We ended our summer with a bang! My sister invited our family to visit their annual beloved destination, 30A! They typically visit Rosemary Beach, but she found a rental in WaterSound this summer that was perfect for our whole family. We were so excited and thankful to explore a new place, visit the beach, and be with family. Our whole summer was filled with anticipation!
Getting Ready
Sometimes I think one of the most fun things about traveling is getting ready! I mean not all the actual packing, but figuring out what you will need and talking about the trip. I also had to prep my plants for the best chance of survival! I grouped my houseplants in front of one window that I left the blinds open for sunlight, and watered them all right before we left. Then, all the outside plants I could move, I moved to the side yard and just ran that sprinkler more often.
The Drive
But first, we had to get there! We had not taken a long road trip since Elle was a new baby and we ventured to Utah. That was a very long drive with a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 4 month old, but they did awesome. A good 21 hour drive or so. I planned tons of little activities and we learned the Fifty Nifty States song, and it was something we will all remember.
Activities
For this trip, the plan was movies, all the way. Some things change, ha! Our kids were 2, 4, 6, and 8 for this trip. Our van has a screen and a dvd or bluray player. We picked up some new movies at Half Priced Books and Goodwill. The plan worked pretty well, they didn’t sleep as much as we had hoped, but that’s not a big surprise with our crew. We also made sure each kiddo had a blanket. I thought the twin sheets we do not use on our kid’s beds (because it is easier) would be a good idea, but they actually did not keep them as warm. So that was kind of a bummer, but they survived. And some even slept, a little.
Snacks
We also planned on lots of snacks, and I think that worked well too. I packed each kid their own gallon zipper bag. I went to Costco before the trip to pick out some new and different ones, and to make sure when we got back and it was time for school, we had plenty of that kind of stuff on hand. We also packed our favorite, Uncrustables! We tried to limit water to make as few stops as possible.
Carsick Kids
We are not strangers to carsick kids, sadly. We have found several things that can help, but being prepared for the inevitable is very important! I like to have plastic grocery bags, paper towels, wet ones, hand sanitizer, “throw up bucket” (sorry), and accident clothes. For trips I often just grab the gallon zipper bag from their backpacks so accident clothes are ready. Just gotta remember to put them back! The other things are normally in my car, not just for road trips. We have experienced enough carsickness, and stomach bugs at home that I have now upgraded our “throw up bucket” (sorry again) with some of these disposable throw up bags. They are game-changers. Highly recommend, sadly we are over halfway through with them🤯, and we bought the 50 pack. There are a lot of brands and different quantities, I would just go with the best deal at the time, or if needed fastest shipping😳.
We have found these tips to be helpful when possible to prevent getting carsick:
- look out the front window (not the sides!)
- keep the car cool, almost cold
- keep air moving from AC or windows or both
- Altoids (it’s the peppermint!)
- gum chewing (we have used this one less and less for several reasons…but peppermint flavor would be even better)
- Dramamine for KIDS
We do try to avoid the last option, but after the inevitable happened on both the way to Florida, and back, we did end up using it. I think our next long road trip I would just start the ones who get sick with it.
Seaside
We were so excited when we finally made it and wanted to stop and see Seaside before we headed to our final destination. Barry was super excited because this is where they shot The Truman Show. So, we drove by the house first!
But then, we needed to get 8 little legs walking! We were lucky and found a great parking spot. We walked around and took in some more scenes from the movie, and took a photo op in these Adirondacks!
Then, it was time to grab some dinner. I think the kids were mostly full of snacks, but Barry and I were excited to try something! There were a ton of Airstream food trucks, but we headed to Bud & Alley’s Pizza Bar & Trattoria which was right next to the Coleman Pavilion, so pretty!
We ordered plain pasta and cheese pizza for the kids, and split an appetizer and Four Cheese pizza for us. Fun fact, we have loved trying places Four Cheese pizzas ever since our Honeymoon. We had a favorite spot in Prague, even though we traveled to Italy too, where we would always get their FIVE cheese pizza. It was so so good. Another fun fact, we kept a blog on our honeymoon! I guess I’ve always like to write, we really enjoyed doing that and it was a fun way to connect with our family and friends back home. It was also the inspiration for this blog’s name, if you snoop around on it you might see why!!!
Bud & Alley’s did not disappoint. But also, we were starving haha! I think it might be second best, to our favorite honeymoon spot, but also we were in love (still are but ya know haha).
WaterSound
We were so excited to get to the house! The houses were all so beautiful. I really enjoyed getting to look at all the different landscaping and vegetation. I was surprised at how many plants I recognized from our neck of the woods. It has been fun learning about plants the last several years and I definitely get excited when I recognize things in other places, or love learning what different things are when we travel!
The house was perfect for our large crew, but surprisingly did have a “staircase of doom” as my niece would say. Luckily, we had no problems with that! There was also a putting green in the backyard essentially. That was super fun and fitting because we have a lot of golf fanatics in our family. It is a great activity from the littlest to the oldest and any ability!
The Hub
One night the grandparents held down the fort! My two sisters and their husbands and Barry and I walked down to The Hub to see what it was all about. We had fun window shopping even though they were closed. Some of us got drinks from The Hub Bar, and I got ice cream from Super Freeze, yum! The little candy store, Sugar Wave, was open still and we went on a hunt for a childhood candy we all remember, but no luck. When we got back home my sister ordered some on amazon! Do you have a favorite childhood candy you remember, but can’t find!? Check Amazon!? Funny how certain things can be so nostalgic. The store was super cute and had a lot of fun toys and gifts and gadgets!
The Beach!
Getting to the beach was actually quite fun! We rode bikes, took golf carts, and walked between all of us. We had two buggies for the bikes which were also great for carrying allllllll the things.
Leaving the house 
Getting closer to the beach
We had not been on a beach vacation in years. So, I wasn’t really sure what each kiddo would think of it all. Hank also has been VERY unsure of all things water. But, they all loved the sand and the waves so much! Hank even got comfortable enough to go out further in the waves with us.
We have deemed Elle a “beach babe” and she still talks about the beach All. The. Time. She also fell in love with a movie we got for the ride, Dolphin Tale, and now wants to travel to Clearwater, Florida to see those sweet dolphins! If you haven’t watched that movie or Dolphin Tale 2, I highly recommend. I don’t think there is a sweeter more wholesome movie that we have seen.
Our friends recommended boogie boards for the trip and I am so glad they did! They said they saw some at Five Below, even better! We bought and brought three and they were such a hit. I loved to catch the waves, too!
Sandcastles
Before we left I had the kids sort out some of our sandbox toys and tools to pack. I thought it was a good job for them and would keep them busy for a bit. It only killed about three seconds, oh well! We didn’t take too many because our cousins were packing a bunch as well. I ordered this bag for the sand toys and was really happy with how it worked. It will be nice for taking to the pool, too.
Barry wanted to get these little seashell bags, but we didn’t order them. We really enjoyed collecting and looking at all the different shells, I think they would be a good addition to our next beach trip! Especially for cleaning them off and keeping whose is whose separate!
My friends said to make sure to have some good shovels, but my sister said they had some so we didn’t buy any. If we go to the beach again I would definitely get some. The kids LOVED to dig, like big holes, for long periods of time. The place we stayed also had one so that was nice!
I told my kids we would have to dig a big hole and bury Henry at the beach, but we ended up burying Aunt Chrissi and Uncle Trevin instead!
We did bring an actual shovel though, and despite it making me nervous the entire time, it was pretty awesome to have! Barry was very excited to build some sandcastles and found some good tips before we left. We also brought two big buckets, one of which he cut out the bottom. If you aren’t super into it I would still recommend just a regular giant bucket, it was nice to fill up and bring back to the sand for building and rinsing!
Also, these towels are awesome. Another awesome friend recommendation!
Big cousins 
Little cousins
The anticipation for this trip did not disappoint!!! Have you been to a beach recently? Have a favorite spot? Have a trip planned in your future!? Do you have your go-to gear down? I really wanted to get a pretty picture of our whole family on the beach, but that didn’t happen. We got this one though, and I think it is pretty perfect!
Love this! Such a beautiful family Alli!
So fun to hear and see all the fun!❤️
Thank you so much! We have so many reminders of you around our home; the little snowman is even staying out for winter!
So many big smiles!!
😃