March 17, 2016– We are heading south towards Biloxi, MS.. and all things will be captured! We are leaving in 4 days and couldn’t be more excited! I am traveling with my best friend since elementary school and my two kiddos. I have rigged up my old storage crates to hold food at the back of the van. The exciting thing is that the cooler fits wonderfully underneath so it is easily accessible..ah, the little things that amuse us! I also have put together workbooks for the kiddos to do while we are driving. Some stretches are 9 hours of driving and this Mama doesn’t want to go nuts hearing “I’m bored” a million times!! The hotel reservations have been made and the basic itinerary is ready to go…now we wait… 4. More. Days!!
March 21, 2016 Day 1– Well, our trip has started out nothing short from amusing!! We hit the road around 8:30 am with our first stop about 2 hours in. We filled up the tank, potty break and had a great laugh! Another family had pulled into the gas pump next to us. Three of them went into the station and when one came out she walked right up to our van, seconds away from opening our door, when her party honked at her. We all jumped and laughed so hard! Shortly on down the road we encountered a truck and trailer full of scrap metal. Just after he passed us on the highway his tire began smoking and started spraying out small pieces of tire. As the pieces began to get bigger we passed him as quickly as we could. All we could envision was the tire blowing completely, the trailer tipping and all the scrap metal flying all over the highway… Whew! It was very intense! Halfway through our trip we stopped for a potty break, stretch and lunch with family! We visited my Aunt and Uncle’s new house, absolutely stunning!!!! It was so great to see them!! Finally we were on our last trek of the days journey.. 5 hours later we made it to our destination and have now tucked into bed.. However, we are a bit disappointed with the choice of accommodations.. “We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto…”
March 22, 2016 Day 2– Today started a bit late… I let the little buggers sleep in til 8:30 before I finally shouted the wake up call. I was surprised that we all slept pretty well considering our hotel conditions… We hate to say it, but it was a little sketchy.. and not the best accommodations. But then again, we are from Small Town America and the city can be a little intimidating… We got ourselves ready and headed to the lobby for their “hot breakfast”. Nothing fancy and quite disappointing. The eggs were disgusting and tasted of chemicals, the oatmeal was old and the water was lukewarm.. It may seem a little mean on my part, but for someone who is gluten intolerant, I was looking forward to eggs and not cereal.. So in the end I had cereal, the kids had waffles (which they enjoyed) and Sara had their muffins (loved them!). After breakfast we packed up and hit the road… at 10:00am. The journey was wonderful!! Absolutely breathtaking, beautiful, rustic and nostalgic.We have found that Sara hates, I mean HATES, bridges over water and that she is not the only one.. 🙂 We were also graced with have to go through about 1/2 mile of smoke from a nearby grass fire. This encounter was eery and very difficult to breathe through. This was not very fun for any of us! Not far from the beginning of our journey a state park sign caught our attention and we were game to check it out. We made a stop at Henry Horton State Park in Tennessee. There we found gigantic moss covered boulders that made crevices, tunnels and lined walkways. The kids had a blast exploring. Our exploration was cut a little short when 2 turkey vultures decided to fly and hover over our heads! You don’t realize how terrifying it can be to have a giant shadow come out of nowhere!! Well, Sara decided to add to the terror that I was feeling by sneaking up behind me, yelling loudly and squeezing me.. Needless to say, I may have scared the turkey vultures away with the blood curdling scream that escaped from my vocal chords!!! We then went a bit further down the road to explore along Duck Creek. It was very relaxing and calming to walk along the shoreline and see over a dozen turtles sunbathing on branches. After stretching our legs we packed in the van and headed down the road…again. Stopping momentarily for a potty break and quickly making sandwiches to eat along the way, we ventured for another 2 1/2 hours. At this point, Jack was calling us. Another detour in place, heading for the Jack Daniels Distillery. This place is amazing! Gorgeous scenery, friendly people and a comfortable atmosphere. We then took a 5 minute walk to the Town Square to check out the local shops. The moonshine fudge was my favorite part!! After we walked enough,it was time for the final leg of our trip.. the longest leg because we really didn’t make it very far yet.. We made a few potty stops with dinner at Subway, but continued on without anymore big stops. We finally made it to our destination at 10:00pm!! We were all so excited to get here, mainly just to get out of the van!! We were amazed to see our hotel. This hotel is absolutely gorgeous, stunning and busy!! We are literally right across the street from the Gulf of Mexico! The kids couldn’t stop raving about their favorite part here at the hotel.. Its a nice feeling to go from our rating of a 1 star hotel to a 4 star hotel. So, off to bed we go!!
March 23, 2016 Day 3– Today was a wonderfully, relaxing day!!! We slept in, well most of us… Even though we all went to bed after midnight apparently I didn’t need as much sleep as I thought I would, up at 6:30.. We slowly began our day, which was wonderful! After breakfast, we ventured out down along the beach and headed to a souvenir shop. Sharkheads Souvenirs is a giant store!! We spent over 2 hours looking at everything they had to offer, which was a lot and a wide variety!!! We bought some great finds and tasted some delicious homemade fudge!! After our shopping extravaganza, we headed back to our hotel for lunch and a beachwear change. We stayed out on the beach for about 4 hours leaving with sunkissed skin!! It was ridiculously wonderful to just lay on the beach, soak up some vitamin D, feel the sand between the toes and hear the waves gently crash into shore. The kids raced in and out of the water, attempted to build a castle with moat and buried each other in sand. Once the kids became wrinkly on the fingertips and lips a light shade of purple, we ended our beach afternoon and headed back to clean up and get ready for dinner. On our journey back, we encountered the police, fire and ambulance all beating us back to our hotel. Of course, our stay wouldn’t be complete without some excitement!! Although, we never did find out what exactly happened… We decided that dinner would be out on the town… We ventured down our beachfront road and ate dinner at The Reef. It was great! The service was excellent, the food was great and the drinks were delicious! So, we may not have done too much today, but a much needed “chill” day was perfect!!
March 24, 2016 Day 4- What a great southern day!! We all got out of bed around 8:30 this morning and took our time getting ready, eating breakfast, packing up our bags, and feeding the seagulls. Yup, Auntie Sara saved some bread to feed the hovering, stalking, hungry seagulls. Although, the kids had a blast feeding them. During this time, the weather was turning gray and the wind cooler. We loaded up the van and hit the high road by 11:00 am, just before the downpour!! We started our travels heading for Baton Rouge and during which encountered torrential down pouring, traffic jams and ridiculously long bridges.. over water and swampland (and we all know how Auntie Sara feels about them!! On our journey to Baton Rouge, we made a detour through downtown New Orleans. We weren’t disappointed, but maybe a bit overwhelmed. There was just so much to see, so many people, places and awesome things to check out. Since this place didn’t seem too kid friendly, it was decided that there will be an adult trip in the near future!! There was just so much to see and do that we can’t just be okay with driving through.. we will be back! After passing through the storm we stopped for a potty break and to make sandwiches for a late lunch. We were pleasantly surprised on our stop when we saw that the temperature was a wonderful 78 degrees. The best part was that we were in shorts and tank tops while everyone else was wearing pants, long sleeved shirts or sweatshirts. At one point today, I was excited to see the temp. rise to 83 degrees!! During our drive to Baton Rouge we spotted several signs for plantations in the area. Well, of course we have to stop and see then!! We spent 2 1/2 fantastic hours at the Oak Alley Plantation. We took a 45 minute tour of the main house and heard a lot of the background story of plantation life. There was also a self-guided tour of the slave houses and surrounding grounds. We all had a great time!! This was on our checklist and we were not disappointed with this choice!! Afterwards, we headed on our way to have dinner with my cousins!! They hosted a delicious dinner and couldn’t be more gracious to their generosity!! Many laughs, memories and future plans were shared!! You guys have a wonderful home and a beautiful family!! We were sad to have to say goodbye.. so we decided why should we. Lets have breakfast tomorrow!!
March 25, 2016 Day 5- Happy Birthday to me!! There’s nothing like waking up at 5:30am! We had a delicious birthday breakfast with the cousins!! I was so glad that they were willing for one last get together!! After breakfast we packed up to hit the road. Yep, can totally tell the end of the trip is near and that we’re all a little homesick. Unfortunately, all of our patience is beginning to wear thin. But, we made it through the day with only a few meltdowns and a lot of naps (for them, not me- tho I could have used one!!). We ate dinner at a restaurant called Colton’s, which is similar to our Texas Roadhouse. And of course I had to have myself a birthday drink! The rest stops in MS are elegant, grand and beautiful!! Just thought you’d like to know. And now, we are exhausted with a 10 hour driving day ahead of us to get us home and sane again.. Night y’all!!
