Hot Guy and I really fell for each other on a road trip from Kansas City to Chicago. It wasn't just that the 8 hours flew by because we could not stop talking, it's that we both happily let the 8 hours stretch to 10 because of all the crazy reasons we found to stop. Our mutual love for road trips was one of the foundations for our love for each other.
I thought it would be something we had to let go of when we had kids. You know, like hitting brewpubs every weekend and the concept of quiet. But then we had babies and toddlers who angelically fell asleep on long car rides, especially after we got the Kia minivan and they couldn't poke each other anymore.
Nowadays, of course, we don't have any babies or toddlers. We have actual full-fledged kids. Who pretty much never sleep in the car. Yet this spring we enthusiastically set off for Jekyll Island, Georgia, for a family reunion.
I didn't even tell her to smile for the phone, I swear.
We had so much stuff in the Kia - clothes for every kind of weather, toys, beach toys, food, bottles of wine - but not one kid was cramped. And Hot Guy could even see out the back window. That makes the whole road trip thing much more pleasant. I can't imagine trying to get all that crap on a plane.
No trip south is complete without a stop at South of the Border, in South Carolina.
You see, the difference between a road trip and just using your car to get somewhere is the stops you make. On a road trip, you stop for more than just gas. And with our Kia, we don't have to stop all that often - even if we are driving a well-packed minivan.
On a road trip, you drive during the day so you can see the landscape change.
I love the trees in Georgia.
And if you don't like the view, you can make your own with Wiki Stix.
On a road trip, you eat at hole in the wall barbecue joints (where your refusal of sweet tea might possibly get you branded as a witch), not at whatever fast food joint is closest to the interstate.
We had an amazing time with my family and really fell in love with Jekyll Island - even though we don't golf. What was especially cool was that even when we had to check out of the rental house we were all staying in, we didn't have to rush off to catch a plane or a train. We got to extend our time a bit and explore the southern part of the island.
They thought we were hopping back on the road. Which, as you can see, they didn't mind at all.
But we weren't. We went here instead.
They wanted to swim in the frigid water, but when I pointed out that road trips are not quite so much fun in wet clothes, they got over it.
I made Hot Guy stop for one more tree photo op before we left the island.
See what I mean about Georgia's trees?
But then we found an historical ruin.
I really want to plan another road trip right now.
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