A Terrific Trip

Whew! We are back from our marathon road trip and I think we are just now recovering. Traveling with a baby can be exhilarating and exhausting all at once. Shelby was an absolute champ and she did great in the car. Atlanta to Folly was a breeze with a lunch stop in Augusta. It was stop and go from Folly to Wrightsville, but I think she just didn't like Myrtle Beach ;) We finally had to stop at a rest stop at the border and just get out and walk around for a bit. Scott said he finally understood what rest stops were for... for people with pets and babies! On our "long haul" from North Carolina back to Georgia, we only stopped once, in Columbia! I could not believe it.

Folly was fabulous. We rented a beach house with my childhood friend and her husband and baby. "Baby bungalow" was so much fun. Seeing the babies interact with each other was so sweet and it was really enjoyable to take them strolling in the mornings, stop for smoothies, and walk on the pier. One morning we saw a fisherman catch a 4-foot black tip shark! We were there to attend a friend's wedding and it was gorgeous. A bagpiper on the beach overlooking the light house... yellow flowers in the bride's hair... dainty fans to cool the guests... it was perfect.

From there, we made our way up to Wrightsville to visit my family, and boy was there a lot of family around! We had a clam bake on our last night there with nearly 20 family members in attendance. It was really nice that Shelby got to meet so many relatives - greats and grands and first and second cousins "removed" in some way... I could not keep track of it all. Scott likes to joke that our family does two things when we get together: look at old photographs and talk about how everyone is related. And that's exactly what we did!

Shelby also received some special family heirlooms (no shortage of those floating around, either!)

• A quilt that was pieced by her great great great grandmother and great great grandmother and finished by her great aunt and grandmother
• A child-size rocking chair that belonged to her great great grandfather
• A rocking horse and step stool that was made by her great grandfather for me when I was a baby

Although this wasn't a typical beach trip for me (spending hours and hours sitting on the beach reading and doing absolutely nothing) it was still a lot of fun. Between staying out of the sun, feeding Shelby and making sure she got a nap here and there, we spent a lot of time inside or in the shade of our pier. I am sure when Shelby is mobile, we'll be wishing for those quiet days! But I can't wait for the trips to come and being able to experience growing up at the beach all over again through her eyes: hunting for shells, learning to ski, jumping in the waves and so much more. It will be great!