At the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, we are driving to North Carolina. To the beach.
Why North Carolina? you might ask yourself. Let me assure you I have asked myself the same thing. Apparently, it is because that is just what people in Ohio do for vacation. We live in Ohio, thus we must go to North Carolina.
We thought long and hard about more interesting locals: Hawaii, Greece, New York City, Toronto, Jamaica. Then the reality set in of traveling with a toddler who takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and becomes completely unbarable if she is awake one minute past her 8:00 p.m. bedtime. Why spend an extra four grand to see lots of the inside of a hotel room? I am nothing if not cheap. Oh, and we just spent $2,500 on a new furnace so we won’t freeze to death this winter.
We have to go this week because A is between the only cushy lawyer job in the world and his new job at the Firm, so this is when we must go. None of our friends with kids or even our single friends who might be suckered into babysitting for a few nights in exchange for a free vacationy place to stay could go, so North Carolina it is. At least it is relatively cheap and plane tickets are not required.
If you are stalking me, look for the blistered, lobstery looking white girl with a stack of books to her chin. That is, of course, unless that damn hurricane ensures that it rains every single day (as the weather channel suggests it might.) In that case, look for the cranky white girl who has been subjected to 24-7 games of Risk, Stratego, Scrabble and (oh my fucking god, shoot me now) anime, kung fu and sesame street dvds.
After an excruciatingly long day with a very wired, yet tired Miss M, we rushed out at 8:00 pm to buy a portable DVD player and several (evil) disney and elmo movies in hopes of arriving in North Carolina with our sanity intact.
I may actually die after 10 hours in the car with A ("My back hurts and I Must. Jiggle. My. Leg. At. All. Times.") and poor M who will be trapped in baby carseat prison. My only consolation will be softbatch cookies. Wish me luck, because it will be a very long day.
The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that a brigade of house-cleaning gnomes will arrive while I am away and leave my house sparkling and clean for my homestudy. The gnomes may actually be my best idea ever. $73 well spent, I hope.
Ciao, baby.
er, have fun?
Well just getting ot of the damn car after that long will be holiday enough. And the cleaning gnomes are an amazing idea. $73??? Major bargain.
Yay gnomes!
You know, that DVD player, evil as it is, makes the whole trip actually ok. We just drove from RI to upstate NY with my daughter (2.5) and she insisted on watching Lilo and Stitch for much of the drive. She’s hooked on Disney. Sigh.
i am just about to get a crew of magic cleaning gnomes at my house, too. i’ve never done it before, but i’m on bedrest and can’t do the scrubbing myself. when they told me how much (or how little) it would cost, i said sign me up. so woohoo! here’s to the cleaning fairies!
good luck surviving the drive. we’ve been watching a lot of muppet show lately.
Okay…North Carolinian here and I must say, it’s not all that bad. Depends on where you are going as to what you’ll encounter but for the most part, it’s not as touristy as some of the other places you could’ve chosen and a lot quieter. Being less expensive is always a plus. The rest of your Ohio neighbors are in Myrtle Beach, SC. That’s a place to stay away from
Have a good trip!
Susan
PS Love your Blog!
Your house is clean. Don’t wear the flower skirt, it’s just not you.