We’ve officially been back from our honeymoon for 4 days. I have to say as much as I missed my kidlets while I was gone, I’m glad that we took a week to spend some time alone together.
The honeymoon was a nice adventure and our first real trip together. I was a little nervous about doing a road trip with someone I’ve never been in a car with for longer than 4 hours, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. We took turns driving on the way to Gatlinburg and then again on the way to Myrtle Beach, but The Man drove the entire way back home from SC. Can’t say that I was too upset about that, given the road construction and hellacious storms we drove through.
We’d originally intended on leaving late Sunday night or early Monday to make the trip to Gatlinburg, but after a harried call from The Man’s best friend, aka Best Man that he’d missed his flight scheduled for 4am Sunday by 1 minute and 26 seconds we decided to pack up early and meet him in Indy until he could get on his guaranteed flight for Monday at 2pm. God love the airlines hey kept trying to get him on a standby but had overbooked flights. Imagine that!
So after dinner in Indy and seeing him off we headed toward TN. We’d already driven through one thunderstorm that had us pulled off on the side of the road for twenty minutes. (thank goodness for game apps on our phone that kept us occupied)
We made it to Gatlinburg by 11:30 pm only to discover that our hotel room -booked through an internet travel site- was not all that had been advertised. I tried to be a happy honeymooner and suck it up but I nearly cried. It was just gross. The bed was seriously as hard as a rock, the room smelled like animal, and there were stains on the little sofa. Ok, it’s a honeymoon, we could not have a rock hard bed! We called the travel site and they said they could get us out of the second night reservation, but we would still have to pay for first night. So we could stay and check out at 10am or leave and then have two hotels to pay for, for one night. Not what this sleepy princess bride wanted to hear.
So down we went to the front desk of the resort to tell them with sad faces that we would spend the first night here out of necessity but we were very disappointed…this was our first night of honeymoon,…I think Bobby even told the clerk that I was going to kill him. I of course had tears in my eyes and was totally down hearted. (Of course we had discussed prior that we would make it obvious that we were not happy but rather than be nasty, we would just “show” our sadness. Ha
The clerk must have felt really bad because she offered to show us another room explaining that the travel site only books the lower end rooms but advertises the positives of the entire resort. We reluctantly looked at the other room and were pleased to see a much better room. Jacuzzi tub, King bed that did NOT feel like a plank of wood was the mattress, fireplace, patio overlooking the pool etc. Then to our surprise they offered us the room that was $200 more for the same price we had paid for the first room. SCORE!
The next morning we went down to ask what the difference would be if we wanted to stay the 2nd nt. That’s when we discovered the price of the room. We decided we couldn’t afford that and we would just move on. But to our surprise the clerk offered to let us have the 2nd night at the lower price again. Hmmm what to do? We stayed.
Gatlinburg was booming, Pigeon Forge was crazy busy. But there was soo much to do. We visited the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Aquarium, strolled the grand strand in between rain storms, shopped, ate yummy food, drove the motor trail half way up the mountain. Hiked just a little and The Man even jumped across the rocks and flowing waters of the Pigeon River to get some excellent pictures.
Wednesday afternoon we headed to Myrtle Beach. Another long drive through rain and mountains, but the views were beautiful. We made it to the hotel about 9:00 pm got all checked in (with no snags this time) and got settled in the room. View of the ocean from the balcony was gorgeous. We had planned a lunch picnic on the beach but it decided to storm. Heavy winds, lightning strikes that were so perfect you could see them from the sky to the water, even electricity flickering. Despite the ruined picnic I kind of had fun setting up a picnic on the bed and watching the sky open up and cut loose across the sand and water.
Luckily it didn’t storm the entire time we were there. We were able to go shopping at Broadway at the beach (an outdoor mall and fair type area). Spend time on the beach. We made some sand art and Bobby ventured out into the waves. A jelly fish apparently decided his ankle was perfect for stinging, but NO, I didn’t pee on it!
We found a huge putt-putt place with a Peter Pan/ Lost Boys/ Capt. Hook theme and played two games. Bobby conquered me the first time but the second time I believe I beat him by 2 or 3. It was odd to go putt-putt without the kids, but also kind of nice. No balls flying off into a creek, kids squabbling over whose turn it is, or trying to figure out where one of them had run off to only to discover they are standing smack dab in the middle of a green that someone else is trying to play on. Heh.
We did a little shopping and found a seafood place that offered a pound and a half of crab legs for $5.99. I have to say that they were THE most delicious crab legs I’ve ever tasted. Maybe they really were that good, or maybe it was just that they were so affordable, either way….YUMMY!
The evenings with the salty breeze and cooler weather were my favorites. It was just peaceful and inviting. And of course being able to lie down at any time of the day and take a nap or just snuggle watching tv wasn’t so bad either!
Heading back, we drove half way home then stopped to sleep because the construction and storms added so much more travel time. Some of the steep grades and mountains combined with rain covered windshields were a bit terrifying at times, but we made it safe and ound and with no vomit or pee stains to clean out of the car! On the last day we stopped at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, IN so that The Man could try his luck at a poker table. I played around at the slots with $15.00. Drug it out for about two hours while he played poker, but in the end didn’t win much. He didn’t win at poker, but gained experience and we had fun.
By the time we left there I was so ready to get home and see the baby and the other kidlets that I was getting antsy. We finally made it home close to midnight, and of course I had to go pick up our little gremlin right away. Luckily Rachael stayed up and waited for us. Bean squealed when she saw us and was going back and forth between us, hugging and squeezing. Even four days later one of us pretty much has to stay with her. I think she’s afraid we might disappear again for another week.
It was fun to spend some time alone and the intimacy of no kids to worry about for just a bit was much needed. It’s weird how when you are away from your kids you see everything that they would enjoy or like doing. “Oh the kids would love that!” “Look at that! We should do that with the kids.” The Man and I must’ve said that or something similar two dozen times. Maybe we’re the only weirdos who do that, but I kinda doubt it.
So now I know we can survive a road trip together, and have fun while doing it hehe. I guess the next test will be if ALL 7 of us can survive one together =) Bring it on!! And soon,…
0 comments:
Post a Comment