the little guy woke up and they had "recess" in the pool. Our oldest is getting pretty comfortable swimming, but the younger ones spent most of the time in the hot tub (without the jets on) which they referred to as the "kiddie pool". Before dinner they played school some more, and they even got report cards. They both passed :)
Once the parents got home, we went out to dinner. We got home around 8 and their kids had been promised that they could watch a movie in their home theater. Unfortunately this was already decided without running it by us, so we kind of had to allow ours to watch as well. They were ready by 9 (their usual bedtime) and settled in to watch Cars (which was longer than I thought). They didn't get to bed until 11, but enjoyed the movie. Overall it was a good stop, very relaxing, everyone recharged and I after spending the previous couple of days in a house with no kids or toys it was good to just be able to let them play.
The next morning we wanted to leave by around 9 as we had reservations for lunch at the Pirates House in Savannah before hitting Jacksonville. Unfortunately nobody was packed so it was going to be tough, but at least tonight the kids went right to sleep.
We got there around lunch time so went to a restaurant for lunch as they had just gotten back from their own one week vacation the night before and had no food in the house. I have to admit I was surprised to learn this and then really appreciated that they agreed to have us stay. I know I wouldn't be ready to have people stay after being gone for a week. I'm still getting my house back in order, and we've been home for 5 days.
When we sat down for lunch the kids were all looking at the menu and one of the kids asked what Michael was going to eat. Before I could say anything, he responded, "I don't eat cheerios".
Yep, my stubborn little two year old is still just eating purees and I've basically given up trying to get him to eat table food or even the stage 3 foods with the chunks in them. He's healthy and growing well, and the doctor doesn't seem concerned, so neither am I. But I am looking forward to the day I don't have to bring food for him anytime I think we may be stopping for a meal somewhere. I brought 100 containers of food on our trip and he went through most of them over the course of 10 days. I know it's purely a control thing for him, and one day he'll just decide he wants to try something of ours food. Occasionally he will make chewing motions with his jaw when he's eating so I think he's getting close but then he's been doing that for a while and nothing seems to change.
Ok, back to our story. After a nice lunch we went back to their house and everyone got in the pool. SC was the hottest of all our stops topping out at over 100 degrees. The kids all got along well, and my little man loved being in a house that had a boy as there were tons of cars, trains, etc to play with. We barbecued for dinner and the kids went to bed, and then we all settled in pretty early too. Monday the parents had to work but their nanny came and we all took the kids to the Edventure Children's Museum in Columbia. It's a really cool museum and in many ways better than the one we have here in Chicago. They have this big two story model of a boy in the foyer that you can climb through and see the different organs and how they work. Really cool. They have a full size fire engine and outfits for the kids to wear. My son loved that. They have a construction section with a mini bulldozer that the kids can pedal and move padded "bricks". There was a farm section with a tractor to climb on, and a TV studio where kids can pretend to do the news and weather. They all had fun doing that.
At this point the kids were hungry so we left to go to lunch as the museum didn't really have much in terms of food. Why is it that children's museums have such lousy food options? Don't they realize people would stay longer if they had good food? So where did we go? Chick-fil-A. Ok, maybe not the best option, but since I'd never had it, and it's what the locals wanted we went. We pulled in right around lunch time, and couldn't get a parking spot. There was a long line for the double barrel drive thru. We ended up parking in the tractor supply store next door. The funniest part though was that the McDonalds across the street was practically deserted. Anyway, we had our lunch which was better than I had expected. The kids got kids meals and each got a book with their meal. My daughter received Wind in the Willows which she has already read. Somehow she found out that she could trade in her book for ice cream, well that was a no-brainer. And of course once she did that her sister did the same.
We headed home and my kids wanted to get in the pool and the local kids thought they were nuts. Why? Because it was too hot. Too hot for the pool? Didn't make sense to me at first until I dipped my toes in the water and realized it was like a nice warm bath, not a refreshing place to cool off. So the little man took a nap and the girls all played school while we waited for the sun to go down behind the trees and the pool could cool off. In the time my son napped they had spelling, math, Italian, and art. Finally the little guy woke up and they had "recess" in the pool. Our oldest is getting pretty comfortable swimming, but the younger ones spent most of the time in the hot tub (without the jets on) which they referred to as the "kiddie pool". Before dinner they played school some more, and they even got report cards. They both passed :)
Once the parents got home, we went out to dinner. We got home around 8 and their kids had been promised that they could watch a movie in their home theater. Unfortunately this was already decided without running it by us, so we kind of had to allow ours to watch as well. They were ready by 9 (their usual bedtime) and settled in to watch Cars (which was longer than I thought). They didn't get to bed until 11, but enjoyed the movie. Overall it was a good stop, very relaxing, everyone recharged and I after spending the previous couple of days in a house with no kids or toys it was good to just be able to let them play.
The next morning we wanted to leave by around 9 as we had reservations for lunch at the Pirates House in Savannah before hitting Jacksonville. Unfortunately nobody was packed so it was going to be tough, but at least tonight the kids went right to sleep.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Roadtrip - Day 1-3 - Waynesville, NC
The best part of this trip for me was the variety of places we got to see. The first stop was Waynesville, NC (close to Asheville). A small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of the highlights was as we were winding through the mountain roads my daughter was looking out the window and said, "I'm falling in love with this country." Comments like that make the whole trip worthwhile.
We visited my husband's uncle. He's 75 and a widower, and lives in a great house on one of the mountains. He has a great deck on the front part of the house with lots of birdfeeders. We saw a whole bunch of hummingbirds, woodpeckers and other birds while we were there. He has seen wild turkeys, raccoons and even the occasional bear but none while we were there. We arrived fairly late on Friday night, but Saturday set off to explore the mountains. We stopped for waterfalls and other scenic spots, and stopped at the highest point of the Blue Ridge as well. It was a little cloudy most of the day but we only got rained on for a little bit, and another highlight quote was at one point when we were driving through the clouds at the top of the mountain, my daughter said, "I totally have to tell my friends at school about this."
In the afternoon after a good barbecue lunch, we went over to Cherokee which is a pretty touristy section with Indian souvenirs. My daughter is in Indian Princess so she was interested to see what they had of real Indian stuff. A lot of it was kind of cheesy honestly, but the kids each bought something. My oldest bought an arrowhead, and her sister bought a worry stone. She loves rocks especially ones that are smooth or sparkly. This one was both. They also each bought a thermometer/compass on a keychain to put on their backpacks.
Outside one of the stores we saw a guy do a hoop performance where using hoops about the size of small hula hoops he dances to a drum beat and intermingling the hoops in certain ways forms outlines of various animals that were important to the Indians. Hard to explain but pretty neat. Our son thought it was really cool and was giggling and clapping through most of it.
After a stop for ice cream we headed home to relax for a while. The kids explored the forest behind their great uncle's house and marveled at the trees.
This is a view from the deck where I sat for a while and read, disturbed only by the occasional hummingbird. If I ever get a vacation home, it will definitely be in the mountains. It's so peaceful.
We had dinner in Waynesville, which was quite a cute little town and I have to admit much nicer than I had expected. I was expecting something similar to Cherokee, but it was really quaint and had lots of cute shops and galleries that unfortunately were all closed. Had I known I would have asked to go there after lunch to explore. As much as I would have liked to see it, I knew the Biltmore was a no-go. My 2 year old would definitely not have tolerated being in a place like that, and even his sisters probably would have gotten bored easily. Oh well, maybe on a different trip or when they are older.
We visited my husband's uncle. He's 75 and a widower, and lives in a great house on one of the mountains. He has a great deck on the front part of the house with lots of birdfeeders. We saw a whole bunch of hummingbirds, woodpeckers and other birds while we were there. He has seen wild turkeys, raccoons and even the occasional bear but none while we were there. We arrived fairly late on Friday night, but Saturday set off to explore the mountains. We stopped for waterfalls and other scenic spots, and stopped at the highest point of the Blue Ridge as well. It was a little cloudy most of the day but we only got rained on for a little bit, and another highlight quote was at one point when we were driving through the clouds at the top of the mountain, my daughter said, "I totally have to tell my friends at school about this."
In the afternoon after a good barbecue lunch, we went over to Cherokee which is a pretty touristy section with Indian souvenirs. My daughter is in Indian Princess so she was interested to see what they had of real Indian stuff. A lot of it was kind of cheesy honestly, but the kids each bought something. My oldest bought an arrowhead, and her sister bought a worry stone. She loves rocks especially ones that are smooth or sparkly. This one was both. They also each bought a thermometer/compass on a keychain to put on their backpacks.
Outside one of the stores we saw a guy do a hoop performance where using hoops about the size of small hula hoops he dances to a drum beat and intermingling the hoops in certain ways forms outlines of various animals that were important to the Indians. Hard to explain but pretty neat. Our son thought it was really cool and was giggling and clapping through most of it.
After a stop for ice cream we headed home to relax for a while. The kids explored the forest behind their great uncle's house and marveled at the trees.
This is a view from the deck where I sat for a while and read, disturbed only by the occasional hummingbird. If I ever get a vacation home, it will definitely be in the mountains. It's so peaceful.
We had dinner in Waynesville, which was quite a cute little town and I have to admit much nicer than I had expected. I was expecting something similar to Cherokee, but it was really quaint and had lots of cute shops and galleries that unfortunately were all closed. Had I known I would have asked to go there after lunch to explore. As much as I would have liked to see it, I knew the Biltmore was a no-go. My 2 year old would definitely not have tolerated being in a place like that, and even his sisters probably would have gotten bored easily. Oh well, maybe on a different trip or when they are older.
We Did It!!!
When we told people our plans for our summer trip, most of our friends thought we were nuts. 10 days and 2200 miles around the Southeast visiting family and friends. Up until then our longest roadtrip was 3 hours over a year ago. Now we we were going to go 600 miles on day 1, 730 miles on the last day, and on days in between anywhere between 180 to 300 miles. Ambitious to say the least. But last Friday with our new roofbox loaded up, kids with bags full of books and travel games, fresh batteries for the headphones for the DVD player, and a few snacks off we went.
We gave the kids a couple of rules as we set off...
1. When 1 person goes to the bathroom everybody goes to the bathroom.
2. Do not ask, are we there yet, we will be as honest as possible about time and distance remaining any time we make a stop
3. If anything you are doing is bugging anyone else in the car you must stop doing it.
4. When you are staying at someone else's house you have to go with the flow when it comes to meals and bedtimes.
We rationed the movies and overall they did very well. My daughters sit in the back row and spent most of the ride reading, but also playing travel bingo and playing with their Barbies. They did get a little punch towards the end of the longest days, but overall were good. Our youngest my 2 year old son was the challenge since it's harder for him to sit in the car seat for that long. For a large part of the first day I was leaning back reading stories to my son and trying to show him the pictures at the same time. Once I got bored of rereading the same books I played ispy with him in the books. He had a couple of crying jags when he was getting tired but couldn't fall asleep, but it really was just a couple of minutes of crying.
So this doesn't become a really long (and potentially boring) I'll break it up into smaller chunks of our different stops including some pictures of what we did along the way.
We gave the kids a couple of rules as we set off...
1. When 1 person goes to the bathroom everybody goes to the bathroom.
2. Do not ask, are we there yet, we will be as honest as possible about time and distance remaining any time we make a stop
3. If anything you are doing is bugging anyone else in the car you must stop doing it.
4. When you are staying at someone else's house you have to go with the flow when it comes to meals and bedtimes.
We rationed the movies and overall they did very well. My daughters sit in the back row and spent most of the ride reading, but also playing travel bingo and playing with their Barbies. They did get a little punch towards the end of the longest days, but overall were good. Our youngest my 2 year old son was the challenge since it's harder for him to sit in the car seat for that long. For a large part of the first day I was leaning back reading stories to my son and trying to show him the pictures at the same time. Once I got bored of rereading the same books I played ispy with him in the books. He had a couple of crying jags when he was getting tired but couldn't fall asleep, but it really was just a couple of minutes of crying.
So this doesn't become a really long (and potentially boring) I'll break it up into smaller chunks of our different stops including some pictures of what we did along the way.
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