East Coast Road Trip: Sarasota, and Savannah, and Charleston, and Richmond, Oh My!

Mr. B and I had been debating the best time of year to take Nell and Thomas to Florida to visit Mr. B's grandparents, and based on the way Mr. B's time-off lined up (he has a good amount he has to use before December 31st), we decided Fall was it. We checked work calendars and flight prices and realized that with the amount of time he needed to take off, we could fly to Florida, spend a few days there, drive up the Eastern Seaboard to Washington DC where many of our friends and more of Mr. B's family lives and see a lot of cool places along the way. So, we booked the flights in August and set our sights on a 12 day trip with two kids in tow in November.
When we visit Mr. B's grandparents, we like to stay on Siesta Key near Sarasota. It's a beautiful beach and not far from where they live, so we get lots of time to visit with them each day, while also getting some beach time. It's a pretty great setup and will continue to be our most frequent vacation destination because you can't beat the company or the beach. Generally we woke up every morning and walked the beach - I became an expert at nursing Nell in the Ergo Carrier while walking the beach. Then we'd go over to Mr. B's grandparents or meet them somewhere for visiting and lunch. After lunch we'd head back to the hotel, put the kids down for naps, and B and I would take turns hitting the beach while the other stayed in the room with the kids. After they woke up we would spend a little bit of time on the beach, then go back to B's grandparents for dinner and more visiting, before returning to the hotel for the night. 

 After spending 4 days in Florida, we loaded up the rental car and headed North to Savannah, Georgia. When B initially floated the idea of a road trip, he was excited about stopping in Savannah for two nights and Richmond on the way to DC - and possible going along the coast to the Outer Banks for a night. But we quickly decided to do one night in Savannah and one night in Charleston so that we weren't doing long drives everyday. So leaving Florida, we had a long drive - we made it in 7 hours though based on the kids being champs in the car.  Savannah was really cool - we immediately loaded the kids up in the stroller and Moby wrap and headed to Forsyth Park for Thomas to run to his little heart's content. 

After spending plenty of time at Forsyth Park, we walked up Bull Street taking in all the history as we strolled. Mr. B and I started enjoying craft beers a lot a few years ago, so we try to find local beers wherever we go, so we stopped in at Moon River Brewing Company for a beer sampler before heading to the Pirate's House for dinner with a very tired - and therefore cranky - Nell. Dinner was delicious, but the company needed to go to bed, so we headed back to the hotel for the night. 
When we woke up on Monday, we ate breakfast in the hotel and then drove out to Tybee Island, where we got some good swinging and running out of our systems. 

Despite the fact that Thomas is wearing his Peyton Manning jersey in pretty much every picture, we did take these pictures days apart and we do buy our kid more than one shirt per season. But I pick my battles, and not wearing a jersey to church on Sundays and Thanksgiving dinner is all I'm willing to fight right now in the wardrobe department :) Ohhh toddlers.
The weather was perfect, but we were itching to get to Charleston, so we spent about an hour and a half on the beach before getting back in the car to drive to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for lunch. 

After lunch at the Crazy Crab, we headed onto Charleston. Where we fell in love.  Love love love Charleston. My favorite part of the trip was absolutely catching up with family and friends new and old, but if I had to pick a non-family/friend related favorite, Charleston is it. I'd been to Charleston with my family when I was in Kindergarten, so while I have vague memories of the carriage ride and having tea in a ball room ( or more accurately of my brother's disappointment at learning that a ball room wasn't a big room to play soccer in), I appreciated the history and architecture and food far more this trip. We stayed at the Andrew Pinckney Inn in Charleston and everyone was so helpful. 
After checking in, we headed out to explore the Charleston City Market and the rest of the city. We spent about two hours walking around and fawning over the architecture and charm and made it back to the hotel just before a quick downpour. The hotel staff pointed handed the underprepared Coloradans who don't know anything about rain two umbrellas and pointed us in the right direction for a good, non-chain restaurant that we could take two kids to without getting evil looks (Fleet's Landing - such a cool restaurant and the food was phenomenal - Mr. B had delicious Shrimp and Grits and I loved my blackened Ahi Tuna with a ginger dipping sauce. When we go back to Charleston - and we will go back - we will dine again at Fleet's Landing), and we were off again.

B and I were so in love with Charleston that we weren't ready to turn in for the night, so we stopped back into the lobby of the hotel and asked for a good night walk route. The four of us set out again down King Street. As we arrived back at the hotel, Thomas told us he wanted to go to bed. How can you deny that request? 
The next morning, we were off again to explore Battery Park and the residential section of the city before getting on the road again. We just got a small taste of Charleston, so we will definitely return to see the barrier reefs, take a carriage ride, and spend more time in that lovely city.
It was another long driving day - and a rainy and cold one - to get to Richmond where we stayed with Sarah of Five Camels for the night. It was so fun to finally meet Sarah, Rob and Katherine - Katherine and Nell are just two days apart, so they enjoyed their first slumber party. Rob cooked us a delicious dinner, we sat around and visited, and just enjoyed the company. It's crazy how the blog world works - you read these blogs and start to feel like you know someone, so when you meet in person it's almost like you're old friends. Sarah and her family are lovely - we had a fabulous visit, saw beautiful Richmond, and most importantly had a wonderful time with friends!

The next day, Sarah et al. took us to the petting zoo at Maymont, then were gracious when we had to take a slight detour because someone drove over a curb in the rental car and the tire went flat and we had to exchange rental cars at the airport. As I told Sarah at lunch afterwards, at least you know I'm definitely imperfect. After our unplanned scenic tour of the Richmond Airport, we had lunch at Capital Ale House before heading into DC for the remainder of our stay...which I'll cover later this week because this post is too long already.
It was a lovely first week of our trip. Mr. B and I are working on a plan to become independently wealthy so that we can just spend every day together as a family traveling. Anyone have any advice on that? :) We love road trips. I remember when we were dating Mr. B's mom asked if we both liked the same type of vacations...and now I realize how that's such a key part of a relationship. It probably wouldn't have been much fun if I wanted to be waited on hand and foot at a beach while Mr. B wanted to tour museums. Luckily we both like a little of both of that...minus the being waited on part because as previously mentioned we have yet to figure out that independent wealth thing. Washington DC recap coming up.