I just got back last week from a two and a half week trip to the east coast, visiting both our families. My hubby, toddler, and I flew from Portland to Tennessee, running all the way across Houston airport for a layover. We spent a week in northeastern Tennessee, where my husband grew up, and then took a road trip up to New Jersey.
We love road trips, and would rather drive most places than fly. This was my two year old daughter’s first time in the car for more than three hours. We rented a mini van, complete with dvd player. I have always in theory been against giving kids movies to watch in the car but wow was I thankful to have it! With stops, our ten hour drive took 14 hours. We danced inside rest stops, ran around picking out snacks, looked at Christmas trees in the local businesses, and of course played a little beep beep (the little one got to pretend she was driving while we were parked).
It was a very different experience than our past road trips. We had some tears and made some mistakes, like driving to through the Poconos on a snowy night. Overall our little girl made a great road trip companion, and there will be more to come.
After a couple days in NJ, we drove to Connecticut, to visit my family. My hubby and I left the grandparents to babysit one afternoon. We took a side trip to New Paltz, New York, where we used to live, and where we got married. We stopped at P&G’s restaurant, an old cornerstone of the town, for a quick black and tan. Then we walked up and down Main Street, covering all of downtown New Paltz. It was a crisp day so we retreated to the car instead of walking on the Rail Trail, where we used to spend a lot of time.
Besides the all important stop for a NY slice at Village Pizza, we toured Huguenot Street. This is where we got married. We had our wedding ceremony at a historic church owned by the Huguenot Historical Society. It’s this tiny brick building with a lawn on one side and a cemetery on the other. Inside it has a simple beauty. The church, Crispell Memorial French Church, is a replica of the original 1717 building.
This visit made me think, why did we choose to get married here? I often ask brides why they picked their wedding location. Some brides choose a wedding venue for convenience, others for price, some because they had their first kiss there. To us, it seemed right. I go a lot on just how something feels and my instinct. As I mentioned earlier, we used to take walks that would start out on the Rail Trail and then end up on Huguenot Street. It was part of daily life at the time.
One day we were out on a walk and I saw a tent in the field next to one of the historical buildings. I had more than driven my hubby nuts by this point in trying to choose a wedding location, and had never imagined renting a building on this historic street in our town. The next day I was on the phone with June at the Historical Society, who quoted me shockingly affordable rates, and was super sweet.
It was a damp night and already dark as we stood under the tiny awning outside the church, while June got the keys to let us in. By this time, I had lived in New Paltz over five years and had never had the chance to see the inside of any of these buildings. We stood there alone in our rain jackets as it drizzled and I just knew it was the place, even before the door opened.
We’ve been married almost six years now. This outing was our first real date since our daughter was born. On the hour drive back, we started wondering how everyone was doing. Back in Connecticut we found tired but very happy Grandparents and toddler.
A few more days visiting wrapped up our trip. We made our way through new even more heightened security at the airport, chased Mackenzie around by the gate for two hours, and were grateful by the time we were able to board the plane. We were even more grateful when they shut the lights out inside the cabin and our little girl napped the entire flight.
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