Epic Road Trip — Part 2

We stayed in a sketchy hotel room in Wilmington that night and stayed up way too late drinking and telling stories. Our late night resulted in a late start the next morning.

We tried to stop somewhere to get decent clothes to wear to see "Phantom of the Opera" and we got a little turned around — set us back a couple of hours. Between the traffic and endless tolls we had to pay, driving up North is not something I would ever recommend. We found a parking lot in the city and started walking around the city. It was just like I remembered it — except Time Square was a mess with a bunch of construction. We grabbed some drinks, ate a ridiculous meal at Carmine's Italian restaurant. We were so full with chicken marsala and scaloppini afterward.

We took a quick walk around Grand Central Station before heading back to Majestic Theatre to see Phantom. We had nosebleed seats all the way at the top and made it to the top balcony just as the lights were going down. We had to literally walk on people to get to our seats. But it was worth it. Phantom was amazing — not sure if dad and Matt appreciated it as much as I did.

Knowing it was the only day we had in New York, we walked 10 blocks down to the Empire State Building determined to see the best view of the city at night. Considering it was almost 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night, we couldn't believe the line of people waiting to get to the top. I wouldn't want to be in that line on a Saturday! But it was worth it. The view was unbelievable. What a great day it had been.

After a long day of driving and walking around NYC, we were getting pretty exhausted. We spent the night in Newark, where we learned we could have taken a shuttle into the city from there instead of paying almost $50 to park! Anyway, we stopped to see Leilah again in Wilmington the next day and got to tour her school and dorm. The we drop back to Virginia. We found a hole in the wall town to stay at close to the entrance of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

The next day dad let me drive down Skyline Drive while he enjoyed a six pack in the back seat! LOL! It was a beautiful peaceful ride but when we reached the end 100 miles later, we still had six hours to go back to Asheville.

We got home Thursday afternoon. It was a whirlwind vacation but I was glad to get back and still have a few days to recover at home. I was glad to do some traveling with my hubby and also spend some quality time with my dad. Can't remember the last vacation we took together. I'm proud of my little sister making it on her own in Wilmington. And I can't wait to plan our next excursion.

Epic road trip it is — Part 1

I don't like ultimatums — I like to figure out a way to have my cake and eat it too. Life is too short.

In my last post I was trying to decide whether to be spontaneous and take a road trip up the East Coast or save for a down payment on a house. Well after being pre-approved for a 100-percent USDA loan, I decided the road trip was still doable. Dad was planning on driving up to see Leilah in Delaware in September so he convinced me and Matt to combine our trips.

Now, the idea of being in a car with my father for a week was not very appealing, but how could we pass up free gas and a free driver? So with two weeks to plan our trip I started outlining our route, booking hotel rooms and deciding the stopping points. Charlottesville, Va., Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md., Wilmington, De., Philadelphia, Pa., New York City and back again.

We knew it was ambitious but what the hell? How many chances in our busy lives do we get to drop everything and get on the road?

We drove 6 hours to Charlottesville enjoying the mountain views along the way — the Great Smoky Mountains are an unbelievable and serene experience. Our first disappoint was a stop I planned for Matt at a guitar museum shaped like a large guitar. It was closed of course but it made for a good laugh and photo op.

The Charlottesville traffic was insane! It didn't take us long to realize there was a Taylor Swift concert that night. Little girls were hanging out of windows squealing and holding signs. We stirred clear from the mess and had dinner before hanging out at the Mellow Mushroom on campus and trying lots of good local beer. My favorite? The "Sweet Baby Jesus" — a peanut butter beer.

It was only a two-hour drive into D.C. the next morning. We found a parking spot and made our way to the Newseum. It was amazing and way too much to take in within a couple of hours. It's overwhelming. I bought little souvenirs for my newsroom girls — of course at some point during the day I lost them either in a bathroom or in a cab. So it goes...

But seeing the history of my profession is pretty powerful for me. I feel proud to be a part of it. Even with all the mistakes we make on a daily basis, we are writing history on every level. It reminded me of the importance of what I do and that I am in good company. I can see myself someday in D.C., in some capacity. But perhaps I've been watching too much "West Wing" and "Scandal."

It was a beautiful day for sight seeing. We ate a gyro from a food truck and sat in the grass to take in everything around us, including the National Monument in the backdrop. We walked the two miles to see all the monuments. It's surreal finally seeing all those icons that we see on the screen so often. And it was quite lucky that we went when we did because if we had waited another month like Matt and I had planned, it would have been in the midst of the 15-day government shutdown, which means all the monuments would have been closed!

We stayed at The Rouge —a cute boutique hotel. We drank quite a bit of rum before walking a mile to Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner. It was a "must-do" food recommendation from my former editor Blake Spurney. The place is a historic landmark now after surviving fire riots in the 70s. Bill Cosby and President Barack Obama have frequented the place and their faces are plastered on the side of the building.

The chili burgers were evil — heartburn city! We ate way too much and couldn't force ourselves to do anymore site seeing after that so we went back to the hotel and continued to drink. And then this happened: As I was checking out the bathroom, I noticed a water bubble on the ceiling above the toilet. I made the mistake if mentioning to dad who of course had to go in the bathroom and poke at the water bubble. The water bubble bursts and the nasty (probably toilet) water splattered in the toilet bowl. 

In Matt's drunken state he decides the front desk people should know about what happened. He tells the lady that he was "doing his business" when the water bubble exploded by itself on top of his head. Surely mortified and also trying not to laugh, the lady offered to change our room but we refused. They sent someone to look at it and then someone brought us a complimentary bottle of champagne and 2 free breakfast tickets for the inconvenience. That is the least they could do considering they charged us $50 for valet parking once we got there. 

We made our way down to breakfast the next morning to nurse our hangovers. Then we saw the news — law enforcement was on the lookout for a shooter or shooters who randomly shot people at the Navy shipyard right there in D.C. — just miles away from where we were. We quickly got out of there to get to Baltimore to pick up my little sister. 

The exit we needed to take was blocked with police — no entry. The GPS couldn't tell us how to turn around because we had no signal — probably because the helicopters were hovering overhead. Needless to say, we had to take the long way to Baltimore. By the time we picked up Leilah and got to Philadelphia it was almost night time. But we got to explore and eat and Philly cheesesteak. It was yummy! 

Part 2 to come — stay tuned for a drunken night in a sketchy hotel in Wilmington followed by an epic, short lived day in NYC.