Beach Vacation 2009, Day Seven and Epilogue

Day Seven began with our customary Saturday morning pancakes and bacon, then our very sad and not at all customary packing to leave the beach. Once the packing of the bags was accomplished, I began loading them into and onto the van while Angie and the older kids went down to the beach one last time to get their feet wet and play with the souvenirs they bought at the Naval Aviation Museum and the Octopus souvenir store. While there, they had a friendly chat with a local bird.

And, of course, after that, the inevitable moment had come. We loaded our few remaining possessions into the van (minus 1 teether and Maggie's sunglasses, as it turned out) and struck out on the open road again for home. Or at least lunch. It turns out that A LOT of people go out to eat in the Gulf Shores area of a Saturday, and so we had something of a wait in the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru line. After that, we struck out on the open road again for home... again. The trip home added further proof (if any was still needed) for my theory that travel with a baby takes one and a half times as long as travel without a baby, or TWaB = 1.5 x TWOaB. The supposedly 6-hour trip took us right at 9 hours with our various stops for feedings and whatnot. We stopped once at the Russell Stover Candy Store in Greenville, AL, and later we had dinner at Wendy's in Hogansville, GA.
When we finally got home, we unloaded the van as quickly as possible and everyone collapsed into bed. The kids woke up the next morning sniffling and coughing, even Joshua, so we stayed home from church for the sake of our friends and spent a relaxing, yes, lazy last day of vacation in our house. I ventured out for food once or twice, but otherwise, we stayed indoors. I wouldn't have wanted my vacation to end any other way than at home for a full day with my family. Overall, it was a fantastic week, and we can't wait to do it again next year! Assuming they'll have us back...