That Was the Best Vacation Ever! I Love Our Family

When I was in High School, My sister, my mom, and a friend of mine took a trip to another state to visit a college campus. I don't remember a whole lot about the college campus part, but I do remember hanging out by the indoor pool in the hotel, playing games with Starbursts and soaking in the hot tub.

The experience stood out to me because it was so relaxing. High school can be very stressful and it was amazing to just relax and do nothing. I've never had another vacation like that.

I'm actually not very good at relaxing. For Vacations and Holidays it's all about efficiency! Must ride maximum number of rides! Must see maximum number of sites! Must play maximum number of games! I love to have fun, and it seems my version of having fun isn't very relaxing.

Present day story: Back in December Drek casually mentioned he had a business trip in Virginia and did Ash and I want to come along? Um...sure. Why not? I've never been to Virginia. I've never heard of Fredericsburg. Let's go!

I hope you rolled you eyes at the "I've never heard of Fredericsburg" sentence. As it turns out, after I did some googeling, it's a very famous city. It's played an enormous roll in American History. I should have heard of it. After reading all about the town, I made a list of sites to see and places to visit. I even prioritized the list so we could get to the most important ones first.

We left last Monday. The day before, Sunday, I nearly jumped off the bench when the speaker in church told a story that happened in Fredericsburg, Virginia during the Civil War. He told the story of Richard Kirkland, which is an amazing story. Not having run across that story in my search, I quickly moved the Statue to the top of my list, gleefully thinking I would see it in just two days!

It was eleven at night before we got to our hotel. The next day it rained. Drek was at work of course, and Ash and I didn't have a car. I had looked up public transportation before we left, but didn't really want to find the bus stop in the rain with a toddler. So we stayed in our hotel all day. We played little toddler games. We read little toddler books. We went swimming in the indoor pool. We took a nap to recover from Jetlag. It was...relaxing.

The next day it was still raining. I asked Drek to drop us off at the bus stop on his way to work, but just as we turned the corner, the bus was pulling away. Drek dropped us off anyway, because I assumed the next bus would be there in fifteen minutes. Once Drek drove away, I checked the schedule and realized the next bus wouldn't be there for an hour. It was very cold. And wet. This was not Sunland weather. I didn't want to wait.

So we walked back to the hotel with intention of walking back in thirty minutes. But the walk was long. And wet. And cold. And Ash was cold and wet and wanted to be carried. And I am thirty weeks pregnant. So we got back to the hotel and spent another day taking naps, playing games, reading books and going swimming. I didn't have dinner to make or laundry to do. I didn't have errands to run or people to call. It was amazing. It was relaxing. It was the best two days of vacation I have had since that trip in High school.

Friday the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was still very cold, but Ash and I spent the day visiting the sites: a trolley tour of the historic town, a living history apothecary and tavern, the oldest pharmacy in the United States, it was awesome. I LOVED the history. When Drek came home I talked his ear off, retelling all the stories. Ask me about the history of bowling. It is an awesome story.

Saturday Drek didn't have to work, so as a family we visited the Statue of Richard Kirkland, along with a few other civil war sites. It was wonderful!

And now I think I need to find more of a balance: Yes, efficiency is wonderful, and I have a blast doing fun things on vacation, but maybe I should make more of an effort to just relax.