That one time we tried to go to Disney World but a pandemic started {Part 2}
I didn’t sleep great that first night. My adorable 4 year old son Lincoln loves to sleep sideways with his head dug into my back all night. But I’m pretty used to that. I was the first one up, as is also the norm.
I looked down at my freshly painted toe nails that were light pink and sparkly, ready to walk the beach in a few days. I got up and slowly, quietly started packing up our things, trying not to wake the rest of the family. Soon Bennett was up too (also normal, he’s my early bird sidekick) and hungry, followed by Andrew, who hopped in the shower quick. We ate our fruit and grain bars and drank our apple juice while we talked about the plan for the day’s drive.
Once we were all pretty much ready to walk out the door, Lincoln finally woke up.
Day 2
Day 2 we needed to get to Huntsville, Alabama because our plan was to go to the Space and Rocket Center the following morning. Once again, we left right on schedule. No problems checking out, the van was running great and we were on time. It was odd for everything to go so smoothly, right?
The kids were pretty exhausted and were quiet for a good couple of hours as we drove from Indiana into Kentucky. It was here that we finally started to see some green grass. Everything north of there was still entirely brown. The air outside was getting warmer too. I checked the forecast and saw thunderstorms could be headed our way so we stopped to stretch our legs while we had the chance.
You never know what something will end up actually looking like as you plan a road trip. I found this neat little cafe in Park City, Kentucky that was rated well. It was near some historic ruins and a playground so I thought, perfect! Let’s go there and check it out. Well, the town was tiny and questionable and the cafe was actually a house that wasn’t open. So I made tuna sandwiches instead. It was still a great stop though because Bell’s Tavern was cool to see and the kids were ecstatic to play at the park for awhile. We spent a good amount of time there. Playing, picking flowers, finding sticks and rocks and taking a few pictures with Bennett’s instant film camera. It felt good. We were happy.
Once again I booked our hotel on the way and we made it to Huntsville, Alabama, just a mile from the Space and Rocket Center with time to spare. We decided just to order pizza to the room so we could relax and unwind (in pajamas). On the way up to our room I overheard the housekeepers chatting about being completely out of hand sanitizer and low on toilet paper. That’s weird, I thought.
Our room wasn’t great. It was muggy and smelled a little stale. You could hear everything going on outside and it was in a busy area. But it was just one night, we’d manage. The pizza arrived and we scarfed it down while the kids watched cartoons and I used my laptop to catch up on the Bachelor finale before someone would surely ruin the ending for me by posting about it on Facebook.
Andrew was reading the news on his phone and he said “wow the NBA cancelled the season until further notice.” Then I got a text from my mom, “Disney Land is closing.” Oh no… I start talking with my brother who is going to be meeting us in Florida in a few days. Maybe we’ll just make it in time? But alas, it wasn’t long after those announcements that Disney World announced their closure date, and it was in the middle of our planned week there. My heart sank. I looked over at my kids who were giggling and eating their pizza. Now I have to tell them we drove all this way and have to turn around. It can wait until morning.
After they passed out for the night, we spent the evening on the phone, looking at the calendar, trying to figure out what to do about our vacation from a crappy hotel room in Alabama. I cried at the thought of disappointing my kids, after months of anticipation and 2 long days of driving, the money we spent, it was all for nothing. I wished I had realized how serious this was sooner. It’s not like we didn’t consider it at all, but it just still felt so distant. Things changed very quickly in a matter of days. Days that we spent on the road and unplugged from the news of the world. But…they were days that we spent together as a family. I thought of the fun things we did and cool places we got to see. It wasn’t all bad. But I dreaded the thought of telling the boys that Disney World was closed in the morning.