Usually about two times a year the stress from Clif working his own business gets to a point where he is desperate for a break away from the madness. I'd love to be able to indulge, but vacations have always been, to me, a luxury that we usually can't comfortably afford, or at least couldn't without me feeling stress and guilt that those funds should be utilized elsewhere, like a savings account. This time, however, Clif's stress peaked while we were both under the additional strain of being under several HUGE and costly home improvement projects, as well as having the second baby on the way. I figured it was time to bite the bullet and conceded to a break, even if it was a quick jog to the nearest beach for a 3-day weekend.
Our plan was for me to go to work early so I could leave early so we could hit the road before rush hour traffic got too out of control. Should have figured our plans would hit several road blocks, starting with Flynn waking up sick to his stomach. I called out of work so I could help take care of Flynn while Clif tried to get a little extra sleep, hoping it was just an upset tummy and our little guy would feel better so we could go on our trip. For a few hours it was looking questionable that we would make it and would be out the cost of our vacation without the benefit of enjoying it. Luckily somewhere around lunch time Flynn seemed to be back to his usual self and had kept down food and water, so we felt we were back on track, at least for the most part. The day before at my OB appointment I had a little blood pressure spike which prompted the doctor to order a full blood panel and 24-hour collection. I told him we were leaving for the beach the next day, which concerned him a bit, but we were able to juggle the hours just enough to fit in the lab work and still let us make it for our trip. That meant I needed to drop off my 24-hour collection on our way out of town, but while I was in the office Thursday they went ahead and drew blood for the panel to hopefully save me some time. Road block #2: the lab couldn't/wouldn't accept the previous draw from my doctor's office and I spent almost an hour getting checked in and processed so they could draw another set of tubes to run. So much for a quick drop-off...
We managed to get on the road pretty close to the time we had originally ball-parked, to me a minor miracle. Traffic was terrible, naturally, and a multi-lane closure on Rt 50 just before the Bay Bridge due to an accident, and a much-needed dinner stop on Kent Island all contributed to a nearly 5 hour trip out of town to Ocean City, MD. We arrived at our hotel around 9:00 at night, worn out and raw from the long drive (Flynn had been darn near perfect for the ride).
As we got closer to the beach, my excitement about the weekend had grown, I was sure we were going to have such a great time! Until we got to our hotel room... the hotel's website was misleading, confusing, and the suite we thought we had booked turned out to be a single room with two beds and no separate room to set up Flynn's pack-n-play to hopefully help him sleep (he's a professional at refusing sleep when we are away from home). On top of that there were loud late-night beach goers and hotel neighbors sharing weed on their deck (luckily neither thing affected us when we were IN our hotel room, just the balcony), which turned out to be the straw that broke Clif's camel's back. He was exhausted, stressed, furious and ready to immediately re-pack the car to go home. I didn't have much reserve in my tank, either, so I tasked myself with trying to handle Flynn and get Clif to just get in bed and get some rest. Finally, around 12:30 am, Flynn passed out and Clif and I were mere moments behind him. Sometime close to 4:30 or 5, Flynn woke up crying, obviously disoriented and still exhausted, so I scooped him up and took him to bed with me. He, much to my joy and amazement, settled right in and we went back to bed for several more hours. Flynn is an incredibly independent sleeper, so I relished this being the second, maybe third time I was able to doze off with him next to me.
The light of the next day (and much needed rest) made things look a little less dismal and we decided we were determined to turn our weekend around. We had a delicious omelet and crepe breakfast from the Bayside Skillet, with leftovers enough to cover our breakfast for the next two days. Before lunch we ventured down to the beach and spent an hour or so introducing Flynn to the ocean, playing in the surf. I dare say I think he really loved it, even though learning how to adjust his balance for the coming and going of waves was challenging for all of us. Having Flynn near the water had been my biggest anxiety going into the weekend and I was relieved it went so well (and, honestly, to get it overwith).
After our beach excursion there was lunch and quiet time, where Flynn was supposed to have been worn out enough to take a nap, but Mama passed out instead. We all got up and dressed for a dry evening and headed down to our end of the boardwalk to take a walk before dinner. Our hotel was located at the exact end of the boardwalk, where most of the real estate is residential and it's quiet. Not too far down, though, we came across a kitschy beach-gear shop and walked through. Flynn discovered some toy cars on the shelf under the cash register, so he made himself at home on the floor to play. I gave him a minute or two then said we needed to put the trucks back and go for dinner, which sparked a tidal wave of distress. Not a precedent I intend to set for all situations in the future, but with the lack of sleep I knew he was running on, and the fact I needed to do whatever I needed to to try to keep all of us sane, we bought the truck. I had never seen Flynn take to a toy as passionately as he did to this silly white Hummer car with doors that open and close. Usually after a minute or two with a toy he will throw it and move on to something new, but not this one. He drove it, hugged it, and carried it in a vice grip the entire way back to the hotel, both when he was walking and riding on Clif's shoulders. He played with it all during dinner and snuggled with it when he conked out, exhausted, in the car seat afterwards as we made our way to the "action" end of the boardwalk.
Did I mention Flynn was tired? We parked between two amusement parks, each blaring their own bass-heavy sound systems, and pulled him out of his car seat like he was a rag doll. Usually, even when he's tired and napping, he wakes up when we open the car door, if not when the car turns off, but this time he didn't even bat an eye and stayed sound asleep on Clif's shoulder, another first for all of us. We walked a little ways up the boardwalk through the crowd (not too bad), found a seat on one of the benches overlooking the beach and pier amusement park and just enjoyed the time relaxing, people watching, and Flynn marveling/snuggling. On our way back to the car we treated ourselves to dessert before heading back to the hotel for a blissfully early night to bed, which went much better than the night before.
On Sunday we stayed low-key with breakfast leftovers, some Sunsations window shopping, a very brief trip to the FREEZING cold hotel pool, reheated leftovers for lunch, more quiet time and a fantastic dinner at a fun, quirky pirate-themed restaurant with great food. The highlight of the day for me was family portraits at the Olde Timey photo place. That had been my singular, driven goal since we decided on a beach trip and I would have been broken hearted if we hadn't made it happen. A couple of things made it a very successful experience for us: 1) it was Sunday before Labor Day and most people were heading home. 2) we visited in the late morning when most other people were at the beach or doing other activities (I've found these photo places get hopping in the evenings). 3) Since we had the timing right, we had the place to ourselves which meant practically every employee in there was free to help us as well as Flynn. He even had someone dedicated to wrangling his costume hat. Though getting one of these pictures was my primary mission on this trip, I had been anxious about getting it done without any major issues or meltdowns. The employees made it fast, easy and fun.
On Monday morning we packed the car, checked out of the hotel and took one more drive down to the boardwalk where we discovered a delicious coffee shop that we will be sure to revisit on future beach trips. We took a little stroll on the boardwalk before the rain came in and stopped at a Candy Kitchen for some fudge and salt water taffy then headed home. Despite a rocky start to the adventure, we ended up having a wonderful time on our first family vacation.
