Our First Real Day Trip

So today we took our first real day trip! I got the diaper bag packed and ready last night, and we were only a half hour behind schedule. Not bad, since last night Benjamin decided to wake up a few times...making for a very sleepy mommy this morning! Once we were on the road things were going smoothly. Our first stop was Greensboro. We were going to have lunch at an old BBQ place that is on the North Carolina Historic BBQ Trail list. It was supposed to open at 10am....but today they weren't opening until 11am - Go figure! Since we had some time to waste, we went to a grocery store with BEER! Turns out they collaborated with the Old Hickory Brewery and had an IPA made just for them. Aren't we lucky! After purchasing some beverages, we headed back to Stamey's - the BBQ place - to have lunch. The food was alright...Eric liked their coleslaw and I enjoyed their BBQ chicken. All of the waitress took turns visiting our table to see just how cute our little guy was. There were only a few other people, so I guess the waitresses had nothing better to do.

After lunch, we headed over to a park that was a battle ground in the Revolutionary War. On the way there, we thought we would name a street after Benjamin!

Once we got to the park, it was getting kind of hot, but the shade helped. Basically, we just walked around on the paths, trying not to get confused by the map. We are usually pretty good with maps, but there were many trails and roads and it was confusing. Maybe the lack of sleep since Ben arrived is starting to effect our map reading skills. Below is a picture of what Ben thought of the whole thing.

He was like this for most of the day! Glad to know he is so thoroughly enjoying all of our adventures! :) At least he is good for us and we enjoy hanging out with him! :) We are preparing him for all of the adventures to come!

One of the monuments in the park is dedicated to Nathaniel Greene - a general in the American Revolution. This may seem unimportant to most people. However, his most important contribution to society is having a brewery named after him! When I was in Greensboro a while back for a kindergarten conference, we discovered Natty Greene's (while discussing very important educational matters, of course) and I brought a growler of beer home to Eric. Since then, Natty Greene's has opened a brew pub in Raleigh and has begun selling their beverages in the stores. Lucky Eric!

After we found our way back to the car and got a much needed drink...we headed towards Winston-Salem. We have been there several times, but this time we ventured to new places within the city. Our first stop was a gelato place Eric had read about. YUMMY! I am not discriminatory when it comes to gelato, ice cream, frozen yogurt and the like - so of course, we enjoyed ourselves there! Next, we visited the original Moravian settlement. We made the mistake of entering the visitor's center and having a lengthy conversation with the lonely guy working there. At least it was air conditioned in there! By this time the humidity was really creeping up! We took Ben out of his stroller to look around while he was awake for a bit. We saw an old barn, an old church, and a bunch of rocks where buildings used to be. We also saw the garden, which is still being taken care of. Then it just got too hot and we moved on. I think Ben enjoyed looking around...but was asleep as soon as we got back in the car. 

We left the settlement and headed over to Foothills Brewery for dinner. We hung out in the air conditioning for a bit and fed Ben after we finished dinner (he just continued sleeping while we ate). Then it was time to head home. Benjamin thought this would be a great time to wake up!

 Here he is..."We're on our way home now?' 

"YAY!!"

Ben started to get fussy as we left Winston-Salem, so we stopped in Durham to change his diaper and try to calm him down. We stopped at Kohl's and I got a cool picture frame I had been wanting that was on sale! He was perfectly calm - until we got back in the car. We tried to let him cry it out a bit, but finally, I got in the back seat with him and he was happy. Guess he was just getting lonely back there! Overall we had a great day and our little guy was a trooper! But tomorrow....WE REST! This momma is tired!