Spring Break Roadtrip

We just got home from an amazing and super crazy spring break road trip. 

We drove for a total of 54 hours and crossed into 10 different states, 8 of which were brand new to us. 
We had so much fun and it was definitely a trip for the books. We left after school on Friday, Mar 17th and drove to Memphis, TN. 
We stayed the night and the next morning we drove over to Graceland. We didn't have time to tour the place but we got to see a few memorabilia items. We listened to Elvis songs on the way over and learned about his life and his rise to fame.  

 

Now I really need to watch the new Elvis movie. 

After Graceland, we drove over to the Peabody Hotel. I was the most excited for this particular activity in Memphis. The Peabody hotel is home to the Peabody ducks. They live in a penthouse suite in the hotel and everyday at 11 am and 5 pm the ducks come down the elevator and march to and from the fountain in the hotel lobby.  It's been a tradition for over 90 years. 

    Here's the history, in the 1930's, the general manager of the hotel and his friend went hunting and then when they got back, they thought it would be funny to place some of the live decoy ducks in the fountain in the lobby. The reaction from the hotel guests was nothing short of enthusiastic and this began the infamous tradition. In 1940, Bellman Pembroke, a former circus trainer, offered to help with the delivering of the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody duck march. This is the march we got to witness on Saturday. It was pretty cute and it's a very "Memphis" thing to see. The kids got front row seats and the ducks marched right past them. 

Tanner and I were on the other side of the carpet and we were pretty close too. 

The kids loved watching the ducks hop into the fountain and swim around. It was pretty cute!

Before leaving we bought some yummy duck shaped sugar cookies. 

From the Peabody hotel, we walked down Beale street and explored. Beale street is the heart of downtown Memphis and is three blocks of nightclubs, restaurants and shops. Our first stop was the "A Schwab Soda Shop". It's a cute little trade store full of adorable souvenirs and on the back half of the store is a soda shop. We got delicious sodas and ice cream. It was so cute and delicious. 

Beale street is iconic and a must see while in Memphis. But if you are a family with young kids, I recommend visiting during the daytime, it's completely kid friendly during the day. 

We visited one of the souvenir shops on our way out and grabbed a Christmas ornament for our collection and we got a couple of pressed pennies too. 

Then we drove over to "Mud Island" and explored. Mud Island Park sits in the heart of the Mississippi River and is really close to downtown Memphis. The peninsula features a 50 foot "Memphis" sign that is perfect for photos and a scale model of the lower Mississippi River. There is also a museum, concert venue and amazing views of the Memphis skyline. 

The boys had fun playing in the river replica. It was a nice walk and a great way to stretch our legs after our drive the day before. 

From Mud Island, we hopped on a Mississippi Riverboat Cruise. 

This turned out to be much colder than we anticipated.

We started out on the top floor of the boat, but the wind was a bit much and we ended up going inside.

The riverboats were so cute though and we had an awesome tour guide that told us so many cool facts about the river and it's history. 

 

 

We learned that the deadliest maritime disaster actually happened on the Mississippi river. The Sultana was a riverboat that carried passengers up and down the river and was loaded down with 6 times the allowed capacity, when it caught fire and burned. Some 1700 people died but the disaster was mostly overlooked because it happened right after the ending of the civil war and the assassination of Pres. Lincoln. Such a sad accident. 

 Also, at one point, we were in two states at once. while in middle of the river. 

But seriously, how cute are these riverboats? 

When the riverboat cruise was over, we hopped back off and went in search of some legendary Memphis BBQ.  We found it at "Jim & Nick's BBQ" and we devoured everything. It was so yummy. 

We even bought a mix for the cheddar biscuits to bring home. 

The food was yummy and everyone enjoyed it. 

After dinner we hit the road and drove to Nashville, where we had a hotel for the night. 

So Sunday morning we were off to explore Nashville. We got tickets to tour the "Grand Ole Opry" and it was the highlight of our day. All of the kids enjoyed it too. 

We got a backstage tour and learned about the history of the Grand Ole Opry. 

This wall was covered in names on the plaques of all the opry inductees over the years. 

This is the dressing room reserved for anyone making their opry debut. 

Along the hallways outside the dressing rooms were pictures and memorabilia from the different inductees. It was pretty cool. 

This is called the "It takes two" dressing room and it's named after Johnny Cash and June Carter. 
Chris and I both loved Johnny Cash and we watched the movie "Walk the Line" together when we were dating, so we were excited to see their dressing room. 

This mural was painted  early in the opry history and was damaged in the food in 2012. You can see a little of the flood damage on the bottom of the mural, that shows how high the water got. Kind of crazy. Happily, only months later, the opry hall renovations and repairs were completed and it reopened. 

Here's some more cool history about the Grand Ole Opry: 

It started in 1925, when it aired it's first live radio show. The show moved to the famous Ryman Auditorium in 1943 and later to the Opry House is 1974. In the center of the stage is a circle of wood from the Ryman Auditorium, which symbolically shows the history of the show. Since its beginning as a radio show, they have not missed a single broadcast, even through the war, floods and other hardships. Lastly, there have been over 200 inductees into the Grand Ole Opry, with only a couple of people added each year.

After finishing our tour, we did a little shopping and found a Christmas Ornament to bring home to remember our trip. 

I love this picture of us outside the Opry house. We had a lot of fun and we all agreed the tour was worth the money.

 

After our tour we went to do some more sight seeing. 
Because I watched the TV series "Nashville" I did feel like I had to go by the "Bluebird Cafe."

Of course it was closed for a private event, (just like it frequently was on the show) but I still got a picture outside of it. 

Then we drove over to see the Parthenon. This was one thing that Tucker really wanted to see so we made it happen. He loves architecture of all kinds and he was really excited to see the Parthenon replica in Nashville. 

Then we drove over to "Broadway street" and explored a little. I was mostly looking for a place to get a pressed penny. The honky tonk bars were open and hopping. It was really loud but such a fun atmosphere. 

The kids were excited to see a taco bell and thought it was so fun because it was two story and tiny. It even had a stage for live music. 

From there we drove to Louisville , KY. We got in to our hotel a little earlier than usual and had time to swim. The kids were thrilled. 

Chris went and got pizza and brought it back to the hotel for dinner and the kids passed out hard that night. 

The next morning we explored Louisville and first went to "Churchill Downs"

We had a great time exploring the "Kentucky Derby Museum" while we waited for our tour at the downs to start. The kids loved these virtual horse races. 

Then our tour started and we learned about the history of Churchill Downs. Its history started in 1872 when Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark traveled to England and attended the Epsom derby. This sparked his ambition to create a spectacle horse racing even in America. When he returned to the states he began the development of the racetrack. The track was constructed on eighty acres of land that Clark leased from his uncles, John and Henry Churchill, Hence the name "Churchill Downs".  

Churchill Downs had its first official race, the Kenturky Derby, on May 17, 1875 and the races have been held continuously since then. Churchill Downs holds the record for the longest running sporting event in the country. The Kentucky Derby is known as the most exciting two minutes in sports.

Here's my cute family in front of the tracks. 

After our tour finished, we went back into the museum to finish learning about the Kentucky Derby. 
We decided we need to watch "Secretariat" now since we learned all about him. 

We learned so much and had a great time with all the interactive activities at the museum. The kids picked out a Christmas ornament and Tucker got us some pressed pennies and then we left to find our next adventure. 

We drove over to Lincoln City, Indiana next. When I said we did a ton of driving, I wasn't kidding. But the kids did so good!

We visited Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home. 

The kids all like history, but especially Tanner. While the younger kids worked on their junior ranger booklets, Tanner and Chris learned about Lincoln's early life. 

This was the foundation of Lincoln's childhood home. 

Next to the house foundation, was a little replica of what the homestead would have looked like. 

Abraham Lincoln helped his Dad clear this land when he was only 7 years old. He lived here until he was 21 years old. Sadly his mother died from milk poisoning when he was young, along with many of the early settlers. Then his father remarried and he gained three younger siblings. They all lived together in their cabin for many years. 

We all enjoyed exploring the farm. During the later months, the historical farm functions and you can learn from the park rangers about life on the frontier. It's pretty cool. 

The kids really loved exploring the farm and they really want a farm of their own someday. 
Maybe we will get there someday. But we had a blast learning about Abraham Lincoln. 

From there we drove over to Ohio and got a hotel for the night. We  stopped outside our Kirtland, Ohio and I think Chris was more excited for this stop than any other on our trip. 
I was pretty excited for this stop too but this was the one place Chris wanted to stop on our road trip.

The next morning we got breakfast at this gas station called "Sheetz" and I had the best breakfast burrito of my life. It was huge and Chris and I both ate it and were stuffed. 

Then we drove over to "Historical Kirtland" and took a tour of the early church history sites. It was pretty cool. Last summer we were able to visit Nauvoo so it was really awesome to get to learn about the chapter of the church's history before Nauvoo. When we arrived at the visitor's center we were greeted by some missionaries. They showed us a short film and then our tour began. 

The main attraction of the site is the Newel K Whitney Store. This is where Joseph and Emma Smith lived for a time while in Kirtland and is a site of many famous moments in church history, such as the revelation for the word of wisdom and other sections in the doctrine and covenants. 

The store was also the first location of the school of the prophets. 

After hearing about the story of Joseph Smith and reading the book of Mormon, Newel and his wife prayed about its truthfulness. 

A short time later Joseph and Emma pulled up in front of his store in a horse drawn sled, in the snow and Joseph said "I am Joseph the prophet. You have prayed me here; now what do you want of me"

The Whitneys immediately brought them into their store and shared their home with them. 

The store itself has been set up as a replica and it's pretty cool. 

But upstairs was set up as a living area and where many of the early church leaders met. 

This was the translation or revelation room in the upstairs of the Whitney store. So many miraculous things happened in this room. It was so amazing to learn about. 

This fireplace was important because after Joseph Smith presented the revelation known as the "Word of Wisdom" to the elders of the church, they immediately threw their tobacco pipes into the fire. 
I loved that example of immediately obedience and faith. 

We were so happy to get to see the store and learn about the church history here. 

Then we toured the Whitney home, the sawmill and the ashery. 

The ashery was a vital operation in building the Kirtland temple. 

The settlers brought wood to the Whitney ashery for money or credit. Whitney would then use the wood to heat huge cauldrons of water that had been alkalinized by running it through wood ashes. The remains would be boiled and would make potash. This would then by shipped to factories in the east or even to Europe. This potash was used in making glass, in cleaning wool and other industrial processes. It was worth a lot of money and this was the major source of funding for the building of the temple. 

Shortly after the construction was complete, potash was discovered to occur naturally in the ground and the price per barrel dropped significantly. It's just one more occurrence of when the Lord provided for the saints in their time of need. 

The kids really enjoyed learning at the ashery. 

We were so grateful to the Senior missionaries that gave us the wonderful tour and taught us all about this chapter of the church's history. 

As we were leaving the missionaries told us to go visit the temple, but when I told them it was closed on our day, they offered to call the temple caregiver and see if she could meet us there to give us a tour. 

The caregiver agreed and we were lucky enough to get a private tour. It was such an amazing experience. 

The tour guide taught us all about the construction of the temple and how it functioned. The Community of Christ church owns the Kirtland temple now but they are wonderful hosts and were so friendly to us. I couldn't believe she opened the temple just for us to tour it. Sadly I couldn't take any pictures inside but it was so cool. 

After we finished the tour, the tour guide offered to take a picture of us. She had a perfect spot where you could see the whole temple. It was great. I was grateful because it's always hard to get family pictures. 

 

Then she took us next door to their visitor's center and we got to explore that a little. 

And we did some shopping at their little gift shop. We got another Christmas ornament. 

 From the Kirtland temple we drove over to the Johnson Farm and took a tour there. 

This was a place that Joseph and Emma lived for a short time. Joseph worked on his translation of the Bible here and this desk was set up as a replica of that work. Joseph also received revelations in this room, one of which being the gospel of the degrees of glory. So amazing.

This house was also where Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were  tarred and feathered. Joseph's little baby died shortly after the incident due to exposure to the horrible winter weather.

The church purchased the land in 1956 and it functioned as a welfare farm for years. Currently it does not function as a farm, but they do historical tours daily. It was pretty cool to learn about. 

After leaving the Johnson farm, we drove 40 minutes away in the wrong direction for some amazing Amish food. The tour guide at the temple had told us about this restaurant and we were excited to try it. We decided it was worth the extra drive time to indulge in some yummy food that wasn't fast food. 

Plus we got to drive through this adorable Amish community on the way and my kids were full of questions. Both Chris and I agreed that we could see the merit of that lifestyle and way of living, but I would need electricity for somethings still. 

Because of our delicious late lunch, we got a later start on the next leg of our journey. We drove over to Chester, WV. We found this awesome roadside attraction and had to stop to see the world's largest teapot. 

 

And since these two cuties love tea like I do, we decided we had to get a picture together. 

Then we continued down the road to Tomlinson Run State Park. We went on a beautiful hikeand even though we got a little turned around, we still had fun together. 

I love these little explorers. We have the best time together. 

Tucker thought he was so funny when he said he found a new hat to wear and then put this acorn cap on his head. He's the cutest. 

We took the beech trail and hiked around the river. 

You can't really see the water, but if you look closely you can see the river below. 

It took us a little while to realize we were on a bike trail and the trail was supposed to cross the river. 

So then we did some trailblazing of our own and laid down big rocks so we could cross without getting too wet. Sadly for Chris, he slipped in and got his shoes wet.  Then he sacrificed for the rest of us and helped us across the river so we didn't have to get too wet. 

Here he is being the hero. 

Tucker took his shoes off, but it was too cold for me. 

We got back to our car right before it got dark and took a picture before leaving. 

It was a fun hike but we were worn out by the end of it. 

From here we had a little bit of  drive to Maryland. We stopped for the night in Oakland, MD and stayed at a super cute inn on the river. Each of the rooms was an A-frame cabin style. It was so cute- the kids loved it. 

After packing up we drove over to Swallow Falls to hike. 

We hiked for about two hours and the kids loved it. 

There were all these little alcoves in the rocks for the kids to explore and they had the best time. 

This little monkey climbed and jumped from every surface possible. 

 

This was swallow falls and it was incredible.

If you ask the kids what their favorite part of our spring break trip was, I think every single one would tell you it was this hike in Maryland. They absolutely loved it. They were sad when it was over. 

So we had to cheer them up by taking them to a huge candy store in Oakland. 

"Candyland" was a huge candy store with a massive selection. We told the kids they could each get 1/2 pound of candy and that was a lot. They had fun picking out what they wanted. 

Their candy kept them happy on our long drive to South Carolina that day. 

The week long road trip of course included many stops for yummy treats and food. We are all big fans of QT gas stations and so we ate dinner there on our drive down to South Carolina. 

We got into Charleston, South Carolina late on March 22nd.
Thursday morning we woke up and started our exploration of the city. I had been so excited to visit Charleston so this was my favorite day. 

I had been waiting to see "rainbow row" forever so this was so fun for me 

Our first stop was a carriage ride tour around the city. What better way to see Charleston than from a carriage right?  Our tour guide was amazing and had so much knowledge about the city. It was awesome. 

We learned about Robert Smalls. He later became known as the father of the American school system. He commandeered a confederate ship to escape the south and freed himself, his family, his crew and their families. Then ended up fighting for the north during the war. He became the first black captain of a vessel in the U.S. service. He later served multiple terms as a congressman from South Carolina and help to write legislature that help to reform the education and school system. It was an incredible story of a man I had never heard of. We all enjoyed our Carriage ride and learning about the city's history. 

The kids really loved the sweet horse that pulled our carriage

After our carriage ride we explored "Rainbow Row" on food. We drove down it on our carriage ride but then I wanted to go back and walk it and take pictures. It was so pretty. 
We also saw where they filmed parts of the movie "The Notebook" too. It's such a gorgeous city. 

 

Rainbow row was my favorite!

We also shopped the City Market and found the perfect Christmas ornament souvenir and the kids found some little souvenirs. It was so fun. This Christmas ornament was probably my favorite, it was painted on a sand dollar and had a scene from Charleston on it, including a carriage ride around rainbow row. I love it!

The City market was so cool! After we finished shopping we left to get some lunch. We were all craving seafood so we found a place right off the coast and got a delicious seafood lunch. 

Everyone enjoyed some crab legs. Those are always a hit. 

After our lunch we went to tour the "Boone Hall Plantation". This plantation was were they filmed the TV mini series "North and South" and it was pretty cool. 

We started with a scavenger hunt and the kids had a great time learning and exploring the plantation. 

We also watched a cool "Gullah People Presentation". We learned about the people whose ancestors served as slaves and what their lives were like. 
We got to look inside the replica slave quarters and explored around the plantation. 

Then we actually toured the main house.

While the main house was cool, we didn't get to see all of it because it's still a private residence. Pretty weird to think about. 

We also explored the gardens. 

Then we took a wagon ride around the plantation. It was cool to learn about all the ways the plantation gives back to the community. 

Boone Hall was beautiful and we had a great time exploring and learning. Slavery is a sad part of our country's history but I think it's important for our kids to learn about. You know what they say, "If we fail to learn from the past then we are doomed to repeat it" I won't let that fall on my kids. 

The row of trees  was called "the avenue of oaks" and it was my favorite. The Spanish moss was amazing! 

That night we went back to our hotel in Charleston and got a good night's rest. 

The next morning we drove over to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

We stopped at "Great Smoky Mountain National Park" and we did a nice hike and worked on our Junior Ranger badges.  

The hike was only about 2 miles and it we enjoyed cooling off at the waterfall. It also came with some beautiful views. 

The smoky mountains are beautiful!

We left the park and drove over to Pigeon Forge to play. 
We did the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster and it was so fun. 

Tanner and Bailey rode alone and then two younger ones each rode with Chris or I. 
I took Tucker and Chris had Benson. 

We all loved the coaster. It was such a blast. I wish we could have done it over and over again. 

That night we went to our hotel room and passed out. All that hiking wore us out. 

The next morning we went back to the smoky mountain park visitor center so the kids could get their junior ranger badges. Then we got a Christmas ornament and pressed penny and started our long drive home. 

We got as far a Memphis and stopped to see my friend Adrian. Adrian and her kiddos met us at Johnson park where we did a little hike and then we got ice cream together. 
It's been a couple years since I've seen Adrian and her kiddos so it was fun to meet up. We tried to meet up with them when we came through Memphis the first time, but they were all sick. Happily, a week later, they were better. 

It was cute to watch their little friendships grow as the kids reconnected. 

We use to visit Adrian and her family in Florida all the time, but since they moved to Memphis, we didn't see them as much. 

Between the two of us, we have 9 kids and 25 years of friendship. It's kind of awesome. 

Cute little ice cream buds. 

After our visit with Adrian we decided we were too tired to make it all the way home, so we drove our tired selves to Nanny and Papa's house. 

So we arrived late Saturday night and stayed the night there. 

The next morning we got to hang out with Nanny and Papa and then we hit the road to finally go home. 
It was the perfect way to end our road trip. The kids all enjoyed some ice cream with Nanny and Papa before we hit the road. 

Here we are on the last leg of our journey. So close to being home.

This trip was a doozy but it was so fun. We had so much fun and learned a ton. We also got to check off 8 states off our bucket list. So fun! 

I don't think we will make another trip like this one for a while, but I really have no regrets. It was awesome and we made so many memories!

Now back to reality tmrw! Ugh. Back to school for two more months!!