Childless Vacation
Last week, Aaron and I performed a feat of great proportions: we went on a vacation with no children. Not even one.
Our plans for this vacation started a couple of months prior when Aaron, desperate for us to have some time to look at each other and talk without kids slinging raisins or soggy cereal at us, asked, “What if we drove to the beach for a night and came back?” This made my ears perk up. This could be possible. I already had been away from my babies a full day when I had the unicorn horn removed. What would be the problem with just one night away?
I approached my resident babysitter mom to see if this would be a possibility. Her initial reaction was, “Why aren’t you staying two nights?” And that sealed the deal. I didn’t let her take the words back before I simply said, “Oh, good idea. Thanks, we’ll do that,” and ran to the Internet to decide where to go.
Beach was our initial decision. But, living in North Carolina provides many options of beaches. We could go to one in our own state. We could try Myrtle Beach. We could head to Georgia. We knew we wanted to go somewhere and basically just sit on the beach. After much discussion and deliberation, we decided Charleston would be a great place (plus, everyone we asked about Charleston was drooling before we finished the last syllable). After looking for hotels on the beach, we settled on Isle of Palms — just a short 20 minute drive over a freakishly freaky bridge away from the apparently awe-inspiring Charleston.
We were so excited on the morning we left that we forgot some pretty important items: towels for the beach, Aaron’s glasses, my brush. The towels weren’t a big deal (although I was super annoyed that we had to pay for towels once down there — and they weren’t cheap), and Aaron can see well enough to get from the bed to the bathroom without his contacts. That didn’t pose too much of an issue. The big issue was my brush. When my hair was long, I could just pull it back and go on about my business. My current hairstyle doesn’t allow for the messy bun look.
Overall, we had a wonderful time just the two of us. We had adult beverages — and because we were staying right where we were playing, there was no question about driving anywhere.
Our food choices were also amazing. On the Isle of Palms, we ate at Luke n’ Ollie’s Pizzeria for our first lunch. That was some awesome good pizza and electric lemonade!
Dinner was a Coconut Joe’s. They have live music most nights, so it made the whole beach-going experience just that much better. Both of us chose a Mahi Mahi dish (mine was a salad; Aaron’s was a sandwich) and agreed they were delicious. And I adored my Joe Mama:
The next day, we ventured in to Charleston. After crossing the panic-inducing bridge to get there, we struggled to find parking with Aaron’s big truck. Couple that with the fact that we were starving, and we hadn’t started our Charleston adventure off correctly. We chose to eat at Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub. Aaron was happy with the fish and chips. I got a sandwich I can’t even remember. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t my thing. Aaron would have probably loved it.
We walked around the Market in Charleston and enjoyed just being together. Funny thing was, as much as everyone told us we just had to go to Charleston, it didn’t really fit into our ultimate goal of relaxation. Well, stopping for ice cream didn’t hurt.
We headed back to our room on Isle of Palms, and I took a quick nap. After a dip in the ocean, we got cleaned up (and I did my best to manage my finger-combed hair) and went to eat at Banana Cabana. As much as we really enjoyed everywhere we ate, this was probably our favorite. The atmosphere plus the huge plate of food (that we luckily chose to split) just made it an awesome experience.
All in all, we enjoyed our childless vacation. There were multiple moments when we found ourselves just sitting in silence. It was glorious. I offered to crawl all over Aaron while he was eating, but he didn’t go for it.
What is the best childless vacation you ever took?
I was having so much fun seeing all of your pictures while you two kids were enjoying your vaca! I am so glad that you guys got to get away! Looks like you had an amazing time!
We are trying to plan a childless getaway now! So hopefully I will have an answer to your question soon!!
p.s I share your loathing of bridges as well! Adam other hand, is the extreme opposite. He likes to stick his head out the window, look over the edge of the rails or through the grates as we drives across. *Barf*.
Oh the bridges. We have one right here in our neighborhood that goes over train tracks. I hold my breath and look the other way when we’re on a walk. If the kids even sneeze close to it, I freak.