Huntsville, Alabama

After our cave tour in Mammoth Cave National Park we headed directly south.  That journey south was one of those times when we really floundered on this trip; we had difficulty figuring out what to do next.  We had planned to camp another night at the national park, but the forecast showed a certainty of rain, and we avoid camping in the rain (with kids) at all costs.  So we packed up that evening, not really sure where we would sleep, or even which direction we should go.  After some tears (on my part) we landed at a McDonald's with free wifi, got a bite to eat and figured it out while it rained cats and dogs outside.  Our kids are serious troopers to sweetly put up with all our craziness.

Late at night, at McDonalds, I got the kids into their pajamas and we drove and drove in the dark, pouring rain.  After about 4 hours of driving we stopped and dragged ourselves into a hotel.   We woke up in Huntsville, AL, home of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.  My boys (all 3 of them) love spaceships.  So, even though it was a bit out of the way it was a fantastic stop.

Our science museum membership got us into the Space and Rocket Center for free, so we went two days in a row and loved it the whole time.

Simon loves spaceships.  He's one of those boys with a passion for them.  He never sat still to look at a book until I grab some spaceship books from the library.  His favorite thing to say (after 'no' and 'me') is "Spaceship....moon..."  When we woke up that morning I told him he needed to get ready so we could go see some spaceships.  I've never seen that boy so motivated; he was ready, waiting patiently by the door for several minutes before we left.  I am in love with this little boy and his excitement for spaceships; it makes my heart happy.

He's looking into huge turbo thrusters (see photo above).

test pilot

taking a tour of space camp...so fun.

Climbing mountains on Mars

With Simon's limited vocabulary of "spaceship...moon..." I failed to fully understand his excitement.  Once we saw this spaceship (which I learned is more accurately called an orbiter) Simon kept declaring, "IN!"  "MOON!"  When I explained that we can't go in it and we, unfortunately, can't fly to the moon he was distraught.  Simon dropped to his knees, bowed his head, and sat silent and solemn for several minutes (no exaggeration).  I tried to comfort him, but his eyes stayed fixed on the ground, his little body was so heavy.  This little boy's big dreams had been crushed.  My mama heart ached for him (and still does).  

I wish I could say he snapped out of his funk and was a happy little boy the rest of the day...but he wasn't.  Yes, he still enjoyed what was going on, but his enthusiasm was gone, his bounce and spunk were repressed.  He was quiet and mellow (very unlike him) for the rest of the day.  It broke my heart.

Despite this sad ending to this post we did have a great time.  We got to see the annual Moon Buggy Race where people from all over the world bring their handmade moon buggies and race them through an obstacle course.  And I'm totally excited to send my kids to space camp there when they are a little older.  :)

On the road from Clearwater to New Orleans

View Larger Map

We find driving with kids to take a long time.  Big surprise, I know!  We are learning that once we hit lunch time we all start slowing down.  If we can get most of our driving in the morning we will go far.  If we don't hit the road until closer to noon a 3 hour drive often turns into a 6 hours.  We get sluggish.  We also love to stop and see cool things along our route.  It's a tricky balance: drive constantly until we get to our destination or stop, stretch, see what there is to see.  We are still figuring it all out.

We made two overnight stops on our trip from Clearwater, FL to New Orleans, LA, but we tried to make some fun (often spontaneous) stops along our way.

Road trip bingo!  Kids loved it.

A county park in the middle-of-nowhere Florida.  We were desperate to eat lunch and stretch our legs.  The park was officially closed, but the guy in charge was there and let us in and gave us a wheel barrow to take the kids around the park.  It was lovely and I wish I could remember where it was.

Making lunch in the car while Brian drives.

A favorite, unplanned stop was the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.  The museum was massive and packed full of very cool, old planes.  The boys were in heaven.  They have never been so captivated for so long.  I loved that the kids could touch almost all the planes and climb in several.  I would love to go back to Pensacola and spend more than just a few hours there.

Some more fun stops:

Lambert's Cafe in Foley, AL.  Home of the "throwed rolls"...yes, they throw hot, soft, delicious rolls at you.  Several friends had mentioned that we should go there.  We thought it would just be kitschy, but we had a blast.

The kids first Krispy Kreme...hot, of course!  He liked it.

A brief stop in Biloxi, MI.  I think this will be our only stop in Mississippi.  The little white lighthouse in the middle of the main road seems to be one of the more popular sites in the state, so we did it!

Here's a 10 second video of me catching a roll...hope it works!

Next post: New Orleans!