Countdown to Vacation

The countdown is officially on!  Nine weeks from today, Eliot and I will be taking our first trip after the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.  This September, we'll be traveling road trip style from Maine down to Virginia and back.

We've been talking about going to Virginia Beach with my family for a few months.  My parents wanted to go somewhere this fall after the summer traffic from people traveling died back down.  Jeremy has a bunch of time off this year and since we haven't been traveling, he's got a ton of vacation days still available.  Eliot also has plenty of time off to use.  Plus, let's face it... like many people across the world, we're getting a little bit restless after not going anywhere for so long.

Photo Source

After going through all of our schedules, we finally pulled the trigger.  We decided to fit our trip in between a few of Mom and Dad's fall tax deadlines.  Ironically, the week we'll be gone also happens to fall over Eliot's and my wedding anniversary.  Eliot and I don't usually do too much for it, so I'm kind of excited to be away during it for once!

The plan is for Mom, Dad and Nana to drive to our house to pick Eliot, me and our stuff up.  Then, we'll drive down to pick Jeremy up in New Hampshire.  We'll be taking two cars.  It's about 16 hours from my parents' house so we're factoring two travel days into the plan on each end of the trip.  There's a chance that Eliot might stay to work two more days and fly down on Monday the 20th (our anniversary) to meet us there.

Photo Source

Once we're in Virginia, we'll be spending most of the trip in Virginia Beach.  Eliot has never been there, and Jeremy and I haven't been there in a while.  My family used to vacation there a lot back when we were in elementary school... but that's probably the last time I was there.  My parents, Nana and Papa have traveled there more recently.

I'm looking forward to a bit of relaxation.  We aren't really beach people, but Eliot and I enjoy having picnics on the beach later in the day when it's not as hot.  Plus, there's a huge boardwalk area to walk on.  You can rent bicycles to ride on a paved pathway along the shore.  I loosely remember going to the mall and the Aquarium on days it was raining during our past trips.  We also went to a historic lighthouse.  We haven't made any official plans for this trip, but I'm sure we'll revisit some of these ideas!

Photo Source

On the way home, we're going to spend a few days in Williamsburg.  Eliot is really excited about going to Busch Gardens to ride the rollercoasters.  I'm excited to go back to Colonial Williamsburg.  We went when I was about 10 years old and obsessed with the American Girl dolls and Felicity.  I can't wait to go back!  I've wanted to for years now.  I don't think we'll have time to go to Jamestown this trip, but if we don't, I'm sure we'll go back again sometime.  I really love doing the historic stuff!

Photo Source

I'm getting more excited now that everything is slowly coming together.  My Mom and I officially selected the dates for our trip back on Monday.  Then, I called my brother and told Eliot.  I'm really excited to have this trip to look forward to!  Things have been so crazy busy with our businesses that it will be really nice to take a week and a half off!  

Our countdown to vacation has officially begun!  Woo-hoo!!!  °o°