One thing that makes me incredibly happy is being able to travel. Usually when you hear someone talking about their love for travel it’s to places all over the world. Not so for me, for two reasons. One, I’m not very comfortable with flying and two, my budget isn’t very comfortable with flying. However, I do love a good road trip. Mainly, I love the planning process of a road trip.
After the twins were born, I was a little worried about how we would ever be able to travel again. I’m in a mom’s travel group on social media and I see what all of these other women are able to do and where they can go with their families, but I never saw anyone talking about travelling with twin babies and usually their budgets were more than we could spend on a week of fun.
Who & When: A Family Thanksgiving
Fortunately for us, I have family with timeshares, which cuts the cost down considerably. Also, driving yourself can do the same. So for Thanksgiving this year we decided a shorter drive would be a good introduction to see how we handled traveling as a family of five.
Where: Ocean City, MD
Ocean City is about a two hours drive from home for us. It is a far enough drive that we don’t go very often, but close enough that we could potentially drive it without any stops. We left on a Friday afternoon planning to beat any work traffic and travel in the daylight. We managed to do both. It was just starting to grow dark when we checked in.
We did end up needing to stop because, of all people, I needed to go to the bathroom about 30 minutes from our destination. All three girls had been asleep the majority of the ride until the stop. I only took M out because we were potty training and she said she needed to use the bathroom, too. It was a pretty quick stop and we were back on the road.
What: Ocean Pines Resort
Because we use a time share we are generally able to stay in resorts that are fully equipped with kitchens and other money saving amenities. My parents were also coming and we were able to get a 3 bedroom unit. Now, if you are used to staying in 5 star hotels, this would not be the place for you. It was way outdated and a little rough around the edges. But, if you’re an average person, like us, who can live simply, this place was perfect.
It had 3 floors: a main floor with a kitchen, living room, and master bedroom with bathroom, the second floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom, and a third floor with a den and laundry. My parents took the main floor bedroom and we took the bedrooms on the second floor. The place itself had a rustic feel with high ceilings and exposed beams. It was also pretty old. I’m pretty sure it hadn’t been updated since it was built in the 1960’s (yes, I looked that piece of information up).
How: Everything But The Kitchen Sink
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I am a huge over packer. Mainly because I am frugal. I would hate to have to buy something while on vacation that I know I have at home. So I tend to just pack everything. Because we road trip and generally stay in resorts with kitchens, we pack kitchen items in addition to regular vacation items. Luckily, we only had a two hour drive since our van was filled to the brim.
The good thing about how I feel about travel is that I love to make lists. So of course I made a custom list so that I did not forget any of the things that we needed. I have heard of people packing every single item that their child might possible use for a trip. Thankfully, I am not that bad. I tend to focus on things that will either keep them safe or keep us sane. So we had baby gates because our unit had two long flights of stairs. We also brought high chairs, 2 pack and plays, and a pop up play seat. Also, I started packing a week before we left. At one point I joked that between a week of packing and a week of putting everything back in its place I spend more time on that than I do on the actual vacation. Such is life!
Why: A Break From Daily Life
Another reason that we chose Ocean City was because we knew it would not be very busy in the off season. While on one hand that meant that some things were closed, we also found at lot of things to do. But the main reason for going on the trip was to take a break from our daily life. It was nice to have my parents with us as well to help share the load of feeding the kids and keeping them busy. We were even able to have a kid free date night.
Ocean City Winter Festival
The Saturday that we were there was Ocean City’s Winter Festival on the Boardwalk. So we bundled everyone up to check it out. They had a vendor sale where I was able to purchase a Christmas gift and even some games for M to play. The games were super cheesy, but she enjoyed them and you won a prize every time. They gave away free hot chocolate and you could see Santa if you wanted.
After visiting the festival area we walked the boardwalk. I didn’t realize it until we were there, but in all of our travels with M, she hadn’t seen the ocean yet. She loved it and loved playing in the sand. We basically had to tear her away when it was time to go.
Assateague Island
Assateague Island National Seashore is an area about 20 minutes away from Ocean City where ponies live in the wild. It is open year round for visitors and has a small visitor’s center where you can learn about the wildlife. The visitor’s center is free, but the park does have a fee. Because of the cold, we only saw four horses, but we were able to get out and see both the bay side of the island and the ocean side. M was again able to play in the sand for a bit. I was able to enjoy the beautiful sound of the ocean waves hitting the beach. My husband was able to enjoy sitting in the warm car listening to his music. It was a win-win-win.
Ocean City’s Winterfest of Lights
For our date night we had a nice seafood dinner at one of the only seafood restaurants open for the winter. We followed that up by driving through Ocean City and checking out the Winterfest of Lights. The Lights display was through a park and was pretty amazing. Parking was free, but you did have to pay to see the lights. The only downside was that you rode on a tram through the park and it was very cold. Other lights shows that I’ve been to you drive in your own warm car. It was really nice though and we even thought about going back the next day so that M could see it.
Travel Is What You Make It
In conclusion, don’t let having small kids scare you from leaving the house. After this first trip I am much more confident in being able to go away for a period of time and still enjoy myself. Sure, it involves more work and a little more planning, but it is worth it to share those experiences with your kids. M enjoyed herself so much that she did not want to leave. We are already planning our next trip and I can’t wait.
Martina