A Lil Road Trip

Life has been busy...isn't it always? I sort of backed off writing because so much was going on in life, but as those of you who know me know, I love writing. I also love traveling. That should come as no surprise to the majority of you. 

Last year, I took my then 4 year old and my husband to Ireland, one of my favorite places. We had the most incredible time. Maybe, if I have time, I'll come back and share why that trip was so special. 

This year, our finances were a bit tighter. We wanted to do something grand (I was planning Norway, then France, then Rhode Island) and we landed on Atlanta. Don't laugh...or do. 😂 It wasn't the vacation I was dreaming of, but it did the trick to give us the summer vacation vibes we needed. 

We do home exchanges often to save on hotel costs. We also like the idea of having a kitchen, a playroom, etc. Myers feels at home in these places and we have done a few since he was born. This year, we found a 5000 sq. foot home in Alpharetta that was open, so we jumped on the chance to go. 

I'm a pretty good trip planner, so once we had our destination set, I started googling and searching on Instagram. I came across some great posts from #awesomeAlpharetta and I was able to plan a trip that ticked all of our boxes. 

I like food, flowers, history and shopping (antiques especially). My son, now five, loves a swimming pool, playgrounds, and children's museums. My husband likes music, food, some history, and sports. 

On our first day in Alpharetta, we hit two incredible playgrounds I had found through Instagram. One was as Webb Bridge and one was at Wills Park. These two places were perfect for my little guy to run around. Webb Bridge was the nicer of the two with lots of shade and even a little mountain stream to wade. The Wills Park playground was "cool," but it was super hot by the time we got there (mid morning). 

We went to downtown Alpharetta for lunch and as we walked around the little block of shops, we came to a splash fountain where kids were all enjoying the water (in their bathing suits). Myers' eyes lit up and I couldn't tell him no, so I took of his shirt and let him run in (he had on quick drying Cadets shorts-my fav brand). I sent my husband looking for a place with toddler undies and shorts, but there was no such store. There was, however, an outfitters store, so I asked him to check inside for a quick dry towel. Praise Jesus, they had one! It was Dock & Bay, and worked perfectly!!

After this first "Myers' day" (I really wanted him to enjoy himself since we'd been in the car 5 hours the day before), we made plans for more Mom and Dad friendly activities. Don't let that statement fool you, I do my darnedest to make sure Myers has a good time. You'll have to read back through other blogs, should you wish, to learn more about Myers as a person. He's incredible, SOOO intelligent, so stinking cute, unbelievably sweet and well mannered, but he's also on the spectrum, and that has its challenges.

Anyway, on day two, we drove into Atlanta. I had booked tickets online for the Children's Museum of Atlanta, so we made that our first stop. It was a lot of fun for Myers who loves to run, do sciency things (he's really into simple machines), climb, and play in grocery stores. We are frequent fliers at our children's museum in Charleston, and we have visited children's museums in many of the cities we have visited. Myers was having a blast, but I could see my husband was not. Fortunately for him, I knew the College Football Hall of Fame was a short walk away, so I sent him off on his own. 

We reconvened for lunch, then set out for the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and something I was really excited to see-The Alice in Wonderland Exhibit. It started to downpour the minute we arrived, but we were lucky because after the short storm, we had great weather for the rest of the afternoon. I fell in love with botanical gardens when I lived in Dublin and used to go with the child I minded. The Atlanta garden was a fabulous experience, and something my husband and I both enjoyed was a nice cold beer or two as we walked around. There was a great little playground and children's garden, so Myers enjoyed too.

Day three was fun but SOOO very hot. We went to Stone Mountain and took the funicular (what do they call them in America??) to the top. This was nerve wracking as Myers was temperamental in the heat and wanted to run on the rocks. I was a bit of a nervous wreck up there, honestly, so we went back down and did the Dino exhibit and splash area. These were fun but I don't know if I'd honestly recommend Stone Mountain. It was a lesser version of a Dollywood, if you can picture that...granted I haven't been to Dollywood in 20-30 years. 

Our last and final day in GA was spent in Helen and Dahlonga. My husband and I had both been, but we had never taken Myers so this was a first for him. It was hot again, and walking through the small Alpine Village of Helen (set to look like you're in Germany) was not as exciting as I hoped it would be. There were a few toys in stores, but Myers definitely didn't care about the German-like architecture. I don't think Myers cared too much about Dahlonega either, but we like this quaint little town for it's shops and at least they do have a great toy store, so Myers played in there a while. We got ice cream (maybe more than once) and did some antique shopping before going to a vineyard so Chance and I could have an adult beverage while Myers played with the cats. 

All in all, we made special memories and can say we had a mini vacation. Myers has done well to travel since he was born, even if only once abroad. He's a great traveler actually. I'm always surprised at how patient he is. 

With all the things shared above, I have to share some things that made our trip easier and or more enjoyable. Check out the links below, and thanks for shopping through them if you choose to purchase any item. I'll get a small commission from Amazon if you do. 

Travel Desk for the car ride-LOVE this lap desk. Easy to organize toys. Great for snacks, etc.

Pack It Freezer Bag- The BEST freezer bag. I've been so surprised with this little thing. I bought it so I could take some fruit on the plane last summer. I use it ALL the time, and it's so easy to freeze overnight, then reuse often. It's small, but mighty.

Dock & Bay Beach Towel-fantastic, great size, easy to store, dries super fast

Color Changing Cars-One of Myers' fav toys, easy to pack, all you need is hot and cold water 

Fidget toys-you'd be surprised at how much Myers played with the little fidget (discovered in Alpharetta at the home exchange house)

Hydroflask kids water bottle-love this water bottle. Keeps things cool, not super heavy. 

Slight side note, Myers' favorite toy for a while now has been his Numberblocks. He carries "One" around like it's his best friend. He never had a blankie or stuffed animal he carried, but "One" is often with him. On Sunday when we were in Dahlonega, Myers put "One" down in, of all places, a British novelty shop. He didn't realize he'd left him there, but when we were across the town square at the toy store, I realized he wasn't with us. Chance and Myers stayed in the toy store playing while I retraced steps, through 4 stores! I was so grateful to fine "One" sitting in the little English store and told the two girls working (even though they really didn't know what I was talking about). You see, Numberblocks is a British program that we all LOVE, and I found it ironic that of all places, "One" would be left there. PS-he's less than an inch on any side. We were LUCKY to find him.