Oh, The Places We've Been

As we get ready to leave for a trip tomorrow, I've been thinking about all the places we've traveled since our first child was born. My husband and I did plenty of traveling before that, but because this is a blog about traveling with children, I thought I'd share some of these wonderful kid-friendly places.

As I compiled this list, I once again realized how fortunate we have been to be able to do all this. Next week I'll share our not-so-secret tip on affording these trips.

Maine
One of our all-time favorite places is Maine. We took the trip about two years ago in mid-August, and the breezy New England climate was a huge relief from the humidity here in the south. We flew into Portland and drove up the coast to Bar Harbor the next day. We took our time along the way. Our favorite stop included eating lobster rolls in Wiscasset at a stand called Red's Eats. It's so famous that there is ALWAYS a line, but it's worth the wait. I strolled our son around the square and browsed through a quaint antique shop while the hubby waited in line. If we had planned for a few extra days, the hubby and I both agreed that we would have stayed in one or two of those small towns along the coast as well.

Bar Harbor was fantastic. We stayed in a lovely inn on the water, visited Acadia National Park and ate a fabulous breakfast one morning that had the best blueberry pancakes I've ever tasted. The bed and breakfast restaurant was called Two Cats, and my son remembers it to this day because there were construction toys lying around for kids to play with. It's always a plus to eat great food in a kid-friendly environment!!!

Asheville, NC
This was one of our more recent trips. It was actually our first long-distance trip after our daughter was born. While it did take us about double the time to get there and back because of all the stopping for baby girl, it was nice to see all the fall foliage. We went because waterfalls are one of our son's many obsessions, and there are plenty of them near Asheville. We were able to walk to about 5 or 6 falls that were easily accessible to kids and a mama toting a baby the whole way.

Disney
If you have kids, it's likely you have been or will go to Disney World one day. My guess is that many of you were able to visit as a child yourself. There's not much to say other than it truly is magical to watch the look on your child's face! We probably shouldn't have started out on the Snow White ride (it scared me a bit!).

New Orleans
Who in the world takes their 3-year-old son to New Orleans? Well, we do. I can assure you that hanging out on Bourbon Street was not on our itinerary for this trip. We went for the wonderful aquarium because sharks are another of the obsessions. We also visited the zoo. I can say without hesitation that it is the best zoo I have visited!

Memphis
My husband would disagree with me on the last comment. He would say the Memphis zoo is the best. We were in Memphis for a conference for my work, so I didn't actually make it to the zoo. Instead, the hubby and his mom took our son there and to Graceland (not something he could really appreciate). There's also a great kid's park called Mud Island. It's not as dirty as it sounds, but you can expect your child to get a bit wet as you travel along the carved out, mini-versions of the Mississippi River.

San Francisco
This was our son's first flight when he was a year old. I was so afraid that he might cry the whole flight that I was seriously considering apologizing to everyone beforehand. To my relief and amazement he only cried one time, and that was because I dropped one of his toy cars on his head. This trip proved to me that it was possible to travel with small children. It wasn't always easy, especially making it through airport security, but it showed me that my trepidation about traveling while my children were small was mostly unfounded.

New York
This was a spur-of-the moment trip. I literally mean spur-of-the-moment. At 2:00 on a Friday afternoon I decided I wanted to go to New York for the weekend. By 3:30 we had a flight. By 8 p.m. we were on a plane. By 10 p.m. we were in New York. We only stayed for two days, but it was worth every penny that last-minute flight cost. We strolled through Central Park, visted FAO Schwartz and just enjoyed the feel of the city. I wish I had thought to check out the local children's theater to see what was playing.

New York is one of my favorite places on earth. While walking those marvelous city streets, I mentioned to my husband that it is a place where I feel like I can actually breathe. Needless to say, he thought that was a bit odd considering all the smog in New York. If you love New York, you know exactly what I mean. There's this wonderful smell to the city, and no, it's not the street vendors. I can't explain it other than it's the smell of New York.

Can't wait to go back!!!

Washington, D.C.
This was another of our spur-of-the-moment trips. Not quite as rushed as the N.Y. trip. It was decided a few days in advance. If you want a quiet flight to D.C., I suggest you travel on New Year's Day. It was a spacious, short flight. We spent the few days hitting all the historic highlights. I had been to D.C. twice before, but this was the first time my husband had been to our nation's capitol. I wanted to make sure he saw all the things I could remember were so great about the city: The Smithsonian museums, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Ford's Theater, The White House (though you can't actually tour it like I was able to in the 6th grade), the Washington Monument, etc., etc. etc. It's an easy city to navigate with kids because you can ride the subway or walk to most places. The museums are also free!

Gulf Coast
We live close to the Gulf Coast, and we try to visit at least once a year. The oil spill hasn't changed that for us. I was a bit concerned about eating the seafood at first, but after doing a bit of research, I felt more comfortable. Like most kids, our son loves to dig and play in the sand. He's not much for going in the ocean, though. It might have something to do with all the shark videos?

Arizona
I almost didn't put this on the list because our reason for going didn't have anything to do with a family-type trip, and it wouldn't make a Best Trip Top 10 List except for one reason. We went to Arizona to see our beloved football team play for, AND WIN, the BCS National Championship game. If it hadn't of been for the win, it would have been the worst trip ever. I was a few weeks pregnant with our daughter. Both my son and I ended up being too sick (me from a nasty cold and pregnancy sickness, him from a 103 fever) to actually go to the game. My husband went and was able to sell our two tickets. The next day, we ended up not being able to get on our flight. This meant we had to drive home. From Arizona. Did I mention we live in the south? Deep South! This was obviously not in the plan. However, we were so euphoric from the win, that it made the loooooong drive somewhat bearable.