First road trip with a baby (Part 1)

Last week Wythe and I took our first road trip. I will separate out each day into separate posts so that they aren’t as long.


Thursday – This was a new experience, Wythe and I left early in the morning to drive to Charleston, SC. The drive should take about 8-1/2 hours but I knew it would take a little longer because of extra stops. We were about 10 minutes down the road when Wythe needed a diaper change, which emphasized my suspicion that this trip was going to be an interesting experience. We stopped in Warrenton for a diaper change and I took advantage of the stop to get some Starbucks coffee that should keep me awake for a while! Fortunately when we got back on our way Wythe fell asleep for a while, so we had a peaceful drive for quite some time. We stopped in North Carolina for lunch, it was a small town and no one had a baby changing station, little did I know that this was to become a frequent problem. I ended up changing his diaper in the grass outside of McDonalds…not one of our classier moments. But on the bright side, the McDonald’s was one of those 50’s style ones so that made lunch a little more interesting. The cashier gave Wythe a toy even though we didn’t buy a Happy Meal; Wythe had to eat sweet potatoes, no French fries for him! The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, we stopped several times for fuel, diaper changes and feedings. Overall Wythe did really well, he was a little fussy but not more than I would have expected having been in the car seat for so long. The house we were going to was actually on Sullivan’s Island not in Charleston. I had been to the island before, along with Isle of Palms, but that was years ago and the area had totally changed. Going to Sullivan’s Island you now cross over a huge bridge that must be fairly new. The bridge has a pedestrian walkway on the side and lots of people seem to walk across it.
 
 

 
We got to the house in the early evening after about 10 hours in the car, we were both glad to be out of that car! Several of Wythe’s aunts and cousins were already at the house and more were coming in over the next several days. Wythe immediately began to work on charming his relatives while I uploaded the car and got us settled into our room. They gave us a corner room to stay in; it was the perfect room for us. It kind of jutted off the corner of the house so there weren’t adjoining rooms, that way people didn’t hear Wythe every time he fussed. There was also a little TV in the room, which came in handy as well.
 
 

 
The house was beautiful, inside and out! The flooring was all old heart of pine flooring and most of the trim in the house was the wide decorative trim. Many of the door handles were the old hardware as well.
 
 

 
On the back of the house was a large screened in porch that had a hammock, chairs to lounge in, and a table and chairs for dining. The porch overlooked the swimming pool on one side and the beach from the back.
 
 

 
 
I was pleasantly surprised how close the beach was to the house. So often when you hear of a house that is “beach front” it seems to mean that it you stand on the roof you can see water. But this house was literally beach front, such a gorgeous view. You could sit on the porch and listen to the ocean. Directly across from the house, across the water, was Isle of Palms.
 
 

 
That night we ate a delicious dinner of lemon chicken. Wythe sampled the lemon and despite making horrid faces continued to try it again and again! We all got a good laugh out of his expressions. That night we played the game “Apples to Apples”, it was fun, we laughed a lot, especially when one of the cousins picked “having children” as the most “outrageous” thing! We were pretty tired after the drive so we went to bed at a decent hour.


'til next time...