I know, I should have had these boat show posts up sooner. Regardless I have not forgotten any of the little details. Or at least I don’t think I have.
Let me start by saying that my expectations were quite high and that driving for two days to get to Maryland made them even higher on the effort/value scale of the trip. There was quite a bit that we wanted to accomplish with this trip and at the same time we really just wanted to have fun and enjoy ourselves while we were at it. The list was quite long, we had boats to look at, specifics about those boats to figure out, monohulls to look at (part of exploring options to see if Michelle’s stomach could handle the different motion), neat stuff in the stalls to check out, schwag to pick up from vendors at said stalls and boats, souvenirs to buy, houses that Michelle & her family lived in when she was younger to visit, food to eat, electronic friends to meet in real life and a whole host of stuff that I think I have forgotten about.
The trip up there was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I expected the boys to get cranky and after spending 13 hours in the car by the time day two came around that they wouldn’t want any more of it. In reality they did quite well. They entertained themselves and watched a lot of movies. Score BIG points for the Leapsters and having the DVD in the car. We left home shortly after the big kids were off to school and decided that it would be wise to take a “back road” out of town to avoid the usual bad traffic that we would have experienced on the normal route. While second guessing our “back road” route the entire time we were on it, once we made it to the interstate and recalculated the time we were quite pleased with the fact that we had a)made good time and b)avoided traffic. With the exeption of the occasional slow poke that we had to pass we were happy. The end of day 1 saw us through Texas, Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama and finally to a friends house in Roswell, Georgia where we would crash for the night. As a bonus to this trip we got to see our close friends in Georgia and their house which we would have otherwise missed out.
The following morning we were up early and fearful of the Atlanta traffic that we would have to deal with. Again, we chose a “back road” route to the interstate that would hopefully take us around the North Atlanta traffic. With the exception of the odd no-turn barrier and a long line in a left turn lane (that we decided to pass up which made us miss Starbucks) the route was a good choice and the traffic was not too bad. Missing Starbucks was not all a loss as we found a Dunkin Donuts a little ways down the road and it was quite a bit easier to get in and out of (Dunkin’s coffee is better IMHO than the burnt stuff Starbucks serves). The rest of the day went fairly smooth making for a good trip through the rest of Georgia. Then it was onward through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, D.C. and finally Maryland. One thing that I was anxious about was hitting South D.C. and the Beltway (a.k.a. I495) in rush hour. Of course I wasn’t thinking that we would be going opposite the bad stuff coming into D.C. and really, other than traffic being a little sluggish between D.C. and Annapolis it really wasn’t that bad.
Once we got into Annapolis, found our hotel & got settled in all was good and we were ready to be out of the car. Originally I had reservations for us to stay in the Marriott at the City Docks but Michelle found a historic inn across the circle from the State House that was much cheaper, quite nice and still within walking distance to the docks. In retrospect I’m glad we went with the inn, the Marriott seemed like it was right in the middle of the hustle and bustle and seemed a bit too hectic for us. After getting settled in we were off to find food. I think the both of us wanted some good crab & local fare (the boys could have cared less). We found Buddy’s Crabs & Ribs and had the buffet. It was just kinda ok and a little bit of a let down not to mention pricey but oh well. After dinner was a bit of sightseeing in Downtown Annapolis. I could get used to this place.