You Drove HOW Many Miles?!

Destination: Maryland
Total Miles: >2,000
Total Cost: maybe $150?



So...this trip occurred almost a month ago, and I apologize for the delay in posting. Life post-graduation has yet to slow down. But with two more trips around the bend, I figure it's time to update you on this trip.

And besides that, it was a fun trip!

So...how did I spend so little going to Maryland and Washington D.C.?

Hitchhiking.

Just kidding. Well...sort of.

Having quit my job (and loving unemployment more than is probably normal), I have a little more time on my hands to help out with the LPs. And when Mom mentioned going to a homeschool convention (Teach Them Diligently), I volunteered to go along to "help with the driving."

We had a blast! We took Chenie and Charles (which always makes everything more interesting) and we brought along some Frozen music for them to sing-along with...and like the majority of people who have to listen to that soundtrack on endless repeat, I now have the words memorized and could probably do a music video.

Our first stop was in Virginia with my friends, Laurie and Matt. I've mentioned them before on my trips and love visiting with them! We had a great time catching up, and I loved meeting the newest addition to their family! Nate is as adorable as ever, and I couldn't be prouder of him.

That night, we stayed near Jamestown, and the next morning, we spent the first half of the day exploring Jamestown. The kids were enthralled with the Indian village, colonial settlement, and ships. And I was happy that everything was just as I remembered it from 16 years ago (6th grade class trip).

The history is amazing and well-preserved, and I highly recommend the tours to anyone who loves history.


After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed north to stay at my aunt and uncle's. I enjoyed visiting with them and their church people!

Thursday, we toured a couple monuments in DC and spent some time at exhibits in the Air and Space Smithsonian. I may or may not have mentioned it before, but my childhood dream was to become an astronaut...and I love any chance I get to see various aspects of space.

That evening, we headed to the conference at the National Harbor (which was a beautiful setting). I enjoyed hearing Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis speak about the importance of teaching that the Bible is not 'stories' but literal, factual history. If you did not get the chance to watch his debate with Bill Nye (the Science Guy), please take some time to watch it here. Having formally debated in my teens, I appreciated the various aspects of the debate. Even if you are not inclined to disagree with evolution, I encourage you to watch the debate as I did, with an open mind and taking notes (literally).

I was also able to hear Mark Hamby from Lamplighter's Books speak on the importance of well-rounded education. He referenced the Renaissance period and was overall very fascinating.

The next day, I dropped Mom and the kids off at my cousin's (she was going to the convention)...and I went off in search of some early morning Starbucks. Which meant going to Delaware. Which was fun and relaxing. After spending the morning writing Thank You notes (which I'm incredibly behind on!!), I decided to hit the road around 1 p.m. in search of lunch.

Two hours later...I arrived fifteen minutes before lunch ended at the Mount Vernon Inn restaurant. It was adorable and antiquated! The staff were dressed in period costumes, the food was delicious, and I enjoyed being pampered (since I was one of the only patrons).

That evening, I met up with my friends-who had just landed in Baltimore-for a delicious supper and fun time at Bus Boys and Poets. Josh and Meredith are those classic friends that I may not see as often as I'd like, but when we get together, we spend hours catching up and planning some of the most random schemes.

On Saturday, I met up with my friend, Abi, for a fun afternoon in Georgetown. She and I met on the Dominican Republic trip in March. Since I was coming up, we decided to get together and catch up. The plan was for her to ride the metro into DC, and I would pick her up...except that I got there 20 minutes early. Which in the South isn't a problem...but in DC, it makes for some great adventures. I drove (not even lying!) around the Washington Circle at least 10 times and got in some great laughs at the craziness of the other drivers.

After picking Abi up, we made our way to downtown Georgetown. It was beautiful and fun! We walked along the canal towpaths, enjoyed a delicious lunch at a pizzeria, snacked on yummy milkshakes, and found some extremely random fish in a flooded canal (random because the fish were at least 18 inches long and rather scary looking). We spent a lot of time talking and chatting about life. Sometimes I meet someone who becomes what Anne of Green Gables would call 'a kindred spirit.' And Abi is definitely one of those people!

That evening, I picked up mom and the kids, and we traipsed over to my mom's brother's house for a cookout and campfire. I love my family...especially the extended family that I don't see that often!!

Sunday was spent enjoyed the fellowship at Eastern Shore Bible Baptist Church. In between services, Chenie and I set out in search of ice cream...and, you guessed it, we ended up in Delaware! We found a Rita's and filled our craving for ice cream. It was a beautiful day for a drive, and I love the countryside!

Monday was head-home day. We had a grand time of listening to a Lamplighter audio book (I cried), and overall, enjoyed the successfulness of the trip.

But when we got home and Mom added up the miles...well...she's not used to someone putting around 800 miles on her vehicle without her and wanted to know just how in the world did I put so many extra miles on her vehicle...

I'm sure I have no idea. It was a pretty average road trip for me.

:)

Are We There Yet

Destination: Washington DC/Philadelphia/Surfside Beach
Total Miles: 2,150 miles
Total Cost: approx. $700

People have called me crazy, insane, obsessed, a travel-freak, adventurous, etc.

And perhaps, if their definition of those words is "Taking three children (not yours) on a road trip for a week," then I am most definitely (in their books) and correctly labeled as crazy.

In my book, I am your typical 26 year-old, single RN, who has 3 siblings ages 11, 9, and 7, who loves to take them to places they might not otherwise see. (not that you nor I know of anyone else who is a single, 26-year-old, with young siblings). But I am normal. Most of the time.

This post is mainly to wrap up the remainder of my trip with the LPs (and Christy, who is NOT an LP but still one of the 4 youngest members of our family).

So...to tie up any loose ends...let me see...

Friday, August 3rd, 2012:

We had approximately 1.6 days to drive down to Surfside Beach (south of North Myrtle Beach?). The plan was to visit either Jamestown or Yorktown, and at some point, visit my friends, Laurie, Matt, and baby Nate.

Being the flexible person I am, I opted to leave Friday closer to lunch time (negating the opportunity to go to Jamestown or Yorktown). This gave everyone (aka Christy and Chenie) the chance to sleep in. Which was going to be needed more than even I planned.

But I digress.

We drove down the Eastern Shore of Maryland, stopping in the middle of the Bay Bridge Tunnel to get pictures and get everyone out of the car for a few minutes.

Supper was a most excellent affair! We met at Laurie and Matt's, then drove over to a family-friendly pizzeria. The pizza was amazing, and the cannoli was even better!

I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them, and the kids loved Nate! After completely wearing everyone out, we headed to a gas station and hit the road.

Laurie and Matt had offered for us to stay with them, but since there were 5 of us, I decided against it.

Mistake Number One.

Thinking it would be easy as pie to stop along I-95 for a hotel...well, that was Mistake Number Two.

Five stops later, and literally everything was booked out for the night. The one place I found had only one room left-a smoking, king-sized bed only, room was all they could offer. And the little elderly lady who had arrived before me but had left her ID in the car with her husband...well...they looked like they could use the room better than all of us. And, she was kind enough to inform me that they had been to every hotel between a certain number of exits and had been unable to find a hotel room.

Enter McDonald's Large Coke.

I was set to go for several more hours, and at that point decided to just drive until I absolutely could not drive any more. Which mom and dad found out about, and began their quest to find us place. I am not even sure how many places mom called before finding a room about 20 minutes from where I was.

We came very close to having to drive through a town labeled as "Tar Heel" (I kid you not! I was so scared for Mr. Darcy, who was proudly displaying his Duke license plate, Duke Girl bumper sticker, and Duke Basketball license plate holder). Thankfully, we bypassed that town!

The short of the rest of the trip was that we got to the hotel at 2:50 am. Everyone fell asleep rather quickly, and we were able to journey on the next morning.
The beach was relaxing, enjoyable, and of course, we all received varying degrees of sunburn. 

So, my tips when traveling with kids (particularly long distance):
1. Get a hotel room in advance, especially Friday nights.
2. Brace yourself for the "Are we there yet?" question.
3. Come up with clever answers to aforementioned question:
     -"Does it look like we have stopped?"
     -"Did you count to a million yet?"
     -"In your own opinion and in 10 words or less, tell me what you think."
4. Never refuse offers of free rooms. Ever.
5. Do NOT be stressed. They can sense it and will feed off it.
6. Have plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of options of things they can do with the travel time.
     -videos
     -fun music
     -quiet time
     -books
     -memorization stuff
     -games
     -something new (music/DVD, etc)
     -brochures about places your going or have been
7. Make sure they have good shoes. Kids with blisters=occasional episode of whining.

This was one of the most amazing things I have done. Period.

Do I regret the money spent, the things not seen, the millions of questions, the tired feet, the tired Charise?

No way. And I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Pita.

The Little People On Tour

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012:

Today, the Little People and I went somewhere I have never been! Philadelphia.

I had originally planned to take them to Williamsburg, VA for a couple days, but after researching some of the costs and realizing that the more cost-effective way to see Williamsburg is visiting for over 3 days (and not having 3 days worth of time), I opted for visiting a new place...that was only an hour and a half from my aunt and uncle's house.

If you have followed my blog for any length of time (or read a few of my past posts), you have hopefully begun to realize that I love history.

And Philadelphia...it's jam-packed with history!

We started out the day by parking under the Visitors' Center. As of this trip, I am now a huge fan of parking garage's. Leave Mr. Darcy in one place for an entire day...a place that is NOT the side of a busy street...yes, I think I will!

Since the Liberty Bell was right across from the Visitors' Center, it was the logical first stop. Thankfully, there was no line to get in (in the time it took us to leave, the line stretched around the building!), and we were able to view the bell without too many jostling people.

FYI: There are security guards here too...(which I had read on the website)...I had made the LPs empty their bags prior to leaving the parking garage!

We enjoyed strolling through the exhibits, but of course, the main attraction was the Liberty Bell.

Our next stop was Independence Hall. The LPs said they really did not want to walk through it, so I did not bother getting tickets...however, if you ever visit, make sure you obtain tickets at the Visitors' Center in order to gain access to Independence Hall.

Of course the most logical choice to stop after walking past Independence Hall is the restrooms. But following that, we voted to go visit the Christ' Church Cemetery.

Even though I had researched the Cemetery, I had not found out that one must pay to gain access! After paying the attendants $2 for myself and $1 per LP, the guy tried to point us in the direction of Benjamin Franklin's grave.

He was rather taken aback when we said we weren't here to see Franklin's grave but asked instead to see our ancestor's grave, Benjamin Rush.

We walked through the cemetery, stopping to read various tombstones and markers. The kids were very well-behaved, and we enjoyed the stroll.

On the way to the cemetery, we had been accosted by several people asking if we would like to take a tour of Philly. I had already been planning on offering the kids some options for tours, and after they heard my options, which do you think they choose?


1. A carriage ride tour.
2. A duck-boat tour.
3. A double-decker hop-on-hop-off bus tour.

My savvy little people decided to go with option number 3!

We sat on the top of the bus (of course!), and I got sunburned. The bus tour was great! They drive past multiple historic places. The tour guides are very informative and even got the kids involved by asking them questions.

And the best part? You pay one fee...then ride as much as you want, getting off as much as you want, and just hop back on at one of the 27 stopping points. All day.

Mind you, the only place the kids wanted to get off at was the zoo (which did NOT happen). But we were able to see and learn about Philadelphia...and one tour guide even showed me one of the better areas to stop off to feed the LPs!

Oh, and I introduced them to a delectable new food (to them): The Philly CheeseSteak.

All in all, the tour of Philly was loads of fun. I can't wait to go back and visit the city (and spend more time hopping on and off).

One more post to go for this trip: Are We There Yet? will wrap up the road tripping adventures of last week, and it promises to include some awesome tips about traveling with kids!
:)

The LIttle People Go Undercover

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

Having walked the children's feet off (or at least walked them enough to give them all blisters, a discomforting experience I have never myself experienced) on Tuesday, I decided to something a little less strenuous and a fraction more relaxing on Wednesday. 

Cue The Spy Museum.

The Spy Museum is one of the coolest museums out there, and well worth the price of tickets. I had been to the museum my senior year of high school while on my Senior Trip to NYC/D.C. and had visited again the summer immediately after high school. No matter what age you are or your kids, there are activities and exhibits at the Spy Museum that will captivate the whole family. 

The LPs enjoyed the museum and loved the Spy Store (where they spent some of their hard earned money on spy gear that was reasonably priced). 

And the pictures above? They were free! (I hate going places that take your picture then charge you an arm and leg for the souvenir photo.)

After we had learned all we could about the art of spying, we decided to go back to the Air and Space Smithsonian. Thankfully that crazy security officer was NOT there.

And yes. I had the Little People empty their bags, checked their pockets, and allowed them only to take their Brita water bottles, wallets, and messenger bags on Wednesday and Thursday. No more armed LPs in Washington that week!

We had around 45 minutes to fly through the Air and Space museum. And fly, we did!

Little known fact about myself: the only thing I ever wanted to be when I was a child was an astronaut. (I did NOT want to be a nurse...at least not until the Lord used my parents to direct me into nursing between my junior and senior years of high school). 

So, obviously, the first exhibit we went to was the Apollo section. After a brisk walk through, we headed to the Wright Brothers exhibit, ran through a couple more, stopped for pictures at the Amelia Earhart exhibit, tried out a few gadgets at the How Things Fly exhibit, and (last but not least!) stopped for some purchases (including space food and souvenirs) at the museum store. 

Someday...when I have tons of time (yeah, right), I will go back and take my time at one of the coolest museums (in my opinion). 

Check back for our final stop on this tour: The Little People On Tour; and then one final blog post about road trips (containing tips about traveling with kids): Are We There Yet?

:)