On Day 7 we headed to Asheville, NC. C's sweet friends in Wisconsin gave her a necklace kit which was so wonderful for her to have in the car. It came with the supplies to make three necklaces. She of course wanted to make all three, but this took her about 45 min to an hour. That was the longest I had seen her focus on an activity this whole trip. We arrived in Asheville around 5:30 p.m. and checked in at the Holiday Inn Express. It was a nice hotel. It didn't have fridge in the room but was very pet friendly. In all of the grass areas around the hotel they had bags for pick-up and they even had a porch off of their restaurant where they allowed pets to join you while you ate.
On Day 8 we woke up and headed to Montreat. I had the pleasure of taking an amazing group of high school students (the youth group at my church in Jax) to a youth retreat in Montreat many summers ago. I fell in love with that place almost immediately. I was so excited to show mom and C. Unfortunately it rained, but C was able to play in the park for a few minutes and I was able to drive around to show mom some of what I liked so much. Then we were off to....CHARLESTON!
We made it! Who's excited!?! Me!
Four or five days ago I called the Inn at Charleston on the Air Force base to see if they had any availability. When they said they didn't, I requested a "non-availability statement." I was told that when I arrived I could go to the front desk and they would call hotels that they work with and see if they had availability. If they didn't, then at that time I would be issued the statement. So of course today I went in when we arrived and we were issued a statement. We then spent time looking for a place to stay while I look for a house. We ended up booking a room at the Hyatt Place. Did you know that almost all hotel websites do not provide a place to let them know you have a pet...even if they allow pets? Well this hotel was the same. I booked a double queen suite for three nights (to start). When we arrived they said we had to be on the first floor because we had a pet. I was ok with this. Then I went into the room it wasn't what I had booked. It was one King bed and had a shower (no tub for the kid). I was disappointed with the hotel and they ended up letting me cancel our room without penalty.
So, we searched again and ended up at the Staybridge. Let me tell you what a better choice this was...for the same rate, we are in suite (similar only in that it has 1 king and no tub) that has a full kitchen. Dinner was included tonight (build your own sub) as well as complimentary wine, beer, and soda. The rest of our stay will include hot breakfast every morning. The hotel has complimentary laundry, dvd rentals, and has an indoor pool. We are definitely settled and happy. I am looking forward to sleeping in and not packing the car in the morning.
I already have appointments to look at two homes tomorrow and am hoping to see even more. Our HHG's arrive early next week and I'm hoping to have an address for our driver instead of getting put into storage. Fingers crossed!
Making a necklace
C drew herself, me and Jonny
Beautiful Montreat
Mom bought C these vinyl sticker "paper dolls"...this was the only other activity that she stuck with for a while (an hour plus).
We made it to South Carolina!
Our suite at Staybridge. Looking forward to going to the grocery store and eating in for a change!
