Congaree National Park

Would you believe that we actually got an early start to the day? We left our hotel parking lot at 9:30 a.m. And, we showered, packed the car AND ate breakfast in the Quality Inn breakfast room!

The Quality Inn we stayed at last night in Columbia was actually fairly nice for only $60 per night. The breakfast was the best continental breakfast we have seen at a cheap hotel. They even had waffles! I brought some cantaloupe and blueberries from home to try and get Annabelle to eat a little healthier. As an older lady left the breakfast room this morning, she came over to our table and said to me, "You are getting her to eat healthy. That is good." Of course, the lady came over while Annabelle was eating her blueberries. She had not seen that Annabelle had frosted flakes with milk first, followed by 3 miniature blueberry muffins! And I'm not even kidding. She scarped up those blueberry muffins in no time, and she probably would have eaten more if I would have allowed her. And then she enjoyed her blueberries. She wouldn't eat the cantaloupe, but I don't blame her because it is definitely not the best.

We headed over to Congaree National Park, near Columbia, South Carolina, for our first vacation adventure. After we took our "Trip of a Lifetime" back in 2005, we are both really into visiting all of the National Parks. We had never even heard of Congaree National Park until I started flipping through the South Carolina AAA book a week before our vacation began. I was looking for something to do at a halfway point so that Annabelle would not have to suffer in the car for 6 hours straight on the way to Myrtle Beach from Atlanta. Columbia was the halfway point, so it worked out wonderfully!

We watched a 12 minute video at the visitors' center, and Annabelle enjoyed looking at the stuffed animal exhibits inside the visitors' center before and after the video. She saw a opossum, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects and much more. She spent the majority of the video getting up and down from the chairs in the theatre. Fortunately, we were the only ones in the theatre, so we didn't have to worry with making her sit still for something she wasn't even interested in.

So, we began our hike of Congaree National Park around 10:15 or 10:30 am, after watching the video and taking potty breaks and gathering goods into the stroller for our long hike. Ha! Ha! Oddly enough, I am joking when I say "long" hike as the hike we took was the "Boardwalk Loop Hike" and it is only 2.4 miles with an estimated hike time of 1.2 hours. I'll go ahead and mention that we finished our hike closer to 2:00 p.m.! We ALWAYS take much longer than the estimated time.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to post some interesting facts on this national park later (from the hiking brochure we used), but for now, I'll just post some info I am getting directly from the National Park website at http://www.nps.gov/cong/planyourvisit/hiking.htm.

Boardwalks (pets not allowed)
Length: 2.4 miles
Time: 1.2 hours

Elevated Boardwalk:

Raised nearly 6 feet above the forest floor, the Elevated Boardwalk winds through a diverse old-growth forest. Use the self-guided brochure and listen for woodpeckers hammering away in the tall trees above. The Elevated Boardwalk ends at Weston Lake, an old channel of the Congaree River.

We did hear the woodpeckers hammering away in the tall trees, lots of them! And, when we reached Weston Lake, there were tons of turtles in the water right at the end of the boardwalk. We let Annabelle out of the stroller to took at them, and she did NOT want to go back into that stroller. Instead, she decided she wanted to push the stroller along herself. I think this is actually the first time I have seen her try to push her own stroller (as it is really tall and hard for her to reach). She enjoyed pushing the stroller around though, and she pitched an absolute fit when we decided it was time to go, and I attempted to put (more like force) her back into her stroller. I finally decided to hold her for a little while, and as we walked away from the stroller and her Daddy pushing the stroller, she screamed, "Dada Dada Dada Dada" very pitifully. I think she was screaming because she thought her Daddy would give in to her pitiful cry, but he seems to think it was because Daddy was pushing the stroller that she wanted to push.

We finally got her back into the stroller, but not without a fight. Shortly thereafter, she fell asleep in the stroller. She probably got a good nap in (maybe an hour) while we finished the hike. She awoke just in time for lunch!

Low Boardwalk:

The Low Boardwalk passes through a primeval bald cypress and water tupelo forest. Cypress "knees" protrude from the forest floor creating a mystical aura. The knees, part of the tree's root system, are thought to help aerate the roots and to help anchor the cypress in the area's wet soil.

The "knees" protruding from the forest floor at Congaree National Park was the most fascinating and interesting to me. The "knees" looked wild! The hiking brochure we were using (from the National Park) made a point to say that these "knees" would remind someone of stalagmites and stalactites in a cave. I kept looking at the forest trying to figure out just what the "knees" reminded me of because I knew they reminded me of something, but I just couldn't think of it until I read the comparison in the hiking brochure. And then it clicked, that was it! It reminded me of being in a cave, except with a little more light.

After our hike, we had a picnic right next to the parking lot. Hubby and I had PB&J sandwiches, and I once again attempted to feed Annabelle leftover chicken fingers and steamed veggies from last night. But, once again, she wouldn't have it! She ate a little bit of the chicken, but the steamed veggies just wouldn't cut it for her. So, I cut up an avocado that was just about to go bad. She ate some of it, but I don't know why! I tried it myself, and it didn't taste much like anything at all. It was apparently already on its way out the door. She did enjoy some Kraft American Cheese and blueberries. Big surprise! This girl will never turn down any cheese!

So, we were off again at 3:30 p.m. for Myrtle Beach! Annabelle slept off and on almost the entire way, and she barely even fussed. She was asleep when we arrived at Ocean Reef Resort in North Myrtle Beach around 6:30 p.m. We woke her up around 6:40 p.m., and we loaded the cart and took everything to our room.

We had already about decided before we even arrived at Ocean Reef Resort that we wanted to stay another two nights (or another night as a minimum). However, we had only booked our room for three nights (Monday night - Wednesday night). We originally had plans to leave Myrtle Beach on Thursday and then spend a day in Charleston, South Carolina.

I think we both realized that we would rather just relax at the beach instead of worrying about packing and unpacking the car another night. It is such a hassle with a toddler! My how our lives have changed! What happened to the spontaneity of traveling? We were on the road constantly, from one campsite to the next (somewhere new almost every night) on our "Trip of a Lifetime."

So, hubby asked the front desk attendant at check in if they had any rooms available for Thursday and Friday night. Naturally, they didn't have any more rooms like the room we were staying in available, so we knew we'd have to still pack our bags to change rooms. Aaarrgggh! Oh well, I guess that is a lot easier than packing and unpacking the car completely.

Once we showed Annabelle the beach and ocean from the balcony, she was ecstatic! If only you all could have seen her excitement and joy (and that was from afar as we are staying on the 12th floor in Room 1215). We have two balconies, and we can access one of the balconies from both the bedroom and the living room. Once she figured out there were three doors, she would run from the balcony into the living room, through the kitchen and hall and then the bedroom, and out onto the same balcony she just left from through the bedroom door (and vice versa). It was quite funny to watch as I don't think she ever figured out she was ending up on the same balcony. She was so excited!

She instantly found the patio table and chairs, and she proceeded to climb onto them. Of course, that made her Mommy very, very nervous! Again, we are staying on the 12th floor, and it would be very easy for a toddler to climb over the rails. She wanted to share her new found glory with Teddy, but we cautioned her to not throw him overboard. We told her that he would be a greasy spot if he fell to the ground. Obviously, she had absolutely no clue what we were talking about. She just wanted to see the ocean and the beach!

So, while hubby was unloading the car, I attempted to feed Annabelle a somewhat healthy dinner again. Yes, you guessed it! Chicken fingers and steamed veggies, and this time, I added some mac and cheese to her plate. She would have nothing to do with any of it until I told her that I was going to eat her chicken finger, and I took a bite. And, then, of course, she wanted it! She only ate a small piece of it though.

Around 8:00 p.m., we ordered a pizza from Domino's Pizza. We ordered ham, pineapple and extra cheese, hand tossed. We had a coupon for $11.99 for a three topping pizza, but after tip, delivery charges and tax, it ended up costing us $17! So much for a cheap dinner. As hubby was signing the receipt though, I noticed they charged us $12.99 instead of $11.99, so I tried to tell him that they had charged us the wrong price. He thought I was mistaken because he had already asked for clarification over the phone, and the girl said it was right because it included a delivery charge too. I told him the box showed $12.99 for subtotal before the taxes and delivery charge, but at that point, the delivery guy had already left. Hubby said, "Oh well. It is just a $1." Of course, if you know me well, you know how I feel about being overcharged!

So, we sat down for our pizza, and I thought just maybe Annabelle would try some "healthy" pizza. I cut it up for her, and I placed it onto her booster seat tray. She decided, instead, that she wanted some of her Mommy's tea, which she calls "juice." I started something bad a week or so again when I let her try some of my tea. I guess I would have been better off to use Grandmama's slogan of "Grandmama (or Mommy in this case) doesn't drink after anyone." Now she insists on having some of my tea instead of her own juice. And, she was on the verge of meltdown for the evening if I didn't give it to her.

She did not eat any of her pizza, and then her Daddy finished off the crust remaining on hers that I had not cut up for her yet. I asked him, "Did you eat Annabelle's crust?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Oh, well, the crust is my favorite. You know that." He said, "Oh, I'm sorry." Seriously, it really wasn't that big of a deal until my sweet daughter decided to eat MY crust! She did not want any of her own pizza, but she wanted my last few bites of my favorite part of the whole pizza! I grabbed the last piece remaining after she stole my crust, and we finished MY crusts together. We even have pictures to prove it!

So, bedtime finally arrived at the early time of 9:30 p.m. However, she probably didn't actually fall asleep until closer to 10:00 p.m.

And, while I was busy nursing Annabelle and getting her down for the evening, hubby made a trip to the Wal-Mart for groceries for the next few days. Yes, we are trying to save as much money as possible as it is very expensive to eat out for every meal! He was gone until closer to 11:45 p.m., and when he opened the door, Annabelle woke up immediately. I thought, "Great!" It wasn't his fault at all. The door to this 1 bedroom efficiency is very hard to open and close, and it automatically makes a loud noise.

After she cried "Peeaassseee, Peeaasssseee" for a little while, she finally laid back down and went to sleep. She didn't cry for very long, but I did find it quite humorous that she cried please. I have never heard her cry please before I was actually in the room. She's cried please while I am in the room with her and she wants to nurse, but never before I've picked her up. She's never cried for "Mama" or "Dada" either though. I wonder how long it will take her to figure that one out.