What a whirlwind weekend! On something close to a whim, we packed up and hit the road Friday morning for Annapolis, MD. We had so much fun at the 2012 Annapolis Boat Show that we decided to give it a go again… with a 2 year old.
The drive is about 7 hours. To make it a novel experience, we finally turned Hailey’s car seat forward facing. I guess at 25 months (ok, ok, 2 years old!), it was finally time. Other than that, we had no hotel booked, no restaurants scoped out and no plan in general. Adventure!
We drove through rain the entire way to Annapolis and went straight downtown. We were shocked that we found a parking spot and a restaurant with little to no wait. We were thrilled we we finally sat down at the Federal House Bar and Grille.
The only semi-plan I had for the weekend was to eat crab, so after David and I split the mussels, I ordered the cream of crab soup.
Though I’m not usually a cream-based soup fan, this was delicious with hearty lumps of crab meat throughout.
David was excited to eat, but we know what really struck his fancy…
Wahoo for beer flights!
Being that it was getting close to 8:30pm by this point and Hailey still hadn’t napped, we headed to our hotel we had called on the drive up, outside of town.
…only we drove to and proceeded to try and check into the wrong hotel.
This girl was a rock star! (Side note: I have already been scolded for letting Hailey wear a jacket in her car seat. Let me assure you she was just like this as we drove across the street to our correct hotel. She’s also clothes-less and I don’t usually let her go out like that either ).
We did make one incredibly right decision, though, and it was to stay in a suite.
With a real door between the two rooms, we were able to put Hailey down, then stay up with the lights and TV on and hangout in our room. Brilliant!
Saturday morning we grabbed breakfast and were off.
The drizzly weather kept things at a comfortable temperature and kept the crowds bearable. Strollers are a no-no with all the floating docks, and the Ergo worked fantastically. Since there are hundreds of boats at the show, and most of you probably don’t care to see hundreds of boat pictures, let me just highlight our current favorite, the Fountaine Pajot Helia 44.
The amount of living space available on catamarans today is unreal.
I believe the kitchen on this boat is bigger than the kitchen in mine and David’s first house.
This boat is set up as an owner’s version, meaning down in one hull there are two bedrooms and two baths, but the other one is completely devoted to being the master suite.
I’m in love!
After only seeing three boats (it’s amazing how much time you can spend on them and talking to people), it was time for lunch.
We snagged a table at Middleton Tavern, where I proceeded to order the steamer basket, the best decision I’ve made in years. The crab was incredible!
Sweet, delicious and ready to be dunked in lemon butter. I devoured it and even snagged a bite of David’s crab cake, which was also quite good.
I can never get enough crab!
We pushed through another nap time and ventured back to the show after lunch.
All things considered, Hailey did so well. Sure we spoiled her with snacks, pacifiers and even a sucker or two, but she hung in there and let us see all the boats we were after.
The drive home Sunday was tedious, but we made it. I’m planning on plenty of park time this week to repay her for her great behavior while she was basically strapped to a car seat or one of us all weekend.
7 hours each way is a haul, but it was worth it!
What’s your maximum drive time for a weekend away?
I’m thinking ours is around 6-7 hours. Any more and we would have lost our minds!
christina says
“my only semi plan for the weekend was to eat crab” makes me think of “my only plan for this vacation is to eat a lot of lobster” (said me) hahahah. foodies!! so how come she shouldn’t wear a jacket in her carseat? is that a safety issue? (not a mom, but curious!!)
Marjorie says
Yes Christina! I am glad I am not the only one whose mind goes straight to the food when planning a trip. 🙂
christina says
love it!
Brittany Dixon says
I guess it loosens the straps and makes it unsafe? Honestly, with a thin jacket, I don’t think it’s a big deal!
And my plan when I visited Boston was to eat a lobster roll. Nothing more, nothing less. We totally get each other! 😉
Jen says
Looks like an amazing weekend! So glad H was a trooper. Those sailboats are insane!
Marjorie says
What a good girl! Glad H did so well.
Our max road trip is about 5 hours, which is how long it takes us to go see my parents in Destin, FL. I we always try to make it a long weekend…to make the drive worth it.
The crab looks amazing!
Brittany Dixon says
Hey, my in-laws live in Destin! So beautiful there. I wish we were 5 hours away- it’s abut 10 for us which is just too far for right now!
Marjorie says
Funny! Destin is like a small town when all the tourists leave for the season. It’d be funny if they knew each other.
Whitney says
My inlaws have a 60 ft Viking yacht and it is amazing…3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, huge kitchen, etc…glad you had a fun trip! 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
Sounds incredible!! How fun!
Jill says
Yum yum yum…being from Maryland, you made me hungry looking at those crab cakes and soup!! 🙂 A weekend eating crab sounds like the perfect weekend to me. Did Haley seem happy to be forward facing?
Brittany Dixon says
She liked facing forward just fine, though she never complained about being backwards. I actually liked backwards better though- haha! Now that she is forward she can see me and wants to talk and get my attention all the time. It’s sweet, but gets old during a 7 hour car ride 😉
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
My drive “back home” is 5 hours…and that is plenty for me! Driving alone is especially difficult because I always get tired so easily :/.
Mike @ Midwestern Bite says
We must be doing it wrong. Our kiddo is about the exact same age as H and a three hour trip to visit the grandparents is usually torture.
Ali says
Those boats look awesome! I think I’m with you-6-7 hours is max for the weekend.
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
I think it’s so funny how much you love boats! Where did this love come from?
Matt @ The Athlete's Plate says
Sounds like a really neat trip!
Kristen @ notsodomesticated says
Good to know that the Ergo can work for older kiddos, too! I have a 6 month old and we don’t use the Ergo too much right now because she spits up all over both of us when I use it! 😉
Jen says
Hey! I love sailing! I used to sail a lot and worked as a manager at a sail and power yacht brokerage/school/charter in Marina del Rey, Ca (Los Angeles). Those cats are beautiful. Were you looking at the Lagoons? One of my favorite yachts in the fleet! If you ever need a sailing buddy to talk shop, let me know! I love reading your blog and I have a 22 month old son. I quit my (dream) job at Blue Pacific when I was 6 months pregnant – a little crazy jumping on and off the boats… We took my son to the Oakland boat show last year and did have the stroller on the docks and inside too. Are you going to buy a sailboat?
Brittany Dixon says
Jen! Love your comment. Feel like I could ask you a million questions because I have no doubt you know MUCH more about sailing and boats than I do.
David and I are quite enamored with the idea of sailing. We’d love to buy a cat at some point and use it to travel with our family. Obviously a lot of those details have yet to be worked out, but we feel set on it.
The Lagoons are actually our second place boat. I think they are beautiful (and I have lots of pictures of their new 450s from the show, too). For right now we are stuck on the FP’s.
We chartered a Lagoon 440 in March in the BVIs to get a feel for it (we didn’t bareboat) and liked it a lot. We know we’d like it even more if we could be on it and have control of it ourselves.
Do you still sail or have a desire to in the future?
Courtney @ Don't Blink. Just Run. says
Wow! Now that’s a serious drive for a weekend trip. Not sure what my max would be, but I’d say probably less than that. Looks like a fun time!
Gcroft says
What a great trip! When she was 15 weeks old, we took our little one to Dublin, Ireland from London in the car and then via ferry – about 6 hours drive and 2 hour ferry crossing. We sensibly broke the journey by staying overnight in a hotel en route. It was epic, which is why we flew the next time around!
Neil Butterfield says
Stunning, looks like you had an absolute blast!
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