Our first day of driving on Thursday brought us to the lovely city of Clinton, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. We had already decided this would be our stopping point for the day as we had been on the road about 12 hours by now, if not more. Luckily we were able to pull in early enough that we could play at the hotel pool for awhile before getting ready for supper. It was so much fun just wading in the pool with the kids and it brought back memories of when I was a child on vacations with my family--the hotel pool was something I always looked forward to (who knows why!) and luckily I married a man who is part fish, so he enjoys it too. ;)
On the morning of Friday, June29th, we filled up at breakfast, filled up our coffee cups and water cups and hit the road! By the time we reached Alabama we realized we were well ahead of schedule and we were going to get to our hotel about two hours before check-in time. As we were heading out of the city of Mobile and approaching the Gulf we saw a huge battleship which just so happened to be a historical landmark of the USS Alabama and the submarine USS Drum. Since we were ahead on time we decided to seize this opportunity to visit, stretch our legs and get some exercise. And we did. Who knew battleships were so huge?! Lets just say that with the humid and hot Gulf air and close quarters of the ship with little to no air movement (and with Sydney persisting that we continue to climb up the stairs and go higher...and higher..and higher...)...we were completely soaked with sweat by the time we scrambled back in to the van. It felt great to get out and move though and to enjoy a piece of history together as a family! Another reason to love road trips...the spontaneity of little stops like this! :)
We arrived at our hotel in Fort Walton Beach, Florida couple of hours later. We had a view from our room of the beach and the kids (mostly Sydney and Joe :) ) could not wait to get to the beach. Bags dropped off and somewhat organized, swimsuits on, we headed to the beach!
We played in the water and sand for awhile before it was time to head to the room and get ready for supper. I would have insisted we head back sooner if I would have known it would take us nearly 45 minutes start to finish of baths/showers. The sand stuck to everything and clumped in their shorts, it was embedded in their hair...it was quite an experience. :) Not complaining of course....it was just somewhat of a challenge that first night! :) Aunt Bailey and Derrick joined us at our room and Bailey gave them their "beach" goodies. Bath towels, sand "tools" (which were put to good use for the rest of our trip!!), new swim suits and new beach chairs! They were quite spoiled! ;) Later we headed out to eat at a yummy restaurant in Destin!
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