Emerald Isle 2020 - Trip Down

So, I totally forgot to take our road trip selfie until we were at our last stop. Whoops!  Our goal was to leave at 9:00 am because check-in wasn't until 5:00 pm because of all of the extra cleaning due to COVID.  We wanted to get an early start and not be rushed to get there.  Finley has been an awful car seat rider since the quarantine started.  She screams before I can even get to Staunton to pick up Hailey.  We were prepared to make numerous stops, if need be.

We got on the road at 9:03 am!  Pretty good start, I'd say.  We made it 3 hours before our first stop in Weldon, NC.  Finley only slept for 30 minutes, but did a good job playing with the girls in the back...much better than had expected!  Our strategy was to pick places to stop that would be less likely to have travelers passing through. So our first bathroom stop was the Lowe's store in Weldon... extra points because you don't have to open a door to enter their restrooms and they are bigger and more ventilated. We then searched for a shady spot in a parking lot to eat our lunch.  There weren't many trees so we ended up at the back of a McDonald's parking lot in some shade.  So much for my idea of a peaceful lunch with the picnic blanket.  

We had our PBJ sandwiches, sunchips, and grapes.  Finley had a piece of cheese, some turkey and a few bites of our sandwich.  I had to nurse her in the truck which wasn't bad since it was 97 degrees outside, but it also meant less time stretching my legs. I drove the first half so Jeff picked up driving at this point.  

By the time we made it another two hours or so Finley was starting to lose it.  She slept for 30 minutes, but the girls started whispering and woke her up.  Ugh!  So ended up stopping in a school parking lot to let her walk around some, nurse and get some fresh air.  I ran into a nearby Lowe's to use the restroom.  

Not long after that, we were all ready for another stop.  I think Finley was hungry because it was a little after 4:00 pm and we usually eat dinner by 5:00 pm.  I made the call to go through the drive thru at a Chic-fil-a in Morehead City.  I think everyone was in a much better mood after some food!  Finley again, chowed down on some chicken, fries, and lemonade!  It is so funny that she likes the food there, but won't eat chicken at home.  

She had a blast watching the seagulls and did not want to get back in her seat after that stop. I believe she could have spent an hour pointing out the birds. 

I finally remembered to take our selfie!

We knew the last hour was going to be a bear.  I broke out some baby song videos on my phone and gave in to some screen time.  She had made it all day playing with the girls and we were at the breaking point.  Even the video didn't help after a few minutes and we just had to deal with the fussing. 

Going over the bridge from Morehead City....

We grabbed our keys at 5:30ish and checked in to Taylor Made II.  Our plan was to clean the floors, spray all of the handles, faucets, cabinets, etc with lysol.  Who wants to do all of that when it is hot as hell and you've been in the truck all day and you still have to unload with a screaming baby who is approaching bedtime?  Ugh!  I went in and sprayed everything down, let it air out a bit and mopped the floors.  Jeff and the girls had Finley and started unloading things.  Then we had an assembly line going to get everything in the house and put away at the same trying to keep Finley happy. 

Around 7:30, we were done!  We relaxed out a bit before putting Finley to bed.  She was very happy to find more seagulls in the air!

After Finley went down, Jeff and I took a quick walk out on the beach while the girls kept an eye out for her.  Yay!  Finally time to enjoy the beach!