South Carolina Bound!

The Comptons and Whomptons gather in the summertime to rejoice in the pleasures of each other's company.  Litchfield beach, South Carolina, is the traditional Compton gathering spot; the last time we went to Litchfield was when Raina was 3 years old and we traveled this summer now that Lola is three.  These images capture our 18 hours of driving to the South Carolina coast. 

Lola spent a fair amount as a grump-a-dump.  We saw this face a lot.

Raina read continuously.  (NO car sickness, woohoo!)  Raina rarely showed a grumpy face.

Food tends to be the only exciting variation in a long car trip.  The Whomptons planned out all their meals in advance, so that each stop would be interesting and tasty and local.  Stop #1 was a bakery in Clarksville, TN.  All the workers behind the counter spoke German!  Raina had a pizza, Eric and Lola had the Rosemary Chicken Dumpling soup, and Krystal had the Lentil soup.  Nice wholesome and light fare, and very appropriate for just 5 hours in the trip. 

Lola's soup came in a Lola sized bread bowl.  It was adorable. 

Everyone's spirits were up as we left Clarksville and traversed Tennessee, because we started a They Might Be Giants album.  Lola laughs hysterically at "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and the "Seven Song."  (Later on in the return trip, these were the only things to make Lola happy in the car.  TMBG featured prominently in our drive!)

Raina, still, was happy to read.  Notice she's on a different book!

And finally Lola went down for a nap!  We Whomptons are wary of Lola's napping -- Lola's sleep schedule is a highly regulated enterprise and naps generally lead to difficult bedtimes -- but we gave thanks that she fell asleep here.

Yes, Lola's grump face returned as soon as she awoke.

But, woohoo, we woke her up because we were in Atlanta!  Atlanta was the designated nighttime stop-over on our two-days driving venture.  We celebrated our arrival at Papi's Cuban Grill and we gorged ourselves silly on jerk chicken, pork, beans and rice, plantains, and happiness.  All the workers spoke a different language too, but it wasn't exactly Spanish.  The meal was luscious and plentiful and Eric struggled to finish the plates of all four Whomptons.

A terrifying deluge of rain greeted us outside of the restaurant and stayed with us the 10 minutes drive to our hotel.  The rain stopped as soon as we arrived, and we eagerly anticipated tossing the small ones into the pool to get their willies out.

We geared up for the pool and headed outside.  Unfortunately, the rain came back in bits and spurts and thunder sporadically sounded overhead.  No pool time.  Instead, we took an exploratory tour of the hotel.  We saw two broken ice machines, multiple vending machines, the laundry room, a stairwell, an elevator, a treadmill, and a bunch of people looking at us funny.  We covered every available square inch of the three story hotel as we tried to avoid the feeling of being trapped.

Eventually we saw all parts of the hotel and there was nothing to do but go back to our room, jump on beds, take baths, and watch television.  The girls were incredibly excited about this option, because we rarely watch tv at home, and they were incredibly distressed when the television had no access to cable.  We watched a black screen for a while and, after the tv was repaired, we closed out the final half-hour of School of Rock. 

Bedtime was a struggle and we'll leave it at that.  Lola stayed up well past everyone else, so she was quite groggy when we roused her Saturday morning. 

Saturday's breakfast was standard hotel buffet:  unappetizing choices in a variety of flavors.  The best item was the toast. 

But food is food, and we love food, AND we were excited to get on our way again.  Saturday's drive was the short day:  Atlanta to the coast!

We made it to South Carolina and rejoiced.  We stopped at, quite possibly, the nicest rest area in the nation, and chatted with the nicest rest area workers I've ever met. 

Random guest photographer took the only Whompton family photo of the entire trip.

Saturday's drive took us through Orangeburg, SC, home of the state's best barbeque.  We chose Duke's BBQ and it was quite an experience.  First, you walk into Duke's and it's a long hall with multiple picnic tables, equipped with pitchers of sweet tea. No restrooms. At the end of the hall is the BBQ buffet. Yes, dear goodness, a buffet. Options were limited to pulled pork, cole slaw, hash and rice, white bread, and pickles. (Hash seemed very similar to burgoo.) 

Eric ate a lot of meat at Duke's, and then we moseyed on to another establishment to use their restroom.  Restrooms along the state roads are questionable at best, and the one we selected definitely fell in the GUH! territory. 

The interior-to-the-coast drive was filled with fluffy clouds, periodic crazy storms, and kudzu. 

And then we were in Litchfield!  We located das Strandhaus, our beach house for the week, and celebrated our good fortune.  We were in South Carolina!  We were at the beach!  We were OUT OF THE CAR!  Life was good.