Fed up with the realities of family travel, editor Sarah McCosham had a radical idea in instead of a big vacation for her family of six, what if she took each of her kids on small, one-on-one adventures? One kid, one carry-on, one adventure. In February, my daughter Pearl turned 7 and my iPhone's "Memories" of her early days had me feeling a little sad that my littlest kiddo isn't so little anymore. But then I turned my attention to our trip to the Omni Homestead Resort , a beautiful hot springs spa in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia that had kindly offered to host us for a weekend.
I like to fly when I travel, for many reasons. First, it's nice to sit back and have someone else in charge for a change. Coke, no ice? Yes please! Second, having spent many years road-tripping with young kids, I've had more than my fair share of bumps in the road that have made me very, very hesitant to drive.
I can "hold it" for as long as necessary, but asking a 7 year-old to do the same is risky, at best. But for this trip, flying wasn't really an option. The closest airport to the Omni was at least an hour's drive, so I'd have to rent a car, and when factoring in time spent driving to the airport, from the airport, and at the airport, it just didn't make sense to fly. We'd have to drive. Routes is our brand-new road trip mapping feature that celebrates the joy of the journey.
I'd mapped out a coastal Maine route that made me so excited, I booked a trip to Portland this summer in order to drive the itinerary; I decided to bring that enthusiasm to this adventure.
I studied the map and put together a route through Ohio and West Virginia ; the Omni was our pot of gold at the end of the road trip rainbow. Pearl and I set out early and took our time, setting mini "goals" along the way and not following any sort of schedule. We'd get there when we'd get there, we said. Just after crossing the border of Ohio into West Virginia, we arrived at our first stop: the Mothman Museum.
