First Road Trip

On Oct 18th, Beverly ("Momio" :) flew in from CT to join us on William's first road trip. We left around 9:30 on the 19th to head to Asheville so we could visit Uncle Stuart (Bev's Uncle so Brad's great uncle). We stayed in one of IHG's hotels so we were able to use Brad's discount. The Indigo Hotel was very nice and we got our room for $49 when it is usually $400!! The room was expensive this particular week because foliage was supposed to be at its peak. It turned out we were probably about a week early for "peak" but it was still gorgeous up in the mountains.
I was so please (& amazed!) at how well William did  in the car & the hotel. We stopped once on the way there to feed him and it took us about 4.5 hours to get there. On the way back we also stopped once to feed him and once to grab some lunch quickly but it took much longer to get back because of the Atlanta traffic that we didn't think about when timing our departure from Asheville! It took us a little over 6 hours to get back but William was a trooper and slept almost 5 hours in the car so he didn't end up screaming while we were in the traffic. Brad discovered that William really likes white noise so he used an app on his phone to cause him to sleep a little longer :) nice little trick! Plus, William loves his car seat and generally sleeps well in the car. I should also mention that William slept SO well both nights in the hotel. The first night he even slept 10 hours - which is the longest stretch he has ever gone. I, on the other hand, woke up a few times. I'm not sure if it was because I was so amazed that he was still sleeping...or if I just don't sleep as well when I'm not in my own bed. We had such a nice visit with Uncle Stuart and we were so happy that Momio was able to join us on our little adventure. She was definitely a great help to have with us! I only wish we were able to take these trips more often. I will never forget our first road trip as a family when Will was 3 months old :)

On Wed night, Uncle Stuart treated us to a dinner at the Bohemia Hotel. It was such an interesting place with intricate wood work and antlers everywhere. The dinner was delicious! There is a little art gallery attached to the hotel which is where the photos below are from.

During the day on Thursday we took a little drive to see the foliage and had a nice lunch in Asheville at a little place called The Fig. On Thursday night, Cousin Stewart (Yes! Another Stuart/Stewart!...there are several, definitely a family name used very often!) invited us over for dinner. It was so nice to meet another member of the family! We had a wonderful time.

Will enjoyed his first hotel room experience! He loved all the colors and the lights :) He slept in a pack & play at the foot of our bed.

We stopped by the Grove Park Inn before heading out on Friday morning. We tried several times to find a path (without stairs) to the gardens but were not successful :( so we ran out of time and had to leave. You would think they would have more wheel chair access! I guess we could have carried the stroller down but by then, it was getting late, we just took a little walk around the property. Such a pretty day!!